science-and-tech54.575 min read
France’s Deepest 16th-Century Shipwreck Uncovered Beneath 8,200 Feet of Water
9 days ago•Source: AOL.com
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25.255 min•1 month ago
Could We Spot a Doomsday Asteroid Before It Strikes?
The article asks if humanity could detect an extinction-level asteroid before impact, using the dinosaurs’ 10 km carbonaceous impactor as a case study. It explains that warning time depends on the object’s origin, speed (~21 km/s), and whether it brightens from outgassing; best-case scenarios could offer weeks to a month of naked-eye visibility if the body comes from the night side and becomes bright, but more typical cases might yield only days or hours, or no warning at all if it’s sun-ward or depleted of volatiles. It also highlights how albedo and orbital geometry affect detectability, and stresses the need for planetary defense to gain decades of lead time for meaningful intervention.
23.725 min•2 months ago
Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Points to a Cosmos Older Than the Solar System
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Gravitational Wave Astronomy Matures Into a Fully-Fledged Science
Gravitational wave astronomy has matured from a rare detection to a fully developed science: by mid-2026 there are 390 confirmed events across four detectors (LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA), boosted by upgrades and the addition of LIGO India (beginning around 2030) with space-based prospects like LISA on the horizon. The growing catalog enables population studies of stellar-mass black holes and neutron stars, improved sky localization, and stringent tests of general relativity, signaling a collaborative, high-impact future for gravitational wave science.
Brazil’s Glass Orbs Reveal Hidden Ancient Meteorite Impact
An international team reports a 900-kilometer tektite strewn field in Minas Gerais, Brazil, dating to as much as 6.3 million years ago, evidence of a large meteorite impact, but the crater has not yet been found; researchers hope magnetic and gravimetric studies will reveal its ring-shaped footprint near the field.
Old seizure medicine shows potential to prevent Alzheimer's decades before symptoms
Northwestern University researchers report that levetiracetam, a long-used anti-seizure drug, may prevent Alzheimer’s by blocking the production of amyloid-beta 42, the protein linked to plaques, with results seen in animal models and cultured human neurons (and post-mortem Down syndrome brain tissue). If taken decades before symptoms, it could theoretically slow or prevent disease, though there are no human trials yet and the evidence is observational; researchers caution that the drug would need to start very early and are pursuing longer-lasting formulations and trials, including in genetic forms of Alzheimer’s.
Hidden Plates at U.S. Seismic Hotspot Could Spark Magnitude-8 Quakes
Scientists found that California’s Mendocino Triple Junction, a hotspot where three tectonic plates meet, actually comprises five moving plates (including two hidden ones). Using a network of seismometers, researchers revealed under-surface configurations and a shallower subduction zone, suggesting the area’s quake risk may be higher than previously thought and could trigger magnitude-8 earthquakes, with implications for millions in the region and offering context for past events like the 1992 Humboldt County quake.