Feature Stories
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 11-Mar-2026 17:15 ET (11-Mar-2026 21:15 GMT/UTC)
Robots vs. Therapists: live experiment tests AI’s ability to give relationship advice
Max Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsCan artificial intelligence offer meaningful relationship advice, or do human therapists still provide something machines cannot replicate? Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics explored this question during a public experiment at the InScience Film Festival in the city of Nijmegen.
Welsh cohort first to test “life changing” product that could help end global period poverty
Cardiff UniversityA low-cost, self-sanitising and reusable period pad developed by scientists at Cardiff University has left the lab for real-world studies.
Washable menstrual pad users in Wales are the first to test and share their experiences of using SunPad – a new period product, which harnesses the energy of the sun to kill bacteria, remove stains, and neutralise odours.
Hanae Inami, Hiroshima Astrophysical Science Center
Hiroshima UniversityPea-sized wonder: Shedd Aquarium becomes first known aquarium to raise warty frogfish baby
Shedd AquariumEngineers develop deft solution to keep robots oriented in space
University of CincinnatiUniversity of Cincinnati engineers looked for simple but effective ways to maintain a robot's orientation while working on a broken satellite in zero gravity. They discovered that a second robotic arm acting as a counterbalance could help the robot maintain stability.
- Funder
- U.S. Space Force
A warning for the AI era: Why America's energy infrastructure isn't ready for what's coming
Stanford UniversityData centers, extreme weather and a lack of federal climate regulation could put major strains on the U.S. power grid. Alice Hill, a former White House senior director for resilience policy, discusses what it will take to protect energy systems in a warming world and why investing before disaster strikes always beats recovering after.
Remembering Philip E. Bourne, Founding Dean of the University of Virginia School of Data Science
University of Virginia School of Data ScienceThe University of Virginia mourns the loss of Philip Bourne, founding dean of the School of Data Science, a pioneering scientist, visionary academic leader, and one of the most consequential figures in the modern history of the University.