physics

Comparative display of traditional plastic items and their eco-friendly, biodegradable counterparts developed through predictive modeling. Top: conventional plastic products. Bottom: all-natural substitutes, demonstrating versatility in applications from packaging to consumer goods.Credit: Chen, T., Pang, Z., He, S. et al. Machine intelligence-accelerated discovery of all-natural plastic substitutes. Nat. Nanotechnol. (2024). 10.1038/s41565-024-01635-z The accumulation of plastic waste … Read more

Photograph of the photonically networked trapped-ion quantum processor server at the University of Oxford, Credits: David Nadlinger. Quantum computers, systems that process and store information leveraging quantum mechanical phenomena, could eventually outperform classical computers on numerous tasks. Among other things, these computers could allow researchers to tackle complex optimization problems, speed up drug discovery and … Read more

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland described a new rule on oil and gas projects on public lands as the most significant reform to the program ‘in decades’ Oil companies drilling on public lands must post larger bonds and pay higher royalties under a rule finalized Friday by the Biden administration. The bonding requirements for development increased … Read more

by Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Bloomberg News Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The U.S. set aside 23 million acres of Alaska’s North Slope to serve as an emergency oil supply a century ago. Now, President Joe Biden is moving to block oil and gas development across roughly half of it. The initiative, set to be finalized within … Read more

Workers of Leptanilla voldemort sp. nov. from Western Australia in ethanol. Credit: ZooKeys (2024). DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1197.114072 A study by The University of Western Australia has unearthed a new species of subterranean ant that shares some traits with a well-known Harry Potter villain. The research, published in Zookeys, describes the new species Leptanilla voldemort as a … Read more

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain When Alice Volpitta watched the video of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, and the trucks tumbling into the Patapsco River in the darkness, she thought first for the people who had fallen. And as her mind raced, the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper thought of the river. “What’s on that ship?” thought … Read more

Credit: AI-generated image The science fiction television series 3 Body Problem, the latest from the creators of HBO’s Game of Thrones, has become the most watched show on Netflix since its debut last month. Based on the bestselling book trilogy Remembrance of Earth’s Past by Chinese computer engineer and author Cixin Liu, 3 Body Problem … Read more

View of the XLS facility. The total length is 483.6 m. Credit: The European Physical Journal Special Topics (2024). DOI: 10.1140/epjs/s11734-023-01076-0 Many advances in structural science since the 1970s were made by probing materials with synchrotron radiation: that is, high energy X-rays generated through accelerating high-energy electrons. The latest generation of such sources, X-ray free electron … Read more

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The first nationally representative figures on the prevalence of sexual harassment across childhood reveal females and those who are gender or sexuality diverse are most at risk. The findings, based on data from the landmark Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS) of 8,503 Australians aged 16 years and older who were asked … Read more

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Many consumers who shop online prefer to return items to brick-and-mortar stores rather than mail them back. In a new study, researchers assessed a new practice called return partnership, in which online retailers partner with retailers with physical stores to offer offline returns. They conclude that this arrangement can benefit both … Read more