A major breakthrough in quantum technology has turned magnons, tiny magnetic waves once considered too short-lived for practical use, into promising carriers of quantum information。 Researchers extended their lifetime by nearly 100 times, reaching up to 18 microseconds, and discovered that the main limitation is not a law of physics but the purity
Engineers at a deep underground research facility noticed something strange during major rainstorms: airflow underground sometimes reversed direction。 Using new sensors and mathematical modeling, they found that water rushing down a shaft was effectively pushing air through the tunnels like a giant piston。 The breakthrough explains a long-standing
A rare meteorite has revealed evidence of a massive lost world that once orbited the young Sun before being destroyed in a catastrophic collision。 The discovery suggests some early planets formed from dramatically different materials than Earth and Mars, rewriting part of the solar system’s origin story
What if consciousness isn’t limited to brains like ours。 Philosophers Eric Schwitzgebel and Jeremy Pober argue that consciousness could arise in many different forms of life, even in beings built from radically different materials than those found on Earth。 Drawing on the vastness of the universe and the likely existence of countless alien civiliza
A decades-old puzzle about water has finally been unraveled。 Researchers found that water trapped in tiny nanoscale spaces is not inherently more reactive。 Instead, the intense pressures created inside these microscopic gaps explain most of the effect, while the surrounding material can further enhance water's chemistry if it interacts with the rea
Astronomers may have witnessed one of the rarest and most dramatic cosmic events ever seen: a long-sought intermediate-mass black hole ripping apart a dense white dwarf star and devouring it。 The Einstein Probe space telescope caught the explosion in its earliest moments, revealing an unusual sequence of intense X-ray flashes unlike anything seen i
Scientists have uncovered a new explanation for what powers Yellowstone and other supervolcanoes。 Instead of a deep plume rising from near Earth’s core, a broad “mantle wind” may push hot rock beneath Yellowstone, generating magma closer to the surface。 This process helps create a massive underground magma network and may explain how supervolcanoes
The global cobalt supply chain is more interconnected—and more vulnerable—than previously thought, with disruptions capable of triggering far-reaching cascades across multiple countries and industries。 Researchers warn that protecting battery supply chains will require system-wide coordination because critical bottlenecks can turn local shocks into
A colossal ancient collision may have left some of the Moon’s deepest secrets surprisingly close to future Artemis landing sites。 By recreating the impact that formed the giant South Pole-Aitken basin—the Moon’s largest and oldest crater—scientists found that a low-angle strike from a large, iron-cored object blasted material from deep inside the M
Researchers found that twisting layered sheets of hexagonal boron nitride can dramatically change the light produced by quantum emitters embedded within the material。 The technique offers an unexpected new level of control over components that could power future quantum computers, communications systems, and sensors
The Torifune asteroid turns out to be shaped like a peanut
Move affects ~20% of the gaming division, which will refocus on its biggest franchises
SETI scientists searched the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS for radio signals that could indicate extraterrestrial technology but found nothing beyond human-made interference。 Even so, the rapid-response observations helped confirm the object's natural origin and showcased how future interstellar visitors can be investigated for signs of intelligent
A new sunlight-powered material can convert visible light into higher-energy UV light, overcoming a challenge that has frustrated scientists for years。 The breakthrough could enable cleaner air purification, solar-driven chemistry, and advanced manufacturing technologies using nothing more than natural sunlight