A resonance effect can significantly affect how a three-atom molecule cools down when excited, RIKEN physicists have found. The study, published in Physical Review A, highlights the complexity of the relaxation dynamics of even simple molecules. ... Read full Story
A research team affiliated with UNIST announced the successful development of a novel semiconductor device that uses a new class of materials, known as altermagnetism. This breakthrough is expected to significantly advance the development of ultra-fast, energy-efficient AI semiconductor chips. ... Read full Story
A bionic knee that directly attaches to the thigh bone and uses implanted electrodes can make a prosthetic leg feel more like a part of the body, a new study finds. ... Read full Story
Fundamentalists don't necessarily examine evolution and then reject it; they tend to start with the conclusion that it must be false and work backwards. ... Read full Story
A groundbreaking trial in the U.K. has released data on eight babies born through a special IVF procedure to lower their risk of mitochondrial DNA disease. ... Read full Story
Twin orbs of superhot plasma at the Milky Way's center known as the "Fermi bubbles" contain inexplicable clouds of cold hydrogen, new research reveals. They could help scientists figure out when our galaxy's black hole last erupted. ... Read full Story
Household energy expenses will rise, as will greenhouse gas emissions, as a result of the Trump administration's One Big Beautiful Bill Act ... Read full Story
A new method turns noise into valuable data to enhance understanding of chemical reactions and material properties with unprecedented detail at the atomic level. The results of this research are now published in Nature. ... Read full Story
The first-known observations of matter–antimatter asymmetry in a decaying composite subatomic particle that belongs to the baryon class are reported from the LHCb experiment located at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. This effect, known as charge–parity (CP) violation, has been theoretically predicted, but hitherto escaped observation in baryons. The experimental verification of this asymmetry violation in baryons, published in Nature this week, is important as baryons make up most of the matter in the observable universe. ... Read full Story
The largest known Martian meteorite, NWA 16788, has been sold at auction for $5.3 million. The hefty chunk of the Red Planet, which weighs 54 pounds, could help unravel new secrets about Mars — if it's allowed to be studied. ... Read full Story
New pictures taken in Yukon, Canada, show a perfectly preserved fossil skull, which experts say belonged to a male, teenage horse that lived during the last ice age. ... Read full Story
Astrophotographers have snapped stunning shots of a giant shapeshifting solar prominence, dubbed "The Beast," which appeared over the sun's northeastern limb on July 12 and rained impossibly fast fire over our home star. ... Read full Story
New deep-brain-stimulation implants for Parkinson’s disease can listen in on brain waves and adapt to treat symptoms. Can this approach target other conditions? ... Read full Story
Scientists thought this crater in Australia was the world’s oldest — but an independent analysis shows they might be off by at least 800 million years. ... Read full Story
"The film was billed to me as an attempt to capture the real power and bumbling hubris of a bunch of arrogant and wealthy men ... who try to rewire the world and find themselves in way over their heads." — Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 30 May 2025
Did you know?
English picked up both the concept of hubris and the term for that particular brand of cockiness from the ancient Greeks, who considered hubris a dangerous character flaw capable of provoking the wrath of the gods. In classical Greek tragedy, hubris was often a fatal shortcoming that brought about the fall of the tragic hero. Typically, overconfidence led the hero to attempt to overstep the boundaries of human limitations and assume a godlike status; in response, the gods inevitably humbled the offender with a sharp reminder of human mortality. Take, for example, the story of Phaethon, a mortal son of the sun god Helios. In his hubris, Phaethon drives his father's sun chariot into the heavens but loses control of its horses. The chariot begins to scorch the earth, and Zeus strikes Phaethon down with a thunderbolt.