Scientific Discoveries

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CHIME telescope unlocks new way to study the universe's baffling expansion
Science News

CHIME telescope unlocks new way to study the universe's baffling expansion

Scientists have a new tool for mapping the universe's perplexing acceleration.A Canadian telescope designed to chart the distribution of hydrogen gas across the ancient universe has proved it can do so using only its own data for the first time, without the help of other telescopes. The results took seven years to prove, but the payoff could be huge. According to the authors of a new study published Monday (Sept. 28) in The Astrophysical Journal, the telescope could give scientists a new, cost-effective way to study dark energy, the poorly understood force that is causing the universe to expand at an accelerating rate over time."Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe and the raw...

📅 2026-09-30 21:28:51    •    Live Science
Tracking the fin whale and the sperm whale in the Mediterranean
Science News

Tracking the fin whale and the sperm whale in the Mediterranean

Where are the great marine animals of the Mediterranean, such as the fin whale, the sperm whale or the bottlenose dolphin? How does their distribution change over a few weeks? All indications suggest that these species shift between marine areas in a remarkably short time and over relatively small spatial scales. Some species, such as the striped dolphin, maintain a relatively stable presence in certain areas, while others, such as the fin whale, move and concentrate in different areas from one observation campaign to the next.

📅 2026-09-30 21:20:17    •    Phys.org
Anti-fibrotic drug could be repurposed to control cell communication
Science News

Anti-fibrotic drug could be repurposed to control cell communication

An experimental antifibrotic compound can dramatically alter how cells release the microscopic packages they use to communicate, according to new research from the University of Surrey. Researchers found that the compound, SD-208, which reduces scar tissue in organs, substantially reduced the release of extracellular vesicles, microscopic packages that cells use to carry proteins and other biological signals to neighboring and distant cells.

📅 2026-09-30 21:20:13    •    Phys.org
Fossil long known as world's oldest reptile dethroned
Science News

Fossil long known as world's oldest reptile dethroned

For nearly 30 years, a small fossil from Scotland has been celebrated as one of the earliest known reptiles. A new study out today in Nature and led by researchers at the American Museum of Natural History and the University of Oxford, in collaboration with the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, is rewriting that story.

📅 2026-09-30 21:00:02    •    Phys.org
'Molecular movie' fills in blanks of how nonenveloped viruses infect cells
Science News

'Molecular movie' fills in blanks of how nonenveloped viruses infect cells

Viruses come in two major flavors—not chocolate and vanilla, quips Harvard Medical School structural biologist Stephen Harrison, but those enveloped in membranes, such as herpesvirus, influenza virus, HIV and SARS-CoV-2, and those that are not, such as poliovirus, HPV, rotavirus and adenovirus.

📅 2026-09-30 20:50:01    •    Phys.org
Classifying groundwater systems by their ability to recover from drought
Science News

Classifying groundwater systems by their ability to recover from drought

A few days of rain do not change low groundwater levels after a long drought. To better determine how groundwater systems recover after a drought and which groundwater reserves are most vulnerable, hydrologist Sandra Hauswirth developed a method to classify groundwater systems based on their ability to recover from prolonged drought.

📅 2026-09-30 20:40:16    •    Phys.org
Clay tablets reveal how Babylonian students learned about their gods
Science News

Clay tablets reveal how Babylonian students learned about their gods

When it came to religious education in ancient Babylonia, in what is now Iraq, students had a lot to learn, ranging from the names of gods to their divine characteristics. A new study published in the journal Iraq has taken a deep dive into ancient texts and surviving clay tablets to find out just how these traditions were taught in the classroom.

📅 2026-09-30 20:40:14    •    Phys.org
Some threatened species may miss out as zoos try to balance conservation efforts with competing pressures
Science News

Some threatened species may miss out as zoos try to balance conservation efforts with competing pressures

In the largest study of its kind, researchers at Nottingham Trent University analyzed more than 7,200 species across 613 zoos in 72 countries over a 30-year period. The team compared changes in zoo animal holdings with changes in species' conservation status, including extinction risk, international trade protections and involvement in zoo conservation breeding programs.

📅 2026-09-30 20:30:01    •    Phys.org