Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Chemistry: Biochemistry Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals Physics: Optics
Published

Super-black wood can improve telescopes, optical devices and consumer goods      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Thanks to an accidental discovery, researchers have created a new super-black material that absorbs almost all light, opening potential applications in fine jewelry, solar cells and precision optical devices.

Mathematics: Modeling Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Breaking MAD: Generative AI could break the internet, researchers find      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have found that training successive generations of generative artificial intelligence models on synthetic data gives rise to self-consuming feedback loops.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

The corona is weirdly hot: Parker Solar Probe rules out one explanation      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

By diving into the sun's corona, NASA's Parker Solar Probe has ruled out S-shaped bends in the sun's magnetic field as a cause of the corona's searing temperatures.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Shape-shifting 'transformer bots' inspired by origami      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Inspired by the paper-folding art of origami, engineers have discovered a way to make a single plastic cubed structure transform into more than 1,000 configurations using only three active motors.

Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Space-trekking muscle tests drugs for microgravity-induced muscle impairment      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A gentle rumble ran under a researcher's feet as a rocket carrying her research -- live, human muscle cells grown on scaffolds fixed on tiny chips -- lifted off, climbed, and disappeared into the sky to the International Space Station National Laboratory. These chips would help her better understand muscle impairment, often seen in astronauts and older adults, and test drugs to counter the condition.

Computer Science: General Computer Science: Quantum Computers Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
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Spin qubits go trampolining      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed somersaulting spin qubits for universal quantum logic. This achievement may enable efficient control of large semiconductor qubit arrays. The research group recently published their demonstration of hopping spins and somersaulting spins.

Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Foam fluidics showcase lab's creative approach to circuit design      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Engineers have shown that something as simple as the flow of air through open-cell foam can be used to perform digital computation, analog sensing and combined digital-analog control in soft textile-based wearable systems.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Images of nearest 'super-Jupiter' open a new window to exoplanet research      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers imaged a new exoplanet that orbits a star in the nearby triple system Epsilon Indi. The planet is a cold super-Jupiter exhibiting a temperature of around 0 degrees Celsius and a wide orbit comparable to that of Neptune around the Sun. This measurement was only possible thanks to JWST's unprecedented imaging capabilities in the thermal infrared. It exemplifies the potential of finding many more such planets similar to Jupiter in mass, temperature, and orbit. Studying them will improve our knowledge of how gas giants form and evolve in time.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Expiring medications could pose challenge on long space missions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study shows that over half of the medicines stocked in space -- staples such as pain relievers, antibiotics, allergy medicines, and sleep aids -- would expire before astronauts could return to Earth.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Astrophysicists uncover supermassive blackhole/dark matter connection in solving the 'final parsec problem'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have found a link between some of the largest and smallest objects in the cosmos: supermassive black holes and dark matter particles. Their new calculations reveal that pairs of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) can merge into a single larger black hole because of previously overlooked behavior of dark matter particles, proposing a solution to the longstanding 'final parsec problem' in astronomy.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Development of 'living robots' needs regulation and public debate      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers are calling for regulation to guide the responsible and ethical development of bio-hybrid robotics -- a ground-breaking science which fuses artificial components with living tissue and cells.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Life signs could survive near surfaces of Enceladus and Europa      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Europa and Enceladus, icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn respectively, have evidence of oceans beneath their crusts. A NASA experiment suggests -- if these oceans support life -- signatures of that life in the form of organic molecules (like amino acids and nucleic acids) could survive just under the surface ice despite the harsh, ionizing radiation on these worlds. If robotic landers were to go to these moons to look for life signs, they would not have to dig very deep to find amino acids that have survived being altered or destroyed by radiation.

Space: Astronomy Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Early riser! The Sun is already starting its next solar cycle -- despite being halfway through its current one      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The first rumblings of the Sun's next 11-year solar cycle have been detected in sound waves inside our home star -- even though it is only halfway through its current one. This existing cycle is now at its peak, or 'solar maximum' -- which is when the Sun's magnetic field flips and its poles swap places -- until mid-2025.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Geoscience: Severe Weather Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
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New dawn for space storm alerts could help shield Earth's tech      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Space storms could soon be forecasted with greater accuracy than ever before thanks to a big leap forward in our understanding of exactly when a violent solar eruption may hit Earth. Scientists say it is now possible to predict the precise speed a coronal mass ejection (CME) is travelling at and when it will smash into our planet -- even before it has fully erupted from the Sun.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Can consciousness exist in a computer simulation?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new essay explores which conditions must be met for consciousness to exist. At least one of them can't be found in a computer.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Exoplanet-hunting telescope to begin search for another Earth in 2026      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Europe's next big space mission -- a telescope that will hunt for Earth-like rocky planets outside of our solar system -- is on course to launch at the end of 2026. PLATO, or PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars, is being built to find nearby potentially habitable worlds around Sun-like stars that we can examine in detail.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Ant insights lead to robot navigation breakthrough      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Have you ever wondered how insects are able to go so far beyond their home and still find their way? The answer to this question is not only relevant to biology but also to making the AI for tiny, autonomous robots. Drone-researchers felt inspired by biological findings on how ants visually recognize their environment and combine it with counting their steps in order to get safely back home. They have used these insights to create an insect-inspired autonomous navigation strategy for tiny, lightweight robots. It allows such robots to come back home after long trajectories, while requiring extremely little computation and memory (0.65 kiloByte per 100 m). In the future, tiny autonomous robots could find a wide range of uses, from monitoring stock in warehouses to finding gas leaks in industrial sites.