Sunday Special: Artemis 2 makes a successful splashdown

Welcome back, Superhuman. The world held its breath on Friday as NASA’s Artemis II crew wrapped up a historic lunar mission with a dramatic splashdown, injecting fresh momentum into the global race to put humans back on the Moon by 2028. Meanwhile, deep in the jungle, a brutal chimpanzee war has left scientists stunned, offering a chilling window into the evolutionary roots of human violence.

SCIENCE SUNDAY

The most interesting scientific and technological breakthroughs this week

1. Artemis 2 makes successful splashdown after historic moon journey: NASA's Artemis II crew splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean after a 10-day mission that took astronauts farther from Earth than any human in history. Widely considered the most dangerous part of the mission, the splashdown was a critical hardware test of the Orion capsule's heat shield, which survived re-entry at 32x the speed of sound. NASA now has its sights set on a crewed moon landing in 2028. Watch the historic moment here.

2. Scientists left stunned at the outbreak of massive chimpanzee civil war: Scientists studying a 200-strong chimpanzee community in Uganda have just documented the first definitively confirmed primate civil war on record. Researchers believe the deaths of five key "social bridge" males in 2014 may have ignited the violence. The study documents instances of former companions turning on each other with no ethnic, religious, or ideological trigger, raising questions about the deep evolutionary roots of human conflict.

3. A new daily pill could add years to your dog's lifespan: San Francisco biotech Loyal is closing in on FDA approval for LOY-002, a beef-flavored prescription pill designed to slow biological aging in dogs. The drug targets age-related metabolic dysfunction, with the goal of extending both lifespan and healthy years in senior dogs of most sizes. The company's CEO says the drug could hit the market before the end of 2026. If approved, it would mark the first time the FDA has ever cleared a drug to slow aging in any species.

4. Scientists create handbag made of T. rex collagen in world-first: A teal designer handbag made using collagen derived from T. rex fossils in Amsterdam ahead of auction, where it could go for over $500K. The bag was created by extracting ancient protein fragments from dinosaur remains, inserting them into animal cells via genetic engineering, and growing the resulting collagen into leather. It's a novelty today (perhaps even a publicity stunt), but it offers us a glimpse at how biotech could soon reinvent the materials in your daily wear.

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NEW TECH

Our favorite new tech gadgets this week

1. Work Louder Nomad[e]: A modular keyboard for remote workers. It features an IPS display with a Pomodoro timer, a playful companion, and a “no code” configurator that allows intuitive mapping of shortcuts for improved efficiency.

2. Cozytime Lumo: A compact countertop appliance that works as an oven, grill, or flat indoor BBQ. It uses far infrared heating for fast heat-up, low-smoke cooking, and dual heat zones for cooking different foods at once.

3. Rewindpix: A digital film camera that lets you create your own “film rolls” with custom colors, grain, and light effects before you shoot.

4. Pocket: An AI-powered voice recorder that fits comfortably in your pocket. It helps you keep track of your conversations, recording and transcribing them.

SOCIAL SIGNALS

What’s trending in science on socials this week

🌕️ Mysteries of the Moon: Turns out everything you think you know about how the Moon looks is wrong. Under the right lens, its hidden colors pop, all captured by Artemis 2 in a groundbreaking photo that’s breaking the internet.

👀 Vision Voodoo: A Japanese artist Ryota Kanai has unveiled a mesmerizing optical illusion that literally ‘fixes itself’ as you stare at it, since your brain can’t help but smooth out the irregularities in its search for perfect patterns. See it here and put it to the test.

🚀 Reentry Rush: Artemis 2’s successful splashdown this week has got social media users combing through the archives. One user has sped up resurfaced footage of the atmospheric re-entry of Artemis 1 by 20x, and the visuals are stunning.

✈️ Flight Flow: A stunning NASA simulation doing the rounds on social media shows the chaotic, high-speed airflow swirling around an aircraft during takeoff and landing as a hypnotic visual.

😺 Cat Crisis: Social media is buzzing after a viral post claimed that Grok saved a cat’s life in Frankfurt after urgently flagging symptoms of a diabetic crisis and prompting immediate veterinary care.

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ONLY GOOD NEWS

A healthy dose of optimism to kickstart your week

Sample Solution: Researchers at the University of Geneva have developed an AI-powered stool test that they claim detects 90% of colorectal cancer cases, approaching the 94% detection rate of colonoscopies, without the invasive procedure. The team used machine learning to build the first detailed catalogue of human gut bacteria at the subspecies level, revealing microbial patterns linked to cancer. A clinical trial is now being prepared with Geneva University Hospitals.

Ammonia Ahoy: Shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has completed the world's first ammonia-powered vessel, producing near-zero CO2 emissions — a major milestone for an industry responsible for nearly 3% of global greenhouse gas output. Ammonia is already produced at scale for fertilizers, giving it an existing global supply chain that hydrogen and other alternatives lack. The vessel could potentially help us decarbonize one of the hardest industries on the planet to clean up.

SUNDAY SCIENCE TRIVIA

Don’t Cheat: You can read more about the crazy invention incident here.

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Zain, Faiq, and the Superhuman AI team