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scienceSaturday, June 20, 2026

Brain implant restores speech, Curiosity keeps rolling

Today in science, two stories stand out for their sheer audacity: a brain-computer interface gave fluent speech back to a man with ALS, and NASA is planning a rescue mission for a falling space telescope. Meanwhile, Curiosity rover's 13-year Mars run is a masterclass in engineering improvisation.

Sources

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Restoring speech and saving telescopes

Two stories about beating the odds: one in human biology, one in orbital mechanics.

#01spacedaily.comJun 20

A brain-computer interface has, for the first time, restored fluent everyday speech to a person who had lost it — a man with ALS who had not spoken aloud in years until a small implant from the BrainGate clinical trial began translating his attempts to sp

BrainGate's BCI restored fluent, natural-speed speech to a man with ALS for the first time, allowing him to communicate for hours at a stretch. This is a genuine leap beyond previous speech BCIs.

7 min readRead original

#02www.space.comJun 20

'No one thought it was going to be possible.' A space telescope is falling out of space. This is NASA's…

NASA's Swift Observatory is falling out of orbit and could burn up by end of 2025. The agency is planning an unprecedented nine-month rescue mission with commercial partner Katalyst Space.

10 min readRead original

Long-running missions and new energy

Mars rover and wave energy both show what persistence and ingenuity can achieve.

#03spectrum.ieee.orgJun 20

The Ingenious Fixes Keeping the Curiosity Rover Rolling

Curiosity rover has survived 13 years on Mars through clever engineering workarounds, traveling 37 km and drilling 42 samples. Two outlets cover the story, highlighting its remarkable longevity.

#04www.energy.govJun 20

CalWave Launches California’s First Long-Term Wave Energy Project

CalWave launched California's first long-term wave energy pilot, using xWave tech to demonstrate grid-ready power from ocean waves. A milestone for marine renewables.

Climate data preserved, oceans explored

Decisions today affect how we monitor the planet tomorrow.

#05cleantechnica.comJun 20

US Rescinds Plan To Dismantle Ocean Observatories Initiative

The US reversed its plan to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative, which provides critical climate data on currents like the AMOC. A win for climate monitoring.

Also today15

Jonathan Haidt's Anti-Social Media Crusade Marred By Bad Sciencereason.com
This article critiques Jonathan Haidt's book "The Anxious Generation," arguing that Haidt's claims about social media causing a teen mental health crisis are not supported by strong scientific evidence. It points out that only 22 of the 476 studies cited in the book contain data
Scientists Propose Black Holes Don’t Exist, Are Something Much Strangerwww.404media.co
The article discusses a seismic wave from the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake that traveled to the Earth's core and back, revealing a previously unseen phenomenon. It also mentions a recipe for a gravastar (a theoretical alternative to black holes), a light shower of heavenly crematio
Are Artificially Sweetened Beverages Linked to Liver Cancer?mdsc.pe
A new study found that drinking sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is linked to an increased risk for liver cancer, specifically hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Each additional SSB consumed per day was associated with a 10% increased risk for HCC
Preserving an Imperiled Porpoise Through Pixels: Digitization of a Vaquita (Phocoena sinus) Skeleton, the World's Most Endangered Marine Mammalonlinelibrary.wiley.com
This article discusses the digitization of a vaquita (Phocoena sinus) skeleton, the world's most endangered marine mammal. The vaquita is a porpoise species found in the Gulf of California, and the project involves creating high-resolution 3D digital models of its skeletal remain
Astrobites at AAS 248: Day 2astrobites.org
Astrobites reports on Day 2 of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) 248 summer meeting in Pasadena, CA. The article covers conference highlights including the Helen B. Warner Prize presentation and various astronomy research presentations and discussions from the event.
Understanding and overcoming innate and acquired MAPK inhibition resistance in anaplastic thyroid cancerwww.cell.com
This study investigates resistance mechanisms to MAPK inhibition in anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC), a highly lethal cancer. Using multi-region whole-genome, whole-exome, and single-nuclei RNA sequencing of tumors from ATC patients undergoing type I RAF inhibitor and MEK inhibito
Insect populations flourish in the restored habitats of solar energy facilitieswww.anl.gov
Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory studied how solar energy facilities built on retired agricultural land, when planted with native grasses and wildflowers, can restore insect populations and biodiversity. Over five years, all
6e Nuit de l'astronomie à l’IAP : « Notre Voie lactée et au-delà : un siècle d’exploration des galaxies »www.iap.fr
The Institut d'astrophysique de Paris (IAP) is organizing its 6th "Nuit de l'astronomie" on June 20, 2026, from 6 PM to 2 AM. The public event focuses on galaxies, commemorating the centenary of Edwin Hubble's discovery that the Andromeda nebula is actually a galaxy, which revolu
Complete elliptic Fourier descriptor normalization and its application in quantitative morphological analysisbuff.ly
This article presents a methodological study on the normalization of elliptic Fourier descriptors (EFD) used in geometric morphometrics (GM) for quantitative biological shape analysis. It addresses persistent challenges in achieving unique EFD normalization, which is critical for