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Science

All articles tagged with #science

science36 minutes ago•7 min saved

Lab Direct Imaging Reveals Quantum Vacuum Fluctuations in a Cold-Atom Field

Physicists used a two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate of potassium-39 to directly image vacuum fluctuations, amplifying pre-existing quantum jitter to distinguish it from thermal noise. The resulting measurements align with vacuum-origin fluctuations and can emulate relativistic sine-Gordon fields, offering a controllable laboratory platform for probing quantum-field phenomena and potential processes like particle production and false-vacuum decay.

via ScienceAlert|

#bose-einstein-condensate #lab-simulations #quantum-field-theory

science1 hour ago•4 min saved

Manhattan-Sized Ice Island Calved From Greenland Glacier, Largest Arctic Ice Loss in a Decade

ESA satellite imagery shows a 29-square-mile section of Petermann Glacier’s floating ice tongue broke away on Aug. 4, 2026, forming a Manhattan-sized iceberg up to 492 feet thick—the largest floating-ice loss at the glacier since 2012. The event signals ongoing Arctic ice change linked to warming, with potential further detachments and implications for glacier dynamics, sea-level rise, and shipping routes as researchers monitor the evolving calving and its wider ocean effects.

via PetaPixel|

#arctic #calving #climate-change

science3 hours ago•5 min saved

Charged Rain Drops Reveal a Hidden Route to Metal Corrosion

New research shows electrically charged water droplets can trigger dielectric breakdown of protective coatings on metals, causing corrosion beyond the impact damage usually blamed. Lab tests on copper and gold coatings demonstrated that charged drops moving across surfaces promote coating breakdown and metal degradation, with implications for artifacts, buildings, ships, and industrial components. The findings suggest a need to rethink protection strategies and quantify real-world risk, as naturally charged drops occur in rain, waves, fountains, and some industrial processes.

via ScienceAlert|

#charged-water #corrosion #dielectric-breakdown

science3 hours ago•2 min saved

Michigan set for auroras and a partial lunar eclipse amid solar storm

A solar flare could spark visible northern lights in Michigan on Aug. 27–28 as NOAA issues G1 and then G2 geomagnetic storm watches due to CMEs from Aug. 25. The partial lunar eclipse adds viewing opportunities, with the eclipse visible statewide (9:23 p.m. Aug. 27–3:01 a.m. Aug. 28) and a peak around 12:12 a.m. in many areas; a Kp index up to 5 signals potentially strong aurora, weather permitting.

via Detroit Free Press|

#aurora #geomagnetic-storm #kp-index

science6 hours ago•53 min saved

Two Injections Rebuild Brain Cells in Alzheimer's-Modeled Mice

USC researchers used a Nano-ERASER system to degrade PTBP1 in brain astrocytes, converting them into neurons in Alzheimer’s-model mice. After just two injections, treated mice showed higher neuron density, better performance on nest-building and water maze tasks, and reduced brain inflammation markers, indicating reversal of Alzheimer’s-like damage in these models. The findings are early-stage, demonstrated in mice and brain organoids, with primate and human trials still far off.

via Yahoo|

#alzheimers-disease #astrocytes #nano-eraser

science10 hours ago•8 min saved

Portugal’s Ancient Olive Tree Keeps Bearing Olives After 3,700 Years

Researchers estimate the Oliveira do Peso in Portugal’s Alentejo to be about 3,700 years old (potentially 3,712), using a non-destructive dendrometric dating method because hollow centers and irregular growth make traditional ring-counting unreliable; the tree still produces olives, illustrating how olive trees can rejuvenate and endure for millennia even as the oldest wood disappears—though the exact age remains an informed estimate rather than a precise count.

via ZME Science|

#ancient-olive-trees #dendrometric-dating #olive-trees

science12 hours ago•51 min saved

Real-Number Quantum Mechanics: Do We Still Need Imaginary Numbers?

German physicists have demonstrated a fully working quantum-mechanics formulation that uses only real numbers and can predict the same experimental outcomes as the standard complex-number framework, suggesting imaginary numbers aren’t fundamental to quantum mechanics but are still a convenient mathematical language. While the real-number approach matches all predictions, researchers note complex numbers remain useful in describing quantum systems, and this work revisits debates sparked by a 2021 Nature study on the necessity of complex numbers in quantum theory.

via Yahoo|

#complex-numbers #imaginary-numbers #physics

science12 hours ago•46 min saved

Egypt desert fossils reveal five ancient sharks from the dinosaur era

Archaeologists digging in Egypt’s southwestern desert uncovered a Late Cretaceous shark graveyard within phosphate beds of the Duwi Formation, preserving a former tropical marine ecosystem and 14 fossilized teeth. The find includes five extinct lamniform sharks—Cretalamna cf. C. maroccana, Scapanorhynchus cf. S. raphiodon, Serratolamna cf. S. serrata, Squalicorax bassanii, and Squalicorax pristodontus—offering new insight into Africa’s ancient paleobiodiversity and past sea levels that were significantly higher than today.

via Yahoo|

#cretaceous-period #egypt #extinct-shark-species

science13 hours ago•392 min saved

Near-Total Lunar Eclipse Lights Up the Americas Tonight

A near-total lunar eclipse will shade about 96% of the Moon as Earth’s shadow passes over it, creating a reddish “blood moon” visible across the Americas (and parts of Europe and Africa). The event runs from 9:23 p.m. ET, with deepest shading around 12:12 a.m. ET and the Moon exiting the shadow by 3:01 a.m. ET. The phenomenon is safe to view with the naked eye (and more dramatic with binoculars or a telescope). It follows a recent total solar eclipse in southern Europe; the next lunar eclipse is Feb. 20–21 and the next solar eclipse is Feb. 6, per NASA.

via NBC News|

#astronomy #blood-moon #lunar-eclipse

science16 hours ago•205 min saved

DNA Reveals Two Hidden Ancestors In Modern Humans

A new computer-based approach called TRACE scanned genomes from 500 modern humans to reconstruct deep genealogies and uncovered two mysterious ancestral lineages: a relatively recent African ghost lineage that interbred with Homo sapiens in Africa over 50,000 years ago, contributing about 0.5%–1% of today’s DNA; and a much older “super-archaic” lineage that split around 1.8 million years ago and later entered the human gene pool through Denisovans in Eurasia, leaving traces in some modern genomes and showing that our ancestry includes hidden branches still influencing us today.

via CNN|

#africa #denisovans #ghost-lineages

science16 hours ago•165 min saved

Hubble uncovers first external globular-cluster stellar stream, a new testbed for dark matter

A Hubble image of the dwarf galaxy UGC 9050-Dw1 revealed Oyashio, a faint stellar stream torn from a globular cluster—potentially the first such stream found outside the Milky Way. If confirmed, it provides a pristine laboratory to study dark matter substructure as the stream’s stars can be perturbed by invisible dark matter clumps; researchers considered alternate explanations but favored the globular-cluster origin, and simulations match the observations. This discovery could pave the way for dark matter constraints across multiple galaxies with upcoming facilities like the Vera Rubin Observatory, Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and Euclid.

via Space|

#dark-matter #globular-cluster #hubble-space-telescope

science16 hours ago•203 min saved

Nature’s Wonder Gallery: 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year shortlist announced

CNN reports that 100 wildlife images were shortlisted from more than 65,000 entries from 121 countries for the 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year, organized by the Natural History Museum in London. The selections include striking scenes such as a polar bear peering through Arctic sea ice and other remarkable animal moments; the overall winner and category winners will be announced on Oct. 13, with an exhibition opening Oct. 16 and running until July next year.

via CNN|

#conservation #natural-history-museum #polar-bear

science16 hours ago•17 min saved

Plant Proteins in Ancient Egyptian Paint Reveal Deliberate Craft Practices

A proteomics analysis of 28 paint and adhesive samples from 14 Egyptian artifacts found plant-based binders, including sesame and moringa proteins, suggesting ancient artists chose materials with religious or symbolic meaning and indicating moringa may have been deliberately associated with craftsmen and the craft of painting.

via Gizmodo|

#ancient-egypt #archaeology #art-history

science16 hours ago•5 min saved

A Simple Isoxazole-to-Pyrrole Swap Expands Pyrrole Chemistry

University of Chicago researchers developed a three-step, single-vessel skeletal-editing method that converts modular isoxazoles into diverse pyrroles via an oxygen-to-carbon swap, enabling access to challenging substitution patterns. The approach expands pyrrole building blocks, includes a quantitative model to predict rearrangements, and was published in Nature after being highlighted at the ACS Fall 2026 meeting.

via Chemical & Engineering News|

#isoxazole #organic-chemistry #pyrrole-synthesis

science18 hours ago•50 min saved

Solar Storm Could Paint Northern Lights Across US Skies This Week

A powerful M6.9 solar flare and its coronal mass ejection could deliver a glancing blow to Earth later this week, raising the odds of visible Northern Lights across Alaska, Canada, and parts of the northern United States on clear, dark nights as NOAA forecasts a potential G1–G2 geomagnetic storm; viewing will depend on how the CME interacts with Earth's magnetic field and local light pollution.

via Yahoo|

#aurora-borealis #cme #geomagnetic-storm