Science
The latest in science news, from the depths of space to the quantum realm.
Scans that are 64 million times clearer give a new look at the brain
April 17, 2023
Nearly 40 years in the making, scientists have supersized magnetic resonance imaging to produce never-before-seen detail of a brain. They believe this mouse model will pave the way for similar human imaging for a crucial view into how our brains age.
Energy
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Bizarre 460-foot "battery tanker" set to ship electrons by 2026
May 30, 2023Japanese company PowerX is moving ahead with its strange plan to build a "mobile power station" in the form of a 140-meter (460-ft) electric "battery tanker," which will carry 241 megawatt-hours of renewable energy across the sea over short distances. -
New coating covers perovskite solar cells' last Achilles heel
May 30, 2023Perovskite is quickly gaining on silicon in the solar cell field, but it has one major drawback – durability. Now, a new treatment has been shown to keep perovskite solar cells working at 99% of their efficiency after 1,000 hours of use. -
Coal's green potential: Storing energy instead of being burned for it
May 25, 2023Coal is not thought of as clean fuel, but it might yet have a role to play in the push for greener energy. Researchers say that it could be great for storing hydrogen gas, one of the most promising clean fuel sources currently being explored.
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Medical
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High-tech pen paints healing gel right into wounds
June 02, 2023Most wound dressings simply cover the injury and perhaps also kill harmful bacteria. The PAINT system goes much further, as it incorporates a pen that could one day allow doctors to paint a gelatinous healing ink right into wounds. -
Blood biomarkers reveal impact of tumor-removal surgery on brain cells
May 31, 2023Surgery to remove brain tumors comes with risks, one being that it may cause damage to the surrounding tissues. Researchers have found that biomarkers found in the blood are a useful new tool for tracking brain tissue damage on a cellular level. -
Brain function found to decline rapidly in years after a heart attack
May 30, 2023Looking at more than 30,000 people who'd suffered a heart attack, it was found they also had a steady, quicker decline in cognition, memory and executive function in the years that followed. And the medical world doesn't yet know why.
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Space
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Milky Way's center found to be strung with more mysterious filaments
June 02, 2023Decades ago, the astronomy world was taken aback by the discovery of tall light filaments spiking out from around our galaxy's central black hole. Now more filaments have been found, only these have some significant – and puzzling – differences. -
6,000-mile plume spurts from icy moon into water "donut" around Saturn
May 30, 2023Saturn’s moon Enceladus is famous for its plumes that spray water into space. Now the James Webb Space Telescope has watched the biggest known plume so far, spanning thousands of miles, and studied how they feed a huge water “donut” around Saturn. -
New findings suggest hundreds of millions of planets may harbor life
May 30, 2023While two thirds of exoplanets may be a fiery, boiling wasteland, scientists believe the other third occupy a "just right" goldilocks orbit around their star, and this, much like Earth's orbit, could provide the right environmental support for life.
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Materials
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Flexible, moveable wooden walls mean no more 'knocking through'
June 02, 2023Knocking down a wall to create an open-plan space can be expensive. Researchers have created sustainable, moveable wooden partition walls that can be positioned right where you want them, making ‘knocking through’ a thing of the past. -
New class of "designer" titanium alloys could be made from waste
June 01, 2023A novel 3D-printing process has opened up a new class of strong, ductile, tuneable titanium alloys that could potentially be made from waste products, without expensive additives like vanadium. It may also work for zirconium, niobium and molybdenum. -
Octopus-inspired ink can change color on demand
May 22, 2023A new light-activated ink can change color on demand. It’s made up of colored microbeads that rise in response to different wavelengths of light to change a surface color, which could be useful for new displays or active camouflage systems.
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Biology
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Primate AI provides breakthrough in predicting human diseases
June 01, 2023In a world first, scientists from 24 countries have mapped the DNA of 233 different primate species, more than quadrupling the existing genetic data. Then AI jumped on board, offering crucial insights into disease-causing genetic mutations in humans. -
It’s shape, not just wiring: How brain structure influences function
May 31, 2023A new study may overturn more than 100 years of accepted science about how the brain functions. Researchers applied a mathematical model to brain activity and found that brain function may have more to do with shape than connectivity. -
Meet the Diprotodon's ancestor, the original big flat-footed marsupial
May 31, 2023Scientists have identified an ancient marsupial for the first time, whose special adaptations allowed it to walk huge distances across the Australian continent 3.5 million years ago. And it's a feature you can still see in diverse marsupials today.
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Environment
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Towable tech travels to farms to convert waste into valuable products
June 01, 2023Farmers around the world regularly burn post-harvest crop waste, producing a significant amount of greenhouse gases and air pollution in the process. A new portable system, however, can be brought to farms to convert that waste into useful products. -
Bad drug, good weedkiller: "Failed" antibiotic repurposed as herbicide
May 25, 2023Herbicide resistance represents a huge problem for the agricultural sector. Exploiting molecular similarities between bacteria and plants, researchers have repurposed a "failed" antibiotic as an effective weedkiller that's safe for humans. -
To stop mice from eating seeds ... make everything smell like seeds?
May 24, 2023By digging up and eating sown wheat seeds, mice can have a huge impact on farmers' crops. In an eco-friendly effort to stop the rodents from doing so, scientists are now using wheat germ oil to make entire fields smell appetizing.
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Physics
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World's heaviest "Schrödinger's cat" pushes quantum boundaries
April 23, 2023The famous thought experiment of Schrödinger’s Cat neatly sums up a complex quantum phenomenon in terms we can visualize. Now scientists have created the heaviest Schrödinger’s Cat to date, probing the boundaries between quantum and classical physics. -
Startling new evidence suggests black holes drive expansion of universe
February 19, 2023A groundbreaking new study could answer a perplexing astrophysics mystery without complicating our current models. Physicists suggest that black holes could contain a strange form of energy that’s accelerating the expansion of the universe. -
Detailed new map of all matter in the universe hints at something missing
February 07, 2023Astronomers have put together one of the most comprehensive maps of all the matter in the universe. The huge undertaking hints at a slightly smoother universe than we thought, suggesting that something might be missing from our models.
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Electronics
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Retro-cool Fineday 3.0 Bluetooth keyboard brings back the clickety-clack
May 26, 2023Although electric typewriters have been made almost entirely obsolete, there's something to be said for the satisfying "clickety-clack" of their keys. Well, that sound and feel is back, in the all-aluminum Fineday 3.0 Bluetooth Mechanical Keyboard. -
Nuwa Pen converts text written on regular paper into digital format
May 10, 2023For many people, taking notes using a pen and paper will always be easier and more intuitive than typing. The Nuwa Pen allows them to keep doing so, but it also digitizes what they've written for subsequent sharing and searchability. -
First working wooden transistor marks a step toward biodegradable tech
May 01, 2023Wood isn’t usually very good at conducting electricity, but now scientists have created the first functional wooden transistor. It’s not the best, and it requires some processing, but it does work and could help make for biodegradable electronics.
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Quantum Computing
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Silicon quantum computing surpasses 99% accuracy in three studies
January 19, 2022Three teams of scientists have achieved a major milestone in quantum computing. All three groups demonstrated better than 99 percent accuracy in silicon-based quantum devices, paving the way for practical, scalable, error-free quantum computers. -
IBM unleashes the Eagle, the world's most powerful quantum processor
November 16, 2021IBM has unveiled the Eagle, the world’s most powerful quantum processor. Boasting 127 quantum bits (qubits), the Eagle is a major step towards commercial quantum computers outperforming traditional machines. -
Quantum computing hits the desktop, no cryo-cooling required
September 27, 2021An Australian/German company is developing powerful quantum accelerators the size of graphics cards. They work at room temperature, undercutting and outperforming today's huge, cryo-cooled quantum supercomputers, promising industry-wide disruption.
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