Science

Why happiness is not the best indicator of well-being

Achieving values and pursuing growth is the real secret to a fulfilled life.

Jason Crawford

How Arc Institute is bringing science into the century of biology

Stephen Johnson

A vibrant graphic illustration featuring a large leafy plant with integrated plant sensors, comic-style speech bubbles containing exclamation marks, and a round bubble depicting ants, set against a blue textured background.

Agriculture

Plant sensors could act as an early warning system for farmers

Using sensors made from carbon nanotubes, researchers discovered signals that help plants respond to stresses like heat, light, or attack.

Anne Trafton | MIT News Office

Drugs

Morning glories may be a source of new psychedelics and medicines

Researchers have found that the symbiotic relationship between a fungus and a morning glory holds the potential for new psychedelic compounds and medicines.

B. David Zarley

Brain

Here is how your brain understands one voice in a crowd

Researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center have discovered fresh insight into how the brain might deliberately hear one speaker while shutting out or ignoring another.

Teresa Carey

Outer Space

Startup will send prized artifacts to the International Space Station

Uplift Aerospace will transport valuable goods to the ISS and house them in their Constellation Vault starting this year.

Teresa Carey

Food

Smart food packaging keeps food fresh and reduces waste

A new "smart" type of food packaging promises to eliminate food poisoning by emitting chemicals that reduce harmful bacteria like E.coli, Salmonella, and Listeria, allowing meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables to last longer.

Teresa Carey

Animals

What the ancient, alien jellyfish can tell us about the human brain

The jellyfish nervous system, revealed by glowing genes, may help unlock the secrets of how our own brain evolved.

B. David Zarley

Genetics

Would we still see ourselves as “human” if other hominin species hadn’t gone extinct?

It’s all well and good to discuss how our humanity evolved – but what even is humanity?

Nicholas R. Longrich

Biology

Dead bodies keep moving for more than a year after death, study finds

Australian scientists found that bodies kept moving for 17 months after being pronounced dead.

Mike Colagrossi

Genetics

Gene editing could spare countless animals by creating single-sex litters

Scientists have created single-sex litters of mice using gene editing. This work could spare countless animals from needless death, improving animal wellbeing in both scientific research and agriculture.

Teresa Carey

Neuroscience

Edison and Dali’s “creative nap” trick seems to actually work

Briefly entering the hypnagogic state appears to boost creative thinking, just like Thomas Edison and Salvador Dalí said it would.

Kristin Houser

Urban Living

Paris to make the Seine River swimmable for the Olympics

Paris’ plan to make its iconic Seine River swimmable for the 2024 Summer Olympics could help other cities clean up their own waterways.

Kristin Houser

Sections

Video

Freethink

We focus on solutions: the smartest people, the biggest ideas, and the most ground breaking technology shaping our future.