Science

Special quantum states allow computers to perform the most difficult class of quantum computing operations.

Trump Administration Ousts National Science Foundation from Headquarters Building Employees at the National Science Foundation say they’ve been blindsided by a plan for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to take over their offices By Robin Bravender & E&E News The headquarters of the U.S. National Science Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia. U.S. National Science…

A nerve cell (stained green) growing among a cancer cell culture Simon Grelet and Gustavo Ayala Cancer cells steal energy-generating parts from nerve cells to fuel their spread to distant sites, a discovery that could improve treatments against the deadliest tumours. “This is the first time that mitochondrial exchange has been demonstrated from nerves to…

The James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021 and on active duty since 2022, has gotten its legs viewing already known exoplanets but can now take credit for its first direct image of a previously unknown one.  Exoplanets have been detected since 1992 when two, named named Poltergeist and Phobetor, were found orbiting the pulsar PSR…

For the first time ever, the James Webb Space Telescope has discovered an exoplanet by directly imaging it. The newfound world has a mass roughly similar to Saturn and orbits inside the debris disk surrounding a young star named TWA 7, researchers report June 25 in Nature. JWST has previously discovered more than 100 planets,…

Rachel Feltman: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman. You’re listening to part two of our three-part series on the battle against bird flu. On Monday we followed flocks of wild birds to learn how new strains of avian influenza emerge and spread. Today we’re headed out to pasture to check out the next…

Climate change could be even worse than we thought Kapook2981/Getty Images Earth’s climate may be more sensitive to pollution from greenhouse gas emissions than we had hoped, which could mean limiting the rise in global temperature to less than 2°C will be more difficult. This is “bad news” for global efforts to tackle climate change,…

About three quarters of babies born in the United States may not have enough friendly microbes in their guts to protect against developing allergies, asthma and eczema, a new study suggests. In a large study of more than 400 babies, 24 percent had no detectable levels of Bifidobacterium, gut microbes that digest sugars in breast…

Bystander CPR training may have contributed to fewer heart attack deaths in the past five decades piyamas dulmunsumphun / Alamy Stock Photo Deaths from heart attacks have plummeted in the US over the past 50 years, whereas deaths from chronic heart conditions have skyrocketed, probably due to people living longer. “We’ve made some really great…

Much has been made of the power of habit. We’re encouraged to make healthy choices our default and to understand the way that the brain sets certain tasks, such as our morning commute, on autopilot to improve our efficiency. But what about our more intentional, conscious day-to-day choices? The decisions we ponder—over seconds or lengthy…