Is there anyway to steal tech from other empire? Only on newbie can I keep the tech edge on the other empire and that 's getting on my nerve (even as the sophon, who are the master researcher).

No stealing, you can trade once you research the correct tech. If you are playing on newbie just have fun and learn. The most important thing is to focus on maximum growth. This means building appropriate food techs and colonizing reasonable planets. A higher population means you have more research going on (among other things).



After a few playthroughs on Newbie you will probably get a good feel for the game and be able to advance.

There are race traits that allow you to get extra science from killing enemy ships like what the cravers have.

Adventurer heroes can also select abilities that let them steal research points of systems they orbit (allies or enemies). It's very minor, but I guess it could add up. I've rarely tried it personally.