Majorana qubits decoded in quantum computing breakthrough

“This is a crucial advance,” says Ramón Aguado, a CSIC researcher at the Madrid Institute of Materials Science (ICMM) and co author of the study. He explains that the team has successfully retrieved information stored in Majorana qubits by applying a technique known as quantum capacitance. According to Aguado, this…

Microplastics have reached Antarctica’s only native insect

An international team led by researchers at the University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment has found that Antarctica’s only native insect is already consuming microplastics, despite living in one of the most isolated places on Earth. The findings, published in Science of the Total Environment, mark…

Lab grown human spinal cord heals after injury in major breakthrough

Scientists at Northwestern University have created the most sophisticated lab grown model yet for studying human spinal cord injury. In the new research, the team worked with human spinal cord organoids — miniature organs derived from stem cells — to recreate different forms of spinal cord trauma and evaluate a…

Brain inflammation may be driving compulsive behavior

For years, scientists have believed that compulsive behaviors happen when people become trapped in a “habit loop” that overrides self-control. But new research in rats from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) suggests the story may be more complicated. Compulsive behaviors appear in a range of mental health conditions, including…

Scientists confirm one-dimensional electron behavior in phosphorus chains

Researchers at BESSY II have, for the first time, experimentally confirmed that a material can exhibit truly one-dimensional electronic properties. The team studied short chains of phosphorus atoms that naturally arrange themselves at specific angles on a silver surface. By applying advanced measurement and analysis techniques, they separated the signals…