A new study from UNC-Chapel Hill researchers shows that advanced artificial intelligence tools, specifically large language models (LLMs), can accurately determine the locations where plant specimens were originally collected, a process…
A new study by researchers at the University of Amsterdam shows how gravitational waves from black holes can be used to reveal the presence of dark matter and help determine its properties. The key is a new model, based on Einstein's…
Neutron stars are ultra-dense star remnants made up primarily of nucleons (i.e., protons and neutrons). Over the course of millions of years, these stars progressively cool down, radiating heat into space.
The fossil called "Medusa" could be a dinosaur mummy—the remains of an Edmontosaurus about 66 million years old that researchers believe contains a significant amount of skin and tendon tissue.
A fossil only tells part of the story. When an animal's body is preserved as a fossil, there are often pieces missing, and even a perfectly preserved body doesn't tell the whole story of how that animal behaved, how it lived, and how it…
A research team led by Professor Luo Shujin from the School of Life Sciences has uncovered a surprising chapter in the history of cats in China. Through ancient DNA sequencing of feline remains spanning more than 5,000 years, the team…
High up in Earth's orbit, millions of human-made objects large and small are flying at speeds of over 15,000 miles per hour. The objects, which range from inactive satellites to fragments of equipment resulting from explosions or…
Quantum technology is accelerating out of the lab and into the real world, and a new article argues that the field now stands at a turning point—one that is similar to the early computing age that preceded the rise of the transistor and…
Of the seven Earth-sized worlds orbiting the red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, one planet in particular has attracted the attention of scientists. This planet orbits the star within the "Goldilocks zone"—a distance where water on its surface is…
Quantum computers, systems that process information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, have the potential of outperforming classical systems on some tasks. Instead of storing information as bits, like classical computers, they rely on…
Extinct relatives of modern humans, like Neanderthals and Homo erectus, that lived in the Levant around 120,000 years ago, did not engage in mass hunting but preferred selective and strategic hunting of wild cattle. Scientists suggest that…
Analysis of the second confirmed interstellar comet to visit our solar system suggests that the alien body could be covered in erupting icy, volcano-like structures called cryovolcanoes. Researchers also discovered that the comet has a…
Using NASA's Kepler space telescope, Chinese astronomers have observed a binary star system known as KIC 5623923. As a result, they found that the investigated system is a faint eclipsing binary experiencing Delta Scuti-type pulsations.…
Using ESA's XMM-Newton satellite, astronomers from Stanford University and elsewhere have conducted deep X-ray observations of a nearby galaxy known as NGC 3221. The new observational campaign detected a faint active galactic nucleus (AGN)…
Debate has long surrounded when humans first traveled into Sahul, the ancient landmass that is now Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania. Now, a study published in Science Advances, lends credence to the theory that the first humans entered…
Scientists have taken another major step toward creating stable quantum computers. Using a specialized quantum computer chip (an essential component of a quantum computer) as a kind of tiny laboratory, a team led by Pan Jianwei at the…
One of the most elegant theories about the origins of life on our planet is that it was kick-started by a delivery from outer space. This idea suggests that prebiotic molecules—the building blocks of life—were transported here by asteroids…
In a study published in Physical Review Letters, physicists have demonstrated that black holes satisfy the third law of thermodynamics, which states that entropy remains positive and vanishes at extremely low temperatures, just like…
Past psychology and behavioral science studies have identified various ways in which people's acquisition of new knowledge can be disrupted. One of these, known as interference, occurs when humans are learning new information and this…
A new study published in Science Advances overturns a long-standing paradigm in climate science that stronger Northern Hemisphere summer insolation produces stronger tropical rainfall. Instead, a precisely dated 129,000-year rainfall…
The mega genus Begonia (Begoniaceae) is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas. It is one of the largest plant genera in the world with over 2,100 species. In China, the number of Begonia species has increased to 304 …
What if a surface could instantly switch from sticky to slippery at the push of a button? By using electricity to control how ions and water structure at the solid liquid interface of self-assembled monolayers of aromatic molecules,…
Using catalytic chemistry, researchers at Institute of Science Tokyo have achieved dynamic control of artificial membranes, enabling life-like membrane behavior. The work is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
A new study led by the Yunnan Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has detected quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) signals in an unusual gamma-ray burst (GRB) event. The findings are published in The Astrophysical Journal.
Scientists have captured an exceptionally rare, high-resolution view of an active region that produced two powerful X-class solar flares—an achievement rarely possible from Earth. Using the GREGOR solar telescope in Tenerife, researchers…
A new paper published in Nature Communications could put scientists on the path to understanding one of the wildest, hottest, and most densely packed places in the universe: a neutron star.
Stars usually form in clusters, which can also form in pairs or groups. Binary clusters (BCs) are defined as pairs of open clusters closely associated both in position and kinematics. They provide insight into how stars form within giant…
Quantum computers are computing systems that process information leveraging quantum mechanical effects. These computers rely on qubits (i.e., the quantum equivalent of bits), which can store information in a mixture of states, as opposed…
Over the past decades, physicists and quantum engineers introduced a wide range of systems that perform desired functions leveraging quantum mechanical effects. These include so-called quantum sensors, devices that rely on qubits (i.e.,…
Using the Large Phased Array (LPA) and the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), astronomers from Russia and China have observed a nearby pulsar designated PSR J1951+2837. The new observations, presented Nov. 18 on…