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Latest story• Oct 25, 2024

What US military’s AI-powered super soldiers could mean for adversaries

The US military is developing AI-powered "Hyper-Enabled Operators" (HEO) to replace earlier exoskeleton concepts. This next-generation soldier uses advanced AI for faster decision-making and improved battlefield awareness. Key technologies include edge computing, advanced sensors, real-time language translation, and beyond-line-of-sight communication. The system aims to give soldiers a cognitive advantage,...

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The Surprising Story of How Peaches Became an Icon of the U.S. Southeast

Peaches, originating in China, were introduced to North America by Spanish colonists in the 1500s. Recent studies reveal that Indigenous peoples were instrumental in spreading peaches across the eastern U.S. from 1600 to 1700,...

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Spectacular 3D map of ‘zombie star’ sheds light on historic dandelion supernova

Astronomers used the Keck Cosmic Web Imager to create a 3D map of filaments from a 1181 supernova, revealing material expanding at 1,000 km/s from a partially surviving white dwarf, resulting in an unusual Type Iax supernova...

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Stretchable semiconductor skin created for next-gen Neuralink-like brain implant

A new hydrogel semiconductor developed by University of Chicago researchers combines softness, biocompatibility, and semiconducting properties. This material could revolutionize bioelectronics, enabling better brain implants,...

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CO2 into battery power? China to turn emissions into energy for Mars rovers, robots

Researchers at Tsinghua University in China have developed a new catalyst for lithium-carbon dioxide (Li-CO2) batteries that could power Mars rovers and help reduce carbon emissions. The improved cathode design using molybdenum...

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US nuclear fusion lab hits 200,000 plasma ‘shots,’ a milestone powering hopes

DIII-D National Fusion Facility completed its 200,000th experimental cycle, marking significant progress in fusion research. Recent breakthroughs include surpassing a theoretical plasma density limit and generating...

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90-ton 3D printing beast builds world’s largest carbon fiber Neutron rocket

Rocket Lab has installed a massive 90-ton 3D printing machine to build its Neutron rocket, dramatically reducing production time. The Automated Fiber Placement machine can lay carbon fiber at 328 feet per minute, automating the...

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NASA’s Europa Clipper could prove alien life is abundant. Here’s how

NASA's Europa Clipper mission launched to study Jupiter's moon Europa, potentially harboring life in its subsurface ocean. The spacecraft will arrive by 2030 after traveling 1.8 billion miles, using nine instruments to analyze...

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Thunderstorm Gamma-Ray Flashes May Be Missing Link for Lightning Bolts

New research using a retrofitted spy plane reveals thunderstorms produce more gamma-ray emissions than previously thought, including a new type called "flickering gamma-ray flashes." These high-energy events may play a crucial...

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China sets sight on Arctic, plans crewed submersible for seabed exploration

China plans to send a crewed submersible to explore the Arctic Ocean's seabed, potentially becoming the second country after Russia to do so. The mission, using domestically developed technology on the Tan Suo San Hao research...

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World-1st nuclear reactor-powered ‘civilian’ ship to raise half-a-billion dollars

CORE POWER, a UK-based startup, is close to raising $500 million to develop nuclear-powered cargo ships and floating nuclear plants. The company aims to create commercially insurable reactors for widespread maritime adoption,...

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‘Time capsule’: 52-yr-old Apollo 16 samples uncover Moon’s impact history

New research on Apollo 16 Moon samples reveals insights into lunar surface history. Analysis of regolith breccias using mass spectrometry shows varying exposure ages, suggesting diverse impact events over billions of years. Two...

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Math Is Still Catching Up to the Mysterious Genius of Srinivasa Ramanujan

Mathematician Hussein Mourtada discovered a deep connection between curve singularities and mathematical statements by Srinivasa Ramanujan. Ramanujan, a self-taught Indian genius, produced thousands of elegant results often...

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China’s new humanoid robot boasts 52 degrees of freedom, 8-hour stamina

China's robotics firm Kepler has introduced Forerunner K2, an advanced humanoid robot with 52 degrees of freedom and 8-hour battery life. It features improved intelligence software for tasks like perception, planning, and...

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How We Generated Millions of Content Annotations - Spotify Engineering

Spotify developed an annotation platform to improve machine learning model training and evaluation. The platform scales human expertise, implements custom annotation tools, and integrates with ML workflows, resulting in a 10x...

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Can SpaceX land a rocket with 1/2 cm accuracy?

SpaceX successfully caught its Super Heavy booster using "Mechazilla's chopsticks" in a groundbreaking achievement. While precise half-centimeter landing accuracy is not feasible, the wide landing margins allow for successful...

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Solar power from space? Actually, it might happen in a couple of years.

Aetherflux plans to launch a single satellite for space-based solar power demonstration within 15 months. The satellite will produce 1 kilowatt of power and beam it to Earth using an infrared laser, aiming to prove the concept's...

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China's new resistive magnet is 800,000 times stronger than Earth's field

Chinese scientists set a new world record with a resistive magnet generating 42.02 tesla, over 800,000 times stronger than Earth's magnetic field. This breakthrough allows researchers to explore new states of matter and detect...

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Does the Sun Host a Black Hole at Its Center?

Primordial black holes may exist inside some stars, potentially altering their evolution and structure. While unlikely in our Sun, thousands of Milky Way stars and many in dwarf galaxies could host mini black holes, possibly...

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Russia’s radical plan to use 180,000-ton capacity nuclear submarine for gas delivery

Russia is developing nuclear-powered submarines to transport liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Arctic to Asia. The Kurchatov Institute and Gazprom are collaborating on this project to overcome ice-related transportation...

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Scientists create plastic that degrades 15 times faster than paper in the sea

A newly developed biodegradable plastic, cellulose diacetate (CDA) foam, degrades 15 times faster than paper in seawater. During a 36-week test, CDA foam lost 65-70% of its mass, while Styrofoam remained intact. Scientists from...

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46% light sea battery works at 19,600 feet, packs double power under pressure

Kraken Robotics has developed SeaPower, lightweight batteries for subsea operations that work at depths of 19,600 feet while being 46% lighter than traditional options. The batteries use a proprietary polymer encasing to protect...

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New method to bond diamonds to other materials could enable advanced quantum devices

Scientists at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory have developed a method to directly bond ultra-thin diamond membranes to materials like silicon and sapphire. This technique involves creating "dangling...

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'It's our moonshot': Why scientists are drilling into volcanos

Scientists in Iceland plan to drill into the Krafla volcano to create an underground magma observatory. Starting in 2026, they will drill two 2.1 km deep boreholes to study magma behavior and develop new geothermal energy...

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