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New technique could help build quantum computers of the future      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have demonstrated a new method that could enable the large-scale manufacturing of optical qubits. The advance could bring us closer to a scalable quantum computer.

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Switching nanomagnets using infrared lasers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Physicists have calculated how suitable molecules can be stimulated by infrared light pulses to form tiny magnetic fields. If this is also successful in experiments, the principle could be used in quantum computer circuits.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Marine Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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Novel Genetic Clock discovers oldest known marine plant      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international research team has discovered the oldest known marine plant using a novel genetic clock. This 1400-year-old seagrass clone from the Baltic Sea dates back to the Migration Period. The research project is a significant step towards better understanding and protecting marine ecosystems.

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Perturbations simplify the study of 'super photons'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Thousands of particles of light can merge into a type of 'super photon' under suitable conditions. Physicists call such a state a photon Bose-Einstein condensate. Researchers have now shown that this exotic quantum state obeys a fundamental theorem of physics. This finding now allows one to measure properties of photon Bose-Einstein condensates which are usually difficult to access.

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Novel diamond quantum magnetometer for ambient condition magnetoencephalography      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A highly sensitive diamond quantum magnetometer utilizing nitrogen-vacancy centers can achieve millimeter-scale resolution magnetoencephalography (MEG). The novel magnetometer, based on continuous-wave optically detected magnetic resonance, marks a significant step towards realizing ambient condition MEG and other practical applications.

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Researchers solve 2,000-year-old mystery of the shipworm      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

They bedeviled ancient Greek navies, helped shipwreck Christopher Columbus, aided in the sinking of the Spanish Armada and caused the wharves in San Francisco Bay to collapse into the sea, but until now, scientists have been unable to pinpoint exactly how shipworms -- a family of mollusks -- are able to cause such damage. A team of researchers has discovered that a population of symbiotic microbes, living in an overlooked sub-organ of the gut called the 'typhlosole,' have the ability to secrete the enzymes needed to digest lignin -- the toughest part of wood.

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Fishy mystery of marine reptile solved      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The identity of a prehistoric marine reptile has finally been revealed after experts discovered that some of its remains actually belonged to fish.

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Blood sausages and yak milk: Bronze Age cuisine of Mongolian nomads unveiled      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Bronze cauldrons were used by the inhabitants of the Mongolian steppe around 2,700 years ago to process animal blood and milk. This is shown by a protein analysis of archaeological finds from this period.

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'Missing' early sea sponges discovered      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Geobiologists reported a 550 million-year-old sea sponge that had been missing from the fossil record. The discovery sheds new light on a conundrum that has stumped zoologists and paleontologists for years.

Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Sea Life Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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Gigantic Jurassic pterosaur fossil unearthed in Oxfordshire, UK      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of palaeontologists has discovered a fossil of a gigantic flying reptile from the Jurassic period with an estimated wingspan of more than three metres -- making it one of the largest pterosaurs ever found from that era.

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Groundbreaking progress in quantum physics: How quantum field theories decay and fission      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international research team has sparked interest in the scientific community with results in quantum physics. In their current study, the researchers reinterpret the Higgs mechanism, which gives elementary particles mass and triggers phase transitions, using the concept of 'magnetic quivers.'

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Animals Ecology: Nature Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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Food drove the evolution of giraffes' long neck      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A study explores body proportions of Masai giraffes, lending insight into why giraffes have such long necks and how this trait might have evolved.

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Published

The coldest lab in New York has new quantum offering      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Physicists describe the successful creation of a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). Made up of dipolar sodium-cesium molecules that were cooled with the help of microwave shielding to just 5 nanoKelvin and lasted for up to two seconds, the new molecular BEC will help scientists explore a number of different quantum phenomena, including new types of superfluidity, and enable the creation of quantum simulators to ecreate the enigmatic properties of complex materials, like solid crystals.

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An unlikely hero in evolution: Worms      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

One of Earth's most consequential bursts of biodiversity -- a 30-million-year period of explosive evolutionary changes spawning innumerable new species -- may have the most modest of creatures to thank for the vital stage in life's history: worms.

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Could the world famous Roman Baths help scientists counter the challenge of antibiotic resistance?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study has uncovered a diverse array of microorganisms within the hot waters of the Roman Baths, regularly listed among the UK's most popular tourist attractions. Tests showed 15 of the isolated bacteria -- including examples of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes -- displayed varying levels of inhibition against human pathogens including E.coli, Staphylococcus Aureus and Shigella flexneri.

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'Ugly' fossil places extinct saber-toothed cat on Texas coast      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

This fossil looks like a lumpy, rounded rock with a couple of exposed teeth that are a little worse for wear, having been submerged and tumbled along the floor of the Gulf of Mexico for thousands of years before washing up on a beach. But when it was X-rayed a doctoral student saw there was more to the fossil that met the eye: a hidden canine tooth that had not yet erupted from the jaw bone. It was just what researchers needed to identify the fossil as belonging to a Homotherium, a genus of large cat that roamed much of the Earth for millions of years.