Hidden in Maya wall writings: A named astronomer emerges from 1,200-year-old calculations
Researchers decoded mathematical formulas from a 1,200-year-old Maya wall at Xultun, Guatemala, identifying an astronomer's name for the first time. The Classic period calculations involved complex astronomical observations and calendar dates that influenced monument construction and royal inaugurations.
NASA Study Points to Smoother Air Taxi Rides
NASA research identifies comfort factors affecting passenger willingness to ride in air taxis, which are small vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft designed for short trips. The study provides data to help air taxi operators plan routes that minimize discomfort during flights.
Floating-electron catalyst withstands week in air while making ammonia under milder conditions
Researchers at Science Tokyo created BaSiN2:O, a catalyst material that maintains stability in air for a week while synthesizing ammonia under milder conditions than conventional methods. The material achieves this through oxygen-doped barium silicon nitride that forms a stable surface layer of freely floating electrons.
Cutting back vines lets recovering forests grow faster, Borneo study shows
Cutting lianas from degraded forests in Borneo increased tree growth rates by 40 percent over three years. The study measured diameter growth in trees and found that removing these vining plants allowed recovering forests to sequester carbon more effectively.
China’s ‘Green Great Wall’ tames desert growth, but scientists warn the fight is not over
Workers in northern China have used straw checkerboards for fifty years to stabilize sand dunes and enable plant growth as part of the Green Great Wall desertification reversal program. Scientists caution that despite progress since 2000, the fight against desert expansion remains incomplete.
The AI Arms Race in Technical Interviews Is Escalating
Applicants are using AI assistants to suggest responses during remote technical interviews, while employers deploy AI-powered tools to detect signs of AI use. This escalating dynamic creates a competitive cycle between job seekers and hiring companies with no clear resolution.
Losing just 80 minutes of sleep a night could make you gain weight
Participants who slept 80 minutes less nightly for six weeks gained weight and increased sedentary time. Researchers concluded that sustained mild sleep loss over months or years could elevate risks for diabetes and heart disease.
A 200-year-old physics experiment could help build future computers
Researchers used the Poisson spot, a 200-year-old optical effect, to create optical skyrmions by shining a laser at a tiny circular disc. This method produces stable swirling light patterns without requiring expensive engineered materials, potentially enabling advances in data storage and computing technologies.
Scientists discovered the brain doesn't make decisions the way we thought
The brain makes decisions through rapid feedback loops between primary sensory regions and higher brain areas, rather than through simple forward information processing. This discovery that sensory regions are influenced by higher areas earlier in the decision process could inform AI system design to use less power.
The Download: a donor conception cap and world models for AI
A European fertility group is advocating for limits on how many children can be conceived from a single sperm donor. The 47-year-old Ties van der Meer was conceived at a private fertility clinic using donor sperm and does not know how many siblings he has.
Stephen Hawking's black hole laws just got a major upgrade
A new framework extends thermodynamic laws to dynamic black holes rather than only stable ones. This advancement could enhance understanding of black hole mergers, evaporation, and gravitational wave events detected by observatories like LIGO.
Where you live could shape your dementia risk, massive study finds
Dementia risk factors vary significantly across countries among 214,000 people studied, contradicting universal prevention approaches. Research revealed consistent patterns despite geographic differences that could inform targeted public health strategies by region.
Southeast Asian mangroves shift from historic decline to net growth
Southeast Asian mangroves shifted from net loss to net gain since 2010, reversing decades of deforestation. A study analyzing 40 years of satellite data identified this region as a primary contributor to global mangrove recovery.
Physicists say quantum mechanics may not need imaginary numbers after all
Physicists demonstrated that quantum mechanics can be formulated using real numbers instead of imaginary numbers, challenging a fundamental assumption about the theory's mathematical structure. The research, published in Physical Review Letters and highlighted by the American Physical Society, was conducted by Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf in collaboration with the German Aerospace Center.
Scientists discover a hidden heart valve risk linked to gum disease
Bacteria associated with gum disease can trigger inflammation and calcium buildup in heart valves, potentially causing calcific aortic valve stenosis. The research suggests that maintaining gum health may help reduce risk of this serious cardiac condition.
Jellyfish videos reveal why science content sparks curiosity for some viewers
A University of Georgia study found that cartoony science videos spark curiosity in some viewers but not others. The research examined jellyfish videos on social media to understand individual differences in how people respond to science content.
Physicists recreate black hole energy extraction in the lab
Physicists created a laboratory device that reproduces the physics of extracting energy from spinning black holes using synthetic ultrafast rotation. The experimental demonstration transforms theoretical concepts into practical application and could advance optics, wireless communications, and quantum science.
Deep-sea life has a secret food source scientists never expected
Extreme deep-sea pressure extracts nutrients from sinking organic particles, creating an unexpected food source for ocean microbes. This mechanism affects how carbon cycles through Earth's deep-ocean ecosystems.
Scientists discover how the brain rewires itself to truly multitask
Extensive training physically reorganizes the brain so learned tasks bypass the prefrontal cortex and run through specialized circuits instead. This frees the brain's thinking center, allowing people to perform another task simultaneously rather than rapidly switching between them.
Columbia scientists discover surprising link between serotonin and heart valve disease
Serotonin may accelerate degenerative mitral regurgitation progression in patients taking SSRI antidepressants who carry a specific genetic variant. These patients could require heart valve surgery at a younger age than those without the genetic variant.
Yale scientists may have found how Parkinson's disease spreads through the brain
Two neuron surface proteins appear to facilitate the spread of toxic protein associated with Parkinson's disease through the brain. Blocking these proteins in mice significantly reduced disease progression, suggesting a potential therapeutic target.
Drawing the line: Virtual fences trigger the same cattle behavior as physical ones
Virtual fences trigger cattle movement patterns similar to those caused by conventional electric fences. The study from the University of Göttingen, published in the journal Animal, found that cattle respond to virtual fences with comparable behavioral responses to physical electric fences.
Synthetic rotation brings black hole energy theory into lab, amplifying waves
Researchers demonstrated that waves interacting with a synthetically rotating object can extract energy and amplify, based on Penrose and Zeldovich's theoretical predictions about black hole energy extraction. The experiment confirmed that a wave encountering a sufficiently fast rotating object becomes amplified through energy extraction from the rotation itself.
Immune cells get transformed into fungus-fighting nanoparticles
Researchers created nanoparticles from human immune cell membranes that effectively fight Candida albicans fungal infections. In mice with severe infections, the nanoparticles significantly reduced fungus in major organs and improved survival rates.
Experimental drug reverses severe fatty liver disease by repairing the gut
An experimental drug called DT-109 reversed severe fatty liver disease in animal studies by repairing the gut and preventing harmful toxins from damaging the liver. This discovery could lead to new treatments for MASH and other gut-health-related diseases.
Second pregnancy changes the brain in surprising new ways
Each pregnancy produces distinct patterns of brain rewiring rather than repeating the same changes. A second pregnancy alters the brain differently than a first pregnancy, potentially helping researchers develop better treatments for peripartum depression.
Physicists finally build a quantum material predicted more than a decade ago
Researchers created a two-dimensional quantum material with unusual conducting edge states that were predicted over a decade ago. The material's conducting states can be controlled through strain, potentially enabling room-temperature quantum electronics applications.
Tiny bubbles could revolutionize inkjet printing
Researchers demonstrated that varying the quantity of ultra-fine bubbles within droplets can reshape printed patterns during inkjet printing without leaving chemical residues. By adjusting bubble numbers in each droplet, the technology enables cleaner printing for next-generation electronics manufacturing.
Geoscientists reveal how Earth's forces are shaping the 'Roof of the World'
Earth's deep interior processes are shaping the Tibetan Plateau's unique topography at its summit. An international team of Chinese and UK geoscientists from the University of Glasgow discovered this through studying formation evidence of this high mountainous area.