🛰️ NASA launches old spy satellite into space

September 06, 2026   |   Read online Welcome back, Superhuman. Imagine finding yourself millions of years in the past, lost in the thick of a Jurassic-era forest, and surrounded by ancient trees, swarming insects, and dinosaurs lurking somewhere in the dark. Scientists have now recreated the eerie sounds that would have echoed through those forests — and you can actually listen to the immersive soundscape yourself.       The Sunday Special is designed to help you discover the most interesting and important scientific and technological breakthroughs outside of AI. Regular AI updates resume on Monday.       SCIENCE SUNDAY The most interesting scientific news and breakthroughs this week Click here to hear what a Jurassic-era forest likely would have sounded like millions of years ago. Photo: Richard Bizley/Science Source 1. Here’s what Jurassic-era forests would probably have sounded like: Scientists have analyzed 20 fossilized wings from Jurassic crickets and katydids found in China, generating what they call the first scientifically accurate soundscape of that era. The soundscape was created using AI modeling to predict what the insects’ calls would have sounded like based on the ridges and spacing on their preserved wing structures. Click here to listen to the eerie sounds that (probably) filled Jurassic-era forests after sunset. 2. NASA just launched a repurposed spy satellite to map the universe: The $4 billion Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, originally built as a National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite before NASA repurposed it in 2012. It can survey the Milky Way far faster than the Hubble telescope, and is expected to image more than 2 billion galaxies while building detailed 3D maps of tens of millions of them to study dark matter and dark energy. See the historic launch here. 3. The long hunt for dark matter may have finally gotten a breakthrough: Deep underground in South Dakota, buried in over 220 days of data, the LZ Dark Matter Experiment has recorded a strange particle interaction that doesn't match any known particle behavior. Physicists have been careful not to call it dark matter outright yet, since there's still a 1 in 400 chance it's a fluke. However, it's one of the most intriguing hints in a decades-long hunt for the invisible substance that makes up 85% of the universe's matter. 4. Chinese scientists test ‘self-exercising’ muscle tissue in mice: Gym bros won’t like this one. Chinese scientists have created ‘self-exercising’ muscle grafts that contract continuously without any physical effort, improving muscle mass, bone density, endurance, and cognitive health in mice. The idea is to give exercise benefits to people who physically can't work out, like bedridden or elderly patients. Researchers say the grafts even secrete more beneficial compounds than an hour of actual exercise would. PRESENTED BY INWORLD Inworld is realtime AI for consumer-facing applications. Build high-volume voice experiences without trading quality for latency or cost. Keep your application, data and users while running on dedicated inference. Realtime TTS-2 takes voice direction in plain English and returns first audio in under 100ms at P99.  Superhuman readers get five hours of free voice generation. Give your AI a voice NEW TECH Our favorite new tech gadgets this week Photo: Dyson, Dephy, Aironox, Nuttii 1. Dyson CameraJet: An AI-powered toothbrush that uses a camera to spot missed gaps in your teeth and blast them clean with a cone-shaped water jet. 2. Dephy Sidekick: Bionic footwear that gives your ankle a powered boost, built to help people walk farther, faster, and with less effort in everyday life. 3. Aironox GO: A travel device that dries and irons your clothes automatically. It’s built to make suitcase-wrinkled clothes ready to wear in minutes without a hotel iron, ironing board, or handheld steamer. 4. Nuttii E-Coffee: A portable espresso maker designed for travel. It shows real-time brewing data on a built-in OLED display and heats water without an outlet. SOCIAL SIGNALS What’s trending on socials and headlines this week Click here to see Carl Sagan’s stunning thought experiment on fifth-dimensional beings. Photo: The Unspeakable World 🌌 Dimensional Shift: Picture a being that can reach into your locked house, grab something off the kitchen table, and place it near Jupiter in the blink of an eye. Carl Sagan’s simple thought experiment, which shows just how bizarre a higher-dimensional world could look, has resurfaced and is getting massive traction on socials. (1.3M views) 🧮 Anime Math: In 2011, a 4chan user tried to figure out the shortest way to watch an anime in every possible episode order — and accidentally made a major mathematical breakthrough. Their contribution eventually made it into academic literature under the name “Anonymous 4chan Poster.” 🌱 Bottle World: In 1960, David Latimer planted a garden inside a glass bottle. He watered it once in 1972, sealed it again, and the miniature ecosystem has kept itself alive ever since. See what it looks like here. 🚀 Going Up: The elevator of the future might have a button for space. Scientists say a super-strong form of graphene could someday support a 66,000-mile “space elevator” carrying cargo (and eventually people) straight into orbit. ✈️ Up in the Air: Most planes need a long stretch of runway before they can get airborne. This unique design skips that constraint entirely, opening up some very interesting possibilities for aviation. PRESENTED BY RUDDERSTACK Your customer data shouldn’t take weeks to activate. Turning a campaign brief into a live audience can take 3-4 weeks, leaving marketers waiting for data to be analyzed and segmented. Rudder Lookout (now in public beta!) helps teams explore data, identify high-value segments, and activate audiences from one seamless workflow. Go from brief to live campaign in ten minutes not 4 weeks. Check it out ONLY GOOD NEWS A healthy dose of optimism to kickstart your week Photo: Getty Images Quick Fix: Duke scientists have created a porous hydrogel scaffold that, once injected into the cavity left by a stroke, recruits the body's own immune cells to regrow blood vessels and support nerve repair. In mice, the treatment improved motor function, helping repair stroke damage and recover movement. It's an early but genuinely different approach, since rehab alone can't rebuild tissue once it's already lost. Hair, There, Everywhere: In global trials led by Harvard researchers, patients who'd lost an average of 84% of their scalp hair took a daily pill called upadacitinib, and within 24 weeks, about half saw at least 80% scalp hair coverage. The drug works by calming the immune overreaction that attacks hair follicles in the first place, offering real hope for a condition that's had no reliably effective treatment. Switch it Up: Doctors transplanted a genetically engineered pig kidney into 66-year-old Tim Andrews, who avoided dialysis entirely until an MRSA infection eventually led to organ failure 271 days later. He returned to dialysis briefly before receiving a human kidney. Researchers say pig organs could someday serve as a real stopgap for the hundreds of thousands of Americans stuck waiting on donor lists. SUNDAY SCIENCE TRIVIA Operation Smash-Hit Click here to see the wild experiment in action. Photo: Key Model World In 1984, millions of people tuned in to witness a strange experiment. They watched live as a 100 mph train was deliberately crashed into a container carrying nuclear material to see what happens. What happened to the container? It exploded on impact It cracked open and leaked radioactive material It stayed intact while the train was obliterated It melted from the heat of the crash Don’t Cheat: You can see the wild experiment here or read more about it here. Your opinion matters! You’re the reason our team spends hundreds of hours every week researching and writing this email. Please let us know what you thought of today’s email to help us create better emails for you. What did you think of today's email? Your feedback helps me create better emails for you! Loved it 🧠🧠🧠 It was ok 🧠🧠 Terrible 🧠 Until next time, Zain, Faiq, and the Superhuman AI team   Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here © 2026 Superhuman Newsletter 228 Park Ave S, #29976, New York, New York 10003, United States