Photo: Getty Images So, you’re one of the thousands of people currently stuck in airport limbo as the FAA grapples with staffing shortages. You’ve watched in dismay as flight boards flip from green to red. You’re tired and just want to get where you need to go. What do you do? Step 1: Cry. It’s…

Lunar sample 14321, also known as Big Bertha.Image: NASA A re-analysis of lunar materials collected during the Apollo 14 mission has resulted in a rather astonishing conclusion: One of the rocks brought back appears to contain a small chunk of Earth dating back some 4 billion years. Incredibly, it’s now amongst the oldest terrestrial rocks…

LightImage: Public Domain (Phys.org) Scientists have devised a way to communicate secretly by sending laser-transmitted messages directly into the area around a person’s ear. Humans enjoy talking with one another, and often do so in ways that prevent eavesdroppers from listening in. This new research could have potential military applications—but who knows where else it…

The entrance to the Altai cave in Siberia where a Denisovan fossil was found in 2008.Image: Cheburgenator/Wikimedia Buried deep within the DNA of Asian individuals is a genetic clue pointing to the existence of an unknown human ancestor. Remarkably, it wasn’t a human who reached this startling conjecture, but rather an artificially intelligent algorithm. Welcome…

FDA chief Scott Gottlieb, above, testifying at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the opioid crisis in 2017Photo: Drew Angerer (Getty Images) An expert tasked with helping the Food and Drug Administration weigh potential new opioid drug approvals is openly calling out the agency for what he alleges are its continued missteps in…

Image: NASA If you’re anything like me, you were probably a little disappointed when you saw the first pictures of Kuiper belt object MU69. Sure, we could make out a snowman-like shape, but it also looked like something a shot with a smartphone from a moving car. Ok, that’s not far off, as the New Horizons…

Older noise-cancelling techniques involve the use of speaker-packed headboards that don’t effectively direct noise-cancelling signals at the sleeper who’s suffering.Photo: Northern Illinois University In their testing, the researchers found the pillow was able able to reduce the loudness of snoring sounds by up to 31 decibels. That’s enough of a drop to make a roaring…