Seafloor rocks, akin to mysterious books waiting to be deciphered, harbor untold stories about our planet’s history. Frieder Klein, an associate scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, believes that studying rocks is like reading a book, as they hold valuable information about the geological carbon cycle. Klein and his team recently conducted a groundbreaking
The future of electronics is rapidly evolving and will soon differ significantly from conventional electronics. The storage and transmission of information in future quantum electronics will be based on qubits instead of traditional binary digits. However, one of the key challenges in quantum electronics has been the limited ability to transmit quantum information over long
TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media platform, has once again found itself in the center of a heated debate, this time due to the debut of US President Joe Biden on the platform. The video, posted during the Super Bowl, was aimed at reaching younger voters and featured a reference to a popular Biden alter-ego meme.
The vast expanse of space is not just filled with stars and galaxies; it also seems to be teeming with delicious cosmic snacks. Recently, a team of astronomers led by Ciprian Berghea from the US Naval Observatory discovered a fascinating object in the Milky Way, which they fondly named Dracula’s Chivito after the iconic meat-laden
Alcohol has long been known to lower social inhibitions and alter one’s behavior. However, what many people fail to realize is that mixing alcohol with medications can have dangerous consequences. The chemicals in the brain are delicately balanced between excitation and inhibition, and alcohol disrupts this balance. By increasing inhibition in the brain, alcohol leads
The current generation of lithium-ion batteries has revolutionized the way we power our devices, but it’s not without its flaws. From slow charging speeds to limited battery life, these batteries have their shortcomings. However, recent research conducted at the Florida State University has given hope for a more efficient and safer alternative – solid-state batteries.
Chemists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) have made a breakthrough in understanding the crystal structure of a crucial component of the monensin enzyme. This discovery has led to the unlocking of the enzyme’s reaction activity mechanism. The research, published in Nature Communications, was a collaborative effort between UIUC and The University of Texas
The notion of devastating mass extinctions that decimated Earth’s ecosystems millions of years ago has captivated both the general public and scientific community for decades. In 1982, Jack Sepkoski and David Raup made a breakthrough with their publication that identified the “Big Five” extinction events in the planet’s geological history. Among these, the end-Permian event
Defects in semiconducting materials like diamonds have long been regarded as a nuisance, disrupting the perfect arrangement of atoms. However, scientists have recently discovered that these defects can actually be harnessed as quantum sensors. This is because some defects contain electrons with a spin, or angular momentum, which can store and process information. In a
The bubonic plague, an ancient disease that plagued humanity for centuries, may seem like a relic of the past. However, the reality is far from reassuring. Despite its historical context, the bacterium responsible for this deadly infection, Yersinia pestis, continues to thrive and cause thousands of human infections worldwide every year. This may come as
NASA scientists have recently begun their analysis of fragments brought back from the Bennu asteroid, and early findings suggest that the material it contains originated from an ancient ocean world. The presence of phosphate crust on the asteroid serves as the basis for this assumption. Interestingly, the mineral composition of the calcium and magnesium-rich phosphate
In the realm of science fiction, the concept of possessing X-ray vision has captivated the imagination of many. The ability to see through solid objects and delve into the mysteries hidden within is a fantasy that has long eluded humanity. However, scientists have devised a groundbreaking method to bypass this physical barrier and peer into