Lifeboat Foundation

In H.G. Wells’ 1,897 science fiction novel, “The Invisible Man,” the protagonist invents a serum that makes the cells in his body transparent by controlling how they bend light.

More than 100 years later, scientists have discovered a real-life version of the substance: A commonly used food coloring can make the skin of a mouse temporarily transparent, allowing scientists to see its organs function, according to a new study published Thursday in the journal Science.

The breakthrough could revolutionize biomedical research and, should it be successfully tested in humans, have wide-ranging applications in medicine and health care, such as making veins more visible to draw blood.

The vision of people with a rare inherited condition that causes them to lose much of their sight early in childhood was 100 times better after they received gene therapy to address the genetic mutation causing it. Some patients even experienced a 10,000-fold improvement in their vision after receiving the highest dose of the therapy, according to researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania who co-led the clinical trial published in The Lancet.

“That 10,000-fold improvement is the same as a patient being able to see their surroundings on a moonlit night outdoors as opposed to requiring bright indoor lighting before treatment,” said the study’s lead author, Artur Cideciyan, Ph.D., a research professor of Ophthalmology and co-director of the Center for Hereditary Retinal Degenerations.

“One patient reported for the first time being able to navigate at midnight outdoors only with the light of a bonfire.”

Can automated restaurants still be community and cultural spaces, or will they become feeding stations for humans? These and other questions loom as new food tech reaches the market.

While there is no denying ‘survival of the fittest’ still reigns supreme in the animal kingdom, a new study shows being smartest—or at least smarter—is pretty important, too.

Here’s who made the 2024 TIME100 AI list of the most influential people in artificial intelligence.

Hundreds of millions of years ago, single cells joined forces to become multicellular organisms. At the foundation of this multicellular world is the cell surface: the plasma membrane surrounding each cell, where individual units meet and communicate with one another using a language made up of molecules and proteins.

Form factors can be tested by collider experiments.

NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have signed an interagency agreement to collaborate on a satellite servicing demonstration in geosynchronous Earth orbit, where hundreds of satellites provide communications, meteorological, national security, and other vital functions.

Under this agreement, NASA will provide subject matter expertise to DARPA’s Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program to help complete the technology development, integration, testing, and demonstration. The RSGS servicing spacecraft will advance in-orbit satellite inspection, repair, and upgrade capabilities.

It reaffirms Tesla’s goal to launch the company’s self-driving technology in two new markets early next year.