Ingenuity and serendipity brought products that made life easier, with some unintended consequences 1920s science headline, “Ice cream from crude oil,” may best capture the era’s unbridled enthusiasm for chemistry. “Edible fats, the same as those in vegetable and animal foods … and equally nutritious … can be obtained byContinue Reading
Weekly social interactions form unique signatures that make people stand out How you interact with a crowd may help you stick out from it, at least to artificial intelligence. When fed information about a target individual’s mobile phone interactions, as well as their contacts’ interactions, AI can correctly pick theContinue Reading
Scientists reveal that the Aharonov-Bohm effect also applies to gravity If you’re superstitious, a black cat in your path is bad luck, even if you keep your distance. Likewise, in quantum physics, particles can feel the influence of magnetic fields that they never come into direct contact with. Now scientistsContinue Reading
Saltwater spray could come from pockets of watery mush in the moon’s icy shell Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus sprays water vapor into space. Scientists have thought that the plumes come from a deep subsurface ocean — but that might not be the case, new simulations suggest. Instead, the waterContinue Reading
The newfound planet is smaller than Earth, as dense as iron and hot enough to melt A newly discovered exoplanet is really making astronomers prove their mettle. Planet GJ 367b is smaller than Earth, denser than iron and hot enough to melt, researchers report in the Dec. 3 Science. “WeContinue Reading
Run-ins between black holes and neutron stars aren’t as prolific at making heavy elements The cosmic origins of elements heavier than iron are mysterious. One elemental birthplace came to light in 2017 when two neutron-rich dead stars collided and spewed out gold, platinum and other hefty elements. A few yearsContinue Reading
And no one is certain how long the shortage will last An automotive chip shortage has led to production cuts around the globe, just as many carmakers are gearing up to expand their fleets of electric vehicles. The shortage is a result of pandemic-related constraints on supply chains and otherContinue Reading
An ocean-powered buoy brings technology closer to the dream of obtaining energy from the sea One key to harvesting the ocean’s clean energy—at least a little of it—may lie in static electricity. A team of researchers in Portugal has now successfully used it to run small generators inside a navigationalContinue Reading
Satellite tracking of water vapor, critical for accurate forecasts, may be foiled by cellphone tower transmissions Federal agencies are competing with one another over radio waves used to help predict changes in the climate as the sky is increasingly cluttered with noise from billions of smartphones. On one side areContinue Reading
Scientists grew nearly defect-free fibers of frozen water with counterintuitive properties. Try to bend an icicle and it’ll snap in two. With its tendency to crack into shards, ice’s reputation for being stiff and brittle seems well-established. But thin, pristine threads of ice are bendy and elastic, scientists report inContinue Reading