It depends. Though water consumption by data centers pales in comparison to that of some other industries, it’s a problem in water-stressed regions. Water-saving cooling technologies could help The post How Much of a Problem is AI’s Water Use? appeared first on Nautilus .
NASA’s attempt to save the falling Swift telescope failed, revealing the realities of the burgeoning field of satellite servicing.
Researchers used AI to search through more than 100 million possible settings for 3D-printing a high-performance NASA alloy. After only 40 experiments, the system identified six successful configurations, including one that worked at a record-low 500 watts. That could allow
Astronomers have captured their clearest image yet of Betelgeuse’s long-suspected companion, potentially ending a search that lasted about 100 years. The surprisingly massive hidden star could help explain Betelgeuse’s changing brightness and may influence its future supernova.
Ancient teeth and human DNA are revealing a surprising history of insect eating. Modern humans in northern Eurasia appear to have eaten insects only occasionally, while Neanderthals may have consumed them much more regularly. Populations near the tropics also retained genes
The new space telescope will help astronomers unravel the mysteries of the universe The post NASA Has Begun the Countdown to the Launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope appeared first on Nautilus .
Ultra-processed foods make up a huge share of the American diet, and new research suggests they may carry another serious health risk for men. In a nationally representative study of more than 17,000 U.S. men, those who ate more ultra-processed foods, including soft drinks,
The belief that huge doses of vitamin C can ward off colds was popularized more than 50 years ago by Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling. Since then, larger studies have found that vitamin C does not prevent most people from catching a cold, although regularly taking it may make
Today’s mysterious gravitational-wave background may preserve clues about how the Universe’s first supermassive black holes formed. Descendants of hypothetical Dark Stars could be responsible for a major portion of the signal, offering a surprising new way to investigate cosmic
Spirals, ellipticals, irregulars, oh my!
Scientists have found a surprising way to potentially switch on an unusual form of magnetism in ruthenium dioxide, a material that normally appears nonmagnetic. When the material was made into an ultrathin film only a few atomic layers thick and placed under strain, its
Ancient fossils suggest insects conquered land through a long amphibious phase rather than making an abrupt jump from water to dry ground. A newly identified 324-million-year-old species still carried paddle-like abdominal limbs, revealing an evolutionary bridge between aquatic
Scientists created smart nanoparticles that can both illuminate hidden glioblastoma cells during surgery and destroy microscopic cancer left behind afterward. In mice, the treatment prevented recurrence and led to 100% survival at 60 days, though it has not yet been tested in
Researchers discovered a brain-based “brake” that can shut down chronic nerve pain in mice by calming an overactive pain circuit. Targeting this system more precisely could one day lead to powerful pain relief without affecting opioid receptors throughout the entire body.
A magnetar with an astonishingly powerful magnetic field may have revealed a quantum effect predicted by Werner Heisenberg nearly 90 years ago. Its light shows signs that supposedly empty space is altering how the light travels, potentially providing the first evidence of
Doubts about the standard model of cosmology are deepening after a new study identified fundamental problems in a recent analysis that defended the conventional view that the universe is currently undergoing accelerated expansion driven by dark energy.
For centuries, scientists have been fascinated by the remarkable coordinated movements of flocking birds, swarming insects and schooling fish. Researchers have studied these natural phenomena to understand the rules of interactions between individuals that can produce complex
NASA has successfully tested a system that allows satellites to navigate without GPS by using other spacecraft and debris as landmarks in orbit. In just three days, FALCON also improved the known orbits of more than 200 space objects completely autonomously.
Scientists have been hard at work for more than 20 years to instruct biological systems, such as E. coli cells, to produce proteins they don't naturally produce. Success could mean faster, cheaper, more innovative solutions for medicine, agriculture, materials science,
In micro- and nanotechnology, highly precise components with tall, narrow structures (high aspect ratios) made from semiconductor materials like silicon are important. A promising fabrication method is gas-phase metal-assisted chemical etching (MacEtch). In this plasma-free
An interdisciplinary team of researchers has developed and demonstrated a step-by-step framework called Socratic Challenger that uses artificial intelligence to help undergraduate students cultivate critical thinking skills. Specifically, the framework uses AI as a collaborator
Bees are the most important pollinators of flowering plants, and approximately 10% of flowering plants are functionally specialized for buzz pollination. Buzz pollination is a mechanism in which pollen can be extracted from flowers only through the application of mechanical
Electrically charged raindrops, a naturally occurring phenomenon, can break down surfaces treated with protective coatings, according to new research published in Nature. This previously overlooked corrosion mechanism highlights the need for a new method of preserving metal
The reappearance of Budapest's "Rock of Starvation" is a visible sign of a drought months in the making. IIASA researchers have traced its progression from missing rainfall and parched soils to exceptionally low flows across the Danube basin.
While quantum computing could be the future, it is currently plagued by finicky hardware. To make the technology practical, researchers must demonstrate that it consistently and continuously works and performs at scale. In a new study, published in Physical Review Letters,
All the forests in the world pale in comparison to the ocean when it comes to absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The ocean is the world's largest natural carbon sink, absorbing about a quarter of all CO2 emissions every year (and most of the excess heat trapped in
Imagine the Western Plains of North America, from Texas to Alaska, submerged under a broad, shallow seaway. To the west lay the ancestral Rocky Mountains. To the east were low-lying plains traversed by large, sluggish rivers.
Green spaces could play a key role in helping cities cope with the effects of climate change, yet they still play only a minor role in climate strategies. These were the findings of researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and Justus Liebig University
Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Oulu have produced the first chromosome-level reference genome for the Saimaa ringed seal. The sequence of every chromosome in the seal's entire genome has now been read and assembled into virtual maps,
Artificial intelligence is often discussed with a simple safeguard in mind: Keep a human in the loop. But what happens when AI is already shaping the information, options and recommendations that inform a decision?
As climate change drives more frequent and intense heat waves, plants face growing challenges to survive and remain productive. Researchers at VIB, Ghent University, KU Leuven and their international collaborators have uncovered an evolutionary innovation that helps plants cope
But their dental hygiene may leave something to be desired The post The Kitchen of the Realm: Even the Commoners Ate Well in Ancient Osaka appeared first on Nautilus .
When a cell gets ready to divide, it shuts down its gene-reading machinery almost entirely. For decades, the mechanism behind that shutdown was only partially understood. A new study co-led by Alarcón and Lilian Kabeche, associate professor of molecular biophysics and
Everyone shares a similar moral compass about right and wrong, but where liberals and conservatives disagree is over who counts as a victim, according to new research from the University at Buffalo School of Management.
Australia's lizards and snakes are facing a far more precarious future than previously understood, with a new review led by Monash University researchers revealing that around 127 species, or just over 13% of Australia's terrestrial lizards and snakes, are now likely to be
Scientists have identified an unexpected source of genetic variation in human sperm that occurs earlier in sperm development than previously thought. Published in Nature, researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Cambridge and their collaborators found
Machine learning doesn't replace human intelligence, but it can outlast human endurance, which makes it a helpful tool for chemistry and materials discovery. Scientists know machine learning models can make predictions based on the vast reams of data they are trained on, but
Universities and biodiversity institutes have hidden treasures: their collections of pressed plant specimens. These plants have been flattened, dried and mounted on special cardboard sheets. Some were collected centuries ago. They hold information about where species occur and
Spreading finely crushed basalt across farmland has been promoted as a relatively simple way to remove large quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But a new study led by Cornell researchers suggests the real-world potential of this method, known as enhanced
Cooperation is a double-edged sword The post How We Decide Who Deserves Our Help appeared first on Nautilus .
Researchers have discovered a thermal asymmetry deep beneath the surface across Mars' southern hemisphere. Based on gravitational measurements that provide clues to the Red Planet's interior structure, Mars' southern interior is around 200 to 400 degrees Celsius warmer than the
Florida gets a lot of attention for its sinkholes, especially when they swallow cars and entire houses. But its sinkhole risk has nothing on Alaska's.
Researchers affiliated with UTHealth Houston, competing under the team name Novamab AI, placed among the top five teams in the international AIntibody Challenge, a blinded, prospective benchmark published in Nature Biotechnology.
Water stored in dams and reservoirs for humans to use often evaporates, especially in hot regions like southern Africa. Rising temperatures speed up evaporation, leaving less water for people, farming and industry. Daniel Kwasi Kpeglo has just completed a Ph.D. in physics. He
A pair of new studies point to the role of early menopause and hormone treatment in cognitive decline, but more research is needed, experts say
An international study led by researchers at the George Washington University indicates clear global evidence that permafrost is thawing across much of the planet. Using more than two decades of field observations from 156 monitoring sites across the Arctic, Antarctic and
Artificial intelligence could help evaluate climate protection projects more effectively and channel funding more precisely to where it is needed. Nevertheless, banks and insurance companies in Ghana have so far made very little use of the technology. A new study conducted at
The majority of plant seeds have the special ability to almost completely dry out and yet remain viable. While most living cells die with a 90% loss of water, cells in seeds enter a biological state of dormancy. With a moisture content of less than 10%—similar to a raisin
Restless nights may be the new normal as the globe cooks The post How the Heat is Messing with Your Sleep appeared first on Nautilus .
The use of fossil fuels alters both the concentration and the carbon isotope composition of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Since surface water exchanges carbon dioxide with the atmosphere, this also alters the isotopic composition of the carbon dissolved in the ocean. In a
