Nov 21st, 2025 - In a new study publishing November 19 in the Cell Press journal Trends in Biotechnology , researchers used a gene-editing technology called CRISPR to increase a fungus's production efficiency and cut its production-related environmental impact by as much as 61%-all without adding any foreign DNA. The genetically tweaked fungus tastes like meat and is easier to digest than its naturally occurring counterpart.  There is a popular demand for better and more sustainable protein for food. We successfully made a fungus not only more nutritious but also more environmentally friendly by ... [Read More]

Nov 20th, 2025 - A cannon, three coins and a porcelain cup were among the first objects Colombian scientists recovered from the depths of the Caribbean Sea where the mythical Spanish galleon San José sank in 1708 after being attacked by an English fleet, authorities said Thursday. The recovery is part of a scientific investigation that the government authorized last year to study the wreckage and the causes of the sinking. Colombian researchers located the galleon in 2015, leading to legal and diplomatic disputes. Its exact location is a state secret. Dubbed the "holy grail of shipwrecks," the ship is ... [Read More]

Nov 20th, 2025 - Nov. 20 (UPI) -- NASA released images of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS flying past Mars and, based on the agency's observations, scientists expressed doubt that it is an alien spaceship. Space agencies globally have shifted satellites, telescopes and myriad other sensors and tools to monitor the comet, which has beguiled space scientists and the public alike with every move it has made on its trip through the solar system. Over the last 4 1/2 months, in addition to watching the comet rocket around the sun on its journey, there has been speculation that the comet could be technological ... [Read More]

Nov 20th, 2025 - Reading time 3 minutes Around 100 million years after the formation of the solar system, a Mars-sized object dubbed Theia slammed into the Earth and created the Moon. We now have a better idea as to where this wayward object came from. In a study published today in the journal Science, researchers investigated the isotopic fingerprints —the ratio of isotopes, or versions, of elements in a material—of iron in rocks from the Moon, Earth, and meteorites (meteoroids that reach the ground). Their results bolster the theory that the impactor was born in the inner solar system and ... [Read More]

Nov 20th, 2025 - Scientists have discovered that light's long-ignored magnetic field may directly drive the Faraday effect. In 1845, Michael Faraday showed that light and magnetism are linked. He passed a beam through glass inside a magnetic field and found that its polarization — the direction its waves wiggle — rotated. The results of this elegant experiment are known to this day as the Faraday effect. For nearly two centuries, scientists believed they fully understood it: only the electric part of light mattered. Not quite so, say physicists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. According to ... [Read More]

Nov 20th, 2025 - A rare vase opens a window into ancient drug use and ritual life. A 22-centimeter alabaster vase, inscribed to the Persian king Xerxes I, has revealed that narcotics were part of everyday life in ancient Egypt. Inside the vessel, Yale scientists discovered chemical traces of opiates, preserved for nearly 2,500 years. The analysis found noscapine, hydrocotarnine, morphine, thebaine, and papaverine — compounds that unmistakably point to opium. An Opium Vase That Bridged Empires The team's investigation began when Andrew J. Koh, a researcher at the Yale Peabody Museum, noticed a dark ... [Read More]

Nov 20th, 2025 - Aerial drones are giving scientists a new view of life at sea. In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, causing one of the largest marine oil spills ever. In the aftermath of the disaster, whale scientist Iain Kerr traveled to the area to study how the spill had affected sperm whales, aiming specialized darts at the animals to collect pencil eraser-sized tissue samples. It wasn't going well. Each time his boat approached a whale surfacing for air, the animal vanished beneath the waves before he could reach it. "I felt like I was playing Whac-A-Mole," he says. As ... [Read More]

Nov 20th, 2025 - On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by . By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. From deep-sea hydrothermal vents to freezing glaciers , there are plenty of harsh environments on Earth . But they're nothing compared with outer space. There are, however, a growing list of species, such as tardigrades and certain flowering plants, that can survive in that cold vacuum. The most recent addition is a type of moss, ... [Read More]