News Feeds

Researchers have advanced a decades-old challenge in the field of organic semiconductors, opening new possibilities for the future of electronics. The researchers have created an organic semiconductor that forces electrons to move in a spiral pattern, which could improve the efficiency of OLED displays in television and smartphone screens, or power next-generation computing technologies such as spintronics and quantum computing.

Astronomers have constructed the first detailed 3D map of the properties of cosmic dust in our home galaxy. For their map, the astronomers used 130 million spectra from ESA's Gaia mission, results from the LAMOST spectral survey, and machine learning. Dust makes distant astronomical objects appear more reddish and dimmer than they really are, so the new map will be an important tool for astronomers to make sense of their observations. The study has also revealed unusual properties of cosmic dust that will lead to further research.

A study highlights a new approach in addressing conductive hearing loss. A team of scientists has designed a new type of hearing aid that not only improves hearing but also offers a safe, non-invasive alternative to implantable devices and corrective surgeries.

A study of the fossilised fur of six mammals from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods has found they were all greyish-brown in colour, which would have helped them hide from dinosaurs

The 2023 breach of the Kakhovka dam drained a huge reservoir and exposed a vast area of toxic sediment, creating a debate about how best to rebuild after the Russia-Ukraine war

Potential cuts of up to 50 per cent of NASA's science budget could mean cancelling missions including the Hubble Space Telescope and the Voyager probes

If Mars Samples Contain Life, Can We Detect It?

At least two mass extinction events in Earth's history were likely caused by the 'devastating' effects of nearby supernova explosions, a new study suggests. Researchers say these super-powerful blasts -- caused by the death of a massive star -- may have previously stripped our planet's atmosphere of its ozone, sparked acid rain and exposed life to harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. They believe a supernova explosion close to Earth could be to blame for both the late Devonian and Ordovician extinction events, which occurred 372 and 445 million years ago respectively.

Scientists improved battery durability and energy density with a nano-spring coating.

Researchers have performed the first imaging of embryos using cameras designed for quantum measurements. The academics investigated how to best use ultrasensitive camera technology, including the latest generation of cameras that can count individual packets of light energy at each pixel, for life sciences.

Industrial waste gases, long seen as a major contributor to climate change, could soon be captured and repurposed into everyday household products such as shampoo, detergent, and even fuel.

Some of the world's most advanced AI systems struggle to tell the time and work out dates on calendars, a study suggests.

A modulator has now broken the terahertz mark. The ultrafast component efficiently transmits large volumes of data into the fiber-optic network in a short space of time.

A modulator has now broken the terahertz mark. The ultrafast component efficiently transmits large volumes of data into the fiber-optic network in a short space of time.

With today's data rates of only a few hundred megabytes per second, access to digital information remains relatively slow. Initial experiments have already shown a promising new strategy: Magnetic states can be read out by short current pulses, whereby recently discovered spintronic effects in purpose-built material systems could remove previous speed restrictions. Researchers are now providing proof of the feasibility of such ultrafast data sources. Instead of electrical pulses, they use ultrashort terahertz light pulses, thereby enabling the read-out of magnetic structures within picoseconds.

With today's data rates of only a few hundred megabytes per second, access to digital information remains relatively slow. Initial experiments have already shown a promising new strategy: Magnetic states can be read out by short current pulses, whereby recently discovered spintronic effects in purpose-built material systems could remove previous speed restrictions. Researchers are now providing proof of the feasibility of such ultrafast data sources. Instead of electrical pulses, they use ultrashort terahertz light pulses, thereby enabling the read-out of magnetic structures within picoseconds.

Researchers have discovered a handful of new CRISPR-Cas systems that could add to the capabilities of the already transformational gene editing and DNA manipulation toolbox. Of the new recruits, one system from bacteria commonly found in dairy cows shows particular promise for human health.

Here’s Richard Dawkins ostensibly discussing his new book (The Genetic Book of the Dead) with Steve Pinker, but of course you can’t confine a discussion between these two to a single book. Even from the beginning it ranges widely, in which Pinker discusses not only the epiphany that The Selfish Gene gave him, but levels some trenchant criticisms at Lewontin and Gould’s attacks on adaptationism, and (to my delight) at Gould’s theory of punctuated equilibrium, which never held any water save (perhaps) as the notion that fossil evolution proceeds at varying rates. (People often forget that the novel parts that Gould saw about punc. eq. was its mechanism not its speed: a mechanism that involved questionable propositions like leaping adaptive valleys, macromutations, and species selection (see here for a summary of my beefs with punc. eq., along with scientific references). I myself crossed swords with Gould about these issues, and have concluded that his greatest contribution to science was not any novel paleontological discoveries, but his popularization of evolution in his Natural History essays. (Even those were misleading when they discussed adaptation and punctuated equilibrium.)

Other things discussed: the ubiquity of selection, the nature and importance of epigenetics, the motivation for Richard writing several of his many books, and even “the meaning of life.”  I’ve listened to about 40 minutes of this discussion, but my tolerance for any podcast, even one with these big brains, is limited.  At 1:05:15 begins a Q&A session in which Steve reads audience questions written on cards.

Notice Steve’s cowboy boots, custom made by Lee Miller in Austin.

CubeSats have a lot of advantages. They are small, inexpensive, and easily reproducible. But those advantages also come with significant disadvantages - they have trouble linking into broader constellations that allow them to be more effective at their observational or communication tasks. A team from the University of Albany thinks they might have solved that problem by using a customized calibration algorithm to ensure the right CubeSats link up together.

Bones dating back 25,000 years suggest that humans lived in extremely icy conditions in Tibet, which were previously thought to be uninhabitable