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Get hand-picked daily summaries of the best, most informative science and engineering articles from around the web. Browse recent summaries, then jump to the original source when you want the full article.

Latest story• Sep 23, 2024

Polaris Dawn: The key technologies tested during the historic spaceflight

The Polaris Dawn mission sent four crew members further from Earth than any humans since 1972, reaching an altitude of 875 miles. They conducted the first commercial spacewalk, live-streamed to viewers on Earth. The mission tested new technologies, including SpaceX's EVA spacesuit and a Starlink communications system for the Crew Dragon capsule. The crew performed science experiments, collecting data on cosmic...

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Porsche’s 6-stroke engine innovation could rewrite automotive engineering

Porsche has filed a patent for a revolutionary six-stroke engine design, potentially marking a major shift in automotive engineering. The key innovation is a crankshaft rotating around two concentric circles, reducing piston...

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What to expect at Meta Connect 2024 — the next Quest VR headset

Meta's Connect conference will unveil new VR/AR gear and AI tech, with buzz around a budget-friendly Quest headset, upgraded Ray-Ban specs, and a sneak peek at "Orion" AR glasses, all wrapped up in Zuckerberg's keynote and...

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Einstein’s theory challenged: Black holes could be frozen stars, claims study

This fresh theory suggests black holes are actually "frozen stars," potentially solving paradoxes like information loss, but it challenges Einstein's ideas of singularities and event horizons in the process.

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Nerves of gold: exploring the future of soft gold nanowires

Gold nanowires in soft silicone rubber show promise for improved neural interfaces, potentially revolutionizing treatments for epilepsy, paralysis, and chronic pain. This flexible, biocompatible technology offers high...

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Scientists turn to human skeletons to explore origins of horseback riding

Horseback riding can alter human skeletons, but these changes alone can't definitively prove if someone rode horses. A new study challenges the Kurgan hypothesis, which claimed early horse domestication led to the spread of...

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Defeating AIDS: MIT reveals new vaccination method that could kill HIV in just two shots

MIT's new two-dose HIV vaccine strategy primes the immune system with a small dose, followed by a larger one a week later, potentially matching the efficacy of a seven-dose regimen while being more practical for widespread use.

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Why Do So Many Tiny Asteroids Have Moons?

Asteroids exhibit incredible diversity in size, shape, composition, and behavior, including the ability to have their own moons. Recent research suggests asteroid moons form through mass shedding caused by the YORP effect, with...

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World’s first antenna that turns glass windows into 5G towers unveiled in Japan

The WAVEAntenna, a glass-based 5G antenna developed in Japan, transforms windows into base stations, boosting indoor coverage in urban areas without extra towers by operating in the 3.7-4.5 GHz range.

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A neutrino mass mismatch could shake cosmology’s foundations

Neutrinos, lightweight subatomic particles, play a crucial role in shaping the universe's structure. Recent data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) suggests neutrino masses may be unexpectedly small, possibly...

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Startup Says It Can Make a 100x Faster CPU

A new parallel processing unit (PPU) developed by Flow Computing aims to revolutionize CPU performance. The PPU can achieve up to 100 times better performance than traditional CPUs for parallelizable tasks. It optimizes for...

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Samsung’s new EV battery charges 80% in 20 minutes, boosts range by 10%

Samsung SDI unveiled advanced battery technologies for commercial electric vehicles at IAA Transportation 2024. The new LFP-plus battery offers 10% higher energy density, 80% charging in 20 minutes, and allows delivery trucks to...

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Mathematicians Discover New Shapes to Solve Decades-Old Geometry Problem

Mathematicians have solved a long-standing problem about "shapes of constant width" in higher dimensions. A team of five researchers developed a simple method to construct constant-width bodies in any dimension that are...

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US announces $3 billion in funding for new battery projects

The US Department of Energy will allocate over $3 billion to 25 battery projects across 14 states, supporting critical mineral processing, battery manufacturing, and recycling. This initiative, part of the Biden administration's...

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Building a worldwide map of light pollution with inexpensive sensors

This new $65 sensor measures sky brightness, temperature, and humidity, aiming to track light pollution worldwide through citizen scientists, highlighting an issue affecting 60% of people globally.

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“Wave-Particle Duality” and What is a Wave, Really?

Hyperbolic partial differential equations play a crucial role in describing physical processes, particularly in special relativity. Despite advances in teaching methods, high school physics education often lags behind, failing to...

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Affordable zinc-ion battery built using office laminator can replace lithium cells

Australian researchers have developed a low-cost, safe zinc-ion battery using a modified polymer and an office laminator. This affordable alternative to lithium-ion batteries uses more abundant zinc and could help address future...

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Massive 150 MW solar and battery project to rise from US nuclear graveyard

NextEra Energy Resources is set to construct a 150-MW solar and battery project, including a 100-MW storage system, on up to 1,800 acres at a New Mexico nuclear waste site, supporting DOE's clean energy goals and boosting local...

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Unlock the Secret of a Gravity-Defying Parkour Stunt—With Physics!

Parkour masters can scale buildings by jumping between vertical surfaces, using friction and physics to their advantage. This technique requires precise timing, strength, and speed, with jumpers needing to exert over 1,400...

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Over nearly half a billion years, Earth's global temperature has changed drastically, driven by carbon dioxide

Earth's temperatures have swung wildly over the last 485 million years, but a new study confirms CO2's link to climate change, highlighting how today's human-driven warming is happening at a dangerously rapid pace for ecosystems.

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Molten salt battery can replace lithium devices, works in heat without catching fire

The new molten salt battery from Tennessee boasts improved safety, longer life, and higher energy density compared to lithium-ion, making it ideal for grid storage and renewable energy applications without fire risks at high...

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Breakthrough study predicts catastrophic river shifts that threaten millions worldwide

Researchers at Indiana University have made a breakthrough in predicting river avulsions, sudden and dangerous changes in a river's course. Using advanced satellite technology, they mapped landscape features that make avulsions...

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Earth’s ancient ‘greenhouse’ conditions were hotter than thought

Earth's temperature swings over the last 485 million years were more extreme than we thought, ranging from 11°C to 36°C, with CO2 levels playing a bigger role in climate change than other factors like solar variations.

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Engineers 3D print sturdy glass bricks for building structures

MIT's new 3D-printed glass bricks are game-changers: figure-eight shaped, recycled, and as tough as concrete, they can be taken apart and reused, potentially slashing construction's carbon footprint.

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