Author archives: César Tomé

MI weekly selection #524

MI weekly selection #524

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Reduced cancer risk tied to short bouts of physical activity A study found that a minimum of 3.4 minutes and 3.7 minutes of vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity per day were associated with a 17% lower total cancer incidence risk and 28% lower physical activity-related cancer incidence risk, respectively. Full Story: MedPage Today Polyethylene plastic […]

Unprecedented sensitivity in an experimental setup for dark photons

Unprecedented sensitivity in an experimental setup for dark photons

CosmologyParticle physicsPhysics

By César Tomé

Scientists working on the Dark SRF experiment at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory have demonstrated unprecedented sensitivity in an experimental setup used to search for theorized particles called dark photons. Researchers trapped ordinary, massless photons in devices called superconducting radio frequency cavities to look for the transition of those photons into […]

MI weekly selection #523

MI weekly selection #523

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Astronomers discover first evidence of “Trojan planet” Scientists have spotted the first evidence of a “Trojan planet” that shares the same orbit around a star as another planet. Astronomers believe that Trojan planets form when dust clouds are held into stable material from the gravitational pull of a star and other planet and may be […]

High functional diversity of island plants

High functional diversity of island plants

BiologyEcologyPlant biology

By César Tomé

Oceanic islands provide useful models for ecology, biogeography and evolutionary research. Many ground-breaking findings – including Darwin’s theory of evolution – have emerged from the study of species on islands and their interplay with their living and non-living environment. Now, an international research team led by the University of Göttingen has investigated the flora of […]

MI weekly selection #522

MI weekly selection #522

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Annulated sea snakes do have genes to see colour Annulated sea snakes, a venomous species found in the oceans of Australia and Asia, can see colour, debunking assumptions of colorblindness after surviving the last 110 million years in the ocean. Researchers used genome sequencing to find four intact copies of the opsin gene SWS1 &#8212 […]

A topological pair-density-wave of spin-triplet Cooper pairs

A topological pair-density-wave of spin-triplet Cooper pairs

Condensed matterMaterials

By César Tomé

pair-density-wave Scientists have revealed a new phase of matter in candidate topological superconductors that could have significant consequences for condensed matter physics and for the field of quantum computing and spintronics. Researchers at the Macroscopic Quantum Matter Group at Cornell University have discovered and visualized a crystalline yet superconducting state in a new and unusual […]

MI weekly selection #521

MI weekly selection #521

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Earth’s inner core is textured, not smooth The Earth’s solid inner core is textured with ripples in the “fabric” that are more pronounced deeper into the core. Researchers examined seismic data from 2,455 earthquakes and found that the pattern of texture may mean Earth’s core endured a period of rapid growth before slowly hardening. Full […]

A topological amorphous alloy

A topological amorphous alloy

MaterialsPhysicsQuantum physics

By César Tomé

amorphous Scientists have dedicated their efforts to studying topological materials, focusing on the shape, or topology, of their electronic structures. These materials exhibit unique properties that have the potential to be harnessed for next-generation devices, despite their invisible nature in real space. Initially, it was believed that only crystalline materials, characterized by highly ordered atoms […]

MI weekly selection #520

MI weekly selection #520

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Study upends idea that men hunted while women gathered The popular belief that early hunter-gatherer societies were organized around sex roles with men hunting and women gathering is incorrect, according to an analysis of data from academic papers focusing on 63 hunter-gatherer societies from across the world. The new research shows that 79% of communities […]

A resistive switching memory based on hafnium dioxide

A resistive switching memory based on hafnium dioxide

Computer scienceMaterials

By César Tomé

A novel computer memory design has been created by researchers, offering significant enhancements in performance while simultaneously addressing the pressing need to minimize energy consumption in internet and communications technologies. Projections suggest that these technologies could account for nearly one-third of the world’s electricity consumption within the next decade. A team of researchers has devised […]