Science, every day
Discoveries explained, and claims checked against the evidence.
Your Daily Science explains new discoveries in science, technology and AI, space and archaeology, and checks famous claims and mysteries against the evidence. We say what is known, what is not, and always show our working.
Latest from the lab
This week in science, 20–26 October
Science news this week, 20–26 October: a 150-million-year-old bird fossil, Perseverance's driving record, a claimed exomoon and an AI-found PHP flaw.
What Is a Large Language Model? A Plain Guide
The technology behind ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, explained without jargon: how large language models are built, what they do well and where they go wrong.
Why Is the Sky Blue? Rayleigh Scattering Explained
Why the sky is blue, why sunsets turn red and why clouds are white: the physics of light scattering explained, from Tyndall and Rayleigh to today.
Featured
Our picks
AI in Archaeology: Real Discoveries or Hype?
What AI has actually found in archaeology, from carbonised Herculaneum scrolls to Nazca lines and Maya lidar, and where the claims still need checking.
The Loch Ness Monster and the Surgeon's Photograph
A 1933 newspaper story, a famous 1934 photo of a toy submarine, and a 2018 DNA survey full of eels: how the Loch Ness legend was made, and tested.
Roswell 1947: What Actually Happened
A rancher, a scatter of foil and tape, a press release retracted within a day, and the secret balloon project behind the most famous UFO story.
Test yourself
Check it yourself
Answer first, then see the evidence. No sign-up.
Real or Rigged?
Famous historic photos and the hoaxes behind them. Some were faked, some unbelievable ones are real.
Open the archiveLabTrust Your Eyes?
Six classic visual illusions, redrawn. Answer first, then remove the context yourself and see what your brain was doing.
Open the labInvestigationThe Case Room
An interactive investigation: stories, debates, quizzes and a comic drawn from your answers.
Open the caseStories20 UFO Sightings and What Really Happened
Searchlights over Los Angeles, Roswell’s balloon and the Navy’s Tic Tac, with what the files say, as tap-through stories.
Watch the storiesLibraryThe Free Evidence Library
Free science courses, textbooks, open data and ways to help real scientists, plus a quick checker for a claim you saw today.
Browse the libraryFrom the case files
Fact or fiction?
“The flag planted on the Moon waved because there was wind.”
FictionA horizontal rod along the top edge held the flag out. It moved only while the astronauts twisted the pole into the ground, then hung still. With no air to slow it, the fabric kept swinging longer than it would on Earth.
About Your Daily Science
Our standards
Documented vs claimed
Every case separates official findings and released records from speculation, and says so plainly when something is unproven.
No accusations
We don’t accuse living people of wrongdoing, and we treat victims and their families with respect.
Corrections
If we get something wrong, we fix it and say so. Send corrections to [email protected].