Researchers at the University of Birmingham have developed a new low-temperature approach to hydrogen production that could make the clean fuel cheaper and more practical to generate. The technique could be used both in large centralized facilities and in smaller local systems that take advantage of waste heat from major industrial operations. Hydrogen is the…
Atlantic sturgeon in the Hudson River in New York State generate low-frequency “thunder” sounds while mating, according to recent research. The findings could be used to help study declining populations of the endangered fish species. Atlantic sturgeon are massive fish—an individual of the species can grow to about the same length as a Volkswagen Beetle…
Beneath Earth’s surface, unusual compounds may exist CLAUS LUNAU/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Deep below our feet, manganese may exist in a form we have never seen before, and this underground source of the metal could have played a role in the story of how Earth got its oxygen. Until about 2 billion years ago, Earth’s atmosphere…
For years, the common assumption has been simple: eating less fat may help lower cancer risk. New research suggests the picture is much more complicated. Scientists report that when it comes to pancreatic cancer, the specific type of fat in the diet may be more important than the total amount consumed. The findings, published in…
Ötzi the Iceman has long been treated as a frozen messenger from the Copper Age. But his remains might not be completely preserved in time, a new study suggests. A team has identified cold-adapted yeasts that could have colonized Ötzi during his glacial deep freeze as well as genetic traces of the gut microbes he…
The past year has been “filled with turmoil” in science policy, National Academy of Sciences (NAS) president Marcia McNutt said on Tuesday during the annual State of the Science address in Washington, D.C. McNutt cited problems such as “uncertainty” over federal support for science, “abrupt downsizing” of science agencies, a mass exodus of federal employees…
Alice Roberts has a new book out in June David Stock This is a month to look out for some powerful new books, with authors taking on challenges of all sorts and imagining whole new worlds. There are fresh ways to think about a cancer diagnosis, a book tackling the real inner world of hormones,…
The Fly Foundational Robots (FFR) mission will launch a robotic arm, with seven degrees of freedom, to low Earth orbit. NASA is opening access to the robotic arm to a select group of U.S. researchers — principal investigators, post-doctoral researchers, professors, and highly qualified graduate students — who have a compelling experiment and the capability…
A strange blood-feeding fly appears to reduce its visual sensitivity after locating a host and giving up flight for good, according to new research. Known as deer keds, these biting flies are found throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. As adults, they use both flight and vision to search for a suitable host, most…
Microsoft claimed today that it has improved its quantum technology by an extraordinary factor. Outside experts say it doesn’t even work and never has. The company has named its latest quantum chip Majorana 2, for the theoretical quasiparticle it aims to use as the basis for a new “topological” approach to quantum computing. Chilled to…
