A newly discovered turning point in the Sun’s 11-year cycle could allow scientists to predict future solar activity years earlier than before。 At this “switch-off” point, the most violent space weather abruptly ends, and the remaining number of sunspots offers clues about the next cycle’s strength。 Early projections suggest Solar Cycle 26 may be mo
A new analysis suggests the Sun holds far more silver than earlier estimates indicated。 More advanced models of the solar atmosphere raised the calculated amount by 55 percent, bringing it into much closer agreement with ancient meteorites。 The technique may also help scientists track the cosmic origins of silver and other heavy elements
Rice University chemists have found a new way to make neodymium, a rare-earth metal, interact with oxygen。 Using a specially designed molecular structure described as a “basket,” the team positioned the atoms so they could form a bond once thought unlikely。 The breakthrough produced highly reactive compounds that could eventually give chemists alte
China’s Tianwen-1 orbiter captured a faint but remarkable view of 3I/ATLAS as the interstellar comet raced past Mars。 The images reveal its tail and glowing coma, offering scientists a glimpse of material born beyond our solar system
Astronomers may have been listening for alien civilizations in only a small slice of the radio spectrum while overlooking a largely unexplored range of higher frequencies。 Using archived data from the ALMA telescope in Chile, researchers conducted the observatory’s first SETI survey, searching for narrow signals that could indicate advanced technol
A person’s sleeping brain may reveal warning signs of dementia long before memory problems begin。 Researchers used machine learning to analyze EEG recordings from about 7,000 adults and found that an older-than-expected “brain age” was tied to a sharply higher dementia risk。 Every additional 10 years of brain aging raised that risk by nearly 40%
Primordial black holes may occasionally pass through white dwarf stars and trigger enormous Type Ia supernova explosions。 Researchers found that these events could explain chemical patterns seen in supernova remnants, nearby explosions, and stars across the Milky Way
Mathematicians have shown that no electoral system can perfectly balance local representation, proportional national results, and a fixed-size parliament once enough parties compete。 A newly proposed voting method could soften these unavoidable trade-offs and produce outcomes that are much closer to fair
MIT engineers have found a way to give chip-based lidar a wider, clearer view without relying on moving parts。 Their design uses differently shaped antennas that can sit close together without scrambling one another’s signals。 In tests, the system sharply reduced interference while steering a single precise beam across a broad field of view
A surprisingly simple change could make sodium-ion batteries far more powerful while opening the door to turning seawater into drinking water。 Researchers at the University of Surrey found that sodium vanadium oxide performs much better when its naturally occurring water is left inside instead of being removed during manufacturing
Scientists have built the first all-optical photonic time crystal, allowing them to reshape the behavior of terahertz light at extraordinary speeds。 The breakthrough could open the door to ultrafast computing, smarter communication systems, advanced imaging, and a new generation of highly tunable lasers
The hot new roguelite twin-stick shooter lives up to the hype
Scientists have created an “electron lighthouse” that uses laser light to launch and steer electrons through a semiconductor without an applied electrical field。 The quantum effect could eventually improve optical sensors, communications, imaging, and information storage
NASA astronaut Chris Williams and two Roscosmos cosmonauts are back on Earth after spending 241 days aboard the International Space Station。 Their journey covered more than 102 million miles and included 3,856 trips around the planet