Quantum hair: The solution to the Hawking paradox? Researchers claim to have solved the Hawking paradox, or the conflict between quantum mechanics and the idea that black holes destroy all information about the stars that served as their creators. They suggest the radiation around black holes, also known as quantum hair, can hold onto information […]
Nuclear physicists have found a new way to see details inside atomic nuclei . They do so by tracking interactions between photons and gluons—the gluelike particles that hold together the building blocks of protons and neutrons. The method relies on harnessing a new type of quantum interference between two dissimilar particles. Tracking how these entangled […]
Fish can feel each other’s fear Fish can detect emotions like fear in other fish and change their behaviour accordingly. The scientists manipulated genes associated with oxytocin, the neural chemical linked to empathy in humans, in zebrafish and found that those without the genes failed to respond to the feelings of other fish that were […]
A new process that lets scientists chemically cut apart and stitch together nanoscopic layers of two-dimensional materials — like a tailor altering a suit — could be just the tool for designing the technology of a sustainable energy future. Researchers have developed a method for structurally splitting, editing and reconstituting layered materials, called MAX phases […]
Rising seas, oxygen depletion led to mass extinction Rising seas likely contributed to high hydrogen sulfide levels and oxygen depletion that killed marine life during Earth’s Devonian period over 350 million years ago. Researchers analyzed black shale samples from the Bakken Formation underlying parts of North Dakota and Canada, finding that waters were drained of […]
Pyrite, also known as “fool’s gold,” is an abundant iron sulphide mineral in the Earth’s crust. All organisms need iron and sulphur to grow. Because pyrite does not dissolve in oxygen-free conditions, scientists previously thought that organisms could not use pyrite in the absence of oxygen. Research shows that certain single-celled microorganisms can dissolve pyrite […]
Shockwaves through the “cosmic web” spotted Astronomers have detected the first evidence of shockwaves in intergalactic magnetic fields running throughout the cosmic web. Researchers combined data from four radio wave detection sites to identify the waves resulting from merging matter in the network of filaments that weave galaxies together. Full Story: Space First wiring map […]
Greenhouse gases act like a layer of window glass in the atmosphere: They prevent heat from being radiated from the Earth’s surface into space. Methane does that 28 times as effectively as carbon dioxide – it is (to stay in the picture) a kind of invisible double glazing. Over the past 200 years, the concentration […]
Phytoplankton increasingly blooming on coastlines Phytoplankton blooms increased around 13% in extent and occurred 59% more often along global coastlines between 2003 and 2020. The microscopic algae are both beneficial to fisheries and potentially dangerous for marine animals in large amounts, researchers note, and the increase in phytoplankton blooms is caused by warmer ocean temperatures […]
Atomic nuclei take a range of shapes, from spherical (like a basketball) to deformed (like an American football). Spherical nuclei are often described by the motion of a small fraction of the protons and neutrons, while deformed nuclei tend to rotate as a collective whole. A third kind of motion has been proposed since the […]