major

Fusion Power Experiment in The UK Smashes Its Old Record in Major Step Forward

by

Late last century, the Joint European Torus (JET) near Oxford, UK, churned out 22 megajoules of energy in what was, at the time, a record in fusion power. Now, experimental upgrades have brought the facility into line with the technology anticipated for a major international project, resulting in the production of nearly three times that … Read more

We Just Got a Major Clue on How CGRP Contributes to Migraine in Our Nerve Cells

by

In the last few years, the deeply frustrating medical area of chronic migraine prevention has been revolutionized thanks to the discovery that a protein called calcitonin gene-related peptide, or CGRP, plays a role in the condition.   While several drugs containing antibodies that block or bind the protein have now entered the market and are helping … Read more

U.S. Project Reaches Major Milestone toward Practical Fusion Power

by

Nuclear fusion could potentially provide abundant, safe energy without the significant production of greenhouse gas emissions or nuclear waste. But it has remained frustratingly elusive as a practical technology for decades. An important milestone toward that goal has now been passed: a fusion reaction that derives most of its heat from its nuclear reactions themselves … Read more

Bat evolution: Subtle change to inner ear bone distinguishes two major groups

by

The two major groups of bats diverged tens of millions of years ago, and the main difference between them lies in a tiny inner ear bone Life 26 January 2022 By Michael Marshall The common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) belongs to the Yangochiroptera group of bats David Cole/Alamy Stock Photo A single bone in the inner … Read more

1 billion seconds in space! NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope surpasses major milestone

by

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has reached a major milestone: one billion seconds in the final frontier. The famous observatory launched on April 24, 1990, aboard the space shuttle Discovery. Hubble was deployed into orbit the following day, beginning its mission to explore the vast universe, including distant galaxies, supernovas, nebulas and exoplanets. On Jan. 1, … Read more

China’s ‘Artificial Sun’ Just Broke a Major World Record For Plasma Fusion

by

Just seven months after it announced a milestone record for plasma fusion, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has absolutely smashed it. Their ‘artificial Sun’ tokomak reactor is has maintained a roiling loop of plasma superheated to 120 million degrees Celsius (216 million degrees Fahrenheit) for a gobsmacking 1,056 seconds, the Institute of Plasma Physics reports.   … Read more

James Webb Space Telescope unfurls massive sunshield in major deployment milestone

by

One of the James Webb Space Telescope’s most nail-biting deployment steps is safely in the books. The $10 billion observatory unfurled its huge sunshield on Friday (Dec. 31), carefully unfolding the five-layer structure by sequentially deploying two booms. “Shine bright like a diamond. With the successful deployment of our right sunshield mid-boom, or ‘arm,’ Webb’s … Read more

There Was a Major Unexpected Benefit to James Webb’s Christmas Launch

by

After a detailed analysis of where the James Webb Space Telescope is now (29 December 2021) and how it got there, NASA determined the observatory should have enough propellant to operate in space for significantly more than 10 years in space.   Webb’s mission lifetime was designed to be at least 5-1/2 years, and mission … Read more

Biggest science news of 2021: Jian-Wei Pan leads China’s quantum computing mission to two major quantum supremacy successes

by

In July, the University of Science and Technology of China announced it had surpassed Google’s claimed quantum supremacy achievement. China’s ambitious quantum computing efforts are all under the oversight of one man, Jian-Wei Pan Technology 15 December 2021 By Matthew Sparkes Xinhua/Alamy GOVERNMENTS and companies around the world are racing to build a useful quantum … Read more

The major science-fiction films that get botany spectacularly wrong

by

By James Wong Michelle D’urbano WHAT with everything that has happened this year, I have found myself at home watching the box more often than usual. That was especially true recently when I was laid up in bed for three weeks with covid-19. I spent my time largely watching my favourite genre of film: science … Read more