Researchers can create structures analogous to black holes in the lab Science Photo Library/Alamy By manipulating light into a fluid-like form, then using it to simulate space-time, researchers hope to unlock our understanding of black holes and other exotic objects. Supermassive cosmic objects, such as black holes, are very difficult to study directly, but researchers…
One of the four pillars of good conversation is levity. You needn’t be a comedian, you can but have some fun Tetra Images, LLC/Alamy Conversation lies at the heart of our relationships – yet many of us find it surprisingly hard to talk to others. We may feel anxious at the thought of making small…
Monitoring people’s breathing could help diagnose, or even treat, various conditions Milan Jovic/Getty Images Forget facial recognition – there could be a new way to identify you. Researchers have discovered that we all seem to have a “respiratory fingerprint”, a unique way of breathing that could revolutionise how we diagnose and treat various health conditions,…
A blood vessel network designed by a computational model Andrew Brodhead A computational model that could rapidly design a blood vessel network for any 3D-printed organ may take us a step closer to transplanting artificial livers, kidneys or hearts without the need for a donor. People with organ failure often require organ transplants, but only…
A single drawing from a 94-year-old scientific paper has revived interest in one of the more roundabout ways a spider preps its dinner. First swathe a fruit fly or other tidbit of prey in silk. Then throw up toxins all over it. “I was like … what are you talking about?” says evolutionary biologist Giulia…
Skin Cells ‘Scream’ for Help When Injured Our skin’s epithelial cells send electrical signals like neurons to cry out for help By Allison Parshall edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier Epithelial cells from finger skin stained pink. Yaroslav Stepaniuk/Alamy Stock Photo Neurons talk to one another using electricity. If you could hear these impulses, they might…
John Stewart Bell devised a way to measure the strange correlations allowed in the quantum realm CERN Some people think they have a poltergeist in their attic, some say they’ve seen ghosts on dark nights – I have John Stewart Bell. The physicist’s research and his tremendous legacy have been haunting me for years. I…
CLIMATEWIRE | EPA’s proposal to stop regulating power plant climate pollution is built around a bold claim that experts say could create legal stumbling blocks. The U.S. power industry is the nation’s second-highest emitting sector. But in its draft rule repeal, EPA argues that the industry emits too little heat-trapping pollution to be worth regulating….
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is about to open a new eye on the universe Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory On top of Cerro Pachón, a Chilean mountain that reaches more than 2600 metres above sea level, the air is thin. I have to catch my breath as we climb the stairs inside the dome…
Autism in toddlerhood looks the same in boys and girls. A large study of autistic kids between 1 and 4 years old turned up no overt differences in symptoms. Those results, published May 26 in Nature Human Behaviour, add clarity to how the disorder plays out in the first years of life. A deeper understanding…
