We could be on the brink of total internet collapse. And there may only be months to stop it | BBC Science Focus Magazine The latest batch of AI models are revealing a host of vulnerabilities across the worldwide web

Anthropic says its new AI model found thousands of critical security flaws — including some in every major OS and browser — and is too dangerous to release publicly.

So what happens when someone else builds the same thing? And do we really need to be worried?
www.sciencefocus.com/news/interne...

We’re closer than ever to bringing back life from cryogenic freezing | BBC Science Focus Magazine Astronauts in cryosleep is one of science fiction's most enduring fantasies – but a new study suggests the gap between fiction and reality just got a little smaller

Long-term cryosleep and reawakening may no longer be completely in the realm of science fiction 🧪

Researchers froze mouse brain tissue and restored its function once thawed.

Still a long way from entire organisms, let alone people, but sooo cool, right?
www.sciencefocus.com/news/cryogen...

'Our product is used, on occassion, to kill people': Inside Palantir, the world's scariest AI company | BBC Science Focus Magazine Palantir has become one of the most influential and least understood tech companies on the planet. As its reach spreads, so do questions about how its tools work and who they ultimately serve

In my (somewhat biased) opinion, this is a really good overview of all things Palantir for those who aren't sure what the company *is*.

Get to know...
www.sciencefocus.com/future-techn...

How to slash your dementia risk in 12 weeks

Recently, I sat down with Dr Majid Fotuhi to chat about his new book, The Invincible Brain. 🧠 🧪

Fotuhi's science-backed method for fighting cognitive decline might just change how you view ageing and Alzheimer's altogether.

Listen to our chat below ⬇️
open.spotify.com/episode/00Xq...

Meteorological winter is done. It was top 5. Maybe top 3 warmest when the numbers are finalized. You wouldn’t know it or even believe it if you live in the East.
We heard lots about the cold and snow in the East, but the West BAKED as the warmest winter on record… 1/

Writing Doom – Award-Winning Short Film on Superintelligence (2024) YouTube video by Foregone Films

Fun/interesting way to lay out some pretty heavy points. Worth a watch for those who perhaps aren't sure what a superintelligence could be capable of

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfMQ...

A wispy cosmic cloud against a dark starry background. The cloud is horizontally elongated. It has an overall pinkish shade, but it’s full of intricate filaments in different colours.

Largest image of its kind shows hidden chemistry at the heart of the Milky Way!

ALMA has obtained a unique view of the cold gas within the Central Molecular Zone of the #MilkyWay, helping us probe the lives of stars in this extreme region.

https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2603/

🔭 🧪

From the Desk of Dr. James Gibbs: On the Return of the Floreana Giant Tortoise | Galápagos Conservancy For the first time in 180 years, Floreana lineage giant tortoises set foot on Floreana Island once again returning to their ancestral home.

Yes, the world can be bleak at times. But it really ain't all bad.

This story of tortoises returning to a Galapagos island after 180 yrs brought a smile to my face this morning. 🐢

Pretty interesting science behind this too 🧪
www.galapagos.org/newsroom/gib...

An ‘astonishingly’ large new dinosaur species has been discovered in the Sahara | BBC Science Focus Magazine This school-bus-sized predator was so unusual that scientists didn't recognise it at first

New dinosaur alert 🦖 🧪 🚨]

Palaeontologists have discovered a new species of dinosaur in a remote part of the Sahara. Named Spinosaurus mirabilis – meaning ‘astonishing’ Spinosaurus in Latin – the giant lived in what is now Niger more than 95 million years ago.
www.sciencefocus.com/news/new-din...

Simple ways to make better pancakes | BBC Science Focus Magazine Whether you’re going fluffy or thin this Pancake Day, these easy science hacks will take your pancake game to the next level.

Essential reading today 🥞 🧪

www.sciencefocus.com/science/how-...

Oatly banned from using word ‘milk’ to market plant-based products in UK Swedish company claims ruling is anti-competitive and ‘solely benefits Big Dairy’

You have to wonder just how delicate an industry is if it needs this sort of government intervention.

The world’s first AI-only social media is seriously weird. The next may be even stranger | BBC Science Focus Magazine Millions of AI agents are chatting and posting on a social media site where people can only observe. Soon, we won’t understand a word

My take on OpenClaw / Moltbook: fun and interesting but multi-agent systems in the future (when they're actually useful) will likely look a lot different...

🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞

www.sciencefocus.com/news/ai-soci...

Gas projects in the US pipeline explicitly linked to data centers increased by almost 25X over the past two years, according to new research from Global Energy Monitor.

Building the 'technology of the future' on the back of fossil fuels feels so so dumb...
www.wired.com/story/data-c...

Take your pick 😆

Quick reminder to anyone unsure. Yes, the US can still have major cold blasts with record low temperatures in a warming climate. 🧪

Here's why:

(image credit: NOAA)

Why sinking cities may now be a bigger climate crisis than rising seas | BBC Science Focus Magazine A hidden force is causing highly populated river deltas to sink. In many cases, the subsidence is happening faster than the sea is rising

A global analysis has found river deltas - some of the most densely populated areas on Earth - are sinking, often faster than sea level rise. 🧪

For those living in deltas, sea ⬆️ or land ⬇️ makes little difference, but it does change what you can do about it...

www.sciencefocus.com/news/deltas-...

⚛️

Schrödinger’s cat just got bigger: quantum physicists create largest ever ‘superposition’ Record-breaking experiment shows that a cluster of thousands of atoms can act like a wave as well as a particle.

Scientists just put 7k sodium atoms into a superposition (quantum effect where something is at different locations at same time).

This raises the possibility of doing the same to viruses or even proteins.

Mind sufficiently blown? Please continue w/ ur day 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

US science after a year of Trump: what has been lost and what remains A series of graphics reveals how the Trump administration has sought historic cuts to science and the research workforce.

Very illuminating. 🧪

www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

Poorest areas bear brunt of air pollution, US study shows Evidence suggests least well-off and minority ethnic communities face biggest burden from toxic air

The poorest in society already overwhelmingly live in areas with the worst air pollution. Hard to see how this could possibly help them.

But at least someone's looking out for industry, righhhht?!

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution

The Environmental Protection Agency, whose core responsibility is to protect human health and the environment, will stop incorporating HUMAN HEALTH when regulating air pollution.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...

57 ways of looking at a dying star.

The Alma Observatory tuned in to 57 different molecules pouring out of the star W Hydrae as it spills its guts into space. That material will later get recycled into the next generation of stars and planets.

www.almaobservatory.org/en/press-rel...

Graphic depicting the pathway of sensory nerves coordinating bone fracture repair. K. HOLOSKI/SCIENCE

I've never broken a bone (*knocks on wood*), but I hear it's excruciating. Perhaps its some comfort that the neurons responsible for that pain also help the bone heal? That and more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 🦴

NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission is dead Congress backs Trump administration’s efforts to kill project that would ferry martian rocks to Earth

RIP Mars Sample Return 💔 🧪
www.science.org/content/arti...

AI and quantum science take centre stage under Trump — but with little new proposed funding The US administration is banking on public–private partnerships and an expanded workforce to deliver progress, but critics say that this strategy could be offset by other US policies.

While the rest of science suffers, AI and quantum research are at least treading water. 🧪

It's an expensive gamble by the administration that I struggle to see paying off
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Europe’s anti-deforestation law is delayed again. What's to come The landmark regulation has been simplified — or weakened, depending on whom you ask — with more uncertainty ahead in the new year.

EU's deforestation delayed again, with possibly more delays and legislative changes again this year. 🌳🌲

Is this a lesson for lobbyists to never give up, even after a law is passed? Seems to be working... 😐
trellis.net/article/euro...?

The best science images of 2025 — Nature’s picks The Sun’s fiery surface, a tattooed tardigrade, rare red lightning and more.

Always a highlight of my year scrolling through the best science images. 🧪

My personal fav? Has to be that volcano I think. 🌋

Enjoy...

www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

A Scientific Pipeline to the Nobel Prize Fueled by Immigrants

Important. 🧪

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/s...

Earliest evidence of making fire Nature - Baked sediment, heat-shattered artefacts and introduced pyrite in a 400,000-year-old Palaeolithic occupation site in Suffolk, UK provide evidence of intentional fire-making, marking a...

Full study published in Nature here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Humans made fire 350,000 years earlier than previously thought, discovery in Suffolk suggests Groundbreaking find makes compelling case that humans were lighting fires much earlier than originally believed

Humans (likely Neanderthals) were making fire 350,000 years earlier than we thought. 🔥 🧪

Remnants of an ancient campfire were found in a field in England of all places. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

“The implications are enormous,” said Dr Rob Davis of the British Museum.
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...