3+ hour, 33+ min ago  (917+ words) D-Wave's quantum machine had done something worth paying attention to. It had tracked hundreds of particles locked in a tangled, disorderly magnetic system. It was the kind of simulation that grows exponentially harder the more particles you add The problem…...

3+ hour, 58+ min ago  (899+ words) Silk has always had a reputation for being tough. Spiders use it to build webs that can survive heavy wind and flying insects. Silkworms wrap themselves in it for protection. Humans turned it into clothing thousands of years ago because…...

4+ hour, 25+ min ago  (770+ words) When two mice both carry an unmarked copy of a gene, their offspring should carry an unmarked copy too. One copy from each parent, combined in predictable ways. Simple math, reliable outcome. Researchers recently put that assumption to the test…...

4+ hour, 50+ min ago  (753+ words) Walk within a meter of a city pigeon and it might not bother moving. Do the same near a wild bird in a forest and you'll be lucky to get within ten meters. Scientists have noticed that gap for years…...

7+ hour, 53+ min ago  (845+ words) Rock formations appear in old mountain belts tens of millions of years after a collision ends. Their chemistry " a blend of deep mantle and continental rock " shows up consistently worldwide, with the same fingerprint every time. Geologists have never had…...

9+ hour, 18+ min ago  (833+ words) The case for psilocybin usage for mental health keeps growing. Human trials show it can ease depression, anxiety, and the kind of existential distress that conventional drugs rarely reach. One thing research hadn't shown was whether it could directly reduce…...

9+ hour, 16+ min ago  (873+ words) Brain scans after a lacunar stroke often look clean, with no obvious blocked artery and no dramatic narrowing. Doctors prescribe the standard drugs because that's what the evidence suggests. The problem, however, is that those drugs may be targeting the…...

9+ hour, 5+ min ago  (782+ words) An orange powder goes into the furnace. Somewhere in the run it turns jet black. A yellow crystal comes out the other end. For labs making solar-fuel materials, the start and end have always been the whole story. A new…...

8+ hour, 58+ min ago  (357+ words) Scientists believe that future human settlements on Mars may rely on metals extracted from asteroids for construction....

9+ hour, 55+ min ago  (820+ words) Most people picture tsunamis beginning far offshore. A fault ruptures deep beneath the ocean floor, and a wave travels across open water for hours before reaching land. That picture misses something happening right at the waterline. Off parts of Italy's…...