Science News

Latest science news, discoveries and scientific developments.

Quantum calculations reveal how spin defects lose energy
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Quantum calculations reveal how spin defects lose energy

When light hits a tiny defect embedded in a solid material like diamond or silicon carbide, it can kick the defect's electrons into an excited state. These spin defects have the potential to be used as stable, readable qubits for quantum technologies, for example, quantum sensing. But modeling the full physics of their energetics over time—a key step in developing spin defects into new technologies—is a challenging task.

📅 2026-10-15 15:40:09    •    Phys.org
Solving the mystery behind a flightless beetle's transatlantic journey
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Solving the mystery behind a flightless beetle's transatlantic journey

They can't fly or swim, so why do their closest relatives appear on different continents? Grey Gustafson, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, discovered through DNA sequencing that the ancestors of some of today's tiger beetles existed in South America and Africa before the two continents separated. What's more, North America's largest tiger beetles are related to these ancestral South American giant tiger beetles.

📅 2026-10-15 15:20:11    •    Phys.org
Scorecard: Colombia gets top marks while high-emitting countries doing too little to protect health from climate change
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Scorecard: Colombia gets top marks while high-emitting countries doing too little to protect health from climate change

The latest Healthy NDC Scorecard, published by the Global Climate and Health Alliance, finds that, Colombia integrates health most deeply into its national climate plan, closely followed by Nigeria and Cambodia. Conversely, the climate commitments of the governments of Japan, New Zealand and India fail to adequately consider health, while high-emitting economies, including EU members, China, Brazil and the U.K., refer to health in their national climate plans but do not match this with the ambitious emissions reduction targets required to protect health.

📅 2026-10-15 15:00:15    •    Phys.org
Mysterious hole in Neanderthal shoulder blade may have been a 'kill shot' from a wooden spear, according to archaeologists
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Mysterious hole in Neanderthal shoulder blade may have been a 'kill shot' from a wooden spear, according to archaeologists

A Neanderthal who was buried 75,000 years ago in Shanidar Cave in Iraq died from a wooden spear straight through the chest, archaeologists have revealed. While it's impossible to know exactly what happened, the violence may have been a targeted hit. "The position of the wound and the force required to push it right through the Neanderthal's body bear the hallmarks of an intended kill shot directed towards the heart," study first author Emma Pomeroy, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Cambridge, said in a statement. In a study published Thursday (Oct. 15) in the journal Scientific Reports, Pomeroy and co-authors analyzed the bones of Shanidar A, a Neanderthal who died violently at abo...

📅 2026-10-15 15:00:00    •    Live Science
New smart patch could help detect and treat blood clots after spinal surgery
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New smart patch could help detect and treat blood clots after spinal surgery

Blood clots that develop after spinal surgery can lead to serious complications. When blood accumulates around the spinal cord, it may increase pressure on surrounding nerves, potentially causing severe pain, muscle weakness or even paralysis. Early detection and timely treatment are therefore essential. However, continuously monitoring these complications remains challenging, and conventional treatments may require additional surgery.

📅 2026-10-15 14:20:18    •    Phys.org
Cortisol is a reproduction friend, not enemy
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Cortisol is a reproduction friend, not enemy

A major international study of the role cortisol plays in reproduction has found it may not be the villain it has been depicted as, and it may actually promote healthy reproduction.

📅 2026-10-15 13:20:04    •    Phys.org
Finding new ways to catch a thief—via intruders' airborne eDNA
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Finding new ways to catch a thief—via intruders' airborne eDNA

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is increasingly being investigated by forensic scientists as a tool to help solve criminal cases that lack biological traces—and attention is also turning to collecting trace airborne eDNA left behind by intruders in residential burglaries.

📅 2026-10-15 13:00:09    •    Phys.org
Mysterious brain activity under anesthesia challenges what we know about consciousness
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Mysterious brain activity under anesthesia challenges what we know about consciousness

Even under general anesthesia, the human brain can analyze language, recognize different types of words, and predict what comes next in a story, according to a surprising discovery by Baylor researchers. The findings challenge our understanding of consciousness and suggest that the unconscious brain is far more capable than scientists previously realized.

📅 2026-10-15 12:52:05    •    ScienceDaily