🌎 New Atlas stories of the week

by Utkarsh Sood

Who would have guessed the world's first self-charging solar motorcycle would come from an architecture firm? The bike can produce power on its own without the need for fuel, or big, heavy batteries, dense charging networks, or electrical grids.

by David Szondy

DARPA's X-65, that replaces conventional aircraft flight controls with puffs of air, is coming together at Boeing subsidiary Aurora’s Bridgeport, West Virginia facility. The fuselage is taking shape and awaits its radical wing design.

by Aaron Turpen

What Toyota has done with the 2025 4Runner is evolutionary. The new 4Runner sits on the TNGA-F body-on-frame architecture, and that underpins much of what’s compelling about this generation. I drove both the Limited and the Trailhunter models.

by Abhimanyu Ghoshal

If you've got a couple thousand bucks burning a hole in your pocket, you could do a whole lot worse than drop it on an Antic. This little beast lets you get into all kinds of trouble on two wheels – or one, if you're feeling rowdy.

by Bronwyn Thompson

Scientists have found the clearest evidence yet that Epstein-Barr virus – which nearly all of us carry for life – is directly responsible for hijacking our immune system's cells to cause lupus, a chronic disease that affects up to a million Americans.

by Michael Franco

In a new study, researchers discovered that the human brain has four pivotal periods when it goes through marked changes, sparking five "epochs" that last for years. The adolescent phase, for example, was found to extend into our early 30s.

by Maryna Holovnova

We already know how watching other people’s lives on social media can affect our self-esteem. Apparently, using apps to track your fitness activities can have a similar effect. A new study suggests that fitness apps can become major demotivators.

by Bronwyn Thompson

US brain-computer-interface startup Paradromics is establishing itself as a major player in the neural-device space, with the Food and Drug Administration green-lighting a human trial to test its ability in restoring speech to people with paralysis.

by Adam Williams

This charming tiny house takes design cues from traditional cabins to deliver a rustic small living experience. Named the Nature Pod, it features generous glazing and optional off-grid functionality, and starts at roughly $16,600.

by C.C. Weiss

Nike's new Lava Loft Down Jacket uses a rather unconventional solution to solve a common problem, interspersing wide open vents between baffles of ultra-warm down to react to the massive weather shifts a trail runner can experience.

by Michael Franco

If you've struggled to get a ratchet to work in a tight space, you'll appreciate a new take on the tool from Titaner. The palm-sized tool engages each sprocket with just a tiny turn and has multiple configurations for maximum situational adaptability.

by C.C. Weiss

Scamp might not be quite as celebrated as Airstream, but it is a similarly iconic camping trailer brand. The all-new Scamp X is the company's first off-road-specific model in more than 50 years in business, putting a new twist on a classic.

by David Szondy

Star Catcher Industries has set a new record for beaming power at a distance. Its Star Catcher Network technology beamed 1.1 kW of power at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida using off-the-shelf solar panel components.

by Michael Franco

Divers may soon be able to get a welcome boost to their flutter kicks thanks to an exoskeleton developed by researchers at Peking University. By shouldering some of the burden of underwater swimming, the device could also make scuba tanks last longer.

by Adam Williams

A new residential skyscraper has broken a North American record, becoming the tallest building in Canada – and it's not even finished. The Pinnacle SkyTower will rise to an impressive height of 1,154 ft in Toronto once complete.

by Paul Ridden

Photographing the deep sky at night can be a complicated business. DwarfLab's book-sized smart telescopes have removed many pain points over the years, but the company has gone lightweight as well as compact and portable for its latest design.

by Joe Salas

We speak to the wild man behind Longshot Space, a company planning to build a colossal 6-mile-long (10-km) space cannon to shoot several-ton objects into low Earth orbit (LEO). The company has already built a working proof of concept.

by Abhimanyu Ghoshal

Rare earth elements that are crucial for producing tech products, from EVs to phones, require destructive mining to get them out of the ground. Scientists in China might have just found another source for them that's easier to reach: ferns.

by Ben Coxworth

Although we've heard a lot about how 3D-printing concrete homes speeds up the construction process, you still have to wait up to 28 days for the concrete to sufficiently cure. A new printable substitute, however, is ready to go in just three days.

by Chelsea Haney

We tend to think earthquakes are predominantly driven by deep-Earth forces. But a new discovery reshapes that long-held assumption suggesting lake-level fluctuations can stir the shallow crust influencing earthquake risk and tectonic plate movement.