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Helium-3 lifts new quantum computing concept with faster tunneling rates
Helium—the lightest atom that can be laser-cooled and controlled—powers a new design for high-powered, stable quantum computers.
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Latest science news, discoveries and scientific developments.
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A crystalline sponge reveals structures of large 'beyond rule of 5' molecules
Drug discovery has traditionally followed the "rule of 5," which identifies chemical properties generally associated with good absorption of orally administered drugs, including a molecular weight below 500 daltons (Da). However, some pharmaceutical compounds fall outside these guidelines. Known as beyond rule of 5 (bRo5) molecules, these compounds can have larger, more complex structures while still exhibiting strong therapeutic activity and favorable pharmacological properties. Their size and structural complexity, however, make it difficult to characterize them using conventional methods, particularly when very small quantities are available.
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No evidence that Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs have improved child protection outcomes
New research concludes that Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs (MASHs) are failing to provide better protection for children in England, instead causing families distress and putting more pressure on social care resources.
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Not all eggs are the same—uncovering a tropical parasite's secret weapons
A team of scientists from the Faculty of Science at Charles University has achieved a major breakthrough in research into schistosomiasis, a serious tropical disease affecting more than 250 million people worldwide. Using advanced laser microdissection, the researchers have, for the first time, captured and analyzed proteins secreted by the eggs of the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni directly within infected tissues of a living organism, rather than under artificial laboratory conditions.
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Physics-based AI unlocks first global predictions of carbon cycling in ocean sediments
Researchers at The University of Manchester have developed a new physics-based artificial intelligence approach that, for the first time, enables accurate global-scale predictions of how dissolved organic carbon moves between seawater and marine sediments, a crucial but previously unquantifiable component of the planet's carbon cycle.
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Curved nanographene with five-, six- and seven-membered rings synthesized in two steps
Nanographenes can be considered molecular fragments of graphene, a 2D conductive material in which carbon atoms are connected in a honeycomb pattern. Because their electronic and photophysical properties vary depending on the size and shape of the molecule, nanographenes are expected to find applications in OLEDs, organic solar cells, organic field-effect transistors and more.
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Mentoring based on young peoples' strengths can alleviate the crisis in education, training and employment
We can all see the huge waste of talent this represents for the young people concerned and society as a whole.
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Fast radio bursts could help disentangle galactic feedback from dark matter effects
Intense, brief flashes of radio light called fast radio bursts (FRBs) travel across billions of light-years to reach Earth, passing through a fog of matter along the way. The bursts' origins are unclear but may originate from highly magnetized dead stars called magnetars. The denser the fog through which FRBs travel, the more dispersed their signals become—similar to the way a prism splits white light into a rainbow of colors.
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From classrooms to careers, Black women describe lasting effects of racialized bias
As a child, Nefatari excelled at advanced mathematics. But a teacher questioned her academic success in this area because the teacher believed Black girls were not good at math. Years later, as a research participant, Nefatari said the teacher's influence steered her away from her preferred field.
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Giant impacts may strip small icy moons of subsurface oceans
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientists used simulations to understand the role disruptive impacts play on icy moons with subsurface oceans in our solar system. A recent paper published in the journal Nature Astronomy concludes that disruptive impacts can affect the presence and persistence of subsurface oceans in these moons but do not seem to create new oceans.
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The autonomy paradox: How more freedom at work can leave you feeling powerless
You may know the feeling. You're supposed to have finished work for the day, but later, during your evening meal, you start mentally preparing for tomorrow's meeting. Or you have a quick check of your emails while you half-watch TV.
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The future of malaria control is … more mosquitoes?
South Africa's malaria elimination teams could soon have backup from millions of decoy mosquitoes specially bred at Africa's first mosquito factory. These insects are part of South Africa's pioneering Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), developed through a joint partnership between the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and Wits University.
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Martian air could yield methane rocket fuel with fewer unwanted byproducts
As NASA prepares to send humans to Mars as early as the 2030s, University of Mississippi researchers are working on one of the key questions: How will they get back?
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Quebec wildfire smoke left forest moths with deformed wings, research finds
Over the course of the summer of 2023, Quebec experienced its worst wildfire season on record. By its end, some 4.5 million hectares (11.1 million acres) of the province's boreal forest had burned. While the effects of the toxic smoke on humans have been thoroughly studied, our knowledge of the impact on local fauna—including insects—is lacking.
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Star-fingered toads use fingertip lobules to detect prey in murky water
Surinam toads (Pipa pipa) are strange, flat frogs with minuscule eyes that live in the murky waters of the Amazon basin and carry their eggs on their backs. The way they catch prey is even weirder. They lie in wait with outstretched forelimbs until a small fish approaches, then snap open their jaws to create enough suction to draw the fish into their tongueless mouths and swallow it whole, all in a few hundredths of a second. But how do these frogs hunt in low visibility with poor vision?
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New molecular magnet design boosts performance for ultrahigh-density data storage
Researchers at The University of Manchester and the Australian National University have developed a new class of molecular magnets that combines the most successful features of previous designs, resulting in some of the strongest magnetic memory properties reported to date.
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Too hot to learn: How climate change hurts children's chances from birth
Children across Europe have returned to school after a summer of extreme heat. As the climate warms, one question is becoming harder to ignore: How can students learn when classrooms become dangerously hot?
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This cosmic particle was never meant to reach Earth. Now, scientists think they finally know why it did
In 2022, researchers detected a very odd photon from an enormous gamma ray burst that should have been destroyed on its way to Earth
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New iron-bearing compounds could store water near Earth's core
Geochemical studies of volcanic rocks from Baffin Island, Canada, and Iceland suggest that some of the water dating back to Earth's formation may still be preserved deep within the planet. However, it has remained unclear which minerals could store such quantities of water under the extreme conditions of Earth's interior.
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In Nepal, climate adaptation starts with what communities already know
The catastrophic flood along the Nepal–China border that killed more than 1,400 people and left nearly 6,000 people missing devastated communities and infrastructure and renewed questions about how Himalayan countries prepare for environmental hazards that can unfold rapidly and cross-national borders.