Apr 15th, 2026 - It's quick and easy to access Live Science Plus, simply enter your email below. We'll send you a confirmation and sign you up for our daily newsletter, keeping you up to date with the latest science news. A new study adds to the growing body of evidence that lobsters feel pain, with the crustaceans seemingly responding to electrical shocks with emotional distress. Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now Get the world's most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your ... [Read More]

Apr 15th, 2026 - A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com The invasion of the golden oyster mushroom is posing a threat to native species. And with temperatures warming, further expansion could lead to dire ecological consequences. The golden oyster mushroom was brought to the U.S. from Asia during the 2000s mostly because it "can grow quickly, which was a boon, as it's considered one of the most delicious mushrooms a forager can find," said Vice . What was once deemed a benefit turned out to be a threat. The bright yellow mushroom's ability ... [Read More]

Apr 14th, 2026 - April 14 (UPI) -- Google celebrated World Quantum Day with a new Doodle Tuesday, April 14, which is a nod to Planck's constant, an equation that starts with the number 4.14. "This Doodle features the Bloch Sphere, a visualization of how a qubit works," Google said on its website. "While a classical computing bit is strictly 1 or 0, a qubit can exist in a blend of both, called a superposition," the description of the animated artwork noted. "By harnessing superposition, along with other quantum properties, quantum computers can solve specific, complex problems that are out of reach for ... [Read More]

Apr 14th, 2026 - From lava tubes on Mars to ice pockets on Europa, subterranean environments may offer the best chance of finding life—and living safely—beyond our planet. It's a scene that sounds like it was lifted from Alien —a researcher interested in extraterrestrial life descends into the depths of a cave, where a droplet filled with creepy crawlies lands smack dab in her eye. "I was like, 'OK, I'm pretty sure that something alive fell in my eye,'" says Penelope Boston. She is now a portfolio scientist at NASA, but experienced this mortifying episode deep inside New Mexico's ... [Read More]

Apr 14th, 2026 - A remarkable archaeological discovery has come to light in Oman, where construction work along a key coastal road in the Al Batinah region led to the unearthing of graves dating back nearly 3,000 years. The find was confirmed by the Oman Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, which immediately intervened to halt construction and secure the site for detailed excavation. Officials say the graves belong to the Iron Age, a period crucial for understanding early human settlement in the Arabian Peninsula. The burial site appears to be a structured cemetery with multiple tombs grouped together, ... [Read More]

Apr 14th, 2026 - Giant echidnas weighing 15kg roamed Victoria – and the evidence was hiding in plain sight A skull fragment found in a tray of unsorted fossils collected more than a century ago leads to discovery A prehistoric fossil, hiding in plain sight in museum storage for more than a century, has revealed that giant echidnas once roamed Victoria . The Owen's giant echidna, Megalibgwilia owenii , lived during the Pleistocene , a geological epoch that began 2.5m years ago. It grew to about 1 metre long and weighed up to 15kg – about twice the size of Australia's modern echidnas. Specimens of ... [Read More]

Apr 14th, 2026 - "Spin-flip" system pushes solar cell energy conversion efficiency past 100% Energy can never be created or destroyed. That's basic Physics 101. You simply cannot create energy out of thin air. Yet researchers at Kyushu University in Japan say they have developed a technology that pushes the energy conversion efficiency of solar cells to 130%! At first glance, the results of the research, conducted with collaborators at Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany, sound fanciful at best. However, the reality is far more nuanced. Using a molybdenum-based "spin-flip" metal complex paired with a ... [Read More]

Apr 14th, 2026 - The tech giant says Ising, the new family of open-source quantum AI models for building quantum processors, will be the AI control plane for quantum hardware. Nvidia today unveiled a new family of open-source quantum AI models for building quantum processors. The announcement coincides with World Quantum Day , an international initiative by quantum scientists to promote public understanding of quantum science and technology. Nvidia is calling its new family of quantum AI models Nvidia Ising, named after the Lenz-Ising model of ferromagnetism in statistical mechanics. That model dramatically ... [Read More]