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The daily brief · October 16, 2026

Bleached coral heals by touch, and frozen kidneys wake up

Things that looked finished turned out to be repairable today, from a bleached coral to a kidney that spent a year in a freezer.

  • 8 Discoveries
  • 283 Articles read
  • 48 Sources
  • 12 Min read

Today’s discoveries

Everything this morning found, in the order we would read it.

8 stories
  1. 01 Natural Sci. A bleached coral recovers after touching its own clone Five bleached fragments of Pocillopora damicornis, each about 1 to 1.5 centimetres across, were set against healthy fragments cut from the same colony. Source: Nature 1 min read
  2. 02 Technology Pig kidneys frozen for a year work again Pig kidneys cooled to -150 °C were stored in a freezer for months, one for over a year, in a glass-like state. Source: MIT Technology Review 1 min read
  3. 03 Life Sciences The melanoma vaccine that kept a teacher in his classroom After surgeons cut out his melanoma in 2019, public school teacher Gary Keblish was referred to a trial of Merck and Moderna's personalized mRNA vaccine, intismeran autogene, given… Source: STAT 1 min read
  4. 04 Natural Sci. A gene called DEAF1 explains why exercise rebuilds old muscle Researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School, with Singapore General Hospital and Cardiff University, found that a gene called DEAF1 becomes overactive with age and interferes with muscle… Source: ScienceDaily 1 min read
  5. 05 Technology Jonathan the tortoise, 194, has a surprisingly tidy genome Jonathan, a 400-pound Aldabra giant tortoise, is the oldest known living land animal, at roughly 194. Source: SingularityHub 1 min read
  6. 06 Good News Congress sends the Elwha River land back to the tribe, pending one signature Congress presented H.R. Source: Good News Network 1 min read
  7. 07 Good News Australia's wind and solar decisions break a record with a quarter to go The Clean Energy Regulator's updated table shows 5,358 megawatts of utility-scale wind and solar reaching a final investment decision from 1 January to 30 September 2026. Source: The Bright Side 1 min read
  8. 08 Natural Sci. Dogs seem to hear "bouba" as round and "kiki" as spiky In a study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, animal behaviorists brought 51 dogs and their owners into a room with a rounded figure on one wall and a spiky one on the other, then… Source: Nature 1 min read

The feel-good story of the day

Desmond Tutu Wikimedia Commons / Desmond Tutu
Pictured Desmond Tutu

The priest who won the Nobel Peace Prize on this day in 1984

Desmond Tutu was born in 1931 in Klerksdorp, South Africa, and became an Anglican priest. In the 1970s and 80s he served as General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches, where he spoke against apartheid and pressed for change through nonviolent means. On 16 October 1984 the Nobel Committee awarded him the Peace Prize for that work.

He went on to become the first Black Archbishop of Cape Town. After apartheid ended, he chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which gave victims and perpetrators a public place to tell what had happened. He died in 2021, aged 90.

Tutu is remembered for a laugh that came easily and a conviction that held under pressure: that people on every side of a conflict are still people. The prize he was given forty-two years ago today is one of the reasons the world was listening when he said so.

Today’s complete edition

The discoveries, in full

Read the evidence, what it changes, and the reporting behind each of today’s 8 discoveries.

01/08 Natural Sci. Good News

A bleached coral recovers after touching its own clone

Five bleached fragments of Pocillopora damicornis, each about 1 to 1.5 centimetres across, were set against healthy fragments cut from the same colony. All five recovered completely within eight weeks 245.

bleached coral reef
Pictured bleached coral reef · Unknown (via rawpixel)

Five more fragments held a few millimetres away died 245. Where the identical tissues touched, they fused, and algae plus the nutrients those algae make moved across the join; the team saw algae inside the bleached piece within three days 245. The paper appeared in Science Advances on 14 October 2026 245.

What each field noticed (2)
The Bright Side

A Bleached Coral Lived Because It Touched Its Clone

The Bright Side told where the experiment came from. In 2025 two pieces of coral in Steve Palumbi's lab at Hopkins Marine Station tipped over onto each other, one bleached and one not, and colour returned where they touched. Oceans PhD student Danny Collins turned the accident into a controlled trial 245.

Read the story
02/08 Technology

Pig kidneys frozen for a year work again

Pig kidneys cooled to -150 °C were stored in a freezer for months, one for over a year, in a glass-like state. After rewarming, the kidneys were tested in machines and then transplanted into pigs, where they regained their colour and made urine, the key signs that a kidney is working 181.

a surgeon in an operating room
Pictured a surgeon in an operating room · U.S. Navy Medicine (via rawpixel)

"After we did the last transplant, I walked out of the room and said, ‘This is a big deal,’" said Erik Finger, a transplant surgeon at the University of Minnesota who co-led the work 181. Peter Kilbride, a cryobiologist who was not involved, said people had been trying and failing to reach this step for years 181.

Why this caveat matters Preprint vs. peer review: how vetted is this study?
03/08 Life Sciences

The melanoma vaccine that kept a teacher in his classroom

After surgeons cut out his melanoma in 2019, public school teacher Gary Keblish was referred to a trial of Merck and Moderna's personalized mRNA vaccine, intismeran autogene, given alongside the immunotherapy Keytruda 82.

a schoolteacher in a classroom
Pictured a schoolteacher in a classroom · Archives Of Ontario (Wikimedia Commons)

In August the companies announced that the large Phase 3 trial showed the combination significantly delayed both cancer recurrence and metastatic disease in melanoma patients 82. Keblish told the STAT Summit by video that his name was drawn from the hat, that the trial felt like a ride on the Magic School Bus ("Seatbelts, everyone!"), and that he is still teaching 8287. The companies are preparing to file the vaccine for approval 82.

04/08 Natural Sci.

A gene called DEAF1 explains why exercise rebuilds old muscle

Researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School, with Singapore General Hospital and Cardiff University, found that a gene called DEAF1 becomes overactive with age and interferes with muscle cells' ability to clear damaged proteins and repair themselves 8.

A gene called DEAF1 explains why exercise rebuilds old muscle
Unknown (via rawpixel)

Exercise helps bring the system back into balance, so older muscle can rebuild and regain strength. The work, in PNAS, centres on the growth-regulating pathway mTORC1, which tells cells when to make proteins 8. The experiments were done in fruit flies and mice 8.

05/08 Technology

Jonathan the tortoise, 194, has a surprisingly tidy genome

Jonathan, a 400-pound Aldabra giant tortoise, is the oldest known living land animal, at roughly 194. He arrived on St.

Jonathan the tortoise on St Helena
Pictured Jonathan the tortoise on St Helena · Kevin Gepford (Wikimedia Commons)

Helena as an adult in 1882, is blind from cataracts and still hears well 193. His veterinarian, Joe Hollins, lured him in with fresh greens and wedged his mouth open to scrape cells from his cheek, a procedure Jonathan tolerated for only a few seconds before the razor-sharp beak became a concern 193. Sequencing showed his genome was better maintained than that of tortoises roughly a century younger 193. Ageing normally brings accumulated mutations, shrinking telomeres, and chemical tags that stray from their usual places on the genome 193.

Why this caveat matters Why "linked to" doesn't mean "caused by"
06/08 Good News

Congress sends the Elwha River land back to the tribe, pending one signature

Congress presented H.R. 2388, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Project Lands Restoration Act, to the President on 14 October 2026.

Elwha River
Pictured Elwha River · Wikimedia Commons / Elwha River

The enrolled text takes about 1,082.63 acres into trust for the tribe 246. Rep. Emily Randall introduced it in March 2025, and Sen. Maria Cantwell's office said the Senate passed it unanimously 246. It is not signed 246.

What each field noticed (2)
Good News Network

Tribe Just a Signature Away from Recovering 1,100 Ancestral Acres Along Undammed Elwha River

Good News Network looked at the ground itself. The land lay muddy under a reservoir for over a century, since the Elwha Dam went up in 1910, and now hosts kingfishers, mountain lions, bears and salmon 217. The flooded acreage includes villages and the spot where elders say the tribe was blessed into existence 217. "That last missing piece was the Klallams, the people of the land," said tribe member Vanessa Castle 217.

Read the story
07/08 Good News

Australia's wind and solar decisions break a record with a quarter to go

The Clean Energy Regulator's updated table shows 5,358 megawatts of utility-scale wind and solar reaching a final investment decision from 1 January to 30 September 2026.

wind turbines and solar panels in Australia
Pictured wind turbines and solar panels in Australia · Unknown (via rawpixel)

The previous full-year high on the table is 4,884 megawatts, from 2018, and 2025 managed 2,124 244. The September quarter alone contributed 2.1 gigawatts, matching the strongest quarter on record, including 1.1 gigawatts of wind, the best wind quarter in the series 244. Approved capacity under the Cheaper Home Batteries program rose from 5.0 gigawatt-hours at the end of 2025 to 15.3 at the end of September 244.

08/08 Natural Sci. Human Stories

Dogs seem to hear "bouba" as round and "kiki" as spiky

In a study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, animal behaviorists brought 51 dogs and their owners into a room with a rounded figure on one wall and a spiky one on the other, then played a human voice saying "bouba" and "kiki" 276.

a dog
Pictured a dog · Basile Morin (Wikimedia Commons)

AI tracked where the dogs looked. They tended to look longer at the rounded shape when "bouba" played and at the angular one when "kiki" played 276. Nature's briefing adds that the dogs also moved toward the matching shape 28.

What each field noticed (2)

Quick notes

Shorter discoveries from this morning, worth knowing but not a full story.

USC scientists discover how to create a never-ending supply of cancer-fighting cells In mice, engineered immature immune cells settled in bone marrow, kept producing new immune cells and slowed both blood cancers and solid tumors 7. ScienceDaily
Scientists discover a plastic-eating “Pac-Man” enzyme with a surprising secret Several biodegradable plastics broke down completely in soil within about a year while conventional plastic barely changed, and the enzyme responsible also breaks down penicillin 12. ScienceDaily
How Do Fungi Keep the Planet Healthy? Underground fungi partner with 80% of plant species and sequester 13 billion tons of CO2 a year, roughly a third of fossil-fuel emissions, while deciding whom to trade with without a brain 55. Quanta Magazine
Axolotls Have a Surprisingly Clever Cognitive Ability, Even in Complete Darkness Twenty-four juvenile axolotls, whose eyesight is poor, assessed the sizes of doorways in a tank divider and kept doing it in the dark 65. ScienceAlert
Google's Quantum Computer Just Achieved a Major Breakthrough With 'Magic States' Google grew its error-prone "magic states" with a technique called cultivation, rather than distilling a whole batch down to a few good ones, and published the demonstration in Science 58. ScienceAlert
Daily briefing: Bleached corals revived by healthy neighbour’s touch Mauritius became the first country to reduce its number of people with type 2 diabetes, and a 100,000-person study found less diabetes, depression and anxiety among people with active brown fat, though that one is retrospective and cannot show cause 28. Nature
What went right this week: the good news that matters Indonesia's extreme poverty fell from 86% of people in 1984 to under 4% in 2025, and London's new 16-mile super sewer has cut sewage entering the Thames dramatically, according to Thames Water 221. Positive News
Largest Private Conservation Project in the US Hits Major Milestone as Free-Roaming Bison Pass 1,000 American Prairie's herd has topped 1,000 for the first time on a 603,657-acre reserve, and a federal judge blocked an order to remove the bison from federal allotments on 4 September 214. Good News Network
An Extinct Crocodilian’s Skull Was Found in the Rocks That Built the Sphinx, and it’s Also Missing its Nose CT scans showed a 1920s fossil was a new species, now named Herugavialis cairensis, after the missing snout reminded researchers of the Sphinx 216. Good News Network
No Fees, Kit Costs, or Hostel Bills: How Zawar Turned a Mining Township Into Rajasthan's Football Hub More than 5,000 children have trained at a free football academy in a Rajasthan zinc-mining town since 2017, and some now play professionally 235. The Better India
‘I Wanted To Contribute Differently’: Doctor Quits Job To Help 100+ NGOs Find Funds & Volunteers After ten years in government service, Khushbu Taori Modi built SewaConnect, a free platform that has supported more than 100 organisations and mobilised over Rs 1 crore in CSR funding 232. The Better India
Beyond Ground Faba, Rubisco Protein & Microbial Silk Among Time’s Best Inventions of 2026 Beyond's faba bean mince, made from four ingredients and carrying 27g of protein per 4oz serving, made Time's list of 2026's best inventions 195. Green Queen
What to leave alone in your garden this October to help overwintering bees Most of the 3,600-plus native US bee species nest in leaf litter and hollow stems, so piling leaves in a corner and cutting stems to a foot instead of the ground gives them a winter home 247. The Optimist Daily
The surprisingly hopeful quest to fix concrete Researchers describe concrete that heals its own cracks as the Pantheon has, concrete that stores energy, and a blend that absorbs more CO2 than it emits 105. Future Perfect | Vox

Our process. Your trust.

Every discovery above traces back to an article we read in full. This is the whole corpus behind this morning, and what it was made of.

  • 48 Sources scanned
  • 283 Articles read
  • 8 Fields covered
  • 8 Discoveries

Where today’s articles came from

The sources that carried this morning

  1. 1 PLOS One 20 articles
  2. 2 The Conversation Articles 19 articles
  3. 3 Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily 16 articles
  4. 4 STAT 16 articles
  5. 5 Ars Technica - All content 16 articles
  6. 6 The Better India : Latest Posts 14 articles
  7. 7 Nature 11 articles
  8. 8 New Atlas 11 articles
How an edition is made

Everything we read today

Natural Sciences 69 articles
Latest from Live Science
17 Astronomers discover the first-ever green star, plus the reddest 'white dwarf' ever seen
18 2 giant Ramesses II statues, one wearing a double crown, discovered by man in Egypt
19 'We're not a competitor to fusion. We are fusion': Inside the race to harness unlimited solar power in space
20 Mysterious hole in Neanderthal shoulder blade may have been a 'kill shot' from a wooden spear, according to archaeologists
21 Testosterone for menopause: The treatment is rising in popularity, but does it work?
Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily
1 “Crawzilla” was huge. Then scientists found an even bigger crayfish
2 The uranium cubes that exposed Nazi Germany’s nuclear failure
3 Arctic sea ice hits another troubling low in 2026
4 Antarctica’s sea ice has undergone a stunning reversal
5 NASA captures strange waves high above Hurricane Simon
6 A protein that fuels cancer could also be the key to fighting it
7 USC scientists discover how to create a never-ending supply of cancer-fighting cells
8 Scientists discover how exercise reverses muscle aging
9 Mysterious brain activity under anesthesia challenges what we know about consciousness
10 A quantum highway just one atom high could transform superconductors
11 Yale scientists discover how stress changes the brain to make memories stronger
12 Scientists discover a plastic-eating “Pac-Man” enzyme with a surprising secret
13 Astronomers discover a strange universal rule behind black hole eruptions
14 Eating late at night linked to up to 30% higher risk of liver disease
15 A fungus is threatening the world’s food supply. Scientists just found a new defense
16 Strokes have nearly doubled among younger adults, and scientists aren't sure why
Nature
22 The pianist who never played
23 Unprecedented atlas explores mitochondria across the tree of life
24 PhD students who write dissertation with AI less likely to stay in academia
25 Is AI eroding PhD students’ critical thinking and analysis skills?
26 World’s timekeepers upend how they adjust time to avoid catastrophic ‘negative second’
27 Orangutan mothers arrange play dates for their babies
28 Daily briefing: Bleached corals revived by healthy neighbour’s touch
29 Nearly half of reef-building corals face elevated relative risk of extinction
30 Give me the good news: four science stories to brighten your day
31 Margaret Hamilton obituary: computer scientist who pioneered software engineering and helped us get to the Moon
32 ArXiv versus AI slop: will capping preprint submissions work?
PLOS Biology
33 What is biology research for?
34 A broad-host-range <i>Rhizobium rhizogenes</i> strain enables transient expression across diverse crop species
PLOS One
35 Ancient Greek votive epigraphy: Ancient religion between individual choice and cultural trends
36 Predicting lymph node metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer using clinical and PET/CT-derived morphological features: An interpretable machine-learning study
37 Symptom clusters and help-seeking behaviours during neutropenia after autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation: A qualitative study to inform oncology nursing support
38 Comprehensive Analysis of the AP2/ERF Transcription Factor Family in <i>Schisandra chinensis</i> and Its Implications for secondary metabolism
39 Insecticide resistance status predetermines behavioural responses and oviposition fitness in <i>Anopheles coluzzii</i>
40 Analysis of construction response for mechanized construction of metro connecting passages
41 Effects of microtrauma on joint structural changes in the Curdlan-injected SKG mouse model of ankylosing spondylitis
42 Cardiovascular risk prediction models for women: A systematic review protocol
43 Lifestyle factors and clustered patterns of body shape change in Korean adults: A longitudinal observational study
44 Evaluation of a novel body temperature sensor (CORE) in dogs under general anesthesia following premedication with dexmedetomidine or acepromazine: A pilot study
45 Expert consensus on the availability and consumption of herbal medicinal products in Thai pharmacies: An e-Delphi study
46 The ability of the commercial inertial measurement unit-based gait system in determining Parkinson’s disease: A systematic review with meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies
47 Quality of recovery after arthroscopic meniscectomy with remimazolam or propofol anesthesia: A randomized controlled trial
48 Expression of Concern: Promoting agricultural entrepreneurship through practical education in Chinese universities
49 Change in hearing loss and its association with general health in a community-based longitudinal study of middle-aged individuals: The Busselton healthy ageing study
50 Improved YOLOv26-ACearly-ASPPdeep for citrus disease and pest detection
51 Digital twin-assisted edge-local query resolution for privacy–utility trade-off in location-based services
52 HLA-driven variability in human cytomegalovirus immune recognition: Epitope predictions from a kidney transplant Cohort
53 Impact of structured sexual health training incorporating standardised patients on health professions students’ sexual health communication competence: A single-blind randomised controlled trial in Tanzania
54 Smooth muscle cell mineralocorticoid receptor does not contribute to atherosclerosis in male or female ApoE-knockout mice
Quanta Magazine
55 How Do Fungi Keep the Planet Healthy?
ScienceAlert
56 Drinking 'Very' Hot Tea or Coffee Could Triple Your Risk of This Cancer, Huge Study Finds
57 There's a Surprisingly Simple Way to Remove Microplastics in Your Drinking Water
58 Google's Quantum Computer Just Achieved a Major Breakthrough With 'Magic States'
59 New Electrical Test Can Help Identify Signs of Extraterrestrial Life in Space
60 Millions of Americans Use Cannabis to Help Them Sleep. It Could Be Doing The Opposite.
61 One Common Eating Habit Is Linked to Higher Risk of 2 Liver Diseases
62 Meet D-Rex: Ancient Fungus as Tall as a Traffic Cone Has Just Been Discovered in China
63 Oldest Known Spear Attack May Be Found in 75,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Remains
64 Scientists Find a Way to Turn Desert Sand Into 'Living Sand' That Holds Water Six Times Longer
65 Axolotls Have a Surprisingly Clever Cognitive Ability, Even in Complete Darkness
Universe Today
66 Scientists Detect Rare Type of Wood Alcohol in Space
67 Host Stars Shape Their Planetary Systems Into Two Families
68 Orionid, Taurid Meteors Haunt October Skies
69 SPHEREx Just Took the Fingerprints of Failed Stars Across Our Cosmic Neighborhood
Life Sciences & Medicine 22 articles
Psychiatric Times articles
70 <![CDATA[Follow-Up Care and the Caregiver's Role in Managing Agitation]]>
71 <![CDATA[Choosing Between Augmentation and Switching for Agitation Therapy]]>
72 <![CDATA[Pitfalls in Antipsychotic Serum Level Interpretation]]>
73 <![CDATA[Anorexia Nervosa in Male Athletes: Clinical Recognition and Diagnostic Challenges]]>
74 <![CDATA[Responding to Intimate Partner Violence Disclosures in Psychiatry]]>
75 <![CDATA[Trees in the Forest of Depression]]>
STAT
76 What to read before you go see that new documentary on Elizabeth Holmes
77 STAT+: Coerced sex or a jealous ex? Jury weighs dueling accounts of star scientist David Sabatini’s downfall
78 STAT+: In DOGE’s aftermath, federal health workers bristle at new performance reviews
79 Opinion: Is Milton Friedman to blame for America’s health care woes?
80 Opinion: I thought I knew why patients stopped taking their medicine. I was wrong
81 Trump administration advances plan for peptide drugs favored by RFK Jr.
82 Merck and Moderna have ‘lot of exploring to do’ after initial cancer vaccine success
83 The Trump administration is doubling down on health care fraud investigations
84 Mass. lawmaker Auchincloss favors boosting U.S. biotech over targeting China
85 STAT+: Former FDA commissioners Califf, Gottlieb, Sharpless lay into current HHS leadership
86 STAT+: Verastem’s KRAS inhibitor shows promise in pancreatic cancer
87 After a melanoma diagnosis, mRNA cancer vaccine delivered a patient hope — and a path forward
88 STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about former FDA head calling DOGE a ‘disaster,’ an AstraZeneca AI deal, and more
89 STAT+: ‘AI sandboxes’ are all the rage. Advocates scramble to control their future
90 Kenya reports second Ebola case
91 STAT+: On Wall Street, there’s trouble stirring for biotech
Psychology & Behavioral Science 13 articles
Greater Good
92 Happiness Break: A Breathing Technique to Help You Relax
Psyche | Know Your Self
102 The social construction of emotions
103 Deciding to detransition
104 How mental disorders play havoc with our motivation
PsyPost Psychology News
93 Oxytocin amplifies negative childhood memories for anxiously attached adults
94 Some adults’ brains look older than their age, and gut biology may be part of the picture
95 Family genetics study questions the role of genetic nurture in ADHD
96 Your job says little about what you want in a partner, study suggests
97 Machine learning uncovers early warning signs of depression in brain scans
98 Social freedom shapes whose version of reality you adopt, new research suggests
99 Puberty may mark a turning point for sex differences in the brain’s emotion and memory centers
100 Psychologists identify three distinct profiles of support for free speech
101 Psilocybin appears to strengthen this optical illusion, but LSD microdoses do not
Social Sciences 30 articles
Future Perfect | Vox
105 The surprisingly hopeful quest to fix concrete
Marginal REVOLUTION
106 India has more Restrictive Labor Law than Germany
107 On Bergman’s *Persona*
108 I guest host the NYT podcast and interview Dwarkesh
109 Thursday assorted links
110 Astra Held Its Ground (Truth)
NOEMA
111 What We Can Save In A Time Of Endings
Pew Research Center
112 Majority of Americans Expect Democrats to Win Control of House; Public Is Split on Senate
113 Turkish police raid offices of major TV news channel
114 So Far, the 119th Congress Is Among the Least Productive of the Past 40 Years
Recent VoxEU Content
115 The cost of job loss in carbon-intensive sectors: Evidence from Germany
The Conversation Articles
116 Remote work made these colleagues more open with each other, not less
117 Belonging and belief: Why evangelical churches draw many migrants in the US
118 Treating depression during pregnancy may benefit baby’s brain development – new research
119 Fentanyl is fueling overdose deaths in Colorado – what voters need to know about Proposition 132’s attempt to stiffen penalties
120 Pennsylvania’s aging prisons weren’t built for today’s extreme weather – leaving women and seniors especially at risk of illness and death
121 Sexual violence concepts launched online are spilling into the real world – harming women and young men and overwhelming counselors
122 Why the 26 secretary of state races this November matter more than they did before Trump’s drive to assert federal authority over elections
123 Starlink slowdown underscores Ukraine’s reliance on the US in the battle for the skies
124 For centuries, bird migration was a mystery – a tech revolution is changing that, and could help save these amazing creatures
125 Americans want electric cars – they just can’t find them
126 Can social media bans protect young people’s mental health? Early research suggests that bans aren’t the answer
127 Using light to control brain cells – neuroscientist Karl Deisseroth explains how he made his Nobel-winning discovery
128 As AI takes on more tasks, what happens when people have to jump in to clean up after it?
129 Americans who go to church and trust science are also more likely to believe in ghosts and curses, new research shows
130 Do you think teachers are similar to coaches, pastors or something else? It depends on where you live
131 Ketamine’s role in alleged Cornell rape highlights flood of psychoactive drugs on campus
132 Why the GOP’s voter fraud messaging may backfire
133 Is the world pricing the risk of a US diesel export ban?
134 Young voters fear mass shootings but are divided on gun control
Technology & Innovation 59 articles
Ars Technica - All content
135 Rocket Report: FAA eyes more Starbase traffic; India's Skyroot snares US customer
136 Blue Origin is going all in on the New Glenn rocket
137 Googlebook review: Android on a laptop is still Android
138 KDE turns 30 with Plasma 6.8, remote upgrades, and an X11 farewell
139 Plex now helps sell movie theater tickets
140 Hegseth’s dubious low-T screening may flag up to 25 percent of the Army
141 Targeted ads delivered 0-click exploits to install mercenary malware
142 Above the 911? Porsche previews a new mid-engined supercar.
143 What did the Liberty Bell sound like? Science is on the case.
144 Black Sea drone attacks enter NATO country's territorial waters for first time
145 Microplastics in water aren’t inert and make damaging chemicals on their own
146 Trump cancels Pentagon plans to livestream firing squad execution
147 Neutron's first launch slips again amid trouble with carbon composites
148 Report: FTC probes Anthropic, OpenAI after Trump dismissed AI fears as “hoax”
149 Singer or clanker? YouTube Music will tell you with new gen AI labeling.
150 Rewilding could help vulnerable islands keep pace with rising seas
Futurism
151 AI Experts Already Doomsday Prepping for When AI Takes Out the Entire Financial System
152 Residents Reject $10,000 Each to Let a Data Center Set Up in Their Town
153 Meta Glasses Said to Be Recording Even When They’re in Sleep Mode
154 The Guy Who Allegedly Bugged OpenAI’s Executive Conference Room Had Booked a One-Way Flight to Saudi Arabia With His Family
155 OpenAI Hit With Stack of Lawsuits Over ChatGPT Allegedly Coaching Children to Harm Themselves
156 Trump Backs Down, Cancels Livestreamed Firing Squad Execution
157 Elon Musk Says It Was the Pentagon That Shut Down Starlink for the Ukrainian Military
158 Elon Musk Says He’s Been Struggling With AI Psychosis
159 If AI Models Are Really Conscious Like Anthropic Keeps Suggesting, Forcing Them to Work Is a Horrendous Act of Slavery
160 Data Centers Are Driving Conservative Rural Voters to The Democratic Party En Masse
IEEE Spectrum
161 Chasing China’s Monazite Monopoly
162 Can a Radioactive Ore Break China’s Grip on Rare Earths?
163 Compact Analog Signal Generators for Fast RF Testing
Interesting Engineering
164 SpaceX cargo ship delivers over 6,300 pounds of supplies to space station
165 Proposed 10MW Indiana-based data center targets one-year delivery via modular build
166 Musk’s Roadster lifts off on air thrusters while Alef’s flying car claims 11-year head start
167 Brain organoids ‘read’ Braille with 83% accuracy in biohybrid computing breakthrough
168 Robot brain combines sight, tough and sound to help humanoids handle real chores
169 Elon Musk showcases Tesla Roadster ‘flying car’ in high-octane Texas stunt
170 Directed-energy weapon that can neutralize threats in seconds integrated on unmanned ground vehicle
171 US Military drones tap 150,000 radios in push to beat battlefield jamming threats
172 World’s first fast-spectrum molten chloride reactor experiment nears critical testing
MIT Technology Review
173 The Download: failed social media bans, and extending pets’ lives
174 This implant can restore sight for patients with macular degeneration
175 Love is infrastructure
176 Can’t bear to say goodbye to your pet? Biotech’s got you covered.
177 Kids are outsmarting social media bans. That’s not a problem we need to solve.
178 The Download: reviving frozen pig kidneys and boosting nuclear power
179 How much more can nuclear power plants give?
180 Six wild ideas for perpetuating your mind
181 Pig kidneys that were “frozen” for a year have been brought back to life
New Atlas: Technology-Innovation-Outdoor News
182 Extra-wide tiny house embraces comfortable living on wheels
183 Brabus' ultra-limited, special-edition e-moto seeks a $50K price tag
184 Do the Tesla Roadster's aerial stunts count as flying?
185 U740-Valkyrie Loyal Wingman rockets into maiden flight
186 Instant Air Base: Sikorsky packs Nomad 100 VTOL drone squad in a box
187 Earliest account of a solar storm disrupting tech contained a serious typo
188 Wearable drone detection identifies threats over 3 miles away
189 Double-barrel smart telescope lets you swap optics like camera lenses
190 Noise-blocking earbuds adapt to your body's rhythm for restful slumber
191 Ultra-small tiny house is built for life on the move
192 Tri-motor hyper-hatch lands as Peugeot's fastest car ever
SingularityHub
193 The Oldest Living Land Animal Is 194. DNA May Now Reveal the Secret to His Longevity.
Plant-Based & Vegan 20 articles
Green Queen
194 Op-Ed: Food Tech Commercialisation Shouldn’t Wait Until the Technical Answers Are In
195 Beyond Ground Faba, Rubisco Protein & Microbial Silk Among Time’s Best Inventions of 2026
196 Beyond Meat Expands Immerse Range with Caffeinated Energy Drinks & New Flavours
197 57% of Americans Think UPFs Can’t Be Healthy, As Wait for Federal Definition Continues
198 Beans, Clean Labels & Zero Waste 2.0 Star in Whole Foods Market’s 2027 Food Trends
199 Can Oyster Mushrooms Unlock the Umami Potential of Tofu’s Protein-Rich Byproduct?
Plant Based News
200 Workers ‘Hit, Drag, And Swear’ At Cows On Award-Winning UK Dairy Farm
201 Quick And Crispy Zucchini Fritters With Avocado Crema
202 The Healthiest Vegetables for Men and Women May Differ, Gut Doctor Says
Sentient
203 A Scientist Was Pushed Out for Studying Iowa’s Water. Now He’s Running To Regulate It.
The Vegan Society - One world. Many lives. Our choice.
204 Seven-in-Ten Willing to Cut Meat and Dairy to Improve Food Security
205 Claire Hamlett
Vegan Food & Living
213 WIN! A vegan dog treat bundle – worth over £25!
VegNews.com
206 Not Done With Summer Yet: The 10 Vegan Mango Products We're Obsessed With
207 You Don't Need Clams To Make These Classics: From Vegan Clam Chowder to Clam Linguine
208 These Vegan Halloween-Ready Recipes Are So Good, They’re Spooky!
209 Autumn-Spiced Pumpkin Soup With Crispy Roasted Chickpeas
210 Spiced Vegan Apple Cake With Maple Topping and Whipped Cream
211 The Best Foods for Relieving Stress (And What's Making It Worse)
212 Pumpkin Seed and Morita Chili Dipping Sauce
Solutions & Good News 45 articles
Good News Network
214 Largest Private Conservation Project in the US Hits Major Milestone as Free-Roaming Bison Pass 1,000
215 Good News in History, October 16
216 An Extinct Crocodilian’s Skull Was Found in the Rocks That Built the Sphinx, and it’s Also Missing its Nose
217 Tribe Just a Signature Away from Recovering 1,100 Ancestral Acres Along Undammed Elwha River
218 ESA’s New Sentinel 3C Satellite Makes its Debut with Sumptuous Images of Italy and the Arctic
219 Woman Who Lost Her Sister Invents a Child’s Car Seat Sticker That Doubles as Hospital Bracelet
Nice News
220 Fastest 9-Year-Old Girl to Run 5K Aims to Beat Her Personal Record: “I Love Chasing New Goals”
Positive News
221 What went right this week: the good news that matters
Reasons to be Cheerful
222 What Dementia Taught Me About Living Through a Callous Time
223 Welcome to the Depolarization Project
Sunny Skyz
224 Stranger Films Couple’s Dream Proposal, Then Goes Viral Trying to Find Them
The Better India : Latest Posts
225 4 Assam Villages Are Turning 1044 Bighas of Grazing Land Into a Forest Reserve to Protect 150 Deer
226 The Creche Child Who Came Back as Its Care Worker
227 5 Women, 5 Men, 1 Link to India: 10 Indian-Origin Changemakers Who Served the World
228 Maggots and a Lingering Stench: What May Have Caused Doddagubbi Lake’s Fish Kill
229 Army Major-Turned-Gardener Shares 6 Easy Steps to Grow Fresh Basil in a Small Pot at Home
230 How 2 Friends Are Using AI to Help 200+ Farmers Make Money From Leftover Crop Waste
231 He Painted 400 Electric Boxes in Kolkata With His Own Money!
232 ‘I Wanted To Contribute Differently’: Doctor Quits Job To Help 100+ NGOs Find Funds & Volunteers
233 Nashik Water Has Chromium At Over 1,000X The Limit?
234 A Road Inspector Secretly Turned Chandigarh’s Waste Into Its Famous Rock Garden
235 No Fees, Kit Costs, or Hostel Bills: How Zawar Turned a Mining Township Into Rajasthan's Football Hub
236 Hyenas Spotted Near Homes in Bengal: This Team Is Teaching 1000 Villagers How to React
237 ‘Don’t Turn Trees Into Light Poles’: How Mysuru Is Rethinking Festive Decorations
238 Do Pink Autos, Buses and Booths Make Women Safer? What Six Schemes Tell Us
The Bright Side
239 On the Desk, Not in the Deed + Five Lived. Five Did Not. | Bright Side Daily
240 Daily Digest — October 16, 2026
241 Fifty-Five Cards Have Opened a Minnesota Library 800 Times
242 Europe's Drug Advisers Back a Pancreatic Cancer Pill That Added Months
243 Chornomorsk Will Teach Repair in a Shelter
244 Australia's Wind and Solar Decisions Have Already Passed 5,358 Megawatts
245 A Bleached Coral Lived Because It Touched Its Clone
246 The Elwha Parcels Are on the President's Desk
The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News
247 What to leave alone in your garden this October to help overwintering bees
248 What sets Japanese sweet potatoes apart, nutritionally speaking
Upworthy
249 5 Things That Made Us Joyful This Week
250 17 Great Depression recipes people still cook today during hard times
251 Stunning video shows a 50-year-old Michael Jackson flawlessly performing ‘Human Nature’ just weeks before his death
252 A 16-year-old busboy wrote a motto so legendary he became the co-founder of Ritz-Carlton
253 An artist gave Roman emperors realistic faces and they look oddly like people you might know
254 New research suggests that having a happy marriage can be a big problem for a couple’s longevity
255 Andy Grammer shares his fierce, joyful defense of optimism
256 Cool video explains why great film actors can tell a story without making any facial expressions
257 Tom Cruise had to guess movies based purely on color palettes. He nailed every single one.
258 Homeowner who couldn’t stand dead lawn is blown away after planting ‘Garden In A Box’
Human Stories & Ideas 25 articles
Aeon | a world of ideas
259 How to be a (Roman) man
260 The secrets of Hohle Fels cave
261 The ladder of knowledge
Atlas Obscura - Latest Articles and Places
262 Abandoned Agricultural Mill in Śmiałowice, Poland
263 Iron Fountain Gyumri in Gyumri, Armenia
264 Milton College in Milton, Wisconsin
265 Grave of John Gray in Hiramsburg, Ohio
Big Think
266 Ask Ethan: What should humanity’s message to the Universe be?
267 Mimetic desire, social contagion, and the fight for your true self
268 China is mass-producing slop at a scale the world has never seen
269 How to become a great conversationalist
270 The ancient environmental archive hidden beneath a northern bog
271 What total darkness reveals about who you really are
272 Current AI is not conscious
Colossal
273 The Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 Winners Showcase Nature’s Power and Vulnerability
JSTOR Daily
274 Ten Poems about Sleep and Dreaming
Nautilus
275 First Case of Teeth Growing Out of an Eye Socket
276 Even Dogs Seem to Experience the Mysterious Bouba/Kiki Effect
277 This Fish Is the Kobayashi of the Sea
278 How Prehistoric People Survived After One of the Worst Volcanic Eruptions in History
279 Here’s How Freaky the Universe Would Look If Light Slowed to 3 Miles Per Hour
280 Why Story and Playtime Really Matter
281 After Dinosaurs Died, a Massive Fungus Inherited the Forests
282 Was This Neanderthal Murdered?
The Marginalian
283 How to Hold Your Helplessness: Nobel Laureate Bertrand Russell’s Salve for the Anxiety of Overwhelm
The long view · not today’s news, the story behind it

Today’s discoveries didn’t come from nowhere. Here’s the older, ongoing story they belong to, a moment from this day in history, and a question to test what stuck.

Where the story stands

On this day in science

1846 The first public demonstration of anaesthesia At a Boston hospital, William Morton showed that ether could put a patient to sleep painlessly during surgery. It ended the agony that had made operations a last resort and transformed medicine. More from the Almanac →

Before you go: today’s quiz

The daily quiz

Reported paralytic polio cases peaked at 65,737 in 1981. About how many were reported in 2023?

Reveal the answer

About 500

Reported paralytic polio cases fell from a peak of 65,737 in 1981 to 536 in 2023, as a global campaign closed in on the last strongholds.

See the number →

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