researchers

Bioengineers Have Modeled The Workings of The World’s Most Basic Synthetic Life Form

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Life is complicated. Even the smallest cells contain a mind-blowing assortment of chemical reactions that allow them to thrive in a chaotic landscape. If we want to know where to draw the line between life and bubbles of stale old organic soup, it helps to strip away the non-essential extras to expose the core components, … Read more

Researchers detect 1st merger between black holes with eccentric orbits

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Scientists have for the first time confirmed the merger of two highly eccentric black holes.  Egg-shaped eccentric orbits form when two black holes spiral towards each other and collide under each other’s strong gravitational influence. Therefore, highly eccentric orbits may suggest black holes repeatedly snack on other black holes in densely populated areas, like the … Read more

The World’s Massive Need For More Solar Panels Has One Shiny Catch

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There’s a major catch to the world’s need for solar panels, a new analysis suggests. The booming solar panel market – which is critical for a clean energy future – could demand close to half the world’s aluminum by 2050. Thankfully, there are ways we can mitigate this.    Unlike more precious metals, such as … Read more

Clinical-Grade Pig Kidney Transplanted Into Human Patient in Scientific First

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For only the second time ever – and the first involving a clinical-grade organ – a genetically modified pig kidney has successfully been transplanted into a brain-dead human body, in a milestone example of xenotransplantation.   Hundreds of thousands of people around the world are trapped in an agonizing wait for a lifesaving organ donation. But there are … Read more

We Have Breached The Safe Planetary Limit For Synthetic Chemicals, Scientists Warn

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From sea to land to sky, Earth’s systems are contaminated with synthetic substances, and scientists warn it has already pushed the integrity of our planet over the brink. Today, there are about 350,000 human-made chemicals on the market, including plastics, pesticides, industrial chemicals, cosmetic chemicals, antibiotics, and other drugs.   The fact this number continues … Read more

We’re Facing a Myopia ‘Epidemic’, Scientists Say. Here’s Why

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Scientists are warning of an emerging ‘epidemic‘ of myopia or near-sightedness, having observed sharp increases in the adult onset of myopia among late baby boomers. Based on data collected from 107,442 participants in the extensive Biobank program in the UK, people born in the late 1960s are 10 percent more likely to be near-sighted than … Read more

Beetle Larvae on US University Campus Found to Jump in a Completely Unknown Way

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While most of us avoid creepy-crawlies at all costs, entomologists – scientists who study insects – need to actively go looking for them. “My colleague noticed a dead tree in the middle of our university campus,” entomologist Adrian Smith from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences told ScienceAlert.   “If you’re an entomologist, when you … Read more

World’s Deepest Squid Discovered at Staggering Depth Under The Sea

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A team of researchers hunting for the wreck of a lost WWII destroyer ship in the Philippine Sea returned to land with another, perhaps even more exciting discovery: video evidence of the deepest-swimming squid ever recorded.   Cruising just above the floor of the Philippine Trench at a staggering 20,300 feet (6,200 meters) below the … Read more

The 6th Mass Extinction Really Has Begun, Scientists Warn in Newly Published Study

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The signs of death are everywhere, if you look. For years, scientists have rung the alarm bell, warning that grave declines in animal biodiversity around the globe herald the onset of what will be Earth’s sixth mass extinction.   Despite the looming weight of evidence to suggest this grim phenomenon is unfolding all around us, … Read more

Many People Seem Disgusted by The Thought of Eating Cultured Meat

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Cultured meat grown in a lab has the potential to be much more environmentally friendly than current practices in the agriculture industry, but a new study has revealed a looming problem: a lot of people really don’t like the idea of eating it.   We’re talking here about meat produced in the laboratory from real … Read more