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Solar power is growing by leaps and bounds in the United States, propelled by climate mitigation policies and carbon-free energy goals — and California is leading the way as the nation’s top producer of solar electricity. A new study in Energy Strategy Reviews has revealed a dark side to the…
For the first time, scientists have used Earth-based telescopes to look back over 13 billion years to see how the first stars in the universe affect light emitted from the Big Bang. Using telescopes high in the Andes mountains of northern Chile, astrophysicists have measured this polarized microwave light to…
How can the strange properties of quantum particles be exploited to perform extremely accurate measurements? This question is at the heart of the research field of quantum metrology. One example is the atomic clock, which uses the quantum properties of atoms to measure time much more accurately than would be…
Cells taken from the lungs of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have a larger accumulation of soot-like carbon deposits compared to cells taken from people who smoke but do not have COPD, according to a study published today, June 10, in ERJ Open Research. Carbon can enter the…
A simple rule that seems to govern how life is organized on Earth is described in a new study published on June 4 in Nature Ecology & Evolution. The research team led, by Umeå University and involving the University of Reading, believe this rule helps explain why species are spread…
Looking to nature for answers to complex questions can reveal new and unprecedented results that can even affect cells on molecular levels. For instance, human cells oxidize glucose to produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate), an energy source necessary for life. Cancer cells produce ATP through glycolysis, which does not utilize oxygen…
Astrophysicists have gained precious new insights into how distant “exoplanets” form and what their atmospheres can look like, after using the James Webb Telescope to image two young exoplanets in extraordinary detail. Among the headline findings were the presence of silicate clouds in one of the planet’s atmospheres, and a…
No image is infinitely sharp. For 150 years, it has been known that no matter how ingeniously you build a microscope or a camera, there are always fundamental resolution limits that cannot be exceeded in principle. The position of a particle can never be measured with infinite precision; a certain…
Plant fossils found in the abdomen of a sauropod support the long-standing hypothesis that these dinosaurs were herbivores, finds a study published on June 9 in the Cell Press journal Current Biology. The dinosaur, which was alive an estimated 94 to 101 million years ago, ate a variety of plants…
When volcanoes are preparing to erupt, scientists rely on typical signs to warn people living nearby: deformation of the ground and earthquakes, caused by underground chambers filling up with magma and volcanic gas. But some volcanoes, called ‘stealthy’ volcanoes, don’t give obvious warning signs. Now scientists studying Veniaminof, Alaska, have…
Physicists at the University of Oxford have set a new global benchmark for the accuracy of controlling a single quantum bit, achieving the lowest-ever error rate for a quantum logic operation — just 0.000015%, or one error in 6.7 million operations. This record-breaking result represents nearly an order of magnitude…
Local weather alerts are familiar warnings for potentially dangerous conditions, but an alert that puts all of Earth on warning is rare. On May 31, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL) space-based instrumentation captured real-time observations of a powerful Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that erupted from the Sun initiating a “severe…
A new study from Hebrew University reveals that acetaminophen doesn’t just work in the brain — it also blocks pain at its source by acting on nerve endings in the body. The researchers found that its active metabolite, AM404, shuts down specific sodium channels in pain-sensing neurons, stopping pain signals…
Creatine, the supplement popular with athletes for its ability to help build strength and power, is increasingly being recognized for its broad health benefits. The compound’s usefulness extends well beyond the gym, according to Dr. Richard Kreider, professor and director of the Exercise & Sport Nutrition Lab at Texas A&M…
Recent scholarship has concluded that Neanderthals made a second major migration from Eastern Europe to Central and Eastern Eurasia between 120,000 and 60,000 years ago. But the routes they took have long been a mystery — primarily because there are few archaeological sites connecting the two regions. In a new…
After the island of Madagascar drifted away from India 88 million years ago, isolating it from all other landmasses, its flora and fauna evolved in seclusion. As these transformed into plants and animals completely unique to their island, Madagascar became a biodiversity hotspot unlike anywhere else on Earth. An important…
Some queens don’t rule nonstop. A new study from the University of California, Riverside shows that even bumble bee queens, the sole founders of their colonies, take regular breaks from reproduction — likely to avoid burning out before their first workers arrive. In the early stages of colony building, bumblebee…
An international team of astronomers led by University of Galway, has discovered the likely site of a new planet in formation, most likely a gas giant planet up to a few times the mass of Jupiter. Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile, the researchers…
Star and planet formation has largely been considered separate, sequential processes. But in a new study, scientists at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) have modeled a different scenario where planets start developing early — during the final stages of stellar formation — rather than after this phase ends, as previously assumed.…
Antibiotics are supposed to wipe out bacteria, yet the drugs can sometimes hand microbes an unexpected advantage. A new study from Rutgers Health shows that ciprofloxacin, a staple treatment for urinary tract infections, throws Escherichia coli (E. coli) into an energy crisis that saves many cells from death and speeds…
A new study led by Keck Medicine of USC researchers may have uncovered an effective combination therapy for glioblastoma, a brain tumor diagnosis with few available effective treatments. According to the National Brain Tumor Society, the average survival for patients diagnosed with glioblastoma is eight months. The study finds that…
A small region of the brain, known as the ventral tegmental area (VTA), plays a key role in how we process rewards. It produces dopamine, a neuromodulator that helps predict future rewards based on contextual cues. A team from the universities of Geneva (UNIGE), Harvard, and McGill has shown that…
It turns out when teens on TikTok say, “Get ready with me,” it can be more harmful than they might realize. rs, authors caution only 26% of daytime skin care regimens contain sunscreen Videos ’emphasize lighter, brighter skin’ and set a high standard of beauty It turns out when teens…
Using an algorithm they call the Krakencoder, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine are a step closer to unraveling how the brain’s wiring supports the way we think and act. The study, published June 5 in Nature Methods, used imaging data from the Human Connectome Project to align neural activity with…
Werner syndrome (WS), a rare genetic disorder that causes accelerated aging. From their twenties, patients develop gray hair, hair loss, cataracts, diabetes, and other age-related conditions normally seen in the elderly. Additionally, patients develop severe and untreatable skin ulcers, often requiring limb amputation, and face early death from cardiovascular diseases…
Two major environmental shifts have triggered global transformations in large herbivore communities. A new study with researchers from the University of Gothenburg show how these ecosystems remained remarkably resilient despite extinction and upheaval. From mastodons to ancient rhinos and giant deer, large herbivores have been shaping Earth’s landscapes for millions…
Birmingham spin-out Linear Diagnostics has been awarded £1m funding to finalise the development of a rapid test for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), in partnership with the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre (HRC) in Diagnostic and Technology Evaluation and the North East Innovation Lab, part of Newcastle Hospitals. Linear is developing a…
In 15 years of groundbreaking archaeological research, scientists from the Ateneo de Manila University, working with international experts and institutions, have established compelling evidence of the pivotal role of the Philippine archipelago in ancient maritime Southeast Asia. They uncovered a story of effective human migration, advanced technological innovation, and long-distance…
Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, shifting tectonic plates — these are all signs that our planet is alive. But what is revealed deep inside the Earth surprises laymen and scientists alike: Almost 3000 kilometers below the Earth’s surface, solid rock is flowing that is neither liquid, like lava, nor brittle like solid…
One of the current hot research topics is the combination of two of the most recent technological breakthroughs: machine learning and quantum computing. An experimental study shows that already small-scale quantum computers can boost the performance of machine learning algorithms. This was demonstrated on a photonic quantum processor by an…
