Science News

Latest science news, discoveries and scientific developments.

Cancer-fighting t cells burn out. Scientists may have found a fix
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Cancer-fighting t cells burn out. Scientists may have found a fix

Cancer immunotherapy can lose its punch when tumor-fighting T cells become exhausted, but researchers may have found a way to keep them going longer. Scientists at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center identified a signaling molecule called MEK that can push T cells to burn through their energy while producing cancer-killing proteins. In animal and laboratory studies, blocking MEK helped the cells conserve energy, survive longer, and remain active even in the harsh environment around tumors.

📅 2026-10-05 09:24:29    •    ScienceDaily
Electrical technique could help identify signs of life in space
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Electrical technique could help identify signs of life in space

The truth is out there—but identifying signs of life in space involves an intense search for biosignatures within our solar system and beyond. However, developing sensitive yet compact technologies capable of detection has proven to be an out-of-this-world challenge.

📅 2026-10-05 09:00:06    •    Phys.org
New quantum chip taps into weird quasiparticles to get qubits to communicate over long distances
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New quantum chip taps into weird quasiparticles to get qubits to communicate over long distances

Researchers have developed a new type of interconnected architecture for quantum computing chips, and it could pave the way for machines capable of large-scale processing, including those with over a million qubits.In a study published June 15 in the journal APL Quantum, scientists aimed to resolve a huge problem with the leading quantum processing units (QPUs): Qubits struggle to communicate and share quantum information with each other if they aren't immediate neighbors.That's why the scientists pioneered Quantum Phononic Links (QPLs) — an approach for long-range coupling between qubits that leans on phonons — quasiparticles that carry vibration energy — to convey information. By contrast,...

📅 2026-10-05 09:00:00    •    Live Science
Sunken Silk Road city reveals Central Asia's lost history
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Sunken Silk Road city reveals Central Asia's lost history

The sun had barely risen, but diving volunteer Elizaveta Bodrova was already raring to plunge into the cold waters of Lake Issyk-Kul, where the ruins of a once-thriving city have lain submerged for centuries.

📅 2026-10-05 06:38:24    •    Phys.org
This mysterious hole on the Moon may open into a giant cave
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This mysterious hole on the Moon may open into a giant cave

NASA has selected the GIMLI project to investigate whether the Marius Hill Pit opens into a vast underground cave or lava tube. Using radar, seismic sensors, gravity measurements, and cameras, researchers will search beneath the lunar surface and estimate the size of any hidden void. Such caves could preserve clues to the Moon’s volcanic history and potentially provide protected shelters for future astronauts.

📅 2026-10-05 04:47:40    •    ScienceDaily
Modern forensics reveals human sacrifice in ancient Egypt's royal burials
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Modern forensics reveals human sacrifice in ancient Egypt's royal burials

Over 500 years before the building of the Great Pyramid in Egypt, First Dynasty kings were buried in a tomb surrounded by many burials of household officials and artisans—many of which seem to have taken place at the same time, a suspiciously high number of simultaneous deaths.

📅 2026-10-05 04:00:01    •    Phys.org
The “glue” holding your cells together has a surprising second job
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The “glue” holding your cells together has a surprising second job

Scientists have discovered that E-cadherin, a protein best known as the “glue” holding cells and tissues together, has a surprising second job: helping epithelial cells swallow nearby dead cells. Using live zebrafish and mouse embryos, researchers found that cells can dramatically reshape their lower surfaces to engulf cellular debris while keeping their upper surfaces stable, allowing protective barriers to remain sealed.

📅 2026-10-05 03:12:55    •    ScienceDaily
Easing constipation: A 20-minute walk can get your gut moving almost immediately
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Easing constipation: A 20-minute walk can get your gut moving almost immediately

Researchers found that just 20 minutes of comfortable walking can rapidly stimulate the gut. Within one to two minutes after exercise, bowel sounds became stronger, more frequent, and lasted longer, suggesting increased intestinal movement. The boost was brief, fading within a few minutes, but it may help explain why walking can provide relief from constipation.

📅 2026-10-05 01:58:03    •    ScienceDaily
Nature-strip gardens are a paradise for pollinators in your street
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Nature-strip gardens are a paradise for pollinators in your street

In front of most Australian houses, between the sidewalk and the road, runs a strip of land most people never really think about. In Australia, it's called the nature strip, but it goes by other names in other regions, including a verge, parkway or tree lawn.

📅 2026-10-05 00:30:01    •    Phys.org
Nanoneedle arrays map RNA in fresh tissue without sequencing or amplification
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Nanoneedle arrays map RNA in fresh tissue without sequencing or amplification

Recently, spatial omics has become a powerful tool, enabling researchers to see not only what molecules are present in a tissue, but also where they are located and how they are organized across cells, tissue structures and local microenvironments. This spatial context has deepened our understanding of cancer, neurobiology and immunology. Yet as the field advances, an important question remains: How many of these powerful technologies are ready for routine clinical use?

📅 2026-10-04 21:00:06    •    Phys.org
Informal businesses belong in entrepreneurial ecosystems, review argues
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Informal businesses belong in entrepreneurial ecosystems, review argues

A systematic review of informal businesses published in the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business argues that they should be treated as part of the larger entrepreneurial ecosystem rather than as a peripheral feature of the economy.

📅 2026-10-04 21:00:01    •    Phys.org
Gamma-ray search sets new limits on dark matter annihilation in the inner Milky Way
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Gamma-ray search sets new limits on dark matter annihilation in the inner Milky Way

Dark matter could be a type of matter in the universe that does not emit, absorb or reflect detectable light and appears to interact very weakly with regular matter. Although physicists have observed gravitational effects attributed to dark matter, they have not yet been able to determine what it is made of.

📅 2026-10-04 19:20:01    •    Phys.org
Taste shapes support for climate-friendly school meals
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Taste shapes support for climate-friendly school meals

Students in a new study were neither clearly positive nor negative about more climate-friendly school meals. Whether the food tasted good, was filling and felt familiar played an important role. Students were somewhat more positive about reducing the amount of meat in recipes than about having more all-vegetarian days.

📅 2026-10-04 18:40:01    •    Phys.org
Hidden X-ray phase revealed in likely neutron star merger
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Hidden X-ray phase revealed in likely neutron star merger

An international team of astronomers, including researchers from the Department of Physics and the Hong Kong Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics (HKIAA) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), has discovered a previously hidden phase of high-energy activity following the merger of compact stars.

📅 2026-10-04 17:00:02    •    Phys.org