Scientific Discoveries

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Black holes of every size follow the same surprising rule
Science News

Black holes of every size follow the same surprising rule

Scientists have found evidence that black holes of vastly different sizes may launch powerful jets according to the same universal rule. Supermassive black holes can produce jets soon after tearing apart a star, then fire up again hundreds or thousands of days later when their feeding rate drops to about 2% of the Eddington limit. That same threshold is known to trigger jets from much smaller black holes in the Milky Way.

📅 2026-09-21 13:23:10    •    ScienceDaily
A new process turns plastic waste into gasoline and diesel fuel
Science News

A new process turns plastic waste into gasoline and diesel fuel

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a surprisingly simple way to turn polyethylene, the common plastic used in shopping bags and cutting boards, into gasoline and diesel-like fuels. The process uses inexpensive aluminum-based molten salts to break long plastic molecules into smaller hydrocarbons, producing about 60% gasoline under relatively mild conditions.

📅 2026-09-21 13:08:40    •    ScienceDaily
Scientists create a needle-thin brain implant that can do three jobs at once
Science News

Scientists create a needle-thin brain implant that can do three jobs at once

A new needle-thin brain implant can record neural activity, deliver drugs, and stimulate multiple brain regions using a single flexible fiber. Successful tests in mice suggest it could give scientists a more precise, less invasive way to study the brain and may eventually help treat neurological disorders such as epilepsy.

📅 2026-09-21 12:25:22    •    ScienceDaily
NASA just powered up Roman’s massive 300-megapixel camera
Science News

NASA just powered up Roman’s massive 300-megapixel camera

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope has successfully activated its 300-megapixel infrared camera, which will capture enormous stretches of the cosmos with Hubble-like sharpness. Its planet-hunting coronagraph is also working as expected, putting Roman another major step closer to beginning science operations in 2027.

📅 2026-09-21 12:10:58    •    ScienceDaily
Amazon study reveals the best strategies for protecting biodiversity and carbon
Science News

Amazon study reveals the best strategies for protecting biodiversity and carbon

A large Amazon study suggests the most powerful conservation move may be protecting the forests that are already standing. Preventing damage from wildfires and logging delivered the greatest biodiversity benefits and nearly matched deforestation prevention for protecting carbon. Restoration remains important, particularly where forests have already been heavily cleared, but it was more expensive and less effective on its own.

📅 2026-09-21 11:54:17    •    ScienceDaily
Chronic stress may be quietly reshaping your heart
Science News

Chronic stress may be quietly reshaping your heart

Chronic inflammation tied to stress, lifestyle, mental health, and socioeconomic conditions may silently change the heart for years before any symptoms appear. People with the highest inflammation levels faced a 43% greater risk of heart attack and stroke, raising hopes that earlier testing and anti-inflammatory treatments could help prevent serious heart disease.

📅 2026-09-21 11:35:13    •    ScienceDaily
Stanford scientists discover the human brain may actually be two separate organs
Science News

Stanford scientists discover the human brain may actually be two separate organs

Scientists have found that the human brain develops from two distinct cellular systems, suggesting that evolution fused together two ancient nervous systems with very different jobs. The discovery also allowed researchers to grow human hindbrain neurons in the lab, opening new possibilities for studying ALS, spinal muscular atrophy, and other brainstem diseases.

📅 2026-09-21 10:12:51    •    ScienceDaily
Funeral mask: A 2,000-year-old gold face covering designed to confuse the deceased's spirit so it didn't torment the living
Science News

Funeral mask: A 2,000-year-old gold face covering designed to confuse the deceased's spirit so it didn't torment the living

A prehistoric gold funeral mask from Java. (Image credit: Yale University Art Museum (CC0 1.0 Universal))QUICK FACTSName: Funeral maskWhat it is: A gold mask with a humanlike faceWhere it is from: Java, IndonesiaWhen it was made: Between 500 B.C. and A.D. 200This gold mask was made on the Indonesian island of Java around two millennia ago and was likely used to cover the face of a corpse, possibly with the aim of "confusing" the deceased's spirit so that it did not torment the living.According to the Yale University Art Gallery, which has the prehistoric artifact in its collection, the mask measures roughly 8.9 by 6.7 inches (22.6 by 17 centimeters) and weighs about 2.1 ounces (60.9 grams). ...

📅 2026-09-21 10:00:00    •    Live Science
What kills Schrödinger’s cat? Gravity may not be the answer
Science News

What kills Schrödinger’s cat? Gravity may not be the answer

Physicists have put a decades-old idea about why the strange rules of quantum mechanics disappear in our everyday world to one of its toughest experimental tests yet. Deep beneath Italy’s Gran Sasso mountain, researchers searched for an extremely faint radiation signal predicted by a theory suggesting that tiny fluctuations in spacetime, caused by gravity, gradually destroy quantum superpositions. After 62 days of measurements with a highly shielded germanium detector, they found no such signal.

📅 2026-09-21 09:24:50    •    ScienceDaily
The devastating Nepal floods highlighted the danger of glaciers. Here's where the next disaster may occur.
Science News

The devastating Nepal floods highlighted the danger of glaciers. Here's where the next disaster may occur.

The massive Nepal-Tibet flood on Aug. 26 showed just how devastating glacier-related disasters can be. As of Sept. 16, the event killed at least 1,400 people, with more than 6,000 people still missing. The Himalayas, with their steep slopes studded with rapidly melting glaciers, are high risk, but areas across much of the world carry the risk of glacier-related disasters, including one tropical region that is at particular risk, experts told Live Science."Slope failure from glacier shrinkage is occurring everywhere," Mark Carey, a professor of environmental studies and geography and director of The Glacier Lab at the University of Oregon, told Live Science in an email. Nepal-Tibet floodThe r...

📅 2026-09-21 09:00:00    •    Live Science
Millions take calcium and vitamin D for bone health. A major review finds little benefit
Science News

Millions take calcium and vitamin D for bone health. A major review finds little benefit

A sweeping review of more than 153,000 adults found that calcium and vitamin D supplements, alone or together, do little to prevent fractures or falls in most older people. Researchers say the findings challenge routine supplementation for prevention and point instead toward strategies such as balance and resistance exercise.

📅 2026-09-21 01:59:17    •    ScienceDaily