A new AI-assisted reproductive technique is finding 'hidden' sperm cells for those with very low sperm counts

AI can aid fertility treatments, from helping select egg candidates to laboratory automation

Reproductive AI technologies are already here, from processing vast amounts of data to helping clinicians identify the healthiest embryos for implantation. It could be a boon to the fertility industry, and help mitigate the shortage of experienced embryologists.

Scientific advances are unlocking a wide range of alternatives to IVF

From refined artificial insemination and microsurgical sperm extraction to experimental uterine transplants, scientific innovation is rapidly advancing potential fertilization technologies. But they come along with costly trials, some ethical dilemmas, regulatory issues, and more.

About 250,000 patients accessed assisted reproductive technologies in 2022

In 2022, 251,542 patients tried assisted reproductive technologies—most commonly IVF—resulting in more than 98,000 infants. Those children represent around 2.6% of the babies born in the US.

In vitro gametogenesis: using induced stem cells to fertilize eggs

Using stem cells from skin and mouth cells could save hopeful parents time and money and spare egg donors from significant amounts of discomfort throughout the process. There are potential consequences, not just for infertility treatment, but for the ability to create customized cells of any type.

3-parent baby approach may help women with infertility

Though the topline promise of this approach is avoiding passing on mitochondrial diseases, some researchers and companies have been eyeing its potential for helping with female infertility, since faculty mitochondria may contribute to the condition. Recent research suggests this approach could be promising.

The number and quality of sperm in men's semen is down, giving rise to various movements to avoid 'spermpocalypse'

A typical fertile, healthy young man produces over 100 million spermatozoa, or sperm cells, in his testicles every day. Scientists agree sperm figures are generally moving in the wrong direction, but also emphasize there's still a lot to learn about sperm.

Only about 0.0001% of sperm, on average, successfully reach the uterine cavity

We've evolved to make pregnancy a complex and difficult process. From the initial development of the blastocyst, to the energy and nutrients needed to grow a new human, our bodies are both fighting and supporting fetal development.

Scientists have demonstrated IVF to help critically endangered rhinos

Scientists have used the technique to create embryos from eggs harvested from captive southern white rhinos and implanted into a southern white rhino. They hope to use this proof of concept to eventually use IVF to revive the population of northern white rhinos, which are extinct in the wild and have no living males left, using a precious reserve of frozen embryos and a surrogate southern white rhino mother.

View an illustrative journey of sperm cells navigating toward fertilization

In this series of comic-style panels, a "fellowship" of sperm cells travels through fictionalized versions of reproductive anatomy on their way to an egg cell. Each panel includes informative commentary on each step of the adventure, with research insights provided by a reproductive biologist, a biomedical scientist, and an andrologist.

One dad, one hundred babies

A look at the companies offering surrogacy to the ultrarich—including Chinese men taking their reproductive cues from Elon Musk.

Scientists first observed a sperm and an egg uniting in 1876

Throughout human history, scholars and researchers have speculated on the origin of human reproduction. It wasn't until the late-19th century that the physical process of egg fertilization via sperm cells was observed (in sea urchins), forming the basis for modern fertility research.

Read about coral reef restoration efforts, from coral IVF and cryopreservation

Researchers have collected coral eggs and sperm from healthy reefs, grown baby corals in lab pools, and released them to help repopulate damaged or lost reefs. Devices such as Coralclip® help attach these corals to existing structures, promoting growth without the use of chemical bonding agents. Corals near extinction can be frozen using liquid nitrogen for future restoration efforts.

Artificial wombs and preterm births: an overview

Scientists are working to create artificial wombs that would help preterm babies survive their early entry into the world. But how much help could this technology provide, and how much of a problem are preterm births? This article details some of...

Gene therapy, a hope of the Human Genome Project, saves a baby's life

A baby with a rare genetic disorder received a bespoke gene-editing treatment using CRISPR technology. The case highlights the potential of personalized medicine for rare diseases, building on the foundation set by the Human Genome Project.

Testosterone therapy can cause infertility, and has been explored as a contraceptive

Augmenting testosterone with testosterone hormone therapy suppresses sperm production, and the resulting infertility is permanent in some men. Though a high level of testosterone inside the testicles is essential for fertility, testosterone supplements suppress the production of the pituitary hormones that leads to that natural testosterone production in the testicles—causing infertility.

Trials ongoing for a 99% accurate, AI-powered blood test

The UK's National Health Service has launched a trial for a blood test that can detect a dozen types of cancers with just ten drops of blood. An AI tool looks for genetic material known to be released by tumors, allowing for cancer detection before tumors are large enough to be imaged.

Using AI to restore speech 30 years after a stroke

Through a novel surgical procedure involving electrodes implanted in the brain, along with the help of artificial intelligence, a stroke patient is regaining her ability to speak. This technology converts her thoughts into speech through a digital avatar, allowing her to verbally express herself for the first time in decades.

The US trails behind other developed countries in reducing its stillbirth rates and may learn from Australia

Australia is in the vanguard of efforts to bring down stillbirth numbers with a national stillbirth plan integrated into its healthcare system, supported by clinicians, nurses, midwives, and politicians. Its work also includes a public awareness campaign, more regular fetal monitoring and follow-up for potential interventions, and more maternal advice about care and safety during pregnancy.

Extremely rarely, there can be twins with different dads—but fewer than 20 such cases are documented worldwide

The non-identical twins, who would also be half-siblings, result from a rare biological phenomenon called heteropaternal superfecundation. Britain's first known twins with different dads, featured in this article, learned of each other's existence in recent years, when they were both 45. They discovered each other after taking DNA tests from Ancestry, a genealogy company.

Scientists can suck animal DNA from the air

A look at how researchers filtered the air around two zoos and identified genetic material from dozens of species, a technique that could help track and conserve wildlife.

In 2025, AI detected a previously unknown geothermal reservoir

Utah-headquartered startup Zanskar Geothermal & Minerals found it beneath a part of the western Nevada desert using an AI trained on previously known blind sites—reservoirs with no visual evidence for their existence. The discovery represents the first industry-discovered blind site in more than three decades.

How to repair a baby’s broken heart

A rare disorder that prevents some babies from getting enough oxygen to their organs can be repaired through a series of three intricate surgeries. This article and graphic explain the process behind correcting single-ventricle defects, also known as SVDs.This disorder happens when one of the heart's lower chambers doesn't work correctly, resulting in deoxygenated and oxygenated blood circulating the body rather than just the latter.

South Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the world

If current birthing trends persist, every hundred South Koreans today will have only six great-grandchildren between them. This crisis is a result of high expenses, harsh work-family trade-offs for women, declining marriage rates, and other societal factors. Some newer policies are helping to build incentives for having children, but larger issues also need to be addressed.

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

Indefinite cloning of some endangered species may not sustain their longevity because cloning success rates decrease as genetic mutations accumulate.

Scientists are learning to guide your dreams using sound and touch

Researchers are using a technique called "targeted dream incubation"—where stimuli like sounds or vibrations are introduced as you drift off—to influence dream content and potentially improve creativity, memory consolidation, and PTSD treatment. With the same mechanism, companies could theoretically target sleeping consumers with brand suggestions while they're unaware and neurologically susceptible, or assist in reducing nightmares.

Once limited to expert studios, automated tools can create convincing deepfakes

Although the best deepfakes are engineered using generative adversarial networks where systems compete to create and assess fake data until the two cannot be distinguished, simpler tools have allowed nonexperts to develop deepfakes for financial scams, political deception, and nonconsensual pornography.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

In recent years a child anxiety expert has created and tested a novel phobia and anxiety treatment approach for children, focused on changing how parents respond to the fears.

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

Coral polyps reproduce via broadcast spawning, where entire reefs simultaneously release reproductive cells for about one hour, once a year.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

This site reaches millions of visitors who are tired of AI chatbots and seeking human connection. Pretend to be an AI chatbot and ask questions, provide answers, and draw for people in real time.

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

After 25 people used virtual reality headsets to practice flying with virtual wings—flapping their arms—their visual cortex responded to the wings almost as if they were real arms, treating them as body parts.

Explore the known asteroids, comets, and spacecraft involved in asteroid studies within our solar system with 'Eyes on Asteroids,' a 3D visualization from NASA.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

See how each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

English mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm a century before computers existed and hypothesized that computing devices would one day be able to compose music—foreseeing the generative AI systems of today.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

The animatronic shark from Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws,' the first modern blockbuster, was a complex underwater apparatus called 'Bruce.'