Researchers accidentally discover that mixing water with a peptide results in self-assembled, self-healing glass

Cracking and self-healing of peptide glass. Credit: Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07408-x A team of materials scientists from Tel Aviv University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, both in Israel, working with a colleague from the California Institute of Technology in the US, have discovered that mixing a certain peptide with water results in creating a … Read more

Complexity science can transform 21st century research. Here’s how.

A new science is emerging that promises to become the defining field of the 21st century. More than a narrow specialization, it is not just a new field, but a new way of doing science—a new way of organizing intellectual fields and endeavors. Given its wide influence, it goes by several names, but one that … Read more

USC researchers prove that Earth’s core is slowing down

SciTechDaily

The inner core began to slow down around 2010, moving slower than the Earth’s surface. Credit: USC A new study provides clear evidence that Earth’s inner core began to slow down around 2010. USC Scientists have discovered that Earth’s inner core is slowing down compared to the planet’s surface, a phenomenon that began around 2010 … Read more

NASA Telescope Spots ‘Cosmic Fireworks’ and Faint Echo from Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole

Astronomers have spotted flashes and echoes coming from the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). These “cosmic fireworks” and X-ray echoes can help scientists better understand the dark, quiet cosmic titan around which our galaxy orbits. The Michigan State University team of researchers made the groundbreaking discovery … Read more

Hubble telescope maps high-speed ‘extrusions’ from nearby feeding supermassive black hole for first time

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have mapped, for the first time ever, the plasma “burps” of a supermassive black hole-powered quasar that resides relatively close to Earth. While supermassive black holes with masses millions or billions of times that of the sun are thought to reside at the heart of all galaxies, not all … Read more

The pair plasmas found in deep space can now be generated in the laboratory

How it works: A proton (far left) from the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) accelerator at CERN hits carbon nuclei (small gray spheres). This produces a shower of various elementary particles, including a large number of neutral pions (orange sphere). As the unstable neutral pions decay, they emit two high-energy gamma rays (curly yellow arrows). These … Read more

Permanent gene changes for tardigrades help shed light on their amazing resilience

A tardigrade gets a dose of CRISPR tools to change one of its genes and those of the eggs it will produce. Credit: 2024 Tokiko Saigo et al. Certain species of tardigrades are highly and extremely resilient to various extreme conditions fatal to most other life forms. The genetic basis for these extraordinary abilities remains … Read more

Space travel makes you fatter

The journey to the space should be an eye-opening experienceone that gives you a new perspective of humanity and its place in the cosmos. But while you might think that an experience like this would make a person infinitely wiser, a new report discovered that space travel can be real make you a little more … Read more

Ancient ocean slowdown warns of coming climate chaos

By analyzing the chemistry of shells like these, scientists can learn about the temperature and movement of ancient ocean waters. Credit: Brian T. Huber/Smithsonian Institution When it comes to the ocean’s response to global warming, we’re not in completely uncharted waters. A UC Riverside study shows that episodes of extreme heat in Earth’s past caused … Read more

Scientists find a surprise ingredient in the exoplanet candy mix – sulfur dioxide

A ‘Hot Neptune’ exoplanets has been found to contain sulfur dioxide in its atmosphere – an atmosphere that also erupts into space as the planet orbits the poles of its star in a highly inclined orbit every three and a third days. The existence of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere of the exoplanet, named GJ … Read more