Transport systems are vulnerable to disruption. This is particularly true in Africa, where there are large areas with few highways and heightened risk of violence. Here we attempt to estimate the costs of violent events on African transport in order to understand the way that it may be limiting integration between regions. In the absence of detailed data on trade or migration, we quantify the cost of violence by relating observed incidents to imputed spatial interaction between cities. We produce indices representing the expected intensity of violent events $μ$ and the expected strength of interaction $ν$ between cities in the African interurban network. We estimate the intensity of conflict in a city and, considering the network of all highways on the continent, use a gravity model to generate flows between pairs of cities. We systematically compare $μ$ to $ν$ and classify areas according to their combined impact and intensity. Results show that certain cities and roads in the network contain outsize risk to Africa's transportation infrastructure. These cities have a high propensity for subsequent violence against civilians, and given their role in the network, they also substanti
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
Scientists are calling for a lunar quarantine facility where samples from Mars, the Moon, and beyond would be examined before being brought to Earth。 They warn that even a tiny alien microorganism could have unpredictable effects on Earth's ecosystems。 By using robotic handling systems on the Moon, researchers hope to eliminate the risk of accident
Scientists have identified new clues that could help astronomers spot one of the most famous hypothetical alien megastructures: a Dyson sphere。 The study finds that red dwarfs and white dwarfs are the most promising stars to examine, since advanced civilizations could potentially build energy-harvesting swarms around them more easily。 These objects
Water’s odd behavior becomes even more dramatic when it is supercooled, but scientists have struggled to compare the many different ways of describing its microscopic structure。 Researchers at the University of Osaka used an AI model trained on computer simulations to evaluate 16 different structural descriptors。 The system identified the most effe
Researchers have proposed that black holes stop evaporating at the last moment, leaving behind tiny remnants that preserve all the information they contain。 The same seven-dimensional geometry behind this idea could also help explain why elementary particles have mass
A new quantum theory bridges two rival models of how impurities behave inside many-particle systems, resolving a problem that has challenged physicists for decades。 The findings could reshape experiments on ultracold atoms, semiconductors, and other exotic forms of quantum matter
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
Astronomers have uncovered 31 of the oldest known quasars, including the two earliest ever detected, shining from a time when the universe was only about 670 million years old。 Powered by supermassive black holes billions of times the Sun’s mass, these incredibly bright objects challenge scientists’ understanding of how such enormous black holes fo
VW's plan calls for half as many models but didn't mention closures or job cuts
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
The hunt for ancient life on Mars just got an important test run。 Scientists confirmed that the Rosalind Franklin rover's sophisticated instrument can detect subtle differences in two stable molecules that could preserve evidence of past life for billions of years。 But the team also uncovered a surprise: organic molecules in the Murchison meteorite
Scientists have rewritten the story of gallium after discovering that its unusual atomic bonds re-form at high temperatures, contradicting decades of accepted theory。 The finding changes how researchers explain why the metal melts so easily and behaves unlike almost any other metal。 Beyond solving a long-standing scientific mystery, the work could
Two newly confirmed "super-puff" planets are so diffuse that they are less dense than cotton candy, despite being about the size of Jupiter。 Their rare orbital relationship and enormous, lightweight atmospheres could provide valuable clues about how some of the strangest planets in the galaxy come to exist
Quantum mechanics has journeyed from a strange and controversial idea to the foundation of some of humanity’s most advanced technologies。 Now researchers are pushing its boundaries even further, with potential breakthroughs in energy, medicine, computing, and our understanding of the universe