January 18, 2026

Singularity. Illustration: depositphotos.com

A million inhabitants on Mars, digital consciousness and the singularity: Science puts limits on Silicon Valley's dreams

Neil deGrasse Tyson video reignites debate over Mars colonization, “consciousness elevation” and singularity predictions – and what research says about physical and biological limitations
Arpachiyah Excavations, Iraq – Historical Documentation from the British Museum and UCL Collections. Credit: Yosef Garfinkel.

Flower paintings on 8,000-year-old pottery from Mesopotamia reveal mathematical patterns

Analysis of samples from the Khalafite culture in northern Mesopotamia found symmetrical divisions of the numbers 4, 8, 16, 32 and even 64 – a hint at quantitative thinking before the emergence of written numbers
Artist's impression of space weather around the dwarf star M TIC 141146667. The torus of ionized gas is shaped by the star's magnetic field and rotation, with two dense, tightly packed clumps on opposite sides of the star. Credit: Illustration by Navid Marvi, Carnegie Science

Natural space weather stations may help understand what makes planets habitable

Cold plasma torus around young red dwarfs causes periodic dimming – providing a “space weather station” to measure particles and magnetic fields from afar