Science News
How fusion reactions can survive flaws-up to a point
Phys.org - 24 Aug 2026 19:00
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have found that implosions designed for inertial fusion energy (IFE) can tolerate significant imperfections before performance abruptly declines, a finding tha...
Aging Brains Maintain Robust Language Networks Despite Cognitive Decline
Neuroscience News - 24 Aug 2026 12:15
A new MIT study reveals that the brain's language network remains robust and unchanged in older adults, even as executive functions and memory decline.
From back pain to cancer, how the interstitium could transform medicine
New Scientist - 24 Aug 2026 11:00
For centuries, weve ignored the interstitium, but research is now revealing that this body-wide network of fluid is instrumental to our health and points the way to new treatments
Newtons 300-year-old law just passed its biggest test yet
Science Daily - 24 Aug 2026 21:49
A massive test of gravity across the cosmos found that it behaves almost exactly as Newton and Einstein predicted, even across galaxy clusters hundreds of millions of light-years apart. The result weakens some modified-g...
Supersized quantum sensors make faint photons easier to catch
Phys.org - 24 Aug 2026 18:30
Our everyday life is flooded with photons, the quantum building blocks of light. For cutting-edge technology, from quantum computing to deep-tissue imaging, detecting every single photon counts.
As cervical cancer rates fall, HPV is causing more throat and mouth cancers in men - why?
Live Science - 24 Aug 2026 18:30
HPV vaccination is helping knock back cervical cancer rates, but meanwhile, mouth and throat cancers caused by the virus are up in men. Here's what to know.
Ocean 'under unprecedented strain' as El Niño helps supercharge warming to record levels
Live Science - 24 Aug 2026 18:25
The Copernicus Climate Change Service announced that the daily global sea surface temperature has reached its highest level since records began.
Deuterium enables chip waveguides to generate broadband light from infrared pulses
Phys.org - 24 Aug 2026 17:30
A research team from Singapore, led by Associate Professor Dawn Tan of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Dr. Luo Xianshu, head of the Silicon Photonics Department at the A*STAR Institute of Mic...
Vacuum-fluctuation-enhanced superconductivity demonstrated for the first time
Phys.org - 24 Aug 2026 16:50
In a study published in Nature on Aug. 19, a research team has enhanced superconductivity through vacuum fluctuations for the first time. The achievement marks a significant advance in controlling quantum states of matte...
Severe COVID-19 may wake up dormant viruses and lead to lasting physical disability, study finds
Live Science - 24 Aug 2026 15:21
Nearly half of hospitalized COVID-19 patients had a dormant virus flare back to life, and one family of viruses found in the majority of people was tied to lasting symptoms from long COVID.
Why banishing irrational numbers could trigger a revolution in quantum theory
New Scientist - 24 Aug 2026 15:00
Irrational numbers have underpinned quantum mechanics for a century. Removing them could eliminate its strangest features and trigger the biggest upheaval in physics since quantum theory began
Mapping thorium's preferred sites could pave the way for nuclear clocks
Phys.org - 24 Aug 2026 14:40
For decades, physicists have used a technique called Mössbauer spectroscopy to peer inside solid materials, revealing fine details of their surroundings by studying how their atomic nuclei absorb and re-emit gamma rays....
One step closer to the ideal glass-simulations reveal hidden order at absolute zero
Phys.org - 24 Aug 2026 13:40
In the physical sense, glass is not limited to familiar window glass; it forms whenever a liquid is cooled so quickly that it cannot crystallize. As a result, glass has an amorphous structure-that is, its "building b...
Risk of dementia could be halved with use of metformin
New Scientist - 24 Aug 2026 13:25
Taking metformin, a type 2 diabetes drug, has been linked to a lower risk of dementia over the following decades, but the association isn't conclusive
How much water do you really need to drink to keep your brain sharp?
New Scientist - 24 Aug 2026 13:14
Water is essential for good brain function, with a handful of convincing studies suggesting that dehydration could be slowing you down, cognitively speaking. Columnist Helen Thomson explores how much water we should be d...
Corners in focus: Metasurface enables motion tracking without digital image processing
Phys.org - 24 Aug 2026 13:00
A research team at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) has developed a new optical corner-detection imaging method that uses azimuthal Hilbert transform metasurfaces and is designed to work as a universal framework. T...
Dice discovered that solve decade-long mathematical problem
New Scientist - 24 Aug 2026 12:32
After years of searching, mathematicians have found dice that can allow five players to fairly decide who moves first in a board game, with a winner guaranteed from just a single roll
Stream the entire BBC iPlayer Attenborough collection anywhere with this top-rated VPN deal
Live Science - 24 Aug 2026 12:00
Proton VPN has cut prices by up to 70%, giving you streaming access to all your usual services, plus some of the best VPN privacy features on the market
Front face of a stela: A 1,300-year-old carving of a powerful Maya 'Lady Supreme Warlord' that weighs over 1 ton
Live Science - 24 Aug 2026 10:00
This monumental carving depicts a powerful Maya queen called Lady K'abel, who ruled an ancient city in Guatemala at the end of the seventh century.
Front face of a stela: A 1,300-year-old carving of a powerful Maya 'Lady Supreme Warlord' that weighs over 2 tons
Live Science - 24 Aug 2026 10:00
This monumental carving depicts a powerful Maya queen called Lady K'abel, who ruled an ancient city in Guatemala at the end of the seventh century.
Cheap wall tiles 'inspired by flowing streams' could fix one of superfast 6G's biggest problems
Live Science - 24 Aug 2026 09:45
Superfast 6G has a major problem - signals struggle to pass through physical barriers. But scientists have invented a $2 wall tile that can fix that.
New free-space optical link adds a wireless component to the nation's longest quantum network
Phys.org - 24 Aug 2026 09:43
There's a new lighthouse on Long Island. But instead of shining light to guide ships through waterways, this one transmits and receives particles of light that carry quantum information. Perched atop a seven-story bu...