science

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An Ancient Light Could Undermine Physics
An Ancient Light Could
Undermine Physics
new study
Nov 29, 2020 3:25 PM CST

An Ancient Light Could Undermine Physics

'If it were real, it's big'

(Newser) - There's an ancient light drifting across the universe that might just undermine particle physics as we know it, Science Alert reports. Scientists analyzing the cosmic microwave background—a faint remnant of the Big Bang—say they've spotted a twist in its light that could force a rethink beyond...

Neanderthal Thumbs Weren&#39;t Quite the Same as Ours
We Don't Use Our Thumbs
the Way Neanderthals Did
NEW STUDY
Nov 27, 2020 9:51 AM CST

We Don't Use Our Thumbs the Way Neanderthals Did

Fossils suggest they regularly gripped handled tools

(Newser) - If you happen to travel back in time and encounter an angry Neanderthal, be sure to request a thumb war, rather than a full-blown one. According to new research, Neanderthals' hands were different than our own, with a thumb that stuck out at a wider angle than what you see...

Fastest Event Ever Recorded Took 247 'Zeptoseconds'

Scientists clocked a photon moving across a molecule

(Newser) - It's shorter than a millisecond, shorter than a nanosecond, and even shorter than summers seem when you're a kid—it's the zeptosecond, the unit scientists used to measure the shortest interval of time ever recorded. A zeptosecond is a trillionth of a billionth of a second, or...

Mathematician Snags Richest Prize for His 'Alien' Equations

Martin Hairer among those to get $3M a 'Breakthrough' award

(Newser) - A researcher once said that a theory related to a branch of math dealing with random processes was so impressive, it must have come from aliens . It was actually the work of Martin Hairer, who has now been awarded the richest prize in academia, reports the Guardian . Hairer was named...

Physicist: Here&#39;s How the Universe Could End
Physicist: The Universe
Could Easily End This Way
study says
Aug 29, 2020 4:00 PM CDT

Physicist: The Universe Could Easily End This Way

Matt Caplan sees a last flurry of explosions

(Newser) - Flash forward trillions of years, and the universe is expected to be a dark, cold, lonely place—but how will it end? A new paper predicts a last flurry of explosions before our known world goes totally black, ScienceAlert reports. "Galaxies will have dispersed, black holes will have evaporated,...

The Moon&#39;s Lava Tubes Can Fit Entire Cities
The Moon's Lava Tubes
Might Fit Entire Cities
new study
Aug 15, 2020 4:10 PM CDT

The Moon's Lava Tubes Might Fit Entire Cities

Imagine a tunnel that fits Dubai's Burj Khalifa. Now that's big.

(Newser) - Looks like Mars and the moon contain huge lava tubes that offer protection from solar radiation and meteors—which makes them possible homes for future explorers, LiveScience reports. A new paper says Martian tunnels appear to range from 130 to 1,300 feet in diameter, while the moon's are...

Teen Wins $250K for Malnutrition- Busting Tool

Inspired by her 3 siblings and an Ethiopian drought, Lillian Peterson aces Regeneron science contest

(Newser) - A high school senior in New Mexico has a bright future in STEM—and it just got much brighter with the announcement she beat out 40 other finalists to win a prestigious science and math competition. NPR reports that 17-year-old Lillian Kay Petersen of Los Alamos has taken home the...

This Is Actually a Map &mdash;the Biggest One Ever
This Is Actually a Map
—the Biggest One Ever
new study
Jul 22, 2020 3:14 PM CDT

This Is Actually a Map —the Biggest One Ever

This view of the universe also looks incredible

(Newser) - Want to get away? Now you can see how far "away" really is. Drawing on 20 years of research, scientists have created a 3D map of the universe that spans 11 billion years and covers more than 2 million quasars and galaxies—while shedding light on a couple of...

Welcome to the &#39;Anthropause&#39;
Our Strange Era
Now Has a Name
in case you missed it
Jul 5, 2020 1:50 PM CDT

Our Strange Era Now Has a Name

Scientists say it's time for an in-depth study of animals during the pandemic

(Newser) - Jellyfish gliding through the calm waters of Venice, Italy. Wild mountain goats "running rampant" in a small Welsh town. Deer seen in "usually bustling areas" of Toronto. At least anecdotally, there's evidence of animals advancing during our absence, for which scientists have coined a new term: the...

Strange &#39;Fifth&#39; Form of Matter Is Created in Space

Strange 'Fifth'
Form of Matter
Is Created in Space
new study
Jun 20, 2020 2:00 PM CDT

Strange 'Fifth' Form of Matter Is Created in Space

Scientists probe quantum physics on the International Space Station

(Newser) - Strange things are happening inside a box on the International Space Station. Physicists are using the box—called the Cold Atom Lab—to generate a quantum state of matter that could help unlock a few secrets of the universe, LiveScience reports. Called Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), the matter is basically a...

Hurricanes Are Getting Worse&mdash;and Here&#39;s Why
Hurricanes Are
No Longer the Same
new study
May 20, 2020 4:25 PM CDT

Hurricanes Are No Longer the Same

A new study confirms what scientists have predicted

(Newser) - Are hurricanes getting worse? That's what climate models have long predicted, and now there's evidence: A new study finds that hurricanes have indeed grown more powerful in recent decades, LiveScience reports. "The trend is there and it is real," lead study author James Kossin tells the...

First-Ever Radio Signal Hits Earth From Inside Our Galaxy

And scientists think they've found the source

(Newser) - Intrigued by radio signals from outer space? Scientists have spotted a fast radio burst from inside the Milky Way—the first ever from our own galaxy—and say it might solve the riddle of other such bursts from the cosmos, Science Alert reports. This signal was discovered Tuesday and reported...

Emails Show Fallout After 'Crazy' Trump Claim

NOAA scientists reacted to Trump saying that Hurricane Dorian would hit Alabama

(Newser) - A flurry of newly released emails from scientists and top officials at the federal agency responsible for weather forecasting clearly illustrates the consternation and outright alarm caused by President Donald Trump’s false claim that Hurricane Dorian could hit Alabama, the AP reports. A top National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration...

Plan to Edit Baby Genes May Have 'Created New Mutations'

MIT Technology Review is far from impressed

(Newser) - Looks like a highly controversial attempt to create HIV-immune babies didn't work out and may have even gone wrong, the Guardian reports. This according to an MIT Technology Review report on the work of Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who sparked outcry with his plan to edit the embryonic genes...

Discovery Points to Invisible 'Fifth Force' of Nature

Researchers in Hungary spot a mysterious proton

(Newser) - They're calling it X17—and it might help solve a great mystery of nature. Scientists in Hungary say they've twice stumbled on the previously unknown particle while seeking evidence of a "fifth force" guiding our visible universe, CNN reports. "X17 could be a particle, which connects...

Hate Blind Spots While Driving? This Teen Has a Solution

14-year-old Alaina Gassler created innovative workaround

(Newser) - A Pennsylvania teen has won $25,000 and, perhaps soon, the gratitude of every driver in America with what Mashable calls a "simple but innovative" invention that gets rid of blind spots. A release from the Society for Science & the Public announced that the "girls shine" in...

Satellites May Be Powerful Tool for Whale Strandings
Satellites May Be Powerful
Tool for Whale Strandings
NEW STUDY
Oct 18, 2019 12:58 PM CDT

Satellites May Be Powerful Tool for Whale Strandings

Researchers say high-resolution images can 'revolutionize' detection

(Newser) - In 2015, scientists described the largest known mass stranding of whales off the coast of Chile. Surveyors who used boats and planes to explore the remote beaches of Patagonia in the months after the deaths said at least 343 great whales, mostly endangered sei whales, had washed up. It turns...

From Nobel's Chem Prize Winners: Batteries

John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino brought us lithium-ion batteries

(Newser) - The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to the US' John B. Goodenough and M. Stanley Whittingham, and Japan's Akira Yoshino for the development of lithium-ion batteries, per the AP . "Lithium-ion batteries have revolutionized our lives and are used in everything from mobile phones to laptops...

Black Holes Aren&#39;t All What We Thought
Black Holes Contain
a Mysterious Force
new study
Oct 5, 2019 1:30 PM CDT

Black Holes Contain a Mysterious Force

Some of them are helping the universe expand, study says

(Newser) - Black holes are dense singularities that suck up matter, right? Not always, according to two scientists who say some black holes are likely objects filled with a mysterious energy. In Astrophysical Journal , Kevin Croker and Joel Weiner argue that the expansion of the universe—which is accelerating, apparently due to...

World's Most 'Bizarre' Science Discoveries Get Their Due

Among this year's Ig Nobel winners: a diaper-changing device, study on pizza as health food

(Newser) - Training surgeons is as easy as training dolphins or dogs—at least according to a study that Thursday earned a 2019 Ig Nobel, the annual Nobel Prize spoof that rewards weird, sometimes head-scratching scientific discoveries. This year's winners included, per the AP : Dutch and Turkish researchers who figured out...

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