This eco-friendly glitter gets its color from plants, not plastic
Minuscule arrangements in cellulose reflect light in specific ways to give rise to vibrant hues All that glitters is not green. Glitter and shimmery pigments are often made using toxic compounds or pollutive microplastics (SN: 4/15/19). That makes the sparkly stuff, notoriously difficult to clean up in the house, a
These shape-shifting devices melt and re-form thanks to magnetic fields
Gallium plus magnetism equals something straight out of Terminator 2 Shape-shifting liquid metal robots might not be limited to science fiction anymore. Miniature machines can switch from solid to liquid and back again to squeeze into tight spaces and perform tasks like soldering a circuit board, researchers report January 25
These shape-shifting devices melt and re-form thanks to magnetic fields
Gallium plus magnetism equals something straight out of Terminator 2 Shape-shifting liquid metal robots might not be limited to science fiction anymore. Miniature machines can switch from solid to liquid and back again to squeeze into tight spaces and perform tasks like soldering a circuit board, researchers report January 25
Large Hadron Collider switches on at highest ever power level to look for dark matter
The detector is set to run at its highest energies yet. The Large Hadron Collider has been turned back on today (July 5) and is set to smash particles together at never-before-seen energy levels. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator. Located at
Scientists grew living human skin around a robotic finger
The advance brings Terminator-like cyborgs a small step closer to reality The Terminator may be one step closer to reality. Researchers at the University of Tokyo have built a robotic finger that, much like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s titular cyborg assassin, is covered in living human skin. The goal is to someday
Conservationists Promote the Annual Big Butterfly Count as Two-Fifths of British Butterflies Face Threat
In 2013, scientists said that around five out of the millions of invertebrates, including butterflies, were at risk of extinction. These beautiful creatures have shown signs of a significant decline in population and conservationists have been fighting for a law to be implemented to protect butterflies. The annual Big Butterfly
Alien earthworms have spread to almost all parts of North America
Invasive worms, considered a major threat to native ecosystems, have been found in 97 per cent of areas for which there are records in North America As North Americans have busied themselves about their various concerns, unseen invaders have slowly been amassing beneath their feet. There are now more alien
James Webb Space Telescope Set to Study Two Strange Super-Earths
Space agency officials promise to deliver geology results from worlds dozens of light-years away The James Webb Space Telescope plans to explore strange, new rocky worlds in unprecedented detail. The telescope’s scientific consortium has an ambitious agenda to study geology on these small planets from “50 light-years away”, they said
Amazon nears ‘tipping point’ where rainforest could transform into savanna
The Amazon may be nearing a “tipping point.” If deforestation continues, the Amazon rainforest could reach a critical tipping point where most of it transforms into a dry savanna, a new study warns. The study, published Monday (March 7) in the journal Nature Climate Change, suggests that more than 75%
Italian woman’s rare ‘foreign accent syndrome’ caused her to sound Canadian
A woman’s strange case of “foreign accent syndrome” left doctors unsure of its cause. A woman in Italy who went to the emergency room experienced a puzzling symptom: She suddenly began speaking in a Canadian accent even though her native language was Italian, according to a new report. The woman
Weighted-blanket use may boost sleep hormone melatonin, small study hints
A small study links weighted-blanket use at bedtime to increased melatonin production. Using a weighted blanket at bedtime may boost the body’s production of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, a small study suggests. However, at this point, it’s unclear why the hefty blankets might increase melatonin levels and whether this significantly
Woman who spontaneously vomited up to 30 times a day likely had rogue antibodies
A woman’s unusual vomiting episodes may be linked to an autoimmune disorder. A young woman experienced spontaneous vomiting attacks during which she would sometimes retch more than 30 times a day and heave up to 1.6 gallons (6 liters) over the full course of an episode. It turns out, the
In First, Scientists Use CRISPR for Personalized Cancer Treatment
The “most complicated therapy ever” tailors bespoke, genome-edited immune cells to attack tumors A small clinical trial has shown that researchers can use CRISPR gene editing to alter immune cells so that they will recognize mutated proteins specific to a person’s tumours. Those cells can then be safely set loose
The Milky Way may be spawning many more stars than astronomers had thought
Gamma rays reveal the galaxy’s star-making power The Milky Way is churning out far more stars than previously thought, according to a new estimate of its star formation rate. Gamma rays from aluminum-26, a radioactive isotope that arises primarily from massive stars, reveal that the Milky Way converts four to
The Kuiper Belt’s dwarf planet Quaoar hosts an impossible ring
The ring lies outside a typical, mathematically determined distance from the small world The dwarf planet Quaoar has a ring that is too big for its metaphorical fingers. While all other rings in the solar system lie within or near a mathematically determined distance of their parent bodies, Quaoar’s ring
Nuclear fusion reactor ‘breakthrough’ is significant, but light-years away from being useful
Useful, cost-effective nuclear fusion remains a distant dream, despite a small step in the right direction from the government’s NIF reactor. Scientists have just announced a breakthrough in nuclear fusion ignition: For the first time the heart of a powerful fusion reactor has briefly generated more energy than was put
Distant ‘hell planet’ with diamond core is the victim of a gravitational catastrophe
The planet 55 Cancri e, also known as the “hell planet,” appears to have been dragged closer to its sun’s equator due to a gravitational anomaly. Scientists studying a distant “hell planet” where clouds rain lava, the oceans are molten and the core is filled with diamonds have found that
2,400-year-old flush toilet unearthed in China could be one of the world’s oldest
The toilet was found in the Shaanxi province’s Yueyang City Ruins and was likely used by high-ranking officials during the early years of China’s first unified empire. Archaeologists in China have discovered one of the world’s oldest flush toilets, a “luxury object” that was likely used by elite individuals just
How did humans first reach the Americas?
During the last ice age, which route was taken by the first humans to reach the Americas, and did they travel by foot, boat or both? Humans first arrived in North America at least 15,500 years ago. Exactly how they got there, however, constitutes one of the longest-standing debates in
What’s the world’s oldest civilization?
Did the first civilization arise in Mesopotamia, or elsewhere? Countless civilizations have risen and fallen over the millennia. But which one is the oldest on record? About 30 years ago, this question seemed to have a straightforward answer. Around 4000 B.C., the earliest phase of the Sumerian culture arose as
Pottery, swords and jewelry: Rich Stone Age and early medieval graves found in Germany
The discoveries hint that humans occupied the region longer than locals thought. Archaeological treasures, including Stone Age pottery and medieval graves with swords and jewelry, have revealed a long history of human habitation near the Danube River in Germany. At the site, in the Geisingen-Gutmadingen district of Tuttlingen, in southwestern