Science

Getting atoms to do what you want isn’t easy – but it’s at the heart of a lot of groundbreaking research in physics. Creating and controlling the behavior of new forms of matter is of particular interest and an active area of research. Our new study, published in Physical Review Letters, has uncovered a brand

Three skeletons uncovered in a rock shelter adorned with red pigment rock art reveal burial rituals of early humans who followed well-trodden paths through Indonesia’s Lesser Sunda Islands, albeit thousands of years apart. Aside from deepening our understanding of the evolution and diversification of burial practices, the finds – from Alor Island in southeast Indonesia

An exoplanet just 100 light-years from Earth appears to be the best candidate yet for a sloshy, water-covered ocean world. It’s called TOI-1452b, and measurements of its size and mass suggest a density profile consistent with a global liquid ocean. Scientists believe that worlds like this are possible, but they haven’t yet conclusively found one.

The world is heating up, and it’s threatening habitability in many regions around the equator. At this stage, even if we can limit global warming to 2 ˚C above pre-industrial levels, new estimates suggest the tropics and subtropics, including India, the Arabian peninsula and sub-Saharan Africa, will experience dangerously hot temperatures most days of the

WASHINGTON — European officials are as excited as their American counterparts about the upcoming Artemis 1 launch that will bring them one step closer to flying European astronauts to the moon. The European Space Agency’s major contribution to the mission, scheduled to launch as soon as Aug. 29, is the service module for the Orion

The discovery of incredible fossils of a giant marine lizard reveals how this ancient extinct beast would have ruled the sea 66 million years ago. The beast is a newly discovered species of mosasaur, giant marine reptiles that hunted the oceans during the Late Cretaceous. It’s called Thalassotitan atrox, and wear on its teeth along

Protons may have more “charm” than we thought, new research suggests. A proton is one of the subatomic particles that make up the nucleus of an atom. As small as protons are, they are composed of even tinier elementary particles known as quarks, which come in a variety of “flavors,” or types: up, down, strange,

It appears there’s more to a doppelgänger than meets the eye. DNA analyses of 16 look-alike couples have revealed some unrelated people with super similar faces also have similar heights, weights, habits, and behaviors. Human resemblance, it would seem, is more than just skin deep. In the study, 3 different facial recognition algorithms were tasked

Time to upgrade your wallpapers, people. Two astrophotographers have just dropped what they call “the most ridiculously detailed picture” of the Moon – the result of a painstaking, neck-craning effort roughly two years and over 200,000 frames in the making. For millennia, humans have looked up and seen the same silver orb traversing the night

An intense drought is shrinking rivers across Europe, revealing stones carved centuries ago to give future generations a warning of hard times ahead. The Miami Herald reported that locals said the centuries-old boulders, known as “hunger stones,” reappeared last week as rivers in Europe ran dry due to drought conditions. One such stone is on

It isn’t alive, and has no structures even approaching the complexity of the brain, but a compound called vanadium dioxide is capable of ‘remembering’ previous external stimuli, researchers have found. This is the first time this ability has been identified in a material; but it may not be the last. The discovery has some pretty

The Combined Force Space Component Command oversees U.S. and allied space operations, and coordinates space traffic management WASHINGTON — Space Force Maj. Gen. Douglas Schiess on Aug. 22 assumed command of U.S. Space Command’s Combined Force Space Component Command at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The CFSCC, with more than 700 personnel, oversees U.S. and

Geneticists at Stanford University have figured out a way to carefully control the structure of plant roots as they grow and branch. By manipulating the depth and shape of a burgeoning root system, researchers hope they can one day reprogram crops to make them more resilient in the face of climate change. A shallower root

The dazzling beauty of a snowflake is testament to the amazing shapes water can form below freezing point. Placed under pressure, the elegant dance of the H2O molecule contorts into something bizarre at super chilly temperatures, virtually tying themselves in knots to avoid transforming into ice. Researchers from the University of Birmingham in the UK

US rangers have found a human foot floating in a hot pool in Yellowstone national park, the park service said Friday, warning visitors to stay away from thermal waters. The partial foot was inside a shoe in the Abyss Pool, one of the deepest hot springs in the park, whose temperature is around 140 Fahrenheit

Once we’ve overcome all the challenges involved in getting to Mars, we’ll then have to figure out how to make life sustainable there – and growing and cultivating crops is going to be a major part of that. As you’ll know if you’ve seen Matt Damon’s struggles in the movie The Martian, the landscape of

The heat waves scorching the US this summer may just be the beginning of an extreme heat belt forming across the country. “If people think this was hot – this is going to be one of the better summers of the rest of their lives,” Matthew Eby, CEO of the climate-risk research nonprofit First Street

WASHINGTON — NASA is requesting information from industry on its capabilities and interest in developing a spacecraft that would deorbit the International Space Station at the end of its life. NASA issued the request for information (RFI) late Aug. 19, asking companies to supply information about how they could develop a spacecraft that would be

It’s sometimes said that you can smell fear, when, in fact, the signals that generate fear are often multi-sensory. A fire, for instance, has heat, smoke, and smell to give it away. An eagle flying overhead casts a shadow and creates a flapping sound as it swoops. It would be helpful for survival if animals

The Met Office has issued several “yellow thunderstorm warnings” for the UK, highlighting the potential for frequent lightning. While your chance of getting struck by lightning is low, it’s important to know how to stay safe during a thunderstorm. Globally, about 24,000 people each year are killed by lightning and another 240,000 are injured. Most

A huge megalithic complex of more than 500 standing stones has been discovered in southern Spain which could be one of the largest in Europe, archaeologists told AFP Thursday. The stones were discovered on a plot of land in Huelva, a province which flanks the southernmost part of Spain’s border with Portugal, near the Guadiana

Tiny fragments of rock brought back from an asteroid in near-Earth solar orbit are so old, they predate the Solar System. A new analysis of samples of asteroid Ryugu has revealed the presence of mineral grains forged in the outflows or explosions of old stars before our own Sun formed. As identified by previous research,

A team of scientists has discovered a simple, low-energy way to break apart one of the largest groups of ‘forever chemicals’, nefarious pollutants that have been linked to environmental harm and human health concerns. While practical applications are still a way off, scientists are in awe of the new technique’s potential. In detailed simulations, PFAS

First, they lost their front legs. Then, their hind legs. Now, all they can do is slither. It’s been around 100 million years since a trio of genetic tweaks deprived snakes of their ability to walk, and snake-lover and YouTube ‘fixer’ Allen Pan won’t have it any longer. “When any other animal has deformed legs,

WASHINGTON — Mynaric has hired an experienced executive from the optical communications and semiconductor industries as its new president, charged with overseeing production of its laser communications systems. Mynaric announced Aug. 18 that it named Mustafa Veziroglu as its new president. Veziroglu was previously chief operating officer for communications and sensing at SA Photonics and

In a bitterly cold bath of seawater, between the turquoise arms of a distant Greenland iceberg, researchers have caught an Arctic fish with a body highly resistant to freezing temperatures. Off the coast of East Greenland, where this juvenile fish was caught, ocean currents regularly dip below 0 degrees Celsius. These frigid temperatures are enough

Scientists have confirmed that last year, for the first time in the lab, they achieved a fusion reaction that self-perpetuates (instead of fizzling out) – bringing us closer to replicating the chemical reaction that powers the Sun. However, they aren’t exactly sure how to recreate the experiment. Nuclear fusion occurs when two atoms combine to

For many parents, assisting young children with their homework goes hand in hand with making sure kids eat their vegetables and go to bed on time. It’s what you do to help your children get the best start in life. Of all the possible benefits this shared time might provide, however, a boost to those

The shell of Jupiter’s famous ice moon may be formed, in part, by pure underwater snow that floats up instead of falling down. A new study, published in the August issue of the journal Astrobiology, finds that Europa’s icy crust might be built partially by “frazil ice,” a fluffy accumulation of ice crystals that also

For the first time, scientists have named a heat wave. They called it Zoe. According to USA Today, the Spanish scientists bestowed the moniker on a heat wave that sent temperatures soaring to 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44.4 degrees Celsius) in Seville between July 24 and July 27. It’s a new effort to alert the public