Israeli missile strikes destroyed four oil depots and a gasoline logistics site in Tehran, killing six and sending thick black smoke into the sky. The resulting acidic black rain, which the Red Crescent Society warned could cause chemical burns and lung damage, has compounded Tehran's existing environmental crises.
Denmark's wind turbines generated 116% of national electricity demand, rising to 140% by 3am Friday, according to grid operator Energinet. Surplus power was shared with Germany, Norway, and Sweden via interconnectors, with most stored in hydropower systems. An industry official says Denmark could reach 50% renewable electricity before its 2020 target.
Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have achieved the first on-line refueling of a thorium-powered molten salt reactor in the Gobi Desert, following full-power operation last June. The two-megawatt research unit advances thorium's potential as a less weaponizable alternative to uranium, building on public U.S. research from the 1940s and 50s.
University of Florida researchers used gold and light-driven crystal growth to produce high-yield gold nanoprisms, a first for plasmonic synthesis. The method replaces silver, which limits biomedical use, and relies on PVP and low-power visible light.
An international team led by Rutgers associate professor Blakesley Burkhart discovered Eos, a crescent-shaped molecular hydrogen cloud about 300 light-years away at the edge of the Local Bubble, using far-ultraviolet spectroscopy. The finding, detailed in a paper to be published in Nature Astronomy, offers a new way to directly measure how molecular clouds form and dissociate, with implications for understanding star and planet formation.
A minutephysics video explains how quantum teleportation relies on entanglement to transmit a quantum state from one particle to another. Scientists have transported a single photon or electron about 100km, though the technique remains far from moving large objects. The explanation is linked to recent work on direct counterfactual quantum communication using the Zeno effect.
A University of Ottawa team led by Andrew Pelling found that Irish soda bread, after sterilization and chemical treatment, can support the growth of human muscle, skin, and bone cells. The preprint study suggests bread could replace costly collagen scaffolds, potentially lowering costs for medical treatments and lab-grown meat, though viability remains unproven.
An international team reports in Nature that 'dark points' within light waves can move faster than light without violating relativity, confirming a 1978 prediction by Michael Berry. The finding, captured with a modified electron microscope, advances microscopy rather than enabling faster-than-light travel.
Newly released Pentagon hazard reports describe unidentified aerial phenomena encountered by US Navy pilots, including a 2014 object about the size of a suitcase and a 2013 object with an approximately 5-foot wingspan. The reports follow the Department of Defense's formal release of three unclassified UFO videos.
The French army's École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr used Boston Dynamics' Spot robot in a two-day combat training exercise, where it reportedly ran out of power and had to be carried. Boston Dynamics initially said it was unaware of the specific exercise, then clarified it knew the French military was testing Spot, raising questions about oversight of military robot deployments.
Northrop Grumman has released a photo of the Manta Ray, a full-size uncrewed underwater vehicle prototype developed under a 2020 DARPA contract. The autonomous glider can operate long-range without human logistics, but its exact military purpose remains undisclosed.
A study in the Journal for Industrial Ecology found that Swedish men's consumer spending caused 16 percent more carbon emissions than women's, despite spending only 2 percent more money. The gap is driven largely by men's higher spending on cars, fuel, and meat. Researchers suggest policies targeting men's transportation and dietary habits could help reduce emissions.
Boston-based NVBOTS has developed a 3D printing method that uses up to 21 metals in a single job, positioning it as an alternative to traditional casting for small stainless-steel and titanium parts. The technology remains in development and can currently produce only small components.
Scientists reported the discovery of 300,000-year-old Homo sapiens remains in Morocco on Wednesday. The fossils push back the earliest known human date by 105,000 years and suggest our species evolved across Africa rather than in a single East African cradle.
Researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and University College London have developed a new theory of molecular evolution that applies statistical mechanics to protein evolution. The model predicts evolutionary rates based on biochemical properties, with population genetics factors dropping out of the final equations.
A new study in Geophysical Research Letters suggests increased snowfall in East Antarctica may reduce ice melt and potentially slow sea level rise. However, scientists not involved in the research caution that snowfall can also accelerate ice loss, leaving the net effect uncertain.
A team of 10 drilling personnel and roughly 17 tons of gear reached Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier on Monday, according to The New York Times, which embedded with the expedition. They aim to install instruments in ocean water half a mile below the ice to collect temperature data, but must leave by Feb. 7 when their ship departs.
A study in Science Advances finds six of nine planetary boundaries—including climate change and biosphere integrity—have been breached, placing Earth outside the safe operating space for humanity. The ozone layer remains within healthy limits, showing that collective action can reverse damage.
Physicists at Barcelona's Institute of Photonic Sciences have built a virus-sized glass bead that floats in a vacuum chamber on a focused infrared laser beam and can measure masses as small as a single molecule. The team says the device could also detect high-frequency gravitational waves and, potentially, dark matter, though that remains unproven.