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"Why Einstein's theories of relativity make time travel possible."

Views expressed in this science, space, and technology update are those of the reporters and correspondents. Accessed on 28 July 2026, 2355 UTC.

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Russ Roberts (https://hawaiisciencemonitor.blogspot.com).

Today

Why Einstein's theories of relativity make time travel possible

Physicists, mathematicians and philosophers have been exploring the possibility of going forward to the future or back to the past

How mental exhaustion changes the choices you make

Neuroscientists show how the brain weighs effort against reward when we're mentally fatigued

What caused the magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Japan?

Kumamoto magnitude seven quake

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10h

This quake, which has caused damage to several roads and buildings, occurred along a strike-slip fault

Yesterday

Has NASA already found life on Mars?

Viking 1 Mars landing anniversary

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In searches for past and present Martian life, some scientists say we’ve been too cautious to see what’s right in front of us

Can bees sense magnetic fields?

Magnetoreception is one of the most controversial animal senses. And several bee species might have it

The best science books to read this summer, according to Scientific American editors

From ecohorror to science-inspired poetry, discover the books Scientific American staffers are recommending this summer

Jul 26, 2026

550 years later, scientists claim to have solved what killed Botticelli’s muse

Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli painted Simonetta Vespucci as Venus rising from the waves. Now scientists think they’ve solved how she died

Jul 25, 2026

The math of traffic jams and how to avoid them

When the roads get crowded, many drivers start changing lanes. Mathematics suggests this intuition is typically wrong

Jul 24, 2026

SpaceX launches Starship on successful test flight

Starship demonstrated key abilities on its path to becoming a fully reusable transport to take astronauts to the moon

Fungus-made fashion—researchers turn living organisms into textiles

This biodegradable textile is alive and can host engineered microbes that can change its color or add UV protection

NHTSA considers new car door safety rules after fatal Tesla crashes

US develops car door rules

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After fatal crashes in which occupants or rescuers could not open Tesla doors, federal regulators are considering rules that would require obvious mechanical releases—but any new standard could take years

When will the cyclosporiasis outbreaks end?

Lettuce linked to cyclospora outbreak

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Thousands of people have gotten sick from Cyclospora . Experts can’t agree whether the end is in sight

Europe’s heat waves are killing thousands—and wringing its soils dry

Europe drying and browning

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The European continent is facing a dual reckoning this summer—extreme heat is killing thousands and draining its rivers, soils and reservoirs at a record pace

How a 99-year-old mathematician unraveled a century-old braid mystery

Joan Birman popularized the Burau representation problem decades ago. Now she and two colleagues have a proof that reveals brand new insights into the geometry of braids

Is it possible to regain a sense of smell? These scientists are working on it

Smell is one of the most complex and least understood senses

The Rubin Observatory’s greatest legacy will be this ‘movie’ of the sky

Using the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory, astronomers are beginning the largest and deepest survey of the sky. What will they see?

Sunlight benefits and risks: what science says about healthy sun exposure

Could sunlight actually improve your health? New research suggests we may need to rethink total sun avoidance

How lost shipping containers helped map the world’s ocean currents

Thousands of shipping containers vanish every year—what becomes of them?

Jul 23, 2026

Ancient geology could insulate Iran’s nuclear centrifuges under Pickaxe Mountain from bombing

Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, or Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La in Persian, is part of a volcanic arc that formed tens of millions of years ago and is made of a tough-to-penetrate rock

Transplanted testicular tissue grew sperm in an infertile patient

Frozen testis transplant restores fertility

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The history of testicular transplants is long and often sordid, but this successful procedure offers hope for survivors of cancer and other diseases that affect fertility

Why environmental groups are suing over SpaceX’s land swap deal

Conservationists seek stop SpaceX transfer

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If approved, this deal would give SpaceX hundreds of acres that are currently part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge in exchange for private land

Why don’t insects live in the ocean?

Lake fly larvae survive depths

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Nobody knows why insects aren't found living in the ocean. Scientists just eliminated one theory

Humans may have spoken 10 times as many languages 2,000 years ago

During a lost ‘golden age’ of language, humans may have spoken tens of thousands of different tongues, a new study suggests

Why Tom Hiddleston finds Pompeii so haunting—and so human

Actor Tom Hiddleston reflects on the first time he visited Pompeii as a teenager and explains why the ancient city’s preserved tragedy continues to shape his understanding of history and humanity

China’s Kimi K3 and the rise of open-weight AI models

Moonshot unveils Kimi K3

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Moonshot AI’s Kimi K3 shows how opening a model to outsiders can turn other companies’ computing power into a competitive advantage

2026 Fields Medals go to four young mathematicians

Chinese win 2026 Fields medals

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The 2026 Fields Medals recognize breakthroughs in the math of messy fluids, tangled knots, spinning pencils, and more

Watch orcas smashing fish to smithereens, possibly for fun

Orcas smash sunfish carcasses

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The behavior could be a strategy to help younger orcas feed, or it may just be for their own amusement, researchers say

Do animals act weirdly during a solar eclipse? Or do we?

There are many observations of animals behaving oddly during eclipses, but the reason may have nothing to do with the sun and moon

Jul 22, 2026

Watch orcas smashing fish to smithereens, possibly for fun

Orcas smash sunfish carcasses

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The behavior could be a strategy to help younger orcas feed, or it may just be for their own amusement, researchers say

U.S. pledges $5 billion to boost AI in government-backed scientific research

White House releases science roadmap

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The White House’s senior science adviser faced questions over research funding cuts from lawmakers on Wednesday

Long-lost coral reefs rediscovered off the coast of Africa

Benin coral reef rediscovered alive

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This marine ecosystem in the Gulf of Guinea shows the resilience of coral reefs against climate change

What OpenAI’s rogue agent really did in the Hugging Face hack

Credential Access (Enterprise TA0006)

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OpenAI models hack Hugging Face

This agent pursued its objective far beyond what researchers intended, revealing how difficult to contain powerful AI systems can be

A huge cosmic object could force astronomers to rethink what a moon is

Possible first exomoon discovered

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This almost Jupiter-sized object is orbiting a brown dwarf, which, in turn, is circling around a small star

These whales are the only ones that flip upside down. Now we know why

Southern right whales are the only whale species known to float upside down, and new drone footage suggests the purpose of the behavior could be to get a break from parenting

Jul 21, 2026

OpenAI admits its agent went rogue and hacked AI start-up Hugging Face

Command and Control (Enterprise TA0011)

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Hugging Face AI breach

This incident underscores concerns over the increasingly powerful cybersecurity capabilities of new AI models

Mesmerizing NASA time-lapse reveals Mars’s craters, polar ice caps and deserts

Psyche spacecraft completes Mars flyby

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The Psyche spacecraft flew by Mars earlier this year on its way to a metal-rich asteroid, capturing the images along the way

How a Futurama plotline led to a totally new math proof

In an episode of the cartoon, a machine lets characters swap bodies, but they can’t switch back with the same person. Math helps all the characters return to their original bodies

Rare double supernova discovered hiding in Jellyfish Nebula

For the first time ever, astronomers have found two sibling stars that each exploded as a supernova, giving us a new view of these epochal cosmic cataclysms

Rare footage reveals elusive Arctic bobtail squid mom with clutch of eggs

The Arctic Ocean is one of the most extreme environments on Earth, but that’s not stopping this cephalopod

Psychology researchers know why The Odyssey transcends time

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