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It's obviously not good that people have lost trust in the FDA, NIH, and CDC. However, since those once vulnerable institutions are now lead by naked emperors, it's good that the American public, at least those that read the news, has uniformly recognized they have no clothes.

The post Read the Comments: “Just Do the Opposite of Whatever This Administration Recommends!” first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.

Quantum communication is edging closer to reality thanks to a breakthrough in teleporting information between photons from different quantum dots—one of the biggest challenges in building a quantum internet. By creating nearly identical semiconductor-based photon sources and using frequency converters to sync them, researchers successfully transferred quantum states across a fiber link, proving a key step toward long-distance, tamper-proof communication.

Quantum communication is edging closer to reality thanks to a breakthrough in teleporting information between photons from different quantum dots—one of the biggest challenges in building a quantum internet. By creating nearly identical semiconductor-based photon sources and using frequency converters to sync them, researchers successfully transferred quantum states across a fiber link, proving a key step toward long-distance, tamper-proof communication.

The discovery of strange, ultra-red objects—especially the extreme case known as The Cliff—has pushed astronomers to propose an entirely new type of cosmic structure: black hole stars. These exotic hybrids could explain rapid black hole growth in the early universe, but their existence remains unproven.

The discovery of strange, ultra-red objects—especially the extreme case known as The Cliff—has pushed astronomers to propose an entirely new type of cosmic structure: black hole stars. These exotic hybrids could explain rapid black hole growth in the early universe, but their existence remains unproven.

Nearly a century after astronomers first proposed dark matter to explain the strange motions of galaxies, scientists may finally be catching a glimpse of it. A University of Tokyo researcher analyzing new data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has detected a halo of high-energy gamma rays that closely matches what theories predict should be released when dark matter particles collide and annihilate. The energy levels, intensity patterns, and shape of this glow align strikingly well with long-standing models of weakly interacting massive particles, making it one of the most compelling leads yet in the hunt for the universe’s invisible mass.

Nearly a century after astronomers first proposed dark matter to explain the strange motions of galaxies, scientists may finally be catching a glimpse of it. A University of Tokyo researcher analyzing new data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has detected a halo of high-energy gamma rays that closely matches what theories predict should be released when dark matter particles collide and annihilate. The energy levels, intensity patterns, and shape of this glow align strikingly well with long-standing models of weakly interacting massive particles, making it one of the most compelling leads yet in the hunt for the universe’s invisible mass.

We now have two more batches of photos in reserve, so I’m feeling complacent (but not happy, which is a rare event!).  If you have good wildlife photos, please send them in.

Today’s photos of fungi come from Rik Gern of Austin, Texas. Rik’s captions are indented, and you can enlarge his photos by clicking on them.

 Here is the first of several batches of pictures of mushrooms taken in northern Wisconsin last September.

The first seven photos are of Mica cap mushrooms (Caprinellus macaceus), so called because the caps appear to be covered with what look like small grains of salt. Like a lot of mushrooms, they grow in clusters on rotting wood. Their soft colors gave the collection a very autumn-like feel.

One of your contributors recently experimented with black and white, and that inspired me to do the same with the last two in the series (photos 6 and 7).

The remaining three pictures are of oddly-shaped fungi. They’re not nearly as common as the mushrooms, but they’re hard not to notice.

The first one is a peeling puffball (Lycoperdon marginatum), and the one that follows is a White coral fungus (Clavulina coralliodes). The puffball must be very young, because the surface turns darker with age and eventually crumbles off, exposing a brown surface.  The Peeling puffball and the White coral fungus were both covered with bits of the soil from which they had recently emerged, but I used Photoshop to remove the schmutz and create idealized images of both fungi:

Unfortunately, I could not identify the final image below, but since there are a lot of deer in the area I’m calling it “Antler fungus” until a better name comes along:

 

Quickie with Bob: Helion Fusion Update; News Items: CRISPR Wheat Sources Nitrogen, LLMs and Collective Intelligence, Origins of Theia, Holiday Scams, Hypervelocity White Dwarves; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Cellulose Correction; Science or Fiction

How can star populations help astronomers re-evaluate the search for intelligent extraterrestrial life, also called technosignatures? This is what a recently submitted study hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated the parameters of identifying locations of technosignatures, also called extraterrestrial transmitters. This study has the potential to help astronomers constrain the criteria for finding intelligent life in both our galaxy and throughout the universe.

ETH Zurich scientists have found the holy grail of brewing: the long-sought formula behind stable beer foam. Their research explains why different beers rely on different physical mechanisms to keep bubbles intact and why some foams last far longer than others.

What can star variability—changes in a star’s brightness over time—teach astronomers about exoplanet habitability? This is what a recent study accepted to The Astronomical Journal hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated the interaction between a star’s activity and exoplanetary atmospheres. This study has the potential to help astronomers better understand how star variability plays a role in finding habitable exoplanets, specifically around stars that are different from our Sun.

Young stars buried deep in molecular clouds are bathed in ultraviolet radiation, but they shouldn't be. Protostars are too cold and dim to produce UV light themselves, yet James Webb Space Telescope observations of five stellar nurseries in Ophiuchus reveal its unmistakable signature affecting the surrounding gas. Astronomers tested the obvious explanation that nearby massive stars illuminate these birthplaces but subsequently ruled it out. The UV radiation must be coming from inside the star forming regions themselves, forcing a fundamental rethink of how stars are born.

What is the importance of studying explosive volcanism on Venus? This is what a recent study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated the potential altitudes of explosive volcanism on Venus. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand the present volcanic activity on Venus, along with gaining insight about its formation and evolution and other planetary bodies throughout the solar system and beyond.

Scientists have long tried to uncover the perilous journey humans took to reach the ancient land mass that now makes up Australia. Now, a genetic study has edged us closer to understanding how and when they achieved this

Google is reportedly in talks to sell its tensor processing units – a type of computer chip specially designed for AI – to other tech companies, a move that could unsettle the dominant chip-maker Nvidia

Researchers have directly observed Floquet effects in graphene for the first time, settling a long-running scientific debate. Their ultrafast light-based technique demonstrates that graphene’s electronic properties can be tuned almost instantaneously. This paves the way for custom-engineered quantum materials and new approaches in electronics and sensing.

Researchers have directly observed Floquet effects in graphene for the first time, settling a long-running scientific debate. Their ultrafast light-based technique demonstrates that graphene’s electronic properties can be tuned almost instantaneously. This paves the way for custom-engineered quantum materials and new approaches in electronics and sensing.

Princeton researchers found that the brain excels at learning because it reuses modular “cognitive blocks” across many tasks. Monkeys switching between visual categorization challenges revealed that the prefrontal cortex assembles these blocks like Legos to create new behaviors. This flexibility explains why humans learn quickly while AI models often forget old skills. The insights may help build better AI and new clinical treatments for impaired cognitive adaptability.

Dental problems often arise or get worse during pregnancy, and a new study hints that rapid changes to the oral microbiome at this time could be at least partly to blame