Using an ultra-powerful laser, researchers have successfully characterised liquid carbon in the lab for the first time. The experiments offer rare insight into one of the most abundant elements in the universe, which, despite its ubiquity, remains the least understood in its liquid form among stable elements.

Late in 2023, a video shared on Reddit that captured a passenger plane flying over San Francisco went viral because it appeared to be levitating mid-air. While some fighter jets can hover in place, there aren't any commercial planes with the technology to do so. What you see in the video is an optical illusion that has more to do with the concept of reference points and motion than any secret hover mode.

Another summer, another Lake Mead update: And this year, it's not looking great. Our snowpack gains this winter were pretty dismal, and the National Weather Service recently even lowered their projections for Lake Powell, whose upstream levels affect Lake Mead's. In light of all this, we're bringing back a conversation that co-host Dayvid Figler had with UNLV hydrology professor David Kreamer. The creation of Lake Mead was not without its costs — so was it worth it? And what happens if we use Lake Mead up?