Sunday Special: Landmark study hints at ancient life on Mars

Welcome back, Superhuman. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Turns out, it’s a bit of both. Engineers in Singapore have unveiled a futuristic craft that skims passengers across the sea, hovering just above the water using the same physics that lets an albatross glide for miles. Meanwhile, a landmark NASA study has reignited one of humanity’s biggest questions: Did ancient life ever exist on Mars? The evidence increasingly points to a yes.

SCIENCE SUNDAY

The most interesting scientific and technological breakthroughs this week

1. Groundbreaking study hints at possible ancient Martian life: A new study by NASA claims that non-biological processes "can't fully explain" the abundance of organic compounds in Martian mudstone, opening the door to a biological origin hypothesis. By rewinding 80M years of cosmic radiation damage through lab experiments and modeling, scientists estimate the original organic material far exceeded what meteorites or geology could deliver. No definitive conclusions yet, but the possibility just became more plausible.

2. Singapore firm debuts sea-skimming craft that flies like an albatross: Singapore aerospace firm ST Engineering just unveiled the AirFish, a 10-seater craft that hovers 1-3 meters above the sea using the ground effect — the same physical principles that help albatrosses glide effortlessly for miles. For archipelagic Southeast Asia's 24,000+ islands, this could potentially transform maritime transit economics. Watch the innovative new design in action here.

3. China launches mystery reusable spacecraft for the fourth time: China just sent a classified reusable spacecraft into orbit aboard a Long March-2F rocket, marking the country's fourth launch since 2020. State media offered no details on the craft's altitude, mission duration, or the technologies being tested. The move suggests that China is iterating on reusable tech that could slash spaceflight costs, rapidly closing the gap with Western rivals like SpaceX and Blue Origin. Watch the historic moment here.

4. Scientists unveil living blood vessels on a chip: Researchers from Texas A&M have built the first vessel-on-a-chip that actually mimics how real blood vessels twist, branch, and balloon. The living microfluidic device replicates aneurysms, narrowed arteries, and complex branching points where shear stress triggers most vascular diseases, something previous models completely missed. It could potentially allow pharmaceutical companies and cardiovascular researchers to study diseases where they actually develop.

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NEW TECH

Our favorite new tech gadgets this week

1. ZIEA One: A physical AI calendar that sits on your desk and plans your day for you. It can lock your phone and start a deep focus session with one tap while automatically building your schedule into a single view.

2. Nothing Headphones (1): An over-ear audio with KEF-tuned sound and a cassette-style transparent shell. It packs a roller for volume, a 35-hour battery with noise canceling, and quick switching between apps.

3. Ring Always Home Cam: A flying indoor security camera that can move from room to room instead of staring at one fixed angle, giving you a full-home sweep.

4. Outzac Pico Pump: A tiny camping pump that inflates a sleeping pad in about 30 seconds. It delivers enough pressure to finish the job on its own, so you never have to top it off by mouth. Available on Kickstarter.

SOCIAL SIGNALS

What’s trending in science & tech on socials this week

🎮️ Button for Balance: A content creator has built a device that uses a video game controller to control her balance in real-time. A short clip showing the creative device in action has garnered over 5M views on social media.

🌊 Deep Discovery: Real footage from a 2019 deep-sea expedition to the Java Trench has resurfaced on social media, showing a "never-before-seen creature" waddling about in the deep.

🦋 Cosmic Flutter: Did you know that our galaxy flaps its wings like a butterfly? Here’s a video showing a sped-up version of the strange phenomenon.

🕰️ Plastic Past: A resurfaced Reddit post gives us a striking glimpse into early plastic surgery practices in the 1960s, highlighting how far cosmetic procedures have evolved.

⚡️Power Swing: Engineer Tom Stanton has built a pendulum-powered “battery” that converts swinging motion into electricity. It gives off enough energy to power LEDs and small devices.

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ONLY GOOD NEWS

A healthy dose of optimism to kickstart your week

Precision Pellets: Radiologists from the University of Missouri just treated their first liver cancer patient with Eye90 microspheres — tiny glass beads embedded with yttrium-90 radiation. Traditional Y-90 beads were invisible on scans once injected, forcing radiologists to "shoot and hope" the radiation hit tumors. Now, doctors can track exactly where radiation lands in real-time. If it makes it through clinical trials, the new technique could destroy tumors in cancer patients with far less collateral damage to healthy tissue.

Instant Seal: South Korean scientists claim to have developed a battlefield spray that stops severe bleeding in under a second by transforming blood into a rubbery gel on contact. Unlike tourniquets or gauze, it works on gunshots, shrapnel, and awkward wounds where traditional methods fail. For military medics and emergency rooms where seconds determine survival, this could potentially replace compression-based hemostasis that often costs critical time in trauma scenarios.

Brain Boost: A landmark NIH study tracking 3,000 seniors claims that adults who played 23 hours of a specific speed-training brain game over three years showed a 25% lower dementia risk two decades later. The game apparently teaches rapid visual processing — identifying and deciding on objects quickly. For an aging population facing dementia rates that double every five years after 65, this could possibly represent the first proven cognitive intervention with decades-long protection.

SUNDAY SCIENCE TRIVIA

The Gombe Chimpanzee War

Don’t Cheat: You can learn more about the shocking incident here or watch a short documentary here.

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