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At a spry 36-years-young, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope just keeps on going. The groundbreaking observatory recently took a new image of a sprawling nebula located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The LMC is the largest of the small galaxies that orbit our home Milky Way galaxy, and it’s only 160,000 light-years away. Since it is relatively close by, astronomers can more easily observe star birth hot spots like LHA 120-N44 (or N44).

N44 is located in the constellation Dorado. It is dominated by two main features—a large central void and an outer shell made of dense, dusty gas. 

The central void is considered a “superbubble,” that spans about 210 by 140 light-years across. N44’s superbubble void was created by the powerful stellar winds and explosive supernovae from the glittery stars at the center. 

The shell surrounding the superbubble is made of all of the gas that was expelled when these stars in the void were born. Once the gas was swept away, it compressed and formed a shell around the superbubble. Now, new stars are forming in this compressed gas shell, making it an interesting target for astronomers. They are using N44 to study how stars form in this type of cosmic environment. 

“Their goal is to understand how long it takes from the collapse of cold gas clouds into dense knots to the moment nuclear fusion ignites in the heart of a newborn star,” NASA writes. 

The gas shell surrounding N44’s superbubble has intrigued astronomers for over half a century. It is energized by ultraviolet radiation from massive stars, which makes it glow and highlights several distinct features. In the 1950s, astronomer Karl Henize first catalogued the distinct features within the nebula’s star-forming complex. 

One feature is a smaller bubble (cataloged as N44F). It is an interstellar bubble blown by the intense stellar winds coming from one hot and massive star and is located in the upper-right corner of the new image. 

This Hubble Space Telescope image features the picturesque nebula LHA 120-N44, or N44. The interstellar bubble N44F is at the top right corner. Image: NASA, ESA/Hubble, D. Gouliermis.

This Hubble Space Telescope image features the picturesque nebula LHA 120-N44, or N44. The interstellar bubble N44F is at the top right corner. Image: NASA, ESA/Hubble, D. Gouliermis.

An Hubble closeup of N44F released in August 2025 shows how the hot, massive star’s winds and radiation have sculpted the surrounding bubble over time and forged pillars of dusty gas.

The data used in this image is from observing program #14689; PI: Gouliermis. It used Hubble to survey N44 and take a census of its stars, cataloguing roughly 500,000 stars within the cluster, and some interlopers drifting in front of the nebula. Of the stars the team surveyed, roughly 30,000 are what astronomers call pre-main-sequence stars. These baby stars have not begun to fuse hydrogen into helium in their cores. Hubble’s highly-sensitive instruments were able to pick out faint objects in crowded clusters to find these young stars at work.

The post NASA’s Hubble pops in on a ‘superbubble’ appeared first on Popular Science.

Five pups were recently born at England’s Chester Zoo, far from their homeland. But these bush dogs (Speothos venaticus) are on a mission—they’re part of a conservation breeding program protecting the future of their species. 

Bush dogs are medium-sized carnivores from Central and South America, known for their chirpy sounds. The IUCN Red List classifies them as Near Threatened. While that might indicate that they don’t need major conservation efforts as much the way that other wild animals, their last evaluation was only in 2011.

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Mark Brayshaw, head of mammals at Chester Zoo, tells Popular Science that a lot has changed in the past 15 years, “with the impacts of climate change, habitat loss and inter-species disease transfer growing more evident,” he explains. “It’s a sad truth that by the time a species is listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered, they will be facing a genetic bottleneck, which heightens the risk of extinction by making the survivors more susceptible to disease and other threats.” 

European zoos are now working to make sure that doesn’t happen by caring for a bush dog “insurance population,” which includes the ones at Chester Zoo. Their numbers in the wild are declining, and the breeding program is basically a backup in case the species’ population might need a genetic health boost one day. 

The zoo’s new born litter only recently emerged from their den, and have started investigating their habitat with their parents and older siblings. “At this stage, they’re just little furry potatoes,” Chester Zoo carnivore keeper Richard Tyson said in a statement. “They toddle around a bit, but mostly they huddle together in a pile.” They will also start eating solid food soon. 

The bush dogs began to emerge from their den earlier this summer. Image: Chester Zoo. 
Steve Rawlins

When they were first born, the keepers left the bush dog parents Molly and Charlie alone with their new offspring, so they didn’t immediately know exactly how many pups had popped out. An early clue that all was good in the den was the pups’ vocalizations. Bush dog pups emit high-pitched chirping noises that sound a lot like birds. 

Bush dogs are “a wonderfully active, engaging species to watch,” says Brayshaw. “Every individual has a different personality. They are loved by the keeper team and by the public, and the new pups are already proving popular with visitors.”

Little do the young chirpers know that they have a higher calling than simply entertainment for less-hairy visitors. 

The post Bush dog puppies sound like birds appeared first on Popular Science.

Five pups were recently born at England’s Chester Zoo, far from their homeland. But these bush dogs (Speothos venaticus) are on a mission—they’re part of a conservation breeding program protecting the future of their species. 

Bush dogs are medium-sized carnivores from Central and South America, known for their chirpy sounds. The IUCN Red List classifies them as Near Threatened. While that might indicate that they don’t need major conservation efforts as much the way that other wild animals, their last evaluation was only in 2011.

View this post on Instagram

Mark Brayshaw, head of mammals at Chester Zoo, tells Popular Science that a lot has changed in the past 15 years, “with the impacts of climate change, habitat loss and inter-species disease transfer growing more evident,” he explains. “It’s a sad truth that by the time a species is listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered, they will be facing a genetic bottleneck, which heightens the risk of extinction by making the survivors more susceptible to disease and other threats.” 

European zoos are now working to make sure that doesn’t happen by caring for a bush dog “insurance population,” which includes the ones at Chester Zoo. Their numbers in the wild are declining, and the breeding program is basically a backup in case the species’ population might need a genetic health boost one day. 

The zoo’s new born litter only recently emerged from their den, and have started investigating their habitat with their parents and older siblings. “At this stage, they’re just little furry potatoes,” Chester Zoo carnivore keeper Richard Tyson said in a statement. “They toddle around a bit, but mostly they huddle together in a pile.” They will also start eating solid food soon. 

The bush dogs began to emerge from their den earlier this summer. Image: Chester Zoo. 
Steve Rawlins

When they were first born, the keepers left the bush dog parents Molly and Charlie alone with their new offspring, so they didn’t immediately know exactly how many pups had popped out. An early clue that all was good in the den was the pups’ vocalizations. Bush dog pups emit high-pitched chirping noises that sound a lot like birds. 

Bush dogs are “a wonderfully active, engaging species to watch,” says Brayshaw. “Every individual has a different personality. They are loved by the keeper team and by the public, and the new pups are already proving popular with visitors.”

Little do the young chirpers know that they have a higher calling than simply entertainment for less-hairy visitors. 

The post Bush dog puppies sound like birds appeared first on Popular Science.

What is going on with Tesla Cybercab and Robotaxi? No clearly presented answers from Tesla. Answers are scattered. But looking at what is happening. We can put all the reports into context. QUESTIONS State of Rollout How Much Ramp by Dec 2026? What Cities? How Many Cybercab? FSD ? Tesla Cars? When Will Robotaxi Revenue ...

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The American cheetah (Miracinonyx trumani) stalked North America’s Pleistocene grasslands for nearly 2.5 million years, but new evidence suggests they likely didn’t resemble their present-day African namesake. After comparing M. trumani DNA to nine other feline species ranging from house cats to lions, it now appears that the ancient predator’s closest relative is an entirely different big cat. What’s more, M. trumani often roamed much farther north than researchers once assumed.

“It’s really surprising and exciting to identify another predator present in Beringia,” Molly Cassatt-Johnstone, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), said in a statement.

Berinigia is the ancient stretch of land that once connected northeastern Asia to northwestern North America. While submerged in the Pacific Ocean today, its exposure during the Pleistocene allowed megafauna like the woolly mammoth and other large animals to migrate between continents.

Cassatt-Johnstone and her colleagues presented their findings in a study published today in the journal Current Biology. Their evidence is based on four of the most complete sets of M. trumani DNA found to date. Paleontologists previously discovered one of the specimens in Wyoming, but the other three come from Canada’s Yukon territory. While the latter samples were previously believed to belong to a completely different big cat species, the UCSC team successfully proved that they were actually also American cheetahs. This means M. trumani often lived as much as 20 degrees of latitude farther north than experts thought.

M. trumani fossils exhibit long forelimbs, large nasal cavities, and a slender body, which led paleontologists to theorize the predators resembled the present-day cheetah. The presence of big cat remains near pronghorns (aka the American antelope) further suggested M. trumani chased down fast prey. However, the discovery of American cheetahs so far north into Canada complicates this image—pronghorns didn’t live in the Yukon.

So what did these M. trumani eat? An analysis of the Yukon fossils’ carbon and nitrogen levels revealed the big cats subsisted on a diet almost entirely of fish, while the Wyoming predators mainly ate herbivores. The team also identified two genes in M. trumani tied to circadian rhythm that were nonfunctional. This allowed the animals to handle the extended periods of daylight and darkness experienced in northern latitudes, and perhaps even made them nocturnal.

As for their closest relatives, it now appears that M. trumani was much more similar to today’s pumas, since the two species share a common ancestry about 2.6 million years ago. By comparison, the closest shared relative between M. trumani and cheetahs is 4.7 million years ago. Taken altogether, the latest findings highlight a big cat that was highly adaptable to its environment, as well as regional climates and available prey.

“It’s very hard to imagine a prehistoric species we’ve never seen without comparing it to something we know,” said Cassatt-Johnstone. “But this approach can limit our understanding of ancient animals’ complexity, unique evolutionary histories, and behaviors.” 

The post Ancient American cheetahs were not exactly cheetah-like appeared first on Popular Science.

The American cheetah (Miracinonyx trumani) stalked North America’s Pleistocene grasslands for nearly 2.5 million years, but new evidence suggests they likely didn’t resemble their present-day African namesake. After comparing M. trumani DNA to nine other feline species ranging from house cats to lions, it now appears that the ancient predator’s closest relative is an entirely different big cat. What’s more, M. trumani often roamed much farther north than researchers once assumed.

“It’s really surprising and exciting to identify another predator present in Beringia,” Molly Cassatt-Johnstone, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), said in a statement.

Berinigia is the ancient stretch of land that once connected northeastern Asia to northwestern North America. While submerged in the Pacific Ocean today, its exposure during the Pleistocene allowed megafauna like the woolly mammoth and other large animals to migrate between continents.

Cassatt-Johnstone and her colleagues presented their findings in a study published today in the journal Current Biology. Their evidence is based on four of the most complete sets of M. trumani DNA found to date. Paleontologists previously discovered one of the specimens in Wyoming, but the other three come from Canada’s Yukon territory. While the latter samples were previously believed to belong to a completely different big cat species, the UCSC team successfully proved that they were actually also American cheetahs. This means M. trumani often lived as much as 20 degrees of latitude farther north than experts thought.

M. trumani fossils exhibit long forelimbs, large nasal cavities, and a slender body, which led paleontologists to theorize the predators resembled the present-day cheetah. The presence of big cat remains near pronghorns (aka the American antelope) further suggested M. trumani chased down fast prey. However, the discovery of American cheetahs so far north into Canada complicates this image—pronghorns didn’t live in the Yukon.

So what did these M. trumani eat? An analysis of the Yukon fossils’ carbon and nitrogen levels revealed the big cats subsisted on a diet almost entirely of fish, while the Wyoming predators mainly ate herbivores. The team also identified two genes in M. trumani tied to circadian rhythm that were nonfunctional. This allowed the animals to handle the extended periods of daylight and darkness experienced in northern latitudes, and perhaps even made them nocturnal.

As for their closest relatives, it now appears that M. trumani was much more similar to today’s pumas, since the two species share a common ancestry about 2.6 million years ago. By comparison, the closest shared relative between M. trumani and cheetahs is 4.7 million years ago. Taken altogether, the latest findings highlight a big cat that was highly adaptable to its environment, as well as regional climates and available prey.

“It’s very hard to imagine a prehistoric species we’ve never seen without comparing it to something we know,” said Cassatt-Johnstone. “But this approach can limit our understanding of ancient animals’ complexity, unique evolutionary histories, and behaviors.” 

The post Ancient American cheetahs were not exactly cheetah-like appeared first on Popular Science.

Two unusually colored lobsters have been spared from the dinner plate and are living at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) in Portland, and will be educating students in the process. Ethel is a split-colored lobster, with a very autumnal orange and black hue, while Gertrude is a breathtaking blue.

Shawn McEwen at Sea Salt Lobster Wholesale in nearby Saco, Maine contacted the team at the research center to see if they were interested in taking Ethel the two-toned lobster. 

“He told us ‘We move a lot of lobsters and in my career this is top 3,’” Sam Fuss, an educator with GMRI’s LabVenture program, tells Popular Science.

Ethel’s two-tone look is a genetic mutation. Image: Gulf of Maine Research Institute.

To find Gertrude the blue a new home, the staff at the nearby Portland Lobster Company reached out to GMRI. And it could not have been easier for the team to pick up the new colorful crustacean.

“We coordinated a time, walked over to their restaurant with a bucket, and then walked her right back to our tank,” says Fuss. 

Gertrude the blue on the way to her new home. Image: Gulf of Maine Research Institute.

GMRI works with many of Maine’s lobster fishers and has a network who will reach out about interesting catches like Ethel and Gertrude.  

“Previously, in our tank, we have had blue lobsters, orange lobsters, calico lobsters, and other split-color lobsters,” says Fuss.

Why some lobsters are so colorful

In the wild, American or Maine lobsters (Homarus americanus) typically have a greenish-brown color. This helps them blend in better with the rocky seafloor. Lobsters have several layers of a pigment called astaxanthin. This pigment appears as layers of red, yellow, and blue. When all of those color layers are stacked up, they give lobsters a mottled blotch pattern of oranges, reds, blues, pinks, purples, yellows, and browns.

But some lobsters end up more colorful. Rare genetic mutations can alter the amount of pigment or how they interact with one another, producing striking shell colors such as blue, half-orange half-black, or even calico patterns. A lobster’s diet can also impact its shell color. For example, individuals that only eat small fish rather than shrimp and crabs get less astaxanthin, which can affect their coloration.

Split-colorization like we seen on Ethel occurs when two fertilized, unlaid eggs contact each other. One of the eggs then absorbs the other, creating a lobster that has two sets of genetic information. They also can store color pigments differently on either side of its shell.

The chance of finding a blue lobster like this Gertrude is about 1 in 2 million, while the odds are 1 in 50 million to find a split-colored lobster like Ethel. As for the other colors, the chance of finding a red lobster is 1 in 10 million, and 1 in 100 million for an albino or cotton candy lobster.

Crustaceans tackling climate change

Now that they are at GMRI, Gertrude, Ethel, and the institute’s other fish and crustaceans will be on display for fifth and sixth grade students from across the state who visit during the LabVenture field trip.  Since the program began in 2005, LabVenture has provided a hands-on lab to over 170,000 Maine middle school students free of charge. 

“The display tank that Gertrude and Ethel are living in is always a highlight of the field trip for our students,” Zoë Kennedy, LabVenture’s Lead Educator, tells Popular Science. “Many of them have spent most of their lives living right next to the Gulf of Maine but being able to see what the ecosystem looks like beneath the water brings a whole new perspective and sense of wonder.”

A landmark 2015 study found that the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99 percent of the ocean due to climate change. While the water has been cooling off a bit since 2021, a report published by NOAA in July 2026 found that the environment in the Gulf of Maine remains unstable. According to the GMRI LabVenture team, building more climate-ready communities, a strong waterfront workforce, and a blue economy in the face of this upheaval all starts with education.

“Our LabVenture program builds that foundation early by teaching students to interpret real, authentic climate data, while sparking the curiosity that drives them to keep asking questions about the world around them,” says Kennedy. 

The post Pair of rare, colorful lobsters have a new home in Maine appeared first on Popular Science.

“Do you want a treat, Milton?” “Do you want to go for a walk, Bernie?” Annnnd, cue the head tilt from your dog.

Many dogs turn their heads, perk their ears, and stand at attention when their humans say certain words. But why? Well, it’s not just cute. There’s some serious science and fascinating theories about dogs’ ability to understand language. On the latest episode of Ask Us Anything, we explain how dogs’ head tilting likely makes your furry friend able to listen and process information better.

Ask Us Anything answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions—from the everyday things you’ve always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask. So, yes, there’s a reason why is thunder so dang loud and no, cruise ships aren’t floating petri dishes. If you have a question for us, send us a note. Nothing is too silly or simple.

This episode is based on the Popular Science article “Why do dogs tilt their heads? It isn’t just cute.“

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Full Episode Transcript

Sarah Durn: You’re sitting on the couch and your dog is staring at you. So naturally, you start talking to them: “Do you wanna go for a walk?” 

And then it happens: Their ears shoot up, their eyes lock onto yours, and their head slowly tips to one side. 

So you try it again: “Do you want a walk?” And there it goes, the head tilts the other way.

But why does your precious Max do this? Why do dogs tilt their heads? Scientists still aren’t really sure why.

Welcome to Ask Us Anything, from the editors of Popular Science, where we answer your questions about our weird world, from “Why didn’t our ancestors need braces” to  “Do cats really hate water?” No question is too offbeat or mundane. 

I’m Sarah Durn, an editor at Popular Science.

Annie Colbert: And I’m editor-in-chief, Annie Colbert.

SD: Here at PopSci, we’re always pondering quirky questions.

AC: And this week, we’re wondering, why do dogs tilt their heads? So Sarah, tell us, why are our cute furry friends looking at us all askew?

SD: Well, scientists aren’t totally sure.

AC: Seriously? Something dogs do all the time, they don’t know why?

SD: I know, I know. There are a few theories out there, though. Maybe our pups are trying to hear us better.

AC: I guess that makes sense. I remember my dad used to kind of tilt his head when he didn’t have his hearing aids in.

SD: That might have just been a your dad thing. 

AC: Yes, probably.

SD: Yeah, there’s also a chance dogs are trying to get a better look at our faces.

AC: That also feels plausible.

SD: But there’s another possibility that’s a lot more interesting. 

AC: Ooh, okay.

SD: Researchers have found that some dogs are more likely to tilt their heads when they hear words they recognize.

AC: Wait, so they might be thinking?

SD: Maybe. That little head tilt could have something to do with how dogs pay attention to, and process, what we’re saying.

AC: Which somehow makes it even cuter.

SD: Right? So why do some dogs tilt more than others? What’s actually happening in their brains? And does your dog understand more of what you say than you realize?

AC: I must know.

SD: We’re gonna get into all of it. But before we do, we wanna hear from you. What questions are you head tilting, AKA thinking about?

AC: If there’s something you’ve always wanted to know, something that makes you tilt your head, submit your question by clicking the “Ask Us” link at popsci.com/ask.

SD: Send us your questions.

AC: Yes. And coming up, we’ll dig into what might actually be going on when your dog does that adorable little head tilt.

SD: And what it could tell us about how much they really understand when we talk to them.

AC: That’s after this quick break.

SD: Welcome back. Annie, now before we get into the science, I feel like we have to establish our dog credentials here. So did you grow up with dogs?

AC: Yes. We always had at least one dog growing up, everything from mixed breed dogs to cocker spaniels named after various bread products. We had both a Muffin and a Biscuit at one point.

And then we had pugs, and I think I can confidently say that pugs were definitely the biggest head tilters.

Annie’s parents’ pug, Herbie, pictured in 2007. Image: Annie Colbert / Popular Science

SD: Mm.

AC: And I always assumed it’s just because they were perpetually confused by life.

SD: I mean, aren’t we all? I grew up with Saint Bernards.

AC: Hmm.

SD: So my family has had, oh, five. 

AC:Wow. 

SD: And my grandmother, who started the trend, actually had something like nine throughout her life.

AC: What? That’s so many.

SD: I know. I love Saint Bernards. And Saint Bernards, at least the ones I’ve gotten to know, are not huge head tilters.

AC: Hmm, interesting. Is it maybe because their heads are just too heavy to tilt?

SD: There is a lot of head to move for a Saint Bernard. Hmm.

AC: Yeah.

SD: But our newest puppy, Tartufo, we call him Tufo, is actually a little bit of a head tilter, and sometimes if you say a word he knows, he’ll look right at you and just tip.

Tufo. Image: Sarah Durn / Popular Science

AC: Aw. 

SD: I know, it’s so cute. I love him so much. He’s like a super sweet, like, expressive dog, so the head tilt just, you know, sends it over the edge.

AC: Love it.

SD: But here’s the really cool part: Tufo seems to head tilt more when he hears words he recognizes, and scientists think that might be a clue about what the head tilt actually means.

AC: All right, so what’s happening in that giant Saint Bernard brain?

SD: Potentially language processing.

AC: Excuse me?

SD: I know. Dogs have lived alongside humans for roughly 20,000 to 30,000 years, and over that time they’ve gotten remarkably good at dealing with this extremely weird thing humans do all day long.

AC: Talk at them.

SD: Constantly. And brain scans suggest dogs process parts of human speech in ways that are surprisingly similar to us. When a dog hears a familiar word, the left side of its brain becomes active, even if you change your tone of voice. But if you say an unfamiliar word using a familiar tone, the right side becomes more involved.

AC: So their brains are basically going, “Okay, I recognize that word,” versus, “I don’t know what you’re saying, but you sound excited.”

SD: Yeah, and that brings us to a 2025 study that basically asked, okay, where does the adorable head tilt fit into all of this? Researchers recruited 103 dog owners and had them film their dogs in four different situations.

First: Dog doing nothing.

AC: A challenging assignment for most dogs.

SD: Totally. Totally. And then second: Owner silently staring at dog.

AC: It’s kind of intimidating.

SD: Right. And then, this is my favorite: Owner talking to dog about ancient Egyptian civilization.

AC: Finally, that canine Egyptology study we were always waiting for.

SD: Exactly. I know everyone was on the edge of their seats. The idea was, you know, to give dogs speech that was neutral or unfamiliar. And then in the final and fourth condition, owners used familiar words with a warm, excited tone.

AC: Like, “Wanna go for a walk?”

SD: Exactly. And that is when the head tilt really showed up.

Dogs tilted much more often when their owners were saying familiar things in that enthusiastic, excited way.

AC: So they weren’t just reacting to the sound. Right.

SD: Courtney Sexton, one of the authors of the study, described it as a kind of communicative exchange. The dog isn’t necessarily going, “Ah, yes, I fully comprehend this sentence,” but something about you talking to them using words they know seems to make that little head go sideways.

AC: Which feels like watching the loading wheel appear over their little brains.

SD: Oh, yeah, totally. Like… Processing, processing, walk detected.

AC: Uh, that is exactly what it sounds like.

SD: Oh, yeah, 100%. And, you know, somehow this all gets a little weirder. Because researchers also noticed that most of the dogs who tilted went to the right.

AC: Huh. There’s a preferred head tilt direction? 

SD: Apparently. And there’s a possible brain connection here. Brains process sensory information contralaterally, which is a fancy way of saying that the left side of the brain is connected to the right side of the body and vice versa. So one hypothesis is that a right head tilt could be connected to the dog engaging the left hemisphere of the brain, the side involved in processing familiar language.

AC: So we might literally be seeing the dog’s brain work.

SD: Maybe, but, you know, giant asterisk here. Researchers are not saying right tilt equals language happening. That part is still very much a hypothesis. The study also had another really weird result.

AC: What’s that?

SD: Male dogs tilted more often than female dogs, and when they tilted, male dogs leaned further to the right.

AC: Why are boy dogs so dramatic?

SD: Aren’t all guys, really? Scientists don’t really know why this is happening yet, but one possibility is that male and female dogs may use their brain hemispheres a little differently when processing language. But only around 40 of the 103 dogs in the study actually tilted at all, so the researchers are very cautious about drawing any sort of broad conclusion.

AC: All right. But dogs don’t only tilt their head when people talk to them, right?

SD: Right. And this is where our very satisfying head tilt equals language explanation gets messier. Another study found dogs tilting their heads after being startled by a jack-in-the-box.

AC: Okay, that’s a reasonable response to a jack-in-the-box.

SD: Yeah, extremely reasonable. And that suggests, though, that head tilting might have something to do with novelty or surprise, not just language. There’s even this possibility called cognitive offloading.

AC: Which sounds like something I need at the end of every workday.

SD: Oh my gosh, same. Um, yeah, basically we make a physical gesture while our brain is working something out. You furrow your brow, you exhale, you stare into space for five seconds while trying to remember why you walked into the kitchen. 

AC: Constantly. 

SD: Same. The head tilt could be a dog version of that, a little physical reset while their brain processes something new.

But Courtney Sexton from that study we talked about doesn’t think that explains the whole thing because in the 2025 experiment, the dogs tilted overwhelmingly during the social language condition.

AC: Okay, I have another scientific hypothesis. 

SD: Shoot. 

AC: Dogs know that the head tilt makes us powerless to their adorableness.

SD: That is actually an important scientific question.

AC: Called it.

SD: You did, because humans do rate head tilting dogs as cuter. But Sexton doesn’t think dogs are sitting there plotting, you know, “If I rotate my head 15 degrees, perhaps she’ll give me cheese.”

AC: But you cannot prove they’re not.

SD: Okay, fair, but there is a reason it absolutely destroys us.

During domestication, dogs develop something called neoteny, meaning adult dogs retain juvenile features like large eyes and soft facial proportions, basically permanent baby face, and humans are very, very responsive to baby face. So the head tilt isn’t necessarily designed to be cute. 

AC: We’re just helpless against it.

SD: Exactly. Which brings us back to the original question: why do dogs tilt their heads? And the slightly frustrating answer is: Scientists still don’t completely know. 

It could involve language processing, attention, surprise, maybe even that little physical reset while the brain figures something out. But the strongest evidence we have suggests that at least sometimes the head tilt is a visible sign that your dog is actively processing and responding to you.

So when Tufo hears a word that he knows and tilts his head, that enormous Saint Bernard brain may actually be hard at work. 

AC: Thinking important thoughts. 

SD: Extremely important thoughts. Probably mostly about snacks.

AC: Yes. But now I have a question. 

SD: Yes, go. 

AC: If we can use something like a head tilt to get a tiny glimpse into what a dog is thinking, can we actually tell how smart a dog is?

SD: Funny you should ask, because the internet has come up with some pretty questionable ways to test your dog’s IQ.

AC: All right, I’m intrigued.

SD: And scientists have some much better ones.

AC: Unsurprising.

SD: Unsurprising. Now, we have to take a quick break, but when we come back, we’ll explain how you can actually test your dog’s IQ.

AC: I mean, Tufo genuinely sounds like a genius.

SD: I mean, he is. I won’t argue with, with that at all.

AC: Welcome back. Okay, Sarah, before the break, you promised that we could actually put Tufo’s brain to the test.

SD: I did. Because we spent this whole episode talking about what his head tilt might tell us about what’s happening inside his brain, naturally the next question is how smart is my adorable little Saint Bernard?

AC: Little?

SD: He’ll always be a little puppy to me.

AC: Debatable. Anyhow, uh, I’ve seen a pet IQ test online called the wall test where you hold up your dog and you slowly move them toward a wall to see if they put their paws out.

SD: Yes, yes. I’ve seen that one, too, but I don’t think anyone’s lifting Tufo, and that might actually be a good thing because experts say you should not do the wall test.

AC: Really?

SD: Yes. Don’t do it. Whether a dog sticks out their paw actually has nothing to do with intelligence. It’s a neurological reflex vets use to check that a dog’s nervous system is working properly, kind of like when a doctor taps your knee and your leg automatically kicks.

AC: Hmm. So it’s not really an IQ test at all.

SD: No.

AC: But how do I find out if my dog is a genius?

SD: Well, obviously they are. But scientists would say that’s actually the wrong question.

AC: Rude.

SD: Because there isn’t one thing called dog intelligence. Some dogs are amazing problem solvers, some are great navigators, and some are especially good at reading us.

AC: Which feels especially relevant after an entire episode about dogs listening to us.

SD: Exactly. And you can test this even at home. Just grab two identical cups and a treat. While your dog isn’t looking, hide the treat under one cup, then put both cups down and either point at the correct cup or just look at it, and then let your dog choose which cup they’re drawn to.

AC: So if they pick up the right cup…

SD: They successfully read your social cue. That’s a skill called social cognition.

AC: Hmm. Genius.

SD: Good at one particular type of cognition.

AC: Or genius.

SD: Fine. Genius. All dogs are geniuses. Yeah. But if they choose the wrong cup or, you know, just wander off down the hallway, that doesn’t mean they’re dumb. Dogs have different strengths, and just like us, they have to actually be motivated to participate.

AC: So if my dog completely ignores my carefully designed scientific experiment…

SD: You might just need better treats.

AC: Fair.

SD: And I think that brings us right back to the head tilt. One cute little behavior cannot tell us exactly what’s happening inside our dog’s brain, alas.

But it can give us a clue and remind us that there’s a whole lot going on behind those puppy dog eyes.

AC: Even when it looks like there absolutely is not.

SD: Watch it.

And that’s it for this episode. But don’t worry, we’ve got more episodes of Ask Us Anything live in our feed right now. Follow or subscribe to Ask Us Anything by Popular Science wherever you enjoy your podcasts. And if you like our show, leave a rating and review.

AC: We care what you think. We care what your dogs think, geniuses or not. Our producer is Alan Haburchak, and this week’s episode was based on stories written for Popular Science by Nidhi Sharma and Clarissa Brinkett.

SD: Thank you, team, thank you, dogs, and thanks everyone for listening.

AC: And one more time, if you want something you’ve always wondered about explained on a future episode, go to popsci.com/ask and click the “Ask Us” link. Keep the questions coming. Till next time, may your dog always listen when you call.

SD: May your pockets be full of sufficiently motivating treats.

AC: And may your dog’s head tilts always be ridiculously cute.

SD: Like, they can never not be. They’re always cute.

AC: Pugs, pugs, pugs. 

The post Why dogs tilt their heads, according to science appeared first on Popular Science.

“Do you want a treat, Milton?” “Do you want to go for a walk, Bernie?” Annnnd, cue the head tilt from your dog.

Many dogs turn their heads, perk their ears, and stand at attention when their humans say certain words. But why? Well, it’s not just cute. There’s some serious science and fascinating theories about dogs’ ability to understand language. On the latest episode of Ask Us Anything, we explain how dogs’ head tilting likely makes your furry friend able to listen and process information better.

Ask Us Anything answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions—from the everyday things you’ve always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask. So, yes, there’s a reason why is thunder so dang loud and no, cruise ships aren’t floating petri dishes. If you have a question for us, send us a note. Nothing is too silly or simple.

This episode is based on the Popular Science article “Why do dogs tilt their heads? It isn’t just cute.“

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Full Episode Transcript

Sarah Durn: You’re sitting on the couch and your dog is staring at you. So naturally, you start talking to them: “Do you wanna go for a walk?” 

And then it happens: Their ears shoot up, their eyes lock onto yours, and their head slowly tips to one side. 

So you try it again: “Do you want a walk?” And there it goes, the head tilts the other way.

But why does your precious Max do this? Why do dogs tilt their heads? Scientists still aren’t really sure why.

Welcome to Ask Us Anything, from the editors of Popular Science, where we answer your questions about our weird world, from “Why didn’t our ancestors need braces” to  “Do cats really hate water?” No question is too offbeat or mundane. 

I’m Sarah Durn, an editor at Popular Science.

Annie Colbert: And I’m editor-in-chief, Annie Colbert.

SD: Here at PopSci, we’re always pondering quirky questions.

AC: And this week, we’re wondering, why do dogs tilt their heads? So Sarah, tell us, why are our cute furry friends looking at us all askew?

SD: Well, scientists aren’t totally sure.

AC: Seriously? Something dogs do all the time, they don’t know why?

SD: I know, I know. There are a few theories out there, though. Maybe our pups are trying to hear us better.

AC: I guess that makes sense. I remember my dad used to kind of tilt his head when he didn’t have his hearing aids in.

SD: That might have just been a your dad thing. 

AC: Yes, probably.

SD: Yeah, there’s also a chance dogs are trying to get a better look at our faces.

AC: That also feels plausible.

SD: But there’s another possibility that’s a lot more interesting. 

AC: Ooh, okay.

SD: Researchers have found that some dogs are more likely to tilt their heads when they hear words they recognize.

AC: Wait, so they might be thinking?

SD: Maybe. That little head tilt could have something to do with how dogs pay attention to, and process, what we’re saying.

AC: Which somehow makes it even cuter.

SD: Right? So why do some dogs tilt more than others? What’s actually happening in their brains? And does your dog understand more of what you say than you realize?

AC: I must know.

SD: We’re gonna get into all of it. But before we do, we wanna hear from you. What questions are you head tilting, AKA thinking about?

AC: If there’s something you’ve always wanted to know, something that makes you tilt your head, submit your question by clicking the “Ask Us” link at popsci.com/ask.

SD: Send us your questions.

AC: Yes. And coming up, we’ll dig into what might actually be going on when your dog does that adorable little head tilt.

SD: And what it could tell us about how much they really understand when we talk to them.

AC: That’s after this quick break.

SD: Welcome back. Annie, now before we get into the science, I feel like we have to establish our dog credentials here. So did you grow up with dogs?

AC: Yes. We always had at least one dog growing up, everything from mixed breed dogs to cocker spaniels named after various bread products. We had both a Muffin and a Biscuit at one point.

And then we had pugs, and I think I can confidently say that pugs were definitely the biggest head tilters.

Annie’s parents’ pug, Herbie, pictured in 2007. Image: Annie Colbert / Popular Science

SD: Mm.

AC: And I always assumed it’s just because they were perpetually confused by life.

SD: I mean, aren’t we all? I grew up with Saint Bernards.

AC: Hmm.

SD: So my family has had, oh, five. 

AC:Wow. 

SD: And my grandmother, who started the trend, actually had something like nine throughout her life.

AC: What? That’s so many.

SD: I know. I love Saint Bernards. And Saint Bernards, at least the ones I’ve gotten to know, are not huge head tilters.

AC: Hmm, interesting. Is it maybe because their heads are just too heavy to tilt?

SD: There is a lot of head to move for a Saint Bernard. Hmm.

AC: Yeah.

SD: But our newest puppy, Tartufo, we call him Tufo, is actually a little bit of a head tilter, and sometimes if you say a word he knows, he’ll look right at you and just tip.

Tufo. Image: Sarah Durn / Popular Science

AC: Aw. 

SD: I know, it’s so cute. I love him so much. He’s like a super sweet, like, expressive dog, so the head tilt just, you know, sends it over the edge.

AC: Love it.

SD: But here’s the really cool part: Tufo seems to head tilt more when he hears words he recognizes, and scientists think that might be a clue about what the head tilt actually means.

AC: All right, so what’s happening in that giant Saint Bernard brain?

SD: Potentially language processing.

AC: Excuse me?

SD: I know. Dogs have lived alongside humans for roughly 20,000 to 30,000 years, and over that time they’ve gotten remarkably good at dealing with this extremely weird thing humans do all day long.

AC: Talk at them.

SD: Constantly. And brain scans suggest dogs process parts of human speech in ways that are surprisingly similar to us. When a dog hears a familiar word, the left side of its brain becomes active, even if you change your tone of voice. But if you say an unfamiliar word using a familiar tone, the right side becomes more involved.

AC: So their brains are basically going, “Okay, I recognize that word,” versus, “I don’t know what you’re saying, but you sound excited.”

SD: Yeah, and that brings us to a 2025 study that basically asked, okay, where does the adorable head tilt fit into all of this? Researchers recruited 103 dog owners and had them film their dogs in four different situations.

First: Dog doing nothing.

AC: A challenging assignment for most dogs.

SD: Totally. Totally. And then second: Owner silently staring at dog.

AC: It’s kind of intimidating.

SD: Right. And then, this is my favorite: Owner talking to dog about ancient Egyptian civilization.

AC: Finally, that canine Egyptology study we were always waiting for.

SD: Exactly. I know everyone was on the edge of their seats. The idea was, you know, to give dogs speech that was neutral or unfamiliar. And then in the final and fourth condition, owners used familiar words with a warm, excited tone.

AC: Like, “Wanna go for a walk?”

SD: Exactly. And that is when the head tilt really showed up.

Dogs tilted much more often when their owners were saying familiar things in that enthusiastic, excited way.

AC: So they weren’t just reacting to the sound. Right.

SD: Courtney Sexton, one of the authors of the study, described it as a kind of communicative exchange. The dog isn’t necessarily going, “Ah, yes, I fully comprehend this sentence,” but something about you talking to them using words they know seems to make that little head go sideways.

AC: Which feels like watching the loading wheel appear over their little brains.

SD: Oh, yeah, totally. Like… Processing, processing, walk detected.

AC: Uh, that is exactly what it sounds like.

SD: Oh, yeah, 100%. And, you know, somehow this all gets a little weirder. Because researchers also noticed that most of the dogs who tilted went to the right.

AC: Huh. There’s a preferred head tilt direction? 

SD: Apparently. And there’s a possible brain connection here. Brains process sensory information contralaterally, which is a fancy way of saying that the left side of the brain is connected to the right side of the body and vice versa. So one hypothesis is that a right head tilt could be connected to the dog engaging the left hemisphere of the brain, the side involved in processing familiar language.

AC: So we might literally be seeing the dog’s brain work.

SD: Maybe, but, you know, giant asterisk here. Researchers are not saying right tilt equals language happening. That part is still very much a hypothesis. The study also had another really weird result.

AC: What’s that?

SD: Male dogs tilted more often than female dogs, and when they tilted, male dogs leaned further to the right.

AC: Why are boy dogs so dramatic?

SD: Aren’t all guys, really? Scientists don’t really know why this is happening yet, but one possibility is that male and female dogs may use their brain hemispheres a little differently when processing language. But only around 40 of the 103 dogs in the study actually tilted at all, so the researchers are very cautious about drawing any sort of broad conclusion.

AC: All right. But dogs don’t only tilt their head when people talk to them, right?

SD: Right. And this is where our very satisfying head tilt equals language explanation gets messier. Another study found dogs tilting their heads after being startled by a jack-in-the-box.

AC: Okay, that’s a reasonable response to a jack-in-the-box.

SD: Yeah, extremely reasonable. And that suggests, though, that head tilting might have something to do with novelty or surprise, not just language. There’s even this possibility called cognitive offloading.

AC: Which sounds like something I need at the end of every workday.

SD: Oh my gosh, same. Um, yeah, basically we make a physical gesture while our brain is working something out. You furrow your brow, you exhale, you stare into space for five seconds while trying to remember why you walked into the kitchen. 

AC: Constantly. 

SD: Same. The head tilt could be a dog version of that, a little physical reset while their brain processes something new.

But Courtney Sexton from that study we talked about doesn’t think that explains the whole thing because in the 2025 experiment, the dogs tilted overwhelmingly during the social language condition.

AC: Okay, I have another scientific hypothesis. 

SD: Shoot. 

AC: Dogs know that the head tilt makes us powerless to their adorableness.

SD: That is actually an important scientific question.

AC: Called it.

SD: You did, because humans do rate head tilting dogs as cuter. But Sexton doesn’t think dogs are sitting there plotting, you know, “If I rotate my head 15 degrees, perhaps she’ll give me cheese.”

AC: But you cannot prove they’re not.

SD: Okay, fair, but there is a reason it absolutely destroys us.

During domestication, dogs develop something called neoteny, meaning adult dogs retain juvenile features like large eyes and soft facial proportions, basically permanent baby face, and humans are very, very responsive to baby face. So the head tilt isn’t necessarily designed to be cute. 

AC: We’re just helpless against it.

SD: Exactly. Which brings us back to the original question: why do dogs tilt their heads? And the slightly frustrating answer is: Scientists still don’t completely know. 

It could involve language processing, attention, surprise, maybe even that little physical reset while the brain figures something out. But the strongest evidence we have suggests that at least sometimes the head tilt is a visible sign that your dog is actively processing and responding to you.

So when Tufo hears a word that he knows and tilts his head, that enormous Saint Bernard brain may actually be hard at work. 

AC: Thinking important thoughts. 

SD: Extremely important thoughts. Probably mostly about snacks.

AC: Yes. But now I have a question. 

SD: Yes, go. 

AC: If we can use something like a head tilt to get a tiny glimpse into what a dog is thinking, can we actually tell how smart a dog is?

SD: Funny you should ask, because the internet has come up with some pretty questionable ways to test your dog’s IQ.

AC: All right, I’m intrigued.

SD: And scientists have some much better ones.

AC: Unsurprising.

SD: Unsurprising. Now, we have to take a quick break, but when we come back, we’ll explain how you can actually test your dog’s IQ.

AC: I mean, Tufo genuinely sounds like a genius.

SD: I mean, he is. I won’t argue with, with that at all.

AC: Welcome back. Okay, Sarah, before the break, you promised that we could actually put Tufo’s brain to the test.

SD: I did. Because we spent this whole episode talking about what his head tilt might tell us about what’s happening inside his brain, naturally the next question is how smart is my adorable little Saint Bernard?

AC: Little?

SD: He’ll always be a little puppy to me.

AC: Debatable. Anyhow, uh, I’ve seen a pet IQ test online called the wall test where you hold up your dog and you slowly move them toward a wall to see if they put their paws out.

SD: Yes, yes. I’ve seen that one, too, but I don’t think anyone’s lifting Tufo, and that might actually be a good thing because experts say you should not do the wall test.

AC: Really?

SD: Yes. Don’t do it. Whether a dog sticks out their paw actually has nothing to do with intelligence. It’s a neurological reflex vets use to check that a dog’s nervous system is working properly, kind of like when a doctor taps your knee and your leg automatically kicks.

AC: Hmm. So it’s not really an IQ test at all.

SD: No.

AC: But how do I find out if my dog is a genius?

SD: Well, obviously they are. But scientists would say that’s actually the wrong question.

AC: Rude.

SD: Because there isn’t one thing called dog intelligence. Some dogs are amazing problem solvers, some are great navigators, and some are especially good at reading us.

AC: Which feels especially relevant after an entire episode about dogs listening to us.

SD: Exactly. And you can test this even at home. Just grab two identical cups and a treat. While your dog isn’t looking, hide the treat under one cup, then put both cups down and either point at the correct cup or just look at it, and then let your dog choose which cup they’re drawn to.

AC: So if they pick up the right cup…

SD: They successfully read your social cue. That’s a skill called social cognition.

AC: Hmm. Genius.

SD: Good at one particular type of cognition.

AC: Or genius.

SD: Fine. Genius. All dogs are geniuses. Yeah. But if they choose the wrong cup or, you know, just wander off down the hallway, that doesn’t mean they’re dumb. Dogs have different strengths, and just like us, they have to actually be motivated to participate.

AC: So if my dog completely ignores my carefully designed scientific experiment…

SD: You might just need better treats.

AC: Fair.

SD: And I think that brings us right back to the head tilt. One cute little behavior cannot tell us exactly what’s happening inside our dog’s brain, alas.

But it can give us a clue and remind us that there’s a whole lot going on behind those puppy dog eyes.

AC: Even when it looks like there absolutely is not.

SD: Watch it.

And that’s it for this episode. But don’t worry, we’ve got more episodes of Ask Us Anything live in our feed right now. Follow or subscribe to Ask Us Anything by Popular Science wherever you enjoy your podcasts. And if you like our show, leave a rating and review.

AC: We care what you think. We care what your dogs think, geniuses or not. Our producer is Alan Haburchak, and this week’s episode was based on stories written for Popular Science by Nidhi Sharma and Clarissa Brinkett.

SD: Thank you, team, thank you, dogs, and thanks everyone for listening.

AC: And one more time, if you want something you’ve always wondered about explained on a future episode, go to popsci.com/ask and click the “Ask Us” link. Keep the questions coming. Till next time, may your dog always listen when you call.

SD: May your pockets be full of sufficiently motivating treats.

AC: And may your dog’s head tilts always be ridiculously cute.

SD: Like, they can never not be. They’re always cute.

AC: Pugs, pugs, pugs. 

The post Why dogs tilt their heads, according to science appeared first on Popular Science.

SHOCKING Today Taiwan 11% GDP Growth, 2030 10% US GDP from AI Agents Literally Worldchanging

Tesla is letting people sign up to buy robotaxi fleets. The presentation at the event described dynamic pricing. Tesla has officially started offering Cybercab rides to the public. Info after the event. Per teslayoda – Cybercab can be purchased by fleet managers first — at $25-30K per unit. Fleet managers will be sold Cybercabs. The ...

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The largest Tyrannosaurus rex fossils ever discovered belong to a 66-million-year-old apex predator named Scotty. Like many T. rex skeletons, it’s difficult to determine if the specimen was male or female, but Scotty was an unequivocal bruiser. Standing 13-feet-tall at the hip and measuring upwards of 43-feet-long, the Late Cretaceous hunter weighed as much as 19,500 pounds.

However, Scotty isn’t simply the biggest T. rex on record. One of its bones still has traces of preserved soft tissue. This is almost never seen in paleontology, as soft tissues degrade due to the ravages of time. The only way to safely examine these delicate remains is through highly sensitive techniques like neutron imaging. But with the help of researchers at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee, paleontologists recently glimpsed Scotty’s rib and its remaining tissue in unprecedented detail. The results offer some of the first in-depth looks at fossilized dinosaur tissue on a microscopic level.

“It’s like winning the lottery,” Mauricio Barbi, a physicist at the University of Regina (U of R) in Saskatchewan, Canada, said in a recent interview. “Scotty’s rib contains a vast network of mineralized blood vessels that has never before been observed in a fossil.”

The reason for the blood vessels’ preservation is also a window into the T. rex’s death. The broken rib indicates that Scotty likely succumbed to injuries sustained during a dinosaur brawl. After the rib cracked, iron-saturated blood covered the wound and formed tiny blood vessels to facilitate faster healing. The anatomical response wasn’t enough, and Scotty soon died in a salty marsh. The surrounding environment slowed down the T. rex’s decomposition so much that it allowed many of those blood vessels to fossilize. 

To get a closer look at these details, paleontologists relied on neutron imaging to see the lighter elements present in the fossils as well as X-ray imaging to look at the heavier ones. From there, researchers also used synchrotron radiation and other microscopy approaches to analyze the healing tissues on a cellular level. Importantly, all of this imaging was possible without damaging Scotty’s priceless fossils.

“Neutrons not only corroborated what we found with synchrotron radiation techniques that led to the discovery of blood vessels in Scotty’s rib,” explained U of R physicist Marcella Berg. “They also proved to be a highly valuable addition to our current studies in search of soft tissue preservation in fossils.”

The post Fossilized tissue reveals largest known T. rex died from broken rib appeared first on Popular Science.

GPT-6 Astra leads every comparable benchmark against Claude Fable 5.1, Claude Fable 5, and Claude Opus 5. Clear wins (large gaps) ARC-AGI-3: Astra 98.6% vs Opus 5 30.2% (high). No scores for the Fable models. FrontierMath Tier 4 (v2): Astra 97.6% vs Fable 5.1 / Fable 5 87.8% and Opus 5 73.2%. AutomationBench: Astra 41.4% ...

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The story of a 2,000-year-old ring potentially tied to one of the Christian Bible’s most impactful figures has yet another hypothesis. In a study recently published in the journal Palestine Exploration Quarterly, historian Catherine Bonesho argues that the letters on a ring often associated with the Roman governor Pontius Pilate refer to somebody named Pilate, and not necessarily the official who sentenced Jesus to death. The reason behind the mix-up? A common Roman translation error.

The backstory behind Pilate’s ring

The ring was first excavated during the 1960s at a mountaintop fortress called Herodium about 7.5 miles south of Jerusalem. However, researchers ostensibly forgot about the jewelry after placing it in storage, where it remained until its rediscovery in 2018. That same year, archaeologists publicly revealed the artifact uncovered in the Judean desert with supposedly dramatic historical connections. 

Based on their analysis, researchers initially argued a copper alloy ring’s engraved Greek lettering (ΠΙΛΑΤO) and image of a vase tied the accessory either to Pontius Pilate, or someone who worked in the New Testament figure’s administration.

The theory made international headlines while also receiving a heavy dose of criticism. Another group of scholars eventually refuted the claims in 2023, contending the ring had no connection to anyone named Pilate. In their view, the image separating the letters Π and Ι from Λ, Α, Τ and Ο denoted two separate words.

Archeologists suggested the ring was supposed to feature the name ΠΙΛΑΤΟY—the Greek translation of PILATI, or “belonging to Pilate.”But for whatever reason, the engraver left off the “Y.” It was around then that Bonesho first learned about the ring’s existence—and this theory—through a social media post.

“After talking with a friend of mine about it, I commented on the post that maybe it was Latin written in Greek letters,” Bonesho, a historian of ancient Judaism at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) recalled in a recent profile.

It’s all Greek to me

A separate scholarly article cited her suggestion, which eventually spurred Bonesho’s own investigation. After analyzing digital images and renderings of the ring, Bonesho now believes whoever engraved it wasn’t trying to fit two separate words on the face. Nor were they discarding a “Y” to save space. Instead, they were attempting to fit ΠΙΛΑΤO around the vessel relief, which was possibly engraved on the ring by an earlier artisan. The second engraver may have also accidentally created a tiny defect that required them to break up Pilate’s name.As for the letters themselves, Bonesho thinks the ring’s maker mistakenly swapped the Latin long “o” vowel with the similar looking Greek omicron. Basically, she thinks it’s a 2,000-year-old typo. 

“The mixing up of omicron and omega for long and short ‘O’ vowels in transliterating Latin into Greek is common among early Latin language learners,” Bonesho contended. “They might have thought, ‘It looks like an O, and I have an O in front of me—why not just use the O?’”

Under these parameters, the ring technically should say “ΠΙΛΑΤΩ,” which means “to” or “for” Pilate. If true, then the wearer wasn’t a man named Pilate, but a subordinate or enslaved person under his oversight who used the ring as a wax or clay seal for various materials and documents. The theory is further bolstered by the jewelry’s material,Copper alloy was considered a cheaper metal at the time, and usually only worn by lower status individuals.

Bonesho said this latest interpretation doesn’t lessen the artifact’s historical importance. If anything, it imbues it with more nuance and context.

“Complexity often gets lost in popular narratives of how things worked at that time,” she said. “But understanding the ring gives us more insight into what the Roman administration of early Roman Judea looked like.”

The post Ancient ring supposedly tied to Pontius Pilate may include a typo appeared first on Popular Science.

High school students interning at an observatory in Hawaii have successfully imaged a pair of colliding spiral galaxies located deep within overlapping cultural constellations. Formally classified as NGC 7253, the two galaxies are over 200 million light-years away, and reside in both Pegasus and Ka Lupe o Kawelo, or “The Kite of Kawelo.”

“NGC 7253 is a fascinating object because it’s two galaxies that are merging into one over billions of years,” said Project Hōkūlani intern Raiyan Rahman. “But we mainly picked this object because it was one of the few that actually lay within a Hawaiian constellation.”

Rahman and the other students from Waiākea High School and the Volcano School of Arts and Sciences spent one week in fall 2025 at the Gemini North Hilo Base Facility in Hilo to learn more about observatory operations, astronomy, and identify a deep space subject to study using the facility’s telescope. They selected NGC 7253 for its location inside a major navigational constellation utilized by Hawaiian sailors for generations.

Despite being separated by four million light-years, the gravitational pull inside NGC 7253 is strong enough that the two cosmic neighborhoods are on an inescapable collision course. Over a period of about one billion years, the spiral galaxies will smash into each other and merge into a single amalgamation. When this finally occurs, its spiral arms will generate a massive uptick in star formations. These newborn stellar objects will then ionize nearby hydrogen gas to form H II regions. In the image compiled by the high schoolers, these H II regions are already visible in the areas of bright pink light.

Earlier this summer, another three students from Keaʻau High School and Kamehameha Schools also participated in Project Hōkūlani. Continuing on the work of their predecessors, they decided on an official name for NGC 7253—Nā ʻUhane Māhoe Huki Pū i ke Ola, which roughly translates to “The Twin Spirits Pulling Together Creating Life.”

“After spending so much time on Maunakea, it was important to us to pick something that was both culturally and astronomically significant,” added Rahman.

The post High school students spot two spiral galaxies colliding in Hawaiian constellation appeared first on Popular Science.

As salmon season winds down and Fat Bear Week approaches, the famous brown bears (Ursus arctos) in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve have to get out and about while the eating is good. Bear #284 (Electra) was spotted out and about this week, looking healthy with her two cubs.

Electra is part of a well-established bear lineage in Katmai. She was born in 2008 to Bear #708 (Amelia), who was likely born to Bear #468 (Reggie). Rangers first spotted her in  2011 as a subadult. She has had at least three litters of cubs, in 2016, 2020, and 2026, respectively. Bears #901 and #384 are two of her adult offspring who have been seen in the park. This year, she had two spring cubs who have been spotted with her multiple times over the summer.

According to Katmai and explore.org naturalist Mike Fitz, one way that bear culture is similar to human culture is that their knowledge is passed down. Mother bears teach their cubs skills, and the offspring primarily learn by doing instead of through inherited instincts. Mother bears like Electra will teach their cubs about safe places to build dens, where and when to find food, and how to get it.

Fishing techniques can also be specific to each individual bear. Adult male Bear #164 (aka Bucky Dent) is known for standing at the deepest plunge pool under the cascade of Brooks Falls, where he can catch the salmon that wells up from the pool below, jump up, or come down from the falls above. Electra’s mother Amelia used to stand and walk out into the water when she was fishing, and Electra and one of her adult offspring (Bear # 901) fish the same way.

Physically, Electra is a medium-sized adult, and has a dark blond or medium-brown coat in July. By the fall, her coat typically becomes more uniformly brown. She also has a prominent shoulder hump and a tapered muzzle.

Electra made her Fat Bear Week debut in 2023, where she lost to ace-fisher bear Bucky Dent. Fat Bear Week 2026 runs from September 22 through September 29.

The post Katmai brown bear cubs learning how to ‘walk on water’ to nab salmon appeared first on Popular Science.

AI agents going crazy has already boosted the GDP of Taiwan to 11%. This is the level of GDP growth for China during the decades long rise of China. The Rise of AI is boosting the GDP of the USA, Taiwan and Korea. We describe the world of agent AI and what it means. At ...

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While we have months to wait for the first images from the freshly-launched Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, NASA’s other incredible observatories do not disappoint. The agency released a new collection of 16 galactic images taken with the Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes. 

Galaxies are separated into three main categories—spirals, ellipticals, and irregulars. Spirals are like our own Milky Way and appear to spin around a central focus. Ellipticals are older galaxies and likely the results of mergers. Irregulars that can encompass a wide range of galactic phenomena. 

Spirals, ellipticals, and irregulars are all represented in this new collection. Each image hasX-ray data from Chandra, combined with data from other telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Hubble, IXPE, Swift, and NuSTAR, and others both in space and on the ground. Gaze into the galaxies in the gallery below. (Click to expand images to full screen.)

NGC 16-72 A barred spiral galaxy featuring a prominent central bar or bridge of stars that channels gas toward its core. Chandra X-rays (purple) highlight growing black holes along the bar and core, merged with Hubble optical light (white, yellow and soft blue) and JWST infrared dust filaments (red). Studying barred spirals in action can help reveal how gas in our own Milky Way, which is also a barred spiral, feeds its central black hole and forms new stars. Image X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/Hubble Heritage Team; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/J. Lee and T. Williams; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare, J. Major, K. Arcand. II Zw 096 A chaotic, dust-shrouded system of merging galaxies forming stars at a furious rate. Chandra X-ray data (magenta) pinpoint powerful black hole activity and hot gas, while Hubble optical (blue and white) and Webb infrared (red and grey) data illuminate vast stellar nurseries hidden behind interstellar dust. Systems like II Zw 096 show us how powerful galaxy collisions shaped the early universe. Image: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and J. Major. M33 A nearby, face-on spiral galaxy whose clear spiral arms offer an unhindered view of its stellar engine. X-ray data from Chandra (purple) highlights point sources like neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes pulling material off companion stars (systems called X-ray binaries), while optical data from the Very Large Telescope’s MUSE instrument (pink and grey) maps glowing pockets of hydrogen gas. Ultraviolet data from NASA’s Swift telescope (blue) reveals populations of young, massive stars sizzling across the spiral arms. M33’s proximity to us allows astronomers to audit individual high-energy objects and map how stellar feedback affects a galaxy’s ecosystem. Image: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: ESO/VLT; UV: NASA/Swift; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare. NGC 4258 A spiral galaxy famous for having two extra, “anomalous” spiral arms composed of hot gas. Chandra’s X-rays (royal blue) show superheated shockwaves created by central black hole jets, combined with optical light from Hubble (red, yellow and pale blue) and infrared dust filaments from Webb (bright orange). M106 helps show how supermassive black holes can create structural features that mimic star-bearing spiral arms, influencing a galaxy’s evolution. Image: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare. NGC 1569 A compact dwarf irregular galaxy undergoing a violent, compact burst of star formation. Chandra and XMM-Newton observations (blue and purple) reveal massive bubbles of million-degree gas inflated by stellar winds, set against a backdrop of optical light (magenta, orange and white) imaged by Adam Block. Dwarf starburst galaxies can serve as local laboratories for studying the conditions of the early universe, where small, primitive galaxies formed stars at frantic rates. Image: X-ray: (XMM):ESA/XMM-Newton, (Chandra): NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: Univ.of Arizona/Mt Lemmon SkyCenter/Adam Block/Josep Drudis; Image Processing: NASA?CXC/SAO/L. Frattare. M90 A large spiral galaxy that is being stripped of its gas as it plunges at high speed through hot gas in the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. Chandra’s X-ray data (magenta) pinpoints high-energy point sources—such as X-ray binaries and supernova remnants—and diffuse hot gas nestled within the spiral disk imaged by Hubble (blue, brown and gold). A ground-based optical light image taken from New Mexico by Timothy Martin reveals red filaments of hydrogen gas streaming over 300,000 light-years behind the galaxy as it falls into the Virgo Cluster. Image: Accidental Astronomers. X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESA/D. Thilker/J. Lee/PHANGS-HST Team; Full-field: Tim Martin; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare. Centaurus A A giant elliptical galaxy undergoing a dusty merger, featuring a powerful jet of particles blasting tens of thousands of light-years into space. Chandra’s X-rays (blue) showcase the high-energy jet, with additional X-rays from IXPE (orange), while Webb infrared (magenta) and optical light (amber and white) from the European Southern Observatory expose a dark, churning dust lane. As one of the closest active galaxies to Earth, Cen A allows astronomers to study the effects of supermassive black hole jets in extraordinary detail. Image: X-ray: (Chandra) NASA/CXC/SAO, X-ray (IXPE): NASA/MSFC; Optical: ESO; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare, K. Arcand, and J. Major. M104 Famous for its broad central bulge and dark outer dust ring, this galaxy sits at a nearly edge-on tilt to Earth. Chandra X-rays (cyan and orange) isolate compact point sources and hot gas in the galaxy’s sprawling halo, merged with Hubble optical light (warm white) and Webb infrared vision (purple-red dust lane). Studying M104 may help bridge the gap between spirals and ellipticals, helping astronomers better understand how a galaxy’s giant outer cloud of stars grows and ages alongside its inner disk. Image: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical:NASA/Hubble Heritage Team/AURA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare. Arp 143 This ring galaxy system formed when a smaller companion galaxy punched straight through its center like a bullseye, creating a powerful cosmic shockwave. Chandra X-rays (purple) uncover bright X-ray binary systems scattered along the collision shock wave, laid over Hubble’s optical image (blue and white) of expanding stellar rings. Such head-on collisions can trigger vast ripple effects, sparking huge waves of star birth across entire galaxies. Image: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/J. Dalcanton; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare. NGC 4725 A “one-armed” barred spiral galaxy surrounded by a prominent star-forming ring. Chandra’s X-ray data (magenta) pinpoints several bright X-ray sources, likely caused by growing black holes, embedded within the sweeping optical disk (soft blue and white) captured with the Mt. Lemmon Observatory. Galaxies with unusual single arms can offer a window into how the gravity from a passing galaxy can trigger bursts of star formation. Image: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/NAOJ/R. Gendler; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare. NGC 1385 A barred spiral galaxy packed with regions where stars are actively forming. Chandra X-ray data (magenta) highlights stellar nurseries and X-ray binaries scattered along dusty spiral structures brought to life by Hubble optical (white and grey) and Webb infrared (orange and red) observations. Comparing multiwavelength data of barred spirals containing active star formation helps scientists map how local starbursts build up galactic mass over time. Image: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare. NGC 660 A rare “polar ring” galaxy where a tilted outer ring of stars and dust rotates over the galaxy’s poles, an unusual structure likely caused by a collision with another galaxy about a billion years ago. Chandra’s X-rays (purple) reveal a possible growing supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxy, plus X-ray binaries nestled within the stars and dust captured by the Gemini Observatory in optical light (gold, blue and white). Studying polar rings teaches us about the diverse effects of stellar collisions on the shapes of galaxies. Image: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical:NSF/International Gemini Observatory/AURA; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare. M82 An irregular galaxy undergoing intense star formation because of a gravitational interaction with a neighboring galaxy hundreds of millions of years ago. Chandra X-rays (blue), supplemented by NuSTAR data, show towering superwinds of million-degree gas blowing thousands of light-years out of the galactic disk, with Hubble optical light (yellow, orange and white) showing the galaxy shape, and Webb and Spitzer detailing infrared dust emission (red). M82 was nicknamed the Cigar Galaxy mostly because of its edge-on angle to Earth, which makes its central disk look like an elongated, cigar-shaped oval with small optical telescopes. The galaxy illustrates how violent galactic “exhaust systems” can regulate a galaxy’s growth by venting gas outwards. Image: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare, J. Major, and K. Arcand. NGC 3256 A pair of colliding, gas-rich spiral galaxies merging into a single massive system. Chandra’s X-ray data (pink) isolates point sources and shock-heated gas, Hubble’s optical light (blue and white) captures tidal tails of stars, and Webb’s infrared vision (red and orange) cuts through the dust to show hidden star formation. Galaxy collisions like this offer a preview of our far future, showing what might happen if our own Milky Way collides and merges with the nearby Andromeda Galaxy. Image: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare. NGC 3938 A face-on spiral galaxy whose orientation gives us an unobstructed view of its disk. X-ray emissions from Chandra (magenta) detail energetic X-ray binaries and supernova remnants scattered across dust lanes in an optical image (white, blue and gold) from Adam Block with Mt. Lemmon Observatory. Face-on orientations are important for galactic studies because they provide the most unobstructed views of a galaxy’s stars and gas. Image: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare. NGC 4631 A spiral galaxy viewed from its side, featuring a giant halo of hot gas blowing out of its stellar disk. X-rays from Chandra and ESA’s XMM-Newton (purple and royal blue) trace hot gas driven out by supernovas and black holes and neutron stars pulling gas from their companions, while optical light (light blue, gold and white) from ground-based observer R. Jay GaBany showcases dense dust lanes. Edge-on views of galaxies allow astronomers to study how flat their stellar disks are and provide the clearest views of material located above or below the disk. Image: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: ©2011-2015 by R Jay GaBany, Cosmotography.com; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare.

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A little less than 2,000 years ago, Mount Vesuvius became the antihero of the ancient world’s most well-known tragedy. The infamous explosion covered Pompeii and Herculaneum in volcanic debris, immortalizing the final moments of the ancient Roman cities and some of their unfortunate inhabitants in stunning detail. 

Now, however, visitors can witness the glory of Pompeii before it all came crashing down in 79 CE. A former game engineer from Illinois and his team have developed an application that brings sites at the Archaeological Park of Pompeii to unprecedented life via Immersive Extended Reality technology. In other words, you can now stand in the forum alongside other ancient Romans and watch in horror as Mount Vesuvius starts to rumble along the horizon. 

Todd Porter, the former game engineer and now founder of the software company Histoury, went through a different kind of horror to make it happen—walking every inch of the archaeological sites to execute 155 scans under southern Italy’s blazing sun. 

An idea ahead of its time 

Porter founded Histoury less than three years ago, but the lightning bolt of inspiration originally struck him 15 years ago on a visit to Herculaneum, Porter tells Popular Science. It was while wandering around the archaeological sites that he had the idea of using his video game background to reconstruct his surroundings in a virtual world one could visit with their phones. 

Of course, in 2012, smart phones didn’t have enough processing power to support the sort of software required for something like that. “It only took 13 years for phones to catch up to my vision,” Porter jokes. 

But that vision could only manifest with the Pompeii archaeological park’s consent. Thankfully, a member of the team—a former hotel front desk employee who, after learning about the team’s project, offered to quit his job and do their business development—wouldn’t take no for an answer. He knocked on Pompeii’s door every day until, possibly out of exhaustion, the park agreed to a demonstration. 

[ Related: DNA reveals new stories about Pompeii’s victims ]

The scanner looks like a bomb

Histoury’s digital reconstructions start with two different kinds of scans—a high resolution scan and a spatial scan. 

The high resolution scan creates a virtual 3D model of the site with an accuracy range of less than 2 centimeters, and involves walking around the archaeological site with an instrument called a LiDAR scanner. 

“That’s just me walking around with a device that looks like a bomb,” Porter says. “It’s shaped like a giant pill with a light whirling around and it makes a noise. You hold it with one hand and you’re looking at your phone with the other.” 

Todd Porter, the former game engineer and now founder of the software company Histoury, walked around with this scanner capturing every inch of Pompeii. Image: Histoury, Inc.

The resulting 3D model is then converted into 3D mesh—essentially a kind of digital model compatible with the game development software they use. Histoury’s artists then build the reconstruction directly on top of this 3D mesh, in consultation with a team of archaeologists to make sure everything is as historically accurate as possible. 

The other scan—the spatial scan—employs a less powerful instrument called an Xgrid Portalcam, and serves several different purposes. The main one is to secure spatial accuracy. Traditional GPS data is largely inaccurate. Instead, Histoury’s application uses artificial intelligence to determine where the user is standing and which way they are facing within six inches of accuracy. The AI matches the image captured by the smart phone to images of known locations in its data. 

The other purpose of the spatial scan is to allow artists to double check their work without having to visit Pompeii in person. “We blend the two [scans] in our tool set so that the artist can walk around and they can switch back and forth between their recreation and the real world just to triple check that everything is lined up,” Porter explains. “AI is really sloppy with a lot of things. Music, art, but the stuff that it’s really good at is the stuff we use it for, which is number crunching.”

In the final step, the team’s lead AI expert has AI agents that “walk” the entire digital reconstruction, looking in every direction. Simply put, these walk-throughs help check how accurate the spatial aspect of the reconstruction is. 

“If it’s not accurate at all or less than a certain percentage, it sends the team back to the site for another spatial scan,” Porter explains. “It means we don’t have to send people on site to stand in 5,000 different places to figure out our accuracy,” says Porter. “We can do that virtually.”

[ Related: What did Pompeii smell like before it burned? ]

A magical project

The final product is a smart phone or tablet application, Portyl, that shows what Pompeii would have looked like before Mount Vesuvius’ devastating explosion wherever you point your device. The recreation is populated with people, animals, sound effects, and audio explanations. It’s about as close as you can get to strolling through Pompeii before it was demolished. 

The reconstructed sites available for virtual tour currently include Pompeii’s amphitheater, large theater, small theater, quadriporticus (a space turned into a gladiator training school), House of the Citharist (a large aristocratic house), forum, and basilica. The team is also working on additional Pompeii locations. Everything is free until September 1, and the app is accessible even for people who aren’t there in person. 

The amphitheater of Pompeii is one of the oldest Roman amphitheaters in the world. When you download Histoury, you can see what this massive theater would’ve looked like in its prime. Image: Histoury, Inc.

But for those who are in Pompeii, “you hold your phone or iPad up, we recognize where you’re standing usually within six inches and we know exactly where you’re facing and then we basically spawn the recreation right there,” Porter says enthusiastically. 

“Like in the amphitheater, you’re walking around gladiators fighting. There’s 30,000 people in the crowd around you, and you hear the roar, and you hear the clang of the metal. Of all the things I’ve ever done in my life, this is truly one of the most magical things I’ve ever been part of. I think that’s what really gets everybody—it gets you emotionally.” 

Histoury is close to signing a contract with Herculaneum and making moves in other countries, including Egypt. 

The complexities of AI in Pompeii 

This isn’t the first time AI has been put to work at Pompeii. Earlier this year, the archaeological park released an AI-generated video based on archaeological data depicting the final moments of a man whose skeleton was discovered outside of one of Pompeii’s gates. In our article on the subject, we paused to wonder what the victim would have thought about people watching his terrified face to the sound of “Dark Horror Intro” royalty free music. 

Since Histoury’s Portyl users can trigger the explosion of Mount Vesuvius and then watch it erupt to the sound of screams and the sight of people running for their lives, the question perhaps stands in this case, too. 

[ Related: AI makes Pompeii victim’s final moments look shockingly real ]

But they can also simply peer around the basilica or the amphitheater, and there’s something uniquely respectful about paying tribute to Pompeii’s former glory instead of adoring its tragic remains. And more broadly, there’s no denying the fact that a live reconstruction has the potential to make ancient history feel closer than it has ever been before, especially for people who have a hard time imagining the bygone world on their own.  

Virgil once wrote, “fugit irreparabile tempus,” meaning “irretrievable time flies.” The ancient poet may have thus been surprised to learn that today, time is indeed retrievable—at least somewhat. 

The post Explore what Pompeii looked like before catastrophic eruption appeared first on Popular Science.

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