4+ day, 10+ hour ago   (1018+ words) For more than a decade, scientists have known that strange bacteria living in aquatic mud can conduct electricity along distances thousands of times longer than a single bacterial cell. Such long-range electrical conduction should be extraordinarily difficult for a living…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago   (138+ words) The Debrief The Search for a “Second Earth,” a Magnetic “Clock” in Ancient Pottery, and Alien Life Lurking in Venus’s Clouds This week in stories we’re tracking here at The Debrief: NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Telescope was launched on Sunday,…...

2+ week, 7+ hour ago   (682+ words) A controversy over one of modern cosmology’s foundational ideas has been renewed, with new research that points to critical issues in a recent analysis defending the view that our universe is expanding. Late last year, a research team at Yonsei…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago   (1326+ words) A spacecraft propelled by a subluminal warp drive would cause an extremely bright glow if it passed through Earth’s atmosphere, according to findings detailed in a new study. “Warp drives are a fantastic way to travel through the universe, and…...

2+ week, 5+ day ago   (730+ words) A small piece of material sits nearly motionless in the dark. However, shine light on it and within seconds it begins to swell at an extraordinary rate. Aim the light differently, and the same material can curl itself into a…...

2+ week, 6+ day ago   (484+ words) Researchers say an untapped source of clean energy has been hiding beneath Western Australian soil, where some of the world’s largest iron deposits could harbor an unexpected secret. These deposits, according to researchers at Edith Cowan University (ECU), are also…...

3+ week, 1+ day ago   (543+ words) One of planetary defense‘s biggest opportunities will come as the asteroid Apophis makes its tight flyby of our planet on April 13, 2029, allowing international space missions to interact with the near-Earth object. Asteroids this size only approach this close to…...

3+ week, 4+ day ago   (573+ words) Nagoya University scientists working to bridge the supersonic-to-hypersonic gap report successful combustion in a hypersonic scramjet engine at speeds below Mach 5 using a specially designed igniter called an RD torch. The researchers behind the achievement said their successful tests highlight…...

3+ week, 4+ day ago   (768+ words) Using the same basic physics based on the familiar hollow tone produced by blowing across an empty bottle, researchers in Switzerland have developed a sound-powered propulsion system that can steer microrobots and even lift tiny machines. In a new study…...

3+ week, 4+ day ago   (491+ words) The United States Department of Defense has funded an effort by SUNY Polytechnic Institute scientists to use artificial intelligence to evaluate complex defense scenarios before they unfold, including real-time predictive analysis of multiple potential scenarios in a concerted effort to…...