The 2024 Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry have given us a glimpse of the future of science. Artificial intelligence (AI) was central to the discoveries honoured by both awards. You have to wonder what Alfred Nobel, who founded the prizes, would think of it all. We are certain to see many more Nobel medals […]
Spain, like many other countries with a large share of agriculture in the economy, faces significant challenges in managing the vast quantities of livestock manure produced every year. In 2020, Spain had more than 6.7 million cattle, each producing approximately 17 cubic meters of manure annually . Manure, particularly from large-scale livestock operations, creates environmental […]
Author: Marc Zimmer, Professor of Chemistry, Connecticut College The 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry recognized Demis Hassabis, John Jumper and David Baker for using machine learning to tackle one of biology’s biggest challenges: predicting the 3D shape of proteins and designing them from scratch. This year’s award stood out because it honored research that originated […]
The propagation of light -observed and governed since ancient times by simple lens construction- has long been described through classical geometrical optics. However, in particle accelerators we do not transport photons but beams of electrically charged particles subjected to repulsive forces that tend to unpack the particle beams. Optics of particle accelerators require electromagnetic lenses […]
NASA plans to send crewed missions to Mars over the next decade – but the 140 million-mile (225 million-kilometer) journey to the red planet could take several months to years round trip. This relatively long transit time is a result of the use of traditional chemical rocket fuel. An alternative technology to the chemically propelled […]
Many large mammals have lost genetic diversity, often thanks to the actions of people shrinking their populations. The implications can be severe because without genetic diversity, a population does not have a “genetic database” to fall back on to adapt to environmental change. The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) is no stranger to this reduction in […]
Author: Ramón Muñoz-Chápuli has been Professor of Animal Biology in the University of Málaga until his retirement. He has investigated for forty years in the fields of developmental biology and animal evolution. Lungfish (Dipnoi) are fascinating animals. Despite having gills, they can breathe atmospheric air thanks to a pair of lungs. Their geographic distribution aligns […]
What would happen if humans dried out the Mediterranean sea, turning it into a giant salt lake? Would its wildlife survive, and if so, how long would it take to recover? These may seem like wildly theoretical questions, but not for Herman Sörgel, a Bavarian architect who dedicated much of his life to this exact […]
Authors : Rubén Lijó , Global Training Coordinator at Hitachi Energy, Posdoctoral Researcher at Instituto para el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación en Comunicaciones (IDeTIC) / Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; Eduardo Quevedo , Institute for Applied Microelectronics (IUMA) / Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; and José Juan Castro , Department […]
Author: Tom Shand, Honorary Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau As the Olympics get going in earnest this week, not everyone’s attention is focused on host city Paris. Surf fans are heading to Tahiti, half a world away in French Polynesia. Why? Well, apart from the French […]