Breakthrough

A dog's sense of smell can do amazing things. Dogs can help humans sniff out all kinds of things that improve our lives explosives missing persons illegal drugs. Now the latest research is revealing that dogs can detect disease even cancer.

The dawn of a new era in astronomy has begun as the world gets its first look at the full capabilities of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. These first images from the world’s largest and most powerful space telescope demonstrate Webb at its full power.

Humanity is closer than ever before to a perpetual clean power source after a team of scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory successfully produced a nuclear fusion reaction resulting in a net energy gain. We now know one thing is possible we can reach ignition.

We’ve known about them for centuries and have been photographing them for decades but a new pair of missions will be launching to bring us closer than we’ve ever been to Jupiter’s icy moons. Revealing answers to what may be astronomy’s biggest question…do the conditions for life exist beyond Earth?

Earthquakes can leave a path of destruction with no warning. Through the latest technology scientists are scrambling for a breakthrough that can forecast where and when earthquakes will strike next.

A giant mass of floating seaweed is invading popular beaches in the US and Caribbean! At sea the sargassum belt is a floating ecosystem but when it hits the shore it turns toxic. Scientists are racing to figure out how to protect the coast while tracking and studying this natural wonder.

Launched in 2016 the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft returns to Earth after a 7-year journey with NASA’s very first asteroid sample. Rocks and dust collected in 2020 from the asteroid Bennu will provide scientists with key evidence from the birth of our solar system—about 4.5 billion years ago.

It’s been called the most significant breakthrough of the century. For the first time scientists are using a new type of astronomy to detect gravitational waves all around us opening a window into the history of our universe that could someday lead to time travel.

In Antarctica a state-of-the-art robotic penguin called ECHO is changing the way scientists monitor wildlife. The autonomous yellow robot has been integrated into the penguin colony and is using remote sensing technology to monitor these now-endangered penguin colonies.

Sixty years ago Mariner 4 sent back the first images of Mars. It's a trip NASA has made twenty more times since. Robots—probes landers rovers and even helicopters—are searching for signs of life on the Red Planet and paving the way for us to follow. Our journey to Mars has already begun.

Asteroids. Mountains of rock that hurtle through space capable of mass destruction. A series of space missions are targeting them. Could these potential planet killers also reveal the origins of life itself? And can humanity protect itself against them?

This is an inside look at how teams of scientists engineers and surgeons—and their courageous test subjects—are using Brain-Computer Interfaces to bring hope and increased independence to patients living with conditions like paralysis amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and blindness.

Humans are not the strongest. Our senses are nothing special. But our intelligence is letting us wield the power of evolution. Scientists are unlocking the mysteries of the natural world to improve our lives our health and our future.

For thousands—or even millions—of years they ruled the food chain. And they still fascinate us. Creatures synonymous with the hunt: Saber Teeth Mega Jaws even a Tyrant King. How did they win evolution’s race—and what brought their reign to an end?

Data centers already devour massive amounts of energy. AI is making their power consumption skyrocket. Energy bills are already rising. Brownouts will be next. Do we have the juice to power a digital world? Researchers are looking for groundbreaking solutions.

Explore the rockets landers vehicles and space capsule paving the way for future Artemis missions to the lunar surface. And meet the engineers—and the machines—behind NASA's Commercial Lander Payload Services (CLPS) missions which are revolutionizing humanity’s relationship with the Moon.

On a faraway island ruled by giant dragons since prehistoric times archaeologists uncover the tiny remains of ancient humans and ignite fierce controversy. These fossils reveal a long-lost world and a spellbinding chapter of human evolution: the life and times of Homo floresiensis the Hobbits.

They have opened our eyes to the biggest breakthroughs in astronomy from black holes to lost planets to the birth of stars. As we build bigger and better telescopes they have become our eyes in the sky peering ever further into the darkness and giving us answers about our place in the universe.

Science breaks down boundaries and grows knowledge. Achievements build on one another and provide stepping stones to the future. From the latest in biotech to secrets buried in the Earth's surface to outer space these are the Breakthroughs that have made history-and changed it forever.