Results of an Experiment by USC Student May Rewrite Chemistry Textbooks Solvated electrons (green) in the gaps between ammonia molecules (blue and white) begin to coalesce into a pair as a solution moves toward becoming metallic. Credit: Ondřej Maršálek A USC Dornsife chemistry professor’s bet on a student proposal leads to new understanding of what defines a metal — and lands the cover of Science. Ryan McMullen had never heard of the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences when he started casting about for a graduate chemistry program.
Some Blind People Can Still See, And Their Brains Could Help Explain Consciousness Imagine being completely blind but still being able to see. Does that sound impossible? Well, it happens. Breakthrough Towards Lasers Powerful Enough to Investigate a New Kind of Physics An international team of researchers has demonstrated an innovative technique for increasing the intensity of lasers. In a paper that made the cover of the journal Applied Physics Letters, an international team of researchers has demonstrated an innovative technique for increasing the intensity of lasers. This approach, based on the compression of light pulses, would make it possible to reach a threshold intensity for a new type of physics that has never been explored before: quantum electrodynamics phenomena. Researchers Jean-Claude Kieffer of the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), E. A.
The Best Visualizations on Climate Change Facts Climate change is a heated topic. It’s on everyone’s mind. Unfortunately, the global warming controversy still rages on--especially in politics--and this is why data visualization is one of our best allies in this debate. We’ve scoured the Web to find the best visualizations on climate change facts from the last few years. Russian scientists have discovered a new physical paradox Researchers from the Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) discovered and theoretically explained a new physical effect: amplitude of mechanical vibrations can grow without external influence. Besides, the scientific group offered their explanation on how to eliminate the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou paradox. The scientists of SPbPU explained it using a simple example: to rock the swing, you have to keep pushing it. It is generally believed that it is impossible to achieve oscillatory resonance without constant external influence. However, the scientific group of the Higher School of Theoretical Mechanics, Institute of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics SPbPU discovered a new physical phenomenon of "ballistic resonance", where mechanical oscillations can be excited only due to internal thermal resources of the system.
Fungus Growing at Chernobyl Could Protect Astronauts From Cosmic Rays Space Shields One of the biggest challenges facing crewed missions to Mars is figuring out how to protect crewmembers from the onslaught of deadly cosmic rays. Now, scientists at a number of universities say there’s growing evidence that an unusual solution could be effective: building shields out of a radiation-absorbing fungus that grows near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. New Scientist reports that the fungus was able to block some cosmic rays after a small test on the International Space Station, giving hope for safe space travel in the future. Light Armor Climate change will be sudden and cataclysmic. We need to act fast Tipping points could fundamentally disrupt the planet and produce abrupt change in the climate. A mass methane release could put us on an irreversible path to full land-ice melt, causing sea levels to rise by up to 30 metres. We must take immediate action to reduce global warming and build resilience with these tipping points in mind.
Genetics Research Explains Why Dogs Are Very Good Boys There’s something about dogs that truly makes them man’s best friend. Our loyal, slobbering pets rescue those in need and are extremely social, but until Wednesday we never figured out why dogs and humans get along so well. A study published Wednesday in Science Advances reveals that dog genes made them especially open to domestication and hypersocial behavior. In short, the scientists report that genetic mutations leave dogs in a state of childlike social and cognitive development, where they seek out contact and attention. Entire cities could fit inside the moon's monstrous lava tubes Mars is pockmarked with absolutely massive lava tubes, with ceilings as high as the Empire State Building, new research shows. And the moon hosts even more gargantuan tubes, with heights that dwarf Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, and "skylights" as big as football fields. These yawning, subterranean caverns, which are shielded from punishing solar radiation, could be used as sites for future human bases, scientists argue. A lava tube is a tunnel under a world's surface, formed by an intense flow of molten rock during a volcanic explosion.
The EmDrive Just Won't Die When DARPA put money behind the controversial EmDrive in 2018, it looked like a big gamble. Many physicists had dismissed the revolutionary space drive as simply fake science. Now its EmDrive project is greenlit for Phase 2, DARPA told Popular Mechanics in February this year. Meanwhile, other teams are hoping to reach a final demonstration of the technology later this year. Quanta Magazine The idea sounds like magic, pure and simple. You create a light beam that can make substances vanish, give them properties they shouldn’t possess, or turn them into a perfect mimic of another substance entirely. It’s 21st-century alchemy, in principle capable not just of making lead resemble gold, but of turning ordinary materials into superconductors. The general approach, developed over the course of decades, is to use tailored optical pulses to reshape the electron clouds of atoms and molecules.
Neuroscientists discover a molecular mechanism that allows memories to form When the brain forms a memory of a new experience, neurons called engram cells encode the details of the memory and are later reactivated whenever we recall it. A new MIT study reveals that this process is controlled by large-scale remodeling of cells' chromatin. This remodeling, which allows specific genes involved in storing memories to become more active, takes place in multiple stages spread out over several days.