Physics Breakthrough as AI Successfully Controls Plasma in Nuclear Fusion Experiment

Successfully achieving nuclear fusion holds the promise of delivering a limitless, sustainable source of clean energy, but we can only realize this incredible dream if we can master the complex physics taking place inside the reactor.   For decades, scientists have been taking incremental steps towards this goal, but many challenges remain. One of the … Read more

‘Striking’ Expansion of Two Antarctic Flowering Plants Is a Climate Warning

Flowering plants in the Antarctic region are rapidly expanding, scientists say, indicating the continuing effects of climate change on the continent. The findings suggest we may have reached a tipping point in this fragile, remote ecosystem.   A new study of this plant expansion looked at the two flowering plants native to Antarctica, Deschampsia antarctica … Read more

Nearly 50% of US Bald Eagles Have Chronic Lead Poisoning, Heartbreaking Study Shows

It’s a common pattern during hunting season in the winter: Hunters shoot elk or deer, then eagles scavenge the waste.  That scavenged meal may have deadly consequences for eagles, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.   The researchers detected high rates of lead poisoning among the two most common types of eagles in … Read more

Scientists Convert Donor Lungs to Universal Blood Type in a Medical First

Patients can wait a long time for potentially life-saving lung transplants, since the need to find close matches complicates the process. One of the characteristics that need to be matched is patient and donor blood type.   Now new research shows that the blood type of some donated lungs could be altered before transplant, which … Read more

A Creepy, Exceptionally Rare ‘Ghost Shark’ Chimaera Has Been Found in The Pacific

Researchers have discovered an exceptionally rare, newly hatched “ghost shark” near New Zealand’s South Island, according to the country’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).   Translucent, gelatinous and crowned with a pair of giant black eyes on its pointed head, the alien-like baby likely belongs to one of the more than 50 … Read more

It Turns Out Species Can Go Extinct Twice… And The Second Time Is For Keeps

Species can actually go extinct more than once. In a biological sense, species become extinct when the last animal of a species stops breathing. But they can also become extinct a second time, researchers say.   When a species disappears from our collective memory and cultural knowledge, it becomes extinct in a different way. That second … Read more

The Biggest Galaxy Ever Found Has Just Been Discovered, And It Will Break Your Brain

Astronomers have just found an absolute monster of a galaxy. Lurking some 3 billion light-years away, Alcyoneus is a giant radio galaxy reaching 5 megaparsecs into space. That’s 16.3 million light-years long, and constitutes the largest known structure of galactic origin.   The discovery highlights our poor understanding of these colossi, and what drives their … Read more

The Main Reason People Avoid Fast Food May Not Be Unhealthiness, Study Finds

On any given day, about one in three adult Americans eats fast food. There are some problems associated with this. Lots of research suggests fast food isn’t good for you, and it’s been linked to the obesity epidemic affecting millions in the US, among a host of other issues related to health.   But according … Read more

We’ve Found The Part of The Brain That Helps Us Say Words How We Intend To

While it might feel as though we do it without thinking, getting words from our brain and out of our mouths in an intelligible way is actually an incredibly complex process – and scientists just made a new discovery about a key part of it.   Our brains are always adjusting what we’re saying based … Read more

Scientists Think They’ve Unlocked The Secret of Long-Term Lyme Disease Symptoms

Scientists may have discovered a new way of tackling the lingering, debilitating effects of Lyme disease, the tick-borne illness that can lead to flu-like symptoms and a rash called erythema migrans.   The latest research suggests that dead fragments of Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, continue to hang around in the body … Read more