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If quantum computers are to fulfill the promise of solving problems faster or which are too complex for classical supercomputers, then quantum information needs to be communicated between multiple processors. Modern computers have different interconnected components such as a memory chip, a Central Processing Unit and a General Processing Unit. These need to communicate for […]

A new study from Arizona State University in the US has uncovered another hidden health hazard in illicit cannabis.   When investigating cannabis seized in Arizona and California the researchers found that 16% of cannabis samples were contaminated with the soil fungi Fusarium — fungal toxins that exceed safety limits for agricultural products. After further […]

Research has found that many terrorism groups with differing ideological motivations share common ground in targeting LGBTQ+ communities. A study led by extremism expert Dr Jared Dmello, from the University of Adelaide’s School of Social Sciences, found that groups with contrasting ideologies — from Islamic extremist organisations to far-right terrorist groups — overlap in their […]

If scientists could create a sustained nuclear fusion reaction it would revolutionise the way we produce energy – day or night, rain or shine, sans carbon emissions. Among the myriad challenges facing physicists trying to make it a reality is the process of isolating lithium-6, an isotope essential to producing the fuel which is used […]

Scientists in Saudi Arabia have developed a new coating for streetlights which they believe will reduce energy lost as heat, making the lamps more efficient. The research is published in the Springer journal Light: Science & Applications. Streetlights are a particularly big burden on the city councils and municipalities. Streetlighting accounts for about 1–3% of […]

New analysis linking dinosaurs and Sonic the Hedgehog might explain how “proto-feathers” became the complex appendages, bird feathers. It’s widely accepted that birds are dinosaurs. Modern feathered friends are the evolutionary descendants of the family of dinosaurs known as theropods – bipedal dinosaurs which includes Velociraptor and Tyrannosaurus rex. But when, how and why feathers […]

A mother-child intervention program aimed at healing psychological trauma in war-affected Ukrainian children has shown promising results, with three-quarters of participants experiencing improved mental health, according to a new study published in Global Health.  The organisation behind the camps hopes the experience will inform trauma recovery efforts in other war-torn regions. The war in Ukraine […]

A fascinating piece of research might have revealed that our brains are memorising the earliest times of our lives, but the memories have been packed away and just can’t be accessed. The inability to remember our first few years of life, a phenomenon termed “infantile amnesia” by psychologist Sigmund Freud, has fascinated neuroscientists for more […]

More than 11 years after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, the Malaysian government has approved a new search for the missing debris of the aircraft. Malaysia announced the push for a renewed search last year, ten years after the tragedy that claimed the lives of 239 people. Seabed exploration firm Ocean Infinity, which […]

Earlier this week, reports emerged that a scientist at South Africa’s SANAE IV Antarctic research base had accused a colleague of physical assault. We research Antarctic governance and crime in isolated, confined and extreme environments such as Antarctic and space stations. Rebecca specifically investigates how station cultures evolve in isolation and what factors significantly influence […]

Xenotransplantation, taking the organs, tissues or cells from one species and transplanting them into another, is rapidly approaching reality as an alternative treatment for many end-stage diseases. Dramatic advances have been seen over the last few years, with several patients successfully receiving transgenic pig heart transplants and the success of several kidney transplant patients in […]

This week both the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration have released massive datasets which are immediately challenging cosmologists’ best theories of the universe. The new studies are available in preprint papers and are being presented at American Physical Society’s Global Physics Summit in California. “What we are seeing is […]

The earliest moments of embryo development have a measurable impact on a person’s future health and ageing, according to a new study from the University of Adelaide in South Australia. From the moment of conception, our cells begin to write the blueprint of our future. One key element in this script is the telomere — […]

Dutch researchers have worked out how much and how often sea level rose after the last ice age ended around 11,700 years ago. Their research reveals more about what to expect as earth’s glaciers and icecaps melt in the face of climate change. Oceans have risen by about 22cm since 1880, as a result of […]

In the modern world, we know good nutrition is essential for our health. Doctors in ancient Greece and Rome knew this too – in fact diet advice was a mainstay of medical practice and health routines. There were extensive and intricate discussions of how to regulate food and drink to stay healthy. Some of their […]

An extraordinary new 3D map of the universe has been made available to the public. A team using the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and a supercomputer to try to better understand the mysterious phenomenon known as dark energy, created the largest 3D map of the universe as part of this endeavour. And it has […]

Relatively good rainfall in Australia last year enabled the nation’s beleaguered fauna and flora to experience a short-term recovery, according to the latest state of the environment report. “Australia’s Environment 2024” (AER) scored a healthy-looking 7.7 out of 10, a fourth good year in a row. But environmental scientists describe this period as a “blip” […]

Complex language is something that sets humans apart from other animals. But when did this unique capacity for intricate communication emerge? Linguists have postulated that there may be an ancient language that sits at the root of all modern languages. This theory was strengthened in the 19th and 20th centuries with the discovery of links […]

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has released its State of the Global Climate 2024 report , confirming that key climate change indicators have once again reached record levels. The report galvanised climate scientists to again call for more urgent and coordinated global action to slow the emission of greenhouse gases. “I think I can speak […]

Now back on Earth thanks to Space X’s Dragon capsule, astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will be breathing fresh air again after a gruelling nine months onboard the International Space Station. Stranded in June 2024 after their experimental Boeing Starliner spacecraft malfunctioned and was deemed too risky to carry passengers back to Earth, their […]

Images of an embryo have for the first time been taken using cameras designed for making quantum measurements. Such techniques could be used to determine the success of treatments such as IVF. The research published in the journal APL Photonics explains how physicists used quantitative fluorescence microscopy –a digital camera that can count individual packets […]

Palaeontologists have discovered that volcanic deposits can turn the microscopic details of animal tissues into minerals – the first time this type of preservation has ever been seen. “The fossil record is continually surprising us, be it new fossil species, strange new body shapes, or in this case, new styles of fossil preservation,” says Maria […]

Iguanas are scattered across the Caribbean and Galápagos islands and throughout the tropical, subtropical and desert areas of North, Central and South America. How they managed to reach the isolated Fiji Islands, thousands of km away over the Pacific Ocean, has long puzzled scientists. New genetic analysis has now confirmed that their ancestors drifted a […]

Modern humans may have descended from at least two ancestral populations, which diverged 1.5 million years ago and then reconnected 300,000 years ago. Up until now, evidence has suggested that Homo sapiens descended from a single lineage, with some genetic mixing with two extinct human relatives (Neanderthals and Denisovans) around 50,000 years ago. But the […]