science-and-technology6.48 min read
Brain-on-a-chip tackles Doom, hinting at a new era of computing
11 days ago•Source: The Economist
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4.5 min•12 days ago
Volcanic Warmth Creates Hidden Nursery for Giant Deep-Sea Skate Eggs
Scientists discovered large rectangular eggs of the Pacific white skate at about 3,500 meters beneath an active seafloor volcano off Vancouver Island. The geothermally heated water provides a gentle incubator that can accelerate embryo development in the cold, high-pressure deep sea, potentially shaving years from the lengthy incubation. The finding links volcanism to biodiversity, highlighting conservation needs for geothermal nurseries and offering new questions about how vent activity shapes reproductive success. Researchers used ROVs, high-def imagery, temperature readings, and geochemical data to map the thermal landscape where eggs cluster.
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NASA charts $20B lunar base plan and nuclear Mars mission
Al Jazeera•17 days ago
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Music and the brain: benefits for beginners too
The Economist•21 days ago
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Single-Atom Indium Catalyst Enables Efficient CO2-to-Methanol Conversion
ETH Zurich researchers engineered a hafnium oxide-supported single-atom indium catalyst that dramatically lowers the energy required to convert CO2 and hydrogen into methanol, with each indium atom acting as an active site. This design offers clearer insight into reaction mechanisms, improved efficiency over nanoparticle catalysts, and durability under industrial conditions, potentially accelerating climate-friendly methanol production if powered by renewables.
Minutes to full: ultra-fast EV charging nears gasoline-refuel speeds
Ultra-fast charging technologies are being developed to refill electric vehicle batteries in minutes—potentially matching the time it takes to refuel a gasoline car and removing a major barrier to widespread EV adoption, with some models already capable of around 20-minute recharges.
AI as collaborator accelerates frontier physics research
Theoretical physicists teamed with OpenAI to use AI as a research partner, resolving challenging gluon calculations in weeks rather than months and demonstrating that AI can act as a genuine collaborator at the frontiers of physics.
Gut-based therapy sparks cautious hope for bipolar disorder
Early exploratory results hint that altering gut bacteria through fecal microbiota transplantation might influence bipolar disorder symptoms, after initial anecdotes that antibiotics helped two patients; researchers at the University of Calgary are examining the gut–brain link, but any therapeutic potential remains unproven pending larger, controlled trials.
NASA and OPM Launch NASA Force to Fast-Track Space Talent
NASA and the Office of Personnel Management unveiled NASA Force, a dedicated talent track within the US Tech Force initiative to recruit and place top engineers and technologists into mission-critical roles at NASA, supporting exploration, research, and aerospace technology; the program aims to bolster U.S. leadership in space, with applications opening soon and updates to be shared via X (USTechForce).
Does magnesium really help you unwind? The evidence is mixed
Magnesium is essential for many bodily processes and is mainly consumed through food, yet supplement use is booming with claims it aids sleep, stress, and mood. The research, however, shows benefits are not universal and may be modest or limited to certain individuals, meaning many people won’t feel a noticeable effect beyond placebo.
Truffles hitchhike to new habitats through animal meals
Truffles, underground fruiting bodies of fungi, cannot release spores into the air. Instead they rely on animals eating them and transporting the spores through digestion, depositing them elsewhere and enabling the fungi to spread across ecosystems.
Mind over immunity: brain boosts vaccine response through positive expectations
A Nature Medicine study shows that positive expectations can enhance the immune response to vaccines, illustrating a neural mechanism behind the placebo effect and suggesting mind-over-matter strategies could improve vaccination efficacy.
NASA debunks seven-second gravity loss rumors for August 12, 2026
A viral claim that Earth will briefly lose gravity for seven seconds on August 12, 2026 is false. NASA says gravity is determined by Earth's mass and cannot vanish without a mass change; a total solar eclipse will occur that day but it will not affect gravity. The rumor traces to a dubious post and there’s no credible evidence supporting it.
China Unveils Record-Breaking Hypergravity Machine
China has developed the CHIEF1900, the world's most powerful hypergravity machine capable of generating forces nearly 2,000 times Earth's gravity, enabling researchers to simulate extreme conditions for studying materials, structures, and catastrophic events, surpassing previous centrifuge records and opening new avenues for scientific discovery.