Author: Jonathan Simone, Adjunct Professor of Biological Sciences, Brock University On May 20, 1875, delegates from a group of 17 countries gathered in Paris to sign what may be the most overlooked yet globally influential treaty in history: the Metre Convention. At a time when different countries (and even different cities defined weights and lengths […]
A new study suggests the universe may rotate—just extremely slowly. The finding could help solve one of astronomy’s biggest puzzles. Current models say the universe expands evenly in all directions, with no sign of rotation. This idea fits most of what astronomers observe. But it doesn’t explain the so-called Hubble tension—a long-standing disagreement between two […]
Have you ever found yourself spending five minutes talking to someone and suddenly using their words instead of your own? Say, for example, that you usually say “couch” but now suddenly you call it “sofa.” You say “TV,” but suddenly it’s “the telly.” You’ve never in your life referred to dinner as “tea” but after […]
Author: Cédric M. John, Professor and Head of Data Science for the Environment and Sustainability, Queen Mary University of London Nearly three fourths of Earth is covered by oceans, making the planet look like a pale blue dot from space. But Japanese researchers have made a compelling case that Earth’s oceans were once green, in […]
An international team of scientists has, for the first time, directly observed catalysis in-action at the atomic level. In mesmerizing new videos, single atoms move and shake during a chemical reaction that removes hydrogen atoms from an alcohol molecule. By viewing the process in real time, the researchers discovered several short-lived intermediate molecules involved in […]
Quantum simulation, a concept that once seemed like science fiction, is now revolutionizing the way physicists study the quantum world. The idea, famously suggested by Richard Feynman in the 1980s, is to use a controllable quantum system to mimic the behaviour of another system that is too complex to study directly. Over time, researchers have […]
Author: Albert HiuKa Fok, Postdoctoral Fellow in Neuroscience, McGill University The puzzle of memory has intrigued philosophers and intellects for a very long time. Plato and Aristotle believed that memory was found only in the realm of the soul and the mind, but there was nothing corporeal or physical about it. Memory is closely tied […]
Using the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), astronomers have detected methane in the atmosphere of WISEA J181006.18−101000.5—the closest T dwarf to Earth. Brown dwarfs are intermediate objects between planets and stars. Astronomers generally agree that they are substellar objects occupying the mass range between 13 and 80 Jupiter masses. One subclass of brown dwarfs (with […]
Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa affect up to 70 million people worldwide. In particular, despite its prevalence and long-term duration, there are no effective pharmacological treatments for anorexia. This may change in the future if recent results in mice transfer appropriately to humans, as a “hunger” peptide appears to revert weight loss in mice […]
Imagine a world where light, instead of merely bouncing off surfaces or passing through transparent materials, is controlled in a completely new and unexpected way. Scientists have recently taken a major step in this direction by discovering what is called a “photonic axion insulator.” While this term might sound complicated, the underlying idea is both […]