Social media’s latest test: policing misinformation about Russia’s Ukraine invasion

Researchers build a swimming robot that works in the Mariana Trench

Enlarge (credit: NPG Press) Remotely operated vehicles have changed how we explore and exploit the ocean. They can operate for far longer than human-occupied vehicles, go into areas where risk would dictate people avoid, and reach depths where very few craft can take a human. But even so, a lot of the hardware gets taken […]

X-ray analysis confirms forged date on Lincoln pardon of Civil War soldier

Enlarge / Abraham Lincoln’s pardon for Patrick Murphy, a Civil War soldier in the Union Army who was court-martialed for desertion. (credit: National Archives) There’s rarely time to write about every cool science-y story that comes our way. So this year, we’re once again running a special Twelve Days of Christmas series of posts, highlighting […]

Oracle’s TikTok acquisition reportedly “shelved” indefinitely

Enlarge / ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (credit: Aurich Lawson / Getty Images) The weird deal Oracle arranged at the behest of the Trump administration to buy TikTok without actually acquiring it has been permanently back-burnered, according to a new report. The transaction, which has gone effectively nowhere since it was first announced, is now “shelved,” the ever-popular “people […]