OpenAI Invests in Sam Altman’s New Brain-Tech Startup Merge Labs
Merge Labs has emerged from stealth with $252 million in funding from OpenAI and others. It aims to use ultrasound to read from and write to the brain.
Neuroscientists Decipher Procrastination: A Brain Mechanism Explains Why People Leave Certain Tasks for Later
New research has discovered that a neural circuit may explain procrastination. Scientists were able to disrupt this connection using a drug.
Microsoft Has a Plan to Keep Its Data Centers From Raising Your Electric Bill
In response to a growing backlash, Microsoft said it would take steps to ensure that data centers don't raise utility bills in surrounding areas and address other public concerns.
Trump Declared a Space Race With China. The US Is Losing
If you want to put people back on the moon, don’t gut the agency in charge of getting them there.
Want to Stop Doomscrolling? You Might Need a Sleep Coach
Traditionally sleep coaches treat babies. But now more and more anxious, screen-attached grownups are the ones who need nursing.
Meta Is Making a Big Bet on Nuclear With Oklo
Meta will finance Oklo’s purchase of uranium for its reactors. It’s a massive vote of confidence for both the startup and nuclear power, but challenges remain.
Crispr Pioneer Launches Startup to Make Tailored Gene-Editing Treatments
Aurora Therapeutics, cofounded by Nobel Prize–winning scientist Jennifer Doudna, plans to use gene editing and a new FDA regulatory pathway to commercialize treatments for rare diseases.
The Oceans Just Keep Getting Hotter
For the eighth year in a row, the world’s oceans absorbed a record-breaking amount of heat in 2025. It was equivalent to the energy it would take to boil 2 billion Olympic swimming pools.
Traces of Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA May Have Been Discovered on a Red Chalk Drawing Called ‘Holy Child’
Researchers suggest that they have recovered sequences from ancient works and letters that may belong to the Renaissance genius.
New Records Reveal the Mess RFK Jr. Left When He Dumped a Dead Bear in Central Park
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he left a bear cub’s corpse in Central Park in 2014 to “be fun.” Records newly obtained by WIRED show what he left New York civil servants to clean up.