Most Precise Atomic Clock Ever Built Will Only Lose a Second Every 30 Billion Years

The device, which traps thousands of atoms to keep time, is "pushing the boundaries of what's possible with timekeeping."

Alphabet Soup: NASA's GOLD Finds Surprising C, X Shapes in Atmosphere

NASA's Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission has revealed unexpected C- and X-shaped formations in an electrified layer of gas high above our heads called the ionosphere.

"Time cells" in the brain act like a stopwatch for complex tasks

Researchers found that time cells in the brain are crucial for learning complex tasks, acting like a personalized time code.

Remnants of Earth's primordial crust found in Australia

Our planet was born around 4.5 billion years ago. To understand this mind-bendingly long history, we need to study rocks and the minerals they are made of. In a new study, evidence of rocks of a similar age were found in Australia.

'Ghost Particles' Could Be The Secret Behind The Heaviest Elements

 A new model of quantum interactions now suggests some of the lightest particles in the Universe might play a critical role in how at least some heavy elements form.

Australia's enigmatic pink sand was born in Antarctic mountains

The hunt for the origin of garnet crystals found on South Australian beaches took researchers thousands of kilometres and half a billion years back in time to a hidden Antarctic mountain range.

This Glassy Gel Is a Surprising New Class of Material That Heals Itself

In a serendipitous discovery, researchers have created a new class of materials called 'glassy gels' that are half liquid but hard to break.

Scientists create the thinnest lens on Earth, enabled by excitons

Lenses are used to bend and focus light. Normal lenses rely on their curved shape to achieve this effect, but physicists from the University of Amsterdam and Stanford University have made a flat lens of only three atoms thick that relies on quantum effects.

Neanderthal DNA Exists in Humans, But One Piece Is Mysteriously Missing

The Homo sapiens genome today contains a little bit of Neanderthal DNA. These genetic traces come from almost every part of the Neanderthal genome – except the Y sex chromosome, which is responsible for making males.

The Human Brain's Complexity Verges on The Brink of Chaos

The human brain is said to be the most complex object in the known Universe.  Its 89 billion neurons each have around 7,000 connections on average, and the physical structure of all those entities may be balanced precariously on a knife's edge.

How Archaea, The Third Form Of Earth Life, Makes Energy

An international scientific team has redefined our understanding of archaea, a microbial ancestor to humans from two billion years ago, by showing how they use hydrogen gas.

Earliest Evidence of Earth's Magnetic Field Found in Greenland

Geoscientists show that rocks from the Isua Supracrustal Belt in West Greenland have experienced three thermal events throughout their geological history.

Elephants Call Their Relatives by Name across the Savanna

A new research suggests wild African elephants may pick their own names and use them to call and greet one another on the savanna.

New antibiotic helps maintain healthy gut microbes

A recent study shows promise for a new antibiotic that effectively fights several bacteria while sparing the helpful bacteria that occur naturally in the gut.

Alien-Looking Species Seen For First Time Ever in Ocean's Darkest Depths

A collection of new species discovered lurking on the seafloor exemplifies exactly how alien this strange world is.