Category archives: Science

The photonic axion insulator in 3D

The photonic axion insulator in 3D

Condensed matterDIPC Advanced materialsMaterials

By DIPC

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 […]

We’re no better prepared for a pandemic today than we were in 2020

We’re no better prepared for a pandemic today than we were in 2020

HealthMicrobiology

By Invited Researcher

Author: Ignacio López-Goñi, Professor of Microbiology, Universidad de Navarra On March 11 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. According to official data there have been more than 770 million cases of COVID, which have caused over 7 million deaths in 231 countries – almost 2.2 million of them in Europe. Other reports […]

How perceptions are influenced by expectations

How perceptions are influenced by expectations

NeurobiologyNeurolinguisticsNeurosciencePsychology

By Mapping Ignorance

Past neuroscience and psychology studies have shown that people’s expectations of the world can influence their perceptions, either by directing their attention to expected stimuli or by reducing their sensitivity (i.e., perceptual acuity) to variations within the categories of stimuli we expect to be exposed to. While the effects of expectations on perceptions are now […]

The paradox of democracy’s success

The paradox of democracy’s success

PsychologySociology

By Invited Researcher

Authors: Ralph Hertwig, Director, Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Stephan Lewandowsky, Chair of Cognitive Psychology, University of Bristol The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 paved the way for the democratisation of many eastern European countries and triumphantly ushered in the era of global liberal democracy that some […]

Direct liquid cooling, a game-changer in battery thermal management

Direct liquid cooling, a game-changer in battery thermal management

ChemistryEnergy

By Invited Researcher

The electrification of road transport is no longer just a trend—it is a key step in reducing carbon emissions and addressing climate change. Beyond environmental benefits, it also carries strategic and geopolitical importance, prompting major automotive manufacturers to invest heavily in electric mobility . The success of this transformation depends on a crucial element: the […]

Western Europe’s oldest human face discovered in Spain

Western Europe’s oldest human face discovered in Spain

AnthropologyEvolution

By Invited Researcher

Author: María Martinón-Torres, CENIEH Director, Atapuerca Research Team and author of “Homo imperfectus” (Ed. Destino), Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) The research team at the Atapuerca archaeological sites in Burgos, Spain, has just broken its own record by discovering, for the third time, the oldest human in Western Europe. The team […]

‘Microlightning’ in water droplets, a twist in the Miller-Urey experiment

‘Microlightning’ in water droplets, a twist in the Miller-Urey experiment

BiochemistryBiologyChemistry

By Mapping Ignorance

Life may not have begun with a dramatic lightning strike into the ocean but from many smaller “microlightning” exchanges among water droplets from crashing waterfalls or breaking waves. New research shows that water sprayed into a mixture of gases thought to be present in Earth’s early atmosphere can lead to the formation of organic molecules […]

Quantum tornado in momentum space experimentally demonstrated

Quantum tornado in momentum space experimentally demonstrated

Condensed matterMaterials

By Mapping Ignorance

A team of researchers has experimentally demonstrated a quantum tornado for the first time by refining an established method. In the quantum semimetal tantalum arsenide (TaAs), electrons in momentum space behave like a swirling vortex. This quantum phenomenon was first predicted eight years ago. Scientists have long known that electrons can form vortices in quantum […]