A rendering of what the SPARC tokamak would look like inside the ARC power plant Commonwealth Fusion SystemsNo, this isn’t the return of Marvel’s Iron Man. Instead, Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) has unveiled plans to construct the world’s first grid-scale fusion power plant near Richmond, Virginia.After scouting over 100 locations worldwide, CFS selected a 100-acre...
Credit: PixabayRecent research from scientists in the U.S., France, and Germany suggests the Moon formed as early as 4.53 billion years ago—hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously thought. This new timeline could explain lunar mysteries like the scarcity of massive impact basins and the Moon's lower metal content compared to Earth, while...
Confocal laser scanning microscopy (merged image) of the photosynthetic surface of a microbial mat. (Smedile et al., Communications Earth & Environment, 2024)Beneath Antarctica's Lake Enigma, a hidden freshwater ecosystem has been sealed under 30 feet (9 meters) of ice for up to 14 million years. Led by Italian scientists, researchers used radar and advanced, contamination-free...
Transmission electron micrograph of bird flu virus particles (orange) in kidney cells (green). (NIAID/Flickr/CC BY 2.0)An elderly patient in Louisiana is critically ill with severe avian influenza, marking the first serious human case in the United States. This development, announced by U.S. authorities on Wednesday, has intensified concerns about a potential bird flu pandemic.The Louisiana...
Credit: PixabayThroughout human history, twins have been rare and often considered extraordinary. Many cultures associate them with vitality or duality, symbolizing life and death or good and evil. Some mythologies even credit twins with founding nations or being deities.However, new research reveals that twins were once the evolutionary norm for our primate ancestors, challenging...
Credit: PixabayFrom vegetarians suddenly craving meat to shifts in sexual preferences, some organ transplant recipients report personality changes that seem to mirror traits of their organ donors.A 2024 study challenges "conventional views of memory and identity," suggesting that organs might carry memories and emotions. These findings spark significant ethical and philosophical debates about transplantation....
There's a new World Magnetic Model. (NOAA/NCEI/BGS)It’s time to update navigation systems for ships, airplanes, and perhaps even Santa’s sleigh: North Pole has officially shifted its position, continuing its movement away from Canada toward Siberia.Experts from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the British Geological Survey (BGS) collaborated, as they do every...
Credit: PixabayA previously unidentified disease responsible for dozens of deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo is likely malaria, the African Union's health agency reported on Thursday.First detected in late October, the outbreak has primarily affected the Panzi region, located about 700 kilometers (435 miles) southeast of the capital, Kinshasa. Ngashi Ngongo, Africa CDC's...
Credit: PixabayHuman minibrains, or organoids, launched into space surprised scientists by thriving during their time in low-Earth orbit. In 2019, US researchers sent lab-grown human neural tissue to the International Space Station (ISS) for a brief stay. The result was nothing short of astonishing.The cells not only survived the weightlessness of space for weeks,...
Men standing on a massive pile of buffalo skulls, Michigan Carbon Works, Rougeville MI, 1892. (Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library)Human activity has driven unprecedented species extinction, but history offers earlier examples of ecological devastation. The 19th-century extermination of North America's bison is a stark case of human impact, captured in a haunting photograph of...
