Technology

A research team has discovered a small planet that displays peculiar orbital motion. The shimmying planet, located 455 light-years from Earth, shows that planetary systems can be considerably more complex than researchers have previously thought. A research team led by Lund University in Sweden has discovered a small planet that displays peculiar orbital motion. The

Electric vehicle charging stations bring spending increases for nearby businesses, according to a new study. Charging stations for electric vehicles are essential for cleaning up the transportation sector. A new study by MIT researchers suggests they're good for business, too. The study found that, in California, opening a charging station boosted annual spending at each

Chemists have found a novel glass-forming liquid electrolyte that exhibits specific lithium-ion conduction. They study the speciation and dipole reorientation dynamics in the glass-forming liquid electrolyte by means of Raman and dielectric relaxation spectroscopy to understand the specific lithium-ion conduction, contributing to advancements in battery electrolyte research. As the world shifts towards a more sustainable

A team has created a machine-learning algorithm that can detect up to 94% of bogus academic papers -- nearly twice as successfully as more common data-mining techniques. When ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence can produce scientific articles that look real -- especially to someone outside that field of research -- what's the best way

Bioengineers developed a road map for the protein-protein interactions that give rise to gas vesicles, naturally occurring nanobubbles with potential use in biomedical applications. As far as water gear goes, floaties are not exactly high tech. But the tiny air-filled bubbles some microorganisms use as flotation devices when they compete for light on the water

A research group has developed a safe, cost-effective, and environmentally-friendly method to synthesize sulfonyl fluorides. By reacting thiols and disulfides with SHC5 and potassium fluoride, they achieved a green synthesis process with non-toxic by-products. This method simplifies the production of sulfonyl fluorides, making it suitable for chemical and industrial applications, aligning with Sustainable Development Goals.

An electrooxidation process efficiently converts glycerol, a byproduct of biodiesel production, into high-value three-carbon compounds. An electrochemical process developed by researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), using sodium borate and a nickel-oxide catalyst, offers a promising solution for the valorization of glycerol, a low-value byproduct of biodiesel production. By manipulating borate-glycerol complex formation

In creating a pair of new robots, researchers cultivated an unlikely component, one found on the forest floor: fungal mycelia. By harnessing mycelia's innate electrical signals, the researchers discovered a new way of controlling 'biohybrid' robots that can potentially react to their environment better than their purely synthetic counterparts. Building a robot takes time, technical

It's 7 billion years ago, and the universe's heyday of star formation is beginning to slow. What might our Milky Way galaxy have looked like at that time? Astronomers have found clues in the form of a cosmic question mark, the result of a rare alignment across light-years of space. It's 7 billion years ago

Nuclear clocks would measure time based on changes inside an atom's nucleus, which would make them less sensitive to external disturbances and potentially more accurate than atomic clocks. These clocks could lead to improved timekeeping and navigation, faster internet speeds, and advances in fundamental physics research. Scientists have demonstrated key components of a nuclear clock

Rain and water in ponds and lakes slowly seeps into the soil, moving through minute cracks to refill underground aquifers. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often described as forever chemicals, can tag along into groundwater that's later removed for drinking. Researchers analyzed water from over 100 wells in Denmark for one particularly persistent PFAS: trifluoroacetate.

A new study shines a light on the enormous scale of uncollected rubbish and open burning of plastic waste in the first ever global plastics pollution inventory. Researchers used A.I. to model waste management in more than 50,000 municipalities around the world. This model allowed the team to predict how much waste was generated globally