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Science

SCIENCE: Scientists Create the First-Ever Permanently Magnetic Liquid

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For the first time, scientists have created a permanently magnetic liquid. These liquid droplets can morph into various shapes and be externally manipulated to move around, according to a new study. We typically imagine magnets as being solid, said senior author Thomas Russell, a distinguished professor of polymer science and engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. But now we know that “we can make magnets that are liquid and they could conform to different shapes — and the shapes are really up to you.” The liquid droplets can change shape from a sphere to a cylinder to a pancake, … Read more

SCIENCE: Man’s Joy Stick Turns to Bone (really)

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Sometimes, the body grows bone in places it shouldn’t. That was the case for a man who was diagnosed with an extremely rare condition — his penis was turning to bone, according to a new report. The 63-year-old man went to the emergency room after he fell on the sidewalk onto his buttocks, according to the report, published in the September issue of the journal Urology Case Reports. He was able to walk, but he told doctors he was experiencing knee pain. When doctors performed a physical exam, the man also reported penile pain, the report said.  Given that the man … Read more

SCIENCE: Chesapeake Bay Asteroid Impact Created Wide Swath of Destruction

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About 35 million years ago, an asteroid traveling nearly 144,000 mph (231,000 km/h) smashed into the Atlantic Ocean near the modern-day town of Cape Charles, Virginia. The space rock vaporized instantly, but its impact triggered a gargantuan tsunami, cast up a monsoon of shattered rocks and molten glass that spanned hundreds of miles and carved out the single largest crater in the United States — the so-called Chesapeake Bay impact structure. Today, that 25-mile-wide (40 kilometers) crater is buried half a mile below the rocky basement of Chesapeake Bay — the 200-mile-long (320 km) estuary linking Virginia and Maryland on … Read more

There Are Zombie Ants!

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A mind-controlling parasite turns ants into zombies, forcing them to climb to the tops of shrubs, bite down and die. Now, a new study finds that the fungus acts like a puppeteer, somehow “pulling” the ants’ mouth muscles. The mind-controlling fungus breaks through the ant’s exoskeleton and enters its body, where it begins to grow and spread, said lead author Colleen Mangold, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at The Pennsylvania State University. [Mind Control: Gallery of Zombie Ants] The first week after being infected, the ants act normally, Mangold told Live Science. But then … Read more

SCIENCE: Meet the Chameleon Particle

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Can a chameleon build a galaxy? According to new computer models, yes. This isn’t a surrealist joke but rather the implication of recent simulations that aim to explain the inner workings of dark energy, a mysterious force that is driving apart everything in the universe. The findings, published July 8 in the journal Nature Astronomy, lend support to a model of dark energy known as Chameleon Theory. Hints of dark energy were first discovered in the late 1990s, when cosmologists measured the light from distant supernovas and realized that the stars were dimmer than expected, suggesting that the fabric of … Read more

SCIENCE: Are Aliens Flashing Laser Beams At Us?

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Are aliens using super powerful flashlights to get our attention? Astronomers think there’s a chance they are. Since the invention of the radio, humans have been silently listening to the stars, wondering if we are alone in the universe. But if intelligent alien life does exist, the extraterrestrials could be using other forms of technology to communicate. Astronomers are beginning to not only listen to the cosmos but also gaze toward it for other signs of alien tech: laser beams. Breakthrough Listen, the most extensive Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program in history, announced that its team will begin looking … Read more

SCIENCE: Are We Ready for Human/Animal Hybrids?

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Some unusual embryos may soon be growing in Japan: those of human-mouse and human-rat hybrids, news sources are reporting. A research group in Japan received approval from a committee in the Japanese government on July 24 to move forward with an experiment that will put a type of human stem cells (cells that can grow into almost any cell) into animal embryos. Once inside the embryos, the human cells — called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells — may grow into specific organs. If all goes well, the researchers plan to eventually grow human organs in other animals, such as pigs. … Read more

New Zealand Scientists Find a Vampire Tree

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Vampire Tree - Live Science

In a forest in New Zealand, a vampire clings to life. Once a mighty kauri tree — a species of conifer that can grow up to 165 feet (50 meters) tall — the low, leafless stump looks like it should be long dead. But, as a new study published today (July 25) in the journal iScience reminds us, looks are only surface-deep. Below the soil, the study authors wrote, the stump is part of a forest “superorganism” — a network of intertwined roots sharing resources across a community that could include dozens or hundreds of trees. By grafting its roots … Read more

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: An AI Created a Model of Our Universe. We Have No Idea How it Works (But it Does)

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The first-ever artificial intelligence simulation of the universe seems to work like the real thing — and is almost as mysterious. Researchers reported the new simulation June 24 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The goal was to create a virtual version of the cosmos in order to simulate different conditions for the universe’s beginning, but the scientists also hope to study their own simulation to understand why it works so well. “It’s like teaching image-recognition software with lots of pictures of cats and dogs, but then it’s able to recognize elephants,” study co-author Shirley Ho, … Read more

Quantum Computers Are Improving Spooky Fast

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The era of quantum supremacy is nigh. Quantum computers, which make calculations with entangled particles, or qubits, are poised to overtake their conventional counterparts very, very fast. And it’s all captured by a new law of computing, known as Neven’s Law, according to a fascinating new article in Quanta Magazine. So, what exactly is Neven’s Law? Named after Hartmut Neven, the director of the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab at Google who first noticed the phenomenon, the law dictates how quickly quantum processors are improving, or getting faster at processing calculations, relative to regular computers. And it turns out, they’re gaining … Read more