A small insect called the water‑strider has a special fan on its back. The fan is made of many thin, overlapping plates. Each plate has tiny branches that split again into thinner ones. The fan lets the insect push against fast water with less effort. Scientists studied how the fan moves
Baseball now has a fresh way for teams to challenge calls. When a pitcher, batter or catcher thinks the umpire missed a ball‑strike, they can tap their head a few times and say “challenge. ” The new system uses cameras that automatically check whether the ball crossed the strike zone. Each team can
A big step in U. S. housing finance is happening now: a major mortgage agency is letting people use Bitcoin and other digital coins as security for buying a house. The deal works with two loans: the regular mortgage and an extra crypto‑backed loan, both managed by a partner company. The digital asse
People often think gambling is just a game, but it can affect how happy they feel overall. A new study looked at this idea by asking Australians who gamble whether they enjoy it and how that relates to problems. The researchers used both surveys and interviews, gathering data from people who play in
The transition from winter to summer in New England is proving slower than usual. Ocean temperatures stay near 40 degrees, which keeps the air from warming quickly and can bring sudden wind changes that push cooler air in. Over the past week, Boston has seen six rapid temperature shifts, moving f
The season for tornadoes often starts in April, when the weather changes a lot. Warm, wet air from the Gulf of Mexico moves inland and meets cooler, drier air that still lingers in the region. This clash creates a lot of energy high up in the sky, especially when strong winds at jet‑stream height mi
A lone woman in the South Bay walks a quiet road at night, pausing every few feet to check for dead newts that have fallen during their yearly trek from the Sierra Azul slopes to a nearby reservoir. She measures each body, snaps a photo, and uploads everything to a smartphone app that records the da
New York’s public campaign finance board is poised to deny a $7 million grant to Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bruce Blakeman. The denial hinges on a missing name—Blakeman’s running mate Todd Hood—on a form that has yet to be filed. The board, which leans left by design, acts quickly, but its act
The latest wave of startup funding points toward a focus on the underlying systems that drive tomorrow’s technology. Investors are pouring money into projects that build the backbone for AI, space computing, and digital security rather than just new consumer apps. One standout deal is a $400 mill
Last week, Arizona’s governor vetoed a plan to name a major Phoenix highway after Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist killed in 2023. But the real debate wasn’t about the name—it was about who gets to decide what counts as “historic. ” Republicans argued the highway should honor Kirk’s impact on p
