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Science And Tech

All articles tagged with #science and tech

science-and-tech2 days ago•15 min saved

Tech giants and US agencies pool $1.8B to build a digital twin of the human cell

Google DeepMind, Meta, and Isomorphic Labs have committed $300 million to Biohub’s 'Virtual Biology' initiative, joining the US Department of Energy and National Institutes of Health in a $1.8 billion effort to create a high-accuracy predictive model of the human cell. The project aims to generate massive AI datasets that allow researchers to simulate biological processes digitally, reducing the need for expensive physical lab experiments. Biohub, founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan in 2016, will lead the data generation, with commercial partners receiving a one-year exclusive access period before the data is released to the public scientific community.

via The Verge|

#artificial-intelligence #biohub #biomedical-research

science-and-tech9 days ago•28 min saved

Atlantic’s ‘Lost City’ Hydrothermal Field Offers Clues to Alien Life

A unique hydrothermal field in the Atlantic, known as the 'Lost City,' features towering carbonate structures and supports life without sunlight. Discovered in 2000, it is the longest-lived venting environment on Earth. While it offers insights into potential life on other planets, it faces threats from deep-sea mining rights granted to Poland in 2018. Conservationists are calling for World Heritage status to protect the site.

via Indy100 | News|

#astrobiology #atlantic-ocean #deep-sea-mining

science-and-tech10 days ago•24 min saved

New Helium Measurements Resolve Big Bang’s Weakest Evidence

Big Bang nucleosynthesis, historically the least precise of the four pillars of cosmology, has achieved unprecedented accuracy. New data from the LBT Yp Project measures primordial helium abundance to within 0.13%, surpassing previous limits and aligning with cosmic microwave background data.

via bigthink.com|

#big-bang-nucleosynthesis #cosmology #ethan-siegel

science-and-tech1 month ago•54 min saved

France’s Deepest 16th-Century Shipwreck Uncovered Beneath 8,200 Feet of Water

Routine French Navy seabed surveys off Ramatuelle revealed Camarat 4, a 16th‑century merchant vessel buried about 8,200 feet deep—France’s deepest wreck. After a sonar hit, an autonomous underwater vehicle and a remotely operated craft captured images of a 98-by-23‑foot ship carrying hundreds of Ligurian-style earthenware pitchers (IHS monogram), yellow plates, anchors, cannons, and other gear. The team believes the cargo points to Liguria’s origin and plans 3D modeling and artifact sampling to study the wreck while avoiding salvage at such depths.

via AOL.com|

#16th-century #france #photogrammetry

science-and-tech3 months ago•25 min saved

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.

via Big Think|

#albedo #asteroid #chicxulub

science-and-tech3 months ago•23 min saved

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Points to a Cosmos Older Than the Solar System

New observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS from JWST and other telescopes confirm its interstellar origin and reveal chemical fingerprints—a red, cosmic-ray–processed surface; unusually high deuterium abundance and a carbon-12 to carbon-13 ratio far lower than Solar System values—that point to formation in a cold, primitive environment long before our Solar System, making 3I/ATLAS billions of years older than the Sun; its orbit alone cannot determine its age.

via Big Think|

#astronomy #comets #deuterium

science-and-tech3 months ago•15 min saved

One Poster Maps the Entire History of the Universe

An illustrated poster distills 13.8 billion years of cosmic history—from the end of inflation and the hot Big Bang to the formation of atoms, first stars, and the cosmic web, through to the Milky Way, dark energy, and humanity’s Moon landing—into a single image that communicates the sequence of eras and scales of the Universe.

via Big Think|

#astronomy #big-bang #cosmology

science-and-tech4 months ago•38 min saved

Crew-12 Sheltered in Dragon as ISS air leaks prompted safety pause, then resumed operations

NASA ordered the ISS Crew-12 team to shelter inside the docked Crew Dragon after Russian repairs uncovered air leaks in the Zvezda module, with leaks rising to about two pounds of air per day; after about 90 minutes, NASA said the crew should end the safe‑haven status and return to planned ISS operations as Roscosmos continued repairs. The episode underscores ongoing discussions between NASA and Roscosmos about the leaks’ cause, and, despite this temporary safety drill, the ISS has not evacuated in its 27-year history. Crew-12 comprises NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, and NASA astronaut Chris Williams.

via Yahoo|

#air-leaks #dragon-spacecraft #international-space-station

science-and-tech4 months ago•23 min saved

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.

via Big Think|

#astronomy #black-holes #gravitational-waves

science-and-tech6 months ago•263 min saved

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.

via AOL.com|

#brazil #geology #impact-crater

science-and-tech7 months ago•263 min saved

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.

via AOL.com|

#alzheimers-disease #alzheimers-prevention #amyloid-beta

science-and-tech8 months ago•259 min saved

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.

via AOL.com|

#california-earthquakes #earthquake-risk #hidden-plates