Science
Scientific discoveries and research
Antarctica's brief rebound was caused by climate variability, not a 'new normal'
Between 2021 and 2023, Antarctica appeared to be growing. Heavy snowfall fueled by wetter weather caused parts of the continent to gain mass, leading some to qu...
Fastest known Milky Way star offers new test of supermassive black hole's spin
Astronomers have discovered the fastest known star in our galaxy, the Milky Way, orbiting the black hole at its center. The star, named S301, was detected with...
VR supports research into spaceflight-related mental health
As humanity gets closer to the possibility of long-term interplanetary travel, psychologists have started raising concerns about astronauts' mental health. Rese...
Turning a quantum battery's environmental sensitivity into an advantage
Quantum batteries, devices that store energy by exploiting quantum mechanical phenomena, could, in principle, be charged faster and more efficiently than classi...
Offloading work tasks to AI comes with a cost—to our brains
Imagine your team has been tasked with delivering a high-stakes policy paper under intense time pressure. Everyone turns to generative artificial intelligence (...
Search in strange quark sector reveals new particle possibilities
Despite science's best efforts to classify the vast menagerie of subatomic particles discovered over the past few decades, some exotic varieties defy explanatio...
Concerns about the New World screwworm have put Texas pet adoptions on hold
Adoptions are on hold for thousands of dogs and cats in Texas, potentially putting the animals at risk of being euthanized, because of efforts to stop the sprea...
Scientists give aircraft composite waste a second life
Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a method to turn waste from the tough, lightweight composites used in aircraft and ot...
Reusing liquid pickle waste to produce omega-3 fatty acids
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) are omega-3 fatty acids known to have beneficial effects and are popular as functional foods and diet...
Quantum simulators gain quantitative error bars in 51-ion test
In the coming years, increasingly larger and more powerful quantum systems are expected to tackle problems that are difficult or impossible to solve using conve...
Why many birds add fresh plants to their nests remains unclear despite signs of healthier offspring
As they build their nests, many birds are known to interweave dried grasses and other materials with green plants, such as fresh leaves, grass stems, herbs and...
New design method stabilizes human growth factor for potential therapeutic use
A new study published in the Biophysical Journal reports on the development of a stable, biologically active version of the human fibroblast growth factor. Huma...