Scientists at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have discovered a surprisingly simple way to create exotic light structures called optical skyrmions using a 200-year-old optical effect known as the Poisson spot。 Instead of relying on expensive, highly engineered materials, they simply shine a laser at a tiny circular disc, producing sta
K2-18b is one of the most promising worlds for the search for extraterrestrial life, so astronomers conducted an unusually powerful radio survey using both the VLA and MeerKAT telescopes。 Advanced software analyzed millions of signals, filtering out Earth-based interference and other false positives。 No convincing artificial radio transmissions wer
Anthropic blocks authors from opting out of $1。5B settlement at last minute
NatGeo's Pompeii: Out of Time fuses historical fact and imagination to bring city's last 24 hours to life
Scientists have developed a new framework that could finally apply the laws of thermodynamics to real, ever-changing black holes instead of only perfectly stable ones。 The advance may improve our understanding of black hole mergers, evaporation, and the powerful gravitational wave events detected by observatories like LIGO
A new book claims AI has been built on a flawed assumption dating back to Alan Turing's famous 1950 paper。 Denning argues that the most important parts of human intelligence, including common sense, intuition, culture, and practical know-how, cannot be encoded into computers。 He believes this makes true human-level AI impossible, regardless of how
Researchers have created self-destructing living plastic that uses engineered bacteria to completely break itself down when activated。 The material degrades in just six days without creating microplastics, offering a potential new solution for single-use plastic waste
A new theoretical study offers a possible explanation for how the Universe can grow more complex without violating the second law of thermodynamics。 Using a quantum gravity framework called Gravity from Entropy, mathematician Ginestra Bianconi found that the Universe’s total entropy may rise as space expands, even while entropy within each unit of
A team of mathematicians used whimsical "silly sprinklers" to solve a physics mystery that has puzzled scientists for decades。 Their experiments showed that the rotation of both normal and reverse sprinklers is driven by the momentum of flowing water, not by the outside water flow or other long-standing theories。 The results finally provide a clear
A distant Sun-like star appears to have devoured one of its planets, leaving behind a surprising chemical fingerprint。 Researchers found an unusually high concentration of lithium, a strong sign that planetary material was mixed into the star。 Careful comparisons with dozens of similar stars confirmed the signal is highly unusual, and scientists th
A new particle detector called PLATON could replace millions of tiny detector components with a single block of light-producing material。 Using a light-field camera, highly sensitive photon sensors, and AI, it reconstructs particle paths in fast, detailed 3D。 Simulations suggest it could match or surpass today’s best detectors while being far easie
Researchers solved the mystery of how soft lithium dendrites crack the hard ceramic inside solid-state batteries, triggering short circuits。 The breakthrough could help engineers build safer, longer-lasting batteries for smartphones, electric vehicles, and other electronics
Dying Sun-like stars may not fade away quietly。 As blobs of gas erupt unevenly from their swollen surfaces, each burst gives the star a tiny push in the opposite direction。 Thousands of these random kicks could eventually break apart distant stellar pairs or, in rare cases, drive two stars into a violent collision