Science
The latest in science news, from the depths of space to the quantum realm.
Camera captures the world as animals see it, with up to 99% accuracy
January 25, 2024
It’s easy to forget that most animals don’t see the world the way humans do. In fact, many perceive colors that are invisible to us. But now, for the first time, scientists have found a way to capture footage as seen by animals, and it's mesmerizing.
Energy
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Self-assembling crane promises to halve cost of offshore wind setup
March 25, 2024Part of the exorbitant cost of offshore wind energy is the massive crane ships required to install the damn things – but Norwegian company Windspider has come up with a brilliantly lightweight crane system that promises to slash costs in half. -
Urban Vibro Trucks will thump city streets for geothermal options
March 22, 2024A new simulation video from Herrenknecht AG shows off its Urban Vibro Trucks. The machines can deploy thumping devices from their mid-sections that send seismic waves beneath city landscapes to explore the terrain for geothermal development. -
'Drinking bird' toys upgraded to generate clean energy from water
March 15, 2024Scientists have converted a children's "drinking bird" toy into a tool that generates usable amounts of electricity. The generator could one day be utilized to power a wide variety of small electronic devices, both indoors and outside.
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Medical
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Brain tumors 5x more likely when taking common contraceptives
March 27, 2024Taking frequently prescribed contraceptive hormones for a year or more has been linked to a heightened risk of developing a serious brain tumor. One of those hormones, medroxyprogesterone acetate, is currently taken by some 74 million women worldwide. -
Beyond plaques: New Alzheimer's treatment pathway discovered
March 27, 2024Researchers have discovered that limiting a certain enzyme can have a dramatic impact in protecting against the effects of Alzheimer's disease. The finding could lead to a new class of drugs that fight the disease. -
Bladder sensor sends 'pee-time' alerts to patients' smartphones
March 26, 2024Although you may know when you need to pee, such is not the case with everyone. A new implantable sensor is designed to help those other folks, by sending a smartphone alert when their bladder is full.
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Space
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Fusion drive space engine ready for flight
March 26, 2024Rocket science got a bit more science-fiction-like as RocketStar announces it has successfully demonstrated a new ion drive that incorporates nuclear fusion. It's not the sort of fusion that powers the Sun, but it does improve thrust by 50%. -
Life might survive the sulfuric acid clouds of Venus, new experiments find
March 24, 2024Venus may be a hellscape, but there’s a chance some forms of life could evolve there. A new MIT study has now found that the building blocks of life are surprisingly stable in highly concentrated sulfuric acid – which Venus’ clouds are made of. -
NASA mission could detect alien life from a single cell as early as 2030
March 22, 2024We might find alien life as soon as 2030, suggests a new study. A lab experiment has shown instruments on a spacecraft headed to one of the most promising worlds to find life are sensitive enough to detect a single living cell in a single ice grain.
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Materials
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Common bug's tiny, complex balls bestow UV-blocking superpowers
March 18, 2024In many cases nature has better versions of our tech. The newest example comes from a common insect in your backyard, which makes nanoscale soccer balls that hide it from predators – inspiring new, better UV protection and maybe even cloaking tech. -
Phase-change concrete melts snow and ice without salt or shovels
March 18, 2024Incorporating a phase-change material into concrete, this self-heating material can melt snow and ice for up to 10 hours without any help. The novel product could reduce the need for plowing and salting and help preserve the integrity of road surfaces. -
Electroadhesive 'meat magnet' drops chops when the power stops
March 14, 2024Imagine if a hard metal implant could be bonded to soft biological tissue without using any adhesive, then easily removed when no longer needed. That and other nifty things could soon be possible, thanks to a new understanding of electroadhesion.
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Biology
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Video: 3D images of over 13,000 museum specimens now free to everyone
March 10, 2024The openVertebrate project is a significant milestone for natural history museums, researchers, educators, students, and the public, creating the first digital library to offer free access to stunning 3D images of over 13,000 vertebrates. -
Mutant newts regrow normal limbs in place of defective ones
March 07, 2024It might sound like something out of the X-men but it came from a lab in California: mutant newts that grew perfect limbs after defective appendages were cut off. The findings help science get one step closer to understanding how regeneration works. -
Radiation-proof Chernobyl worms offer answers about cancer
March 07, 2024Studying a species of microscopic worms exposed to high radiation from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, researchers couldn’t find signs of genetic damage caused by the exposure. The findings are set to forge a path towards a better understanding of cancer.
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Environment
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"First plastic demonstrated to not create microplastics" has been tested
March 22, 2024Even when it’s ground into microparticles, 97% of an algae-based plastic biodegrades in compost and water in under seven months, a new study has reported. The researchers hope their plastic will eventually replace existing petroleum-based ones. -
Winged cargo ship saves three tonnes of fuel per day on first voyage
March 19, 2024An age of greener, more efficient shipping may be in the offing as a specially modified 43,000-tonne bulk freighter completes a six-month sea trial using a combination of diesel engines and a set of high-tech automatic sails to catch the wind. -
Rock on the Richter scale: Seismologists rank the top concert-quakes
March 14, 2024With Taylor Swift fans linked to recent seismic activity during her current worldwide 'Eras' concert tour, we thought we’d investigate how other musical artists' fans stacked up in terms of their stadium-shaking abilities. The results may surprise you.
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Physics
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Quantum tornado mimics black holes' warped spacetime in the lab
March 21, 2024A giant quantum vortex has been created in superfluid helium in a lab at the University of Nottingham. Its behavior was found to mimic that of black holes and may help astrophysicists gain deeper insight into these galactic gravity gobblers. -
Bizarre time crystal oscillates for an unprecedented 40 minutes
March 04, 2024Time crystals are a strange state of matter with properties that sound impossible, but they have been created. Now, German scientists have made one that lasts 10 million times longer than in previous experiments. -
Fundamental physics rule violated as same-charge particles attract
March 03, 2024It’s a fundamental principle of physics that particles with opposite charges attract each other, while those with the same charge repel. Scientists have now discovered that under certain conditions, particles can attract those of the same charge.
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Electronics
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AI synthesizer bridges technology and creativity in music composition
February 15, 2024SPIN challenges conventional notions of music creation by inviting users to collaborate with an AI language model called MusicGen. With its distinctive blend of a turntable and a drum machine, SPIN offers users a creative music composition tool. -
Eye-tracking window tech tells sightseers about what they're looking at
January 05, 2024If you're on a sightseeing tour in a bus, you really don't want to be looking away from the passing attractions to Google them on your smartphone. The AR Interactive Vehicle Display is intended to help, by showing relevant information on the vehicle's window glass. -
Diamond data storage breakthrough writes and rewrites down to single atom
December 05, 2023Diamond is a promising material for data storage, and now scientists have demonstrated a new way to cram more data onto it, down to a single atom. The technique bypasses a physical limit by writing data to the same spots in different-colored light.
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Quantum Computing
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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. -
Toshiba breaks quantum communication record with 600 km of optical fibers
June 08, 2021A quantum internet could one day allow quantum computers to team up and tackle some gigantic problems. Researchers at Toshiba are a step closer, demonstrating quantum communications sent over a record-breaking 600 km (373 miles) of optic fiber.
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