Headlines

Next-gen Mars helicopter rotor blades exceed Mach 1

The rotor blades that will carry NASA's next-generation helicopters to new Martian heights broke the sound barrier during March tests at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Data from the tests, which took place in a special chamber that can simulate

This strange planet pair shouldn’t exist, but it does

A bizarre planetary pairing 190 light-years away is challenging everything astronomers thought they knew about how worlds form. A “lonely” hot Jupiter — typically found without nearby companions — is sharing its system with a smaller mini-Neptune tucked even closer to the star,

Quantum metallurgy: Electron crystals deform and melt

In a process analogous to how solids melt into liquids, the electrons in many different metals form crystal-like patterns that can deform and melt, opening new pathways for neuromorphic computing and superconductors, University of Michigan Engineering researchers have found.

How missing information can misinform

Readers don't need false information to get the wrong idea. In the online attention economy, UC San Diego research finds that making science more clickable or shareable can help some readers learn more—but leaves many others with an incomplete understanding. The study is

Researchers combine five metals to build a better nanocrystal

A nanocrystal is an extraordinarily tiny piece of material—composed of anywhere from a few to a few thousand atoms—in which atoms are arranged in a precise, ordered structure. Think of it like taking a piece of gold and shrinking it down to the size of a few hundred atoms. It's

How cells 'back up' DNA replication to survive severe damage

Every time a cell divides, it must copy its DNA with extraordinary precision. But this process is constantly challenged by DNA damage. Among the most dangerous lesions are DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs), which chemically bind the two strands of DNA together and block the

How evolution sculpts the facial shapes of birds and mammals

Shapes of beaks and snouts come in an extraordinary range of forms, reflecting adaptations to different lifestyles and environments. Yet beneath this diversity lies a paradox: across birds and mammals, faces are built using deeply conserved developmental programs. So how does

Team steers electron spin ballistically in graphene

Researchers at The University of Manchester's National Graphene Institute have shown that electrons in ultra-clean graphene can be steered with high precision while keeping their spin information intact, a key requirement for future low-power electronics and quantum devices.