Science News
Bright skies for plant-based jet fuels
EurekAlert! - 19 Mar 2019 06:00
(DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) With an estimated daily fuel demand of more than 5 million barrels per day, the global aviation sector is incredibly energy-intensive and almost entirely reliant on petroleum-b...
Experimental blood test accurately spots fibromyalgia
Neuroscience News - 19 Mar 2019 22:25
A new biomarker for fibromyalgia has been identified in blood samples taken from patients suffering from the condition.
How Attention Helps the Brain Perceive an Object
Neuroscience News - 19 Mar 2019 22:04
Low-frequency optogentic stimulation of the visual region of the brain impairs an animal's ability to make fine sensory discriminations.
It's no Fortnite, but it's helping stroke survivors move again
Neuroscience News - 19 Mar 2019 21:25
Integrating a myoelectric computer interface device with a customized video game helps stroke survivors to improve mobility and arm function.
Google announces video game streaming service to let you play anywhere
New Scientist - 19 Mar 2019 20:12
Google announces a streaming service that will allow people to play video games in 4K in their browser -- provided they have a good internet connection
Asteroid Bennu is spewing out dust and rocks to create its own moons
New Scientist - 19 Mar 2019 19:30
NASA's OSIRIS-REx has found that Bennu is an active asteroid and is also covered in large rocks that will make grabbing a sample more difficult
New Simulation Suggests We've Been Underestimating the Strength of Asteroids
Physics Buzz - 19 Mar 2019 18:53
The size of a small city, the target asteroid is imposing. The cracks and craters on its surface reflect years of wear in the extreme and dangerous environment of deep space. This mosaic image of the asteroid Bennu is co...
Asteroid Ryugu is so dry we may have to rethink how Earth got water
New Scientist - 19 Mar 2019 18:45
The first results from Japan's Hayabusa-2 mission show that the asteroid Ryugu is surprisingly dry, which may have implications for how life began on Earth
Speeding the development of fusion power to create unlimited energy on Earth
Phys.org - 19 Mar 2019 18:40
Can tokamak fusion facilities, the most widely used devices for harvesting on Earth the fusion reactions that power the sun and stars, be developed more quickly to produce safe, clean, and virtually limitless energy for ...
What's Behind the Massive Midwestern Floods: 2 Giant Waves of Water
Live Science - 19 Mar 2019 18:05Protected hen harriers are vanishing under suspicious circumstances
New Scientist - 19 Mar 2019 18:00
A study that tracked 58 hen harriers over a decade found that most of the birds disappeared without a trace - and this was more likely to happen on grouse moors
Uncovering the superconducting phosphine: P2H4 and P4H6
Phys.org - 19 Mar 2019 17:29
High-Tc superconductors have become a hot topic in physics since superconducting mercury was first reported more than a century ago. Dense hydrogen was predicted to metalize and become a superconductor at high pressure a...
Energy-efficient superconducting cable for future technologies
Phys.org - 19 Mar 2019 16:49
For connecting wind parks, for DC supply on ships, or for lightweight and compact high-current cabling in future electric airplanes: scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a versatile superc...
To Be Ethical, AI Must Become Explainable. How Do We Get There?
Singularity Hub - 19 Mar 2019 16:30
As over-hyped as artificial intelligence is--everyone's talking about it, few fully understand it, it might leave us all unemployed but also solve all the world's problems--its list of accomplishments is growing. AI can ...
Flashing Light and Sound Reduced Alzheimer's Symptoms in Mice
Singularity Hub - 19 Mar 2019 16:00
The last thing Dr. Li-Huei Tsai expected to help her Alzheimer's mice was a disco cage. Three years back, in a strobe of insight, her team decided to stick mice engineered with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's dis...
Computer program developed to find 'leakage' in quantum computers
Phys.org - 19 Mar 2019 16:00
A new computer program that spots when information in a quantum computer is escaping to unwanted states will give users of this promising technology the ability to check its reliability without any technical knowledge fo...
We did a breakthrough 'speed test' in quantum tunnelling, and here's why that's exciting
Phys.org - 19 Mar 2019 15:40
When you deal with things at the quantum scale, where things are very small, the world is quite fuzzy and bizarre in comparison to our everyday experiences.
Levitating objects with light
Phys.org - 19 Mar 2019 14:40
Researchers at Caltech have designed a way to levitate and propel objects using only light, by creating specific nanoscale patterning on the objects' surfaces.
Researchers use muon detector to measure electric potential in a thunderstorm
Phys.org - 19 Mar 2019 14:30
A team of researchers from several institutions in India and Japan has found that it is possible to use a muon detector to measure electric potential in thunderstorms. The paper is published in the journal Physical Revie...
Cheer the first women-only spacewalk, but equality is still far away
New Scientist - 19 Mar 2019 14:30
The first women-only spacewalk is a cause for celebration, but we are still a long way from achieving equality in our space programmes
How heavy elements come about in the universe
Phys.org - 19 Mar 2019 14:20
Heavy elements are produced during stellar explosion or on the surfaces of neutron stars through the capture of hydrogen nuclei (protons). This occurs at extremely high temperatures, but at relatively low energies. An in...
Novel form of graphene-based optical material developed
Phys.org - 19 Mar 2019 13:50
Researchers at the University of Sydney, Swinburne University of Technology and the Australian National University have collaborated to develop a solar absorbing, ultrathin film with unique properties that has great pote...