Scientists set out how to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030

Greenhouse gas emissions could be halved in the next decade if a small number of current technologies and behavioural trends are ramped up and adopted more widely, researchers have found, saying strong civil society movements are needed to drive such change. … Continued

Organoids Are Not Brains. How Are They Making Brain Waves?

Clusters of living brain cells are teaching scientists about diseases like autism. With a new finding, some experts wonder if these organoids may become too much like the real thing. Two hundred and fifty miles over Alysson Muotri’s head, a … Continued

How scientists built a ‘living drug’ to beat cancer

IN 2010, EMILY Whitehead was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a cancer of certain cells in the immune system. THIS IS THE most common form of childhood cancer, her parents were told, and Emily had a good chance to beat it with … Continued

The Science Behind Eureka Moments

Aha experiences aren’t as serendipitous as you may think. Here’s how to proactively produce them. It’s the third century, B.C., and the King of Syracuse is suspicious. He has commissioned a new gold crown. But upon receiving the crown from … Continued

Shell Carbon-Capture Plant Hits 4 Million Ton Milestone Early

A Royal Dutch Shell Plc-operated carbon capture and storage project in Canada has hit a milestone of sequestering 4 million tons of carbon dioxide about six months ahead of schedule and at a lower cost than estimated, helped by better-than-expected reliability. … Continued

Humans Make Up Just 1/10,000 of Earth’s Biomass

Plants make up 80 percent, but human activity chopped that number in half over the last 10,000 years The human population on Earth is about 7.6 billion people (and counting). But according to a new global census of biomass, humans … Continued

The Adult Brain Does Grow New Neurons After All, Study Says

A new scientific study points toward lifelong neuron formation in the human brain’s hippocampus, with implications for memory and disease. Not everyone was convinced. Arturo Alvarez-Buylla was the senior author on last year’s Nature paper, which questioned the existence of neurogenesis. Alvarez-Buylla, … Continued

DNA Gets a New — and Bigger — Genetic Alphabet

DNA is spelled out with four letters, or bases. Researchers have now built a system with eight. It may hold clues to the potential for life elsewhere in the universe and could also expand our capacity to store digital data … Continued

DARPA Wants to Build Conscious Robots Using Insect Brains

The Pentagon thinks bugs could hold the secrets to conscious experience. The Pentagon’s emerging technologies unit put out a call last week for proposals that use insect brains to control robots — because they could be used to create efficient new models for … Continued

Old coal mines can be ‘perfect’ underground food farms

Abandoned coal mines across the UK could be brought back to life as huge underground farms, according to academics. Mine shafts and tunnels are seen as “the perfect environment” for growing food such as vegetables and herbs. The initiative is … Continued

Can mushrooms be the platform we build the future on?

covative thinks it can use mycelia, the hair-like network of cells that grows in mushrooms, to help build everything from lab-grown meat to 3D-printed organs to biofabricated leather. Can mushrooms be the platform we build the future on? When the … Continued