The new scanning equipment is up to 10 times faster than previous tools. US National Archives The National Archives is partnering with the genealogy company Ancestry to digitize and index tens of millions of US records related to the military, immigration history, and Indigenous communities. And while the public-private project is estimated to take roughly 5 years to complete, that’s roughly 10 times faster than it could have taken without the Archives’ newest tech tools. Announced on Thursday, organizers intend to make an initial 65.5 million documents available online within two years, incl ..read more

Researchers built a 3D image of nearly every neuron and its connections within a small piece of human brain tissue. This version shows excitatory neurons colored by their depth from the surface of the brain. Blue neurons are those closest to the surface, and fuschia marks the innermost layer. The sample is approximately 3 mm wide. Google Research & Lichtman Lab (Harvard University). Renderings by D. Berger (Harvard University) A cubic millimeter is, by all accounts, tiny. It’s barely noticeable–a speck or fleck or crumb. But look closely enough and you can uncover an entire world inside a ..read more

Devils Hole pupfish are endangered fish that live in one of the driest places on the planet. USFWS/O. Feuebacher A rare and ruthlessly resilient aquatic creature is continuing its come back. Biologists counted 191 Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis) during their annual spring season fish count in Death Valley National Park–one of the driest places on Earth. This is the highest number of Devils Hole pupfish that scientists have observed in 25 years, according to the National Park Service.  These fish are critically endangered by virtue of the hellish environment they call home. Devi ..read more

Opal Sandy, who was born deaf because of a rare genetic condition, and can now hear unaided for the first time after receiving ground-breaking gene therapy at 11-months-old, at her home in Eynsham, Oxfordshire. Andrew Matthews/PA Images via Getty Images A British toddler born with a genetic condition resulting in deafness can now hear in one ear thanks to a pioneering new gene therapy treatment.  The case was reported at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy’s annual meeting which is taking place this week in Baltimore, MD. The girl—18-month-old Opal Sandy from Oxfordshire—rece ..read more

A male African elephant named Doma and a female named Kariba greet one another. Doma touches Kariba´s temporal gland while flapping his ears and Kariba holds her ears spread. Vesta Eleuteri Communication is more than just verbal cues. It’s also glances and gestures and many primates, including humans, use motions to convey their message. Similarly, African elephants (Loxodonta africana) may change their greetings depending on whether the other elephant is looking at them. The gentle giants also use different combinations of gestures and vocalizations to get their points across that are descri ..read more

Brandt Ranj / Popular Science We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more › Apple’s wired earbuds have been popular since the iPod commercials aired in the mid-2000s, but the AirPods Max—its first pair of over-ear headphones—deserve praise, too. For a limited time, you can score a pair for $450 on Amazon, which matches their lowest price all year. This discount comes hot on the heels of Apple’s latest iPad Air and iPad Pro announcements, so you can pick up the new headphones to use with these upcoming tablets. AirPods Max $4 ..read more

A software update is already available to address the issue. Tandem Diabetes Care The US Food and Drug Administration issued a software recall after a defective diabetes management iPhone app reportedly shut off insulin pumps, injuring at least 224 users. Initially approved by the FDA in February 2022, Tandem Medical Care’s t:connect iOS app was the first of its kind to receive regulatory approval. Once downloaded, t:connect works alongside Tandem’s t:slim X2 insulin pump by allowing diabetes patients to issue bolus doses of insulin over Bluetooth. Shortly following the app’s 2.7 update in Ma ..read more

This image was taken from the Space Shuttle Atlantis just after the Hubble Space Telescope was intercepted by the Shuttle’s robotic arm during Servicing Mission 4. NASA What could bears and space telescopes possibly have in common? Last month, both the Hubble Space Telescope and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (known as TESS) ended up in a sort of hibernation. When faced with some kind of threat, these telescopes shut down all non-essential systems, doing only the bare minimum to keep themselves alive and prevent further damage if possible—sort of like how a bear makes it through a ..read more

Stack Commerce We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more › Take your coding journey to the next level and build sleek apps, create complex websites, or dive into the world of data science with this comprehensive bundle. The Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 + The 2024 Premium Learn to Code Certification Bundle, a platform that helps developers make it more manageable to work with more complex data, enables you to achieve your goals one step at a time. This limited-time deal makes it available for just $64.99 ..read more

The mold Aspergillus oryzae helps to make several fermented foods, including sake, soy sauce, and miso. Knowable Magazine This article was originally featured on Knowable Magazine. Nearly 9,000 years ago, around the time that humans were first domesticating corn and pigs, some people in China were taming fungi. One such fungus, the mold Aspergillus oryzae, would go on to become a culinary superstar. Through fermentation of raw ingredients like soybeans or rice, A. oryzae helps to bring us soy sauce, sake and several other traditional Asian foods. It does so by breaking dow ..read more