Breakthrough 3D interconnect architecture enables 10,000-qubit quantum processor
Scientists have announced that they have developed a breakthrough 3D interconnect solution that can increase the number of quantum bits (qubits) that a quantum computing chip can support by 100 times. A typical quantum computing processor (QPU) is built with two-dimensional horizontal wiring, similar to the central processing unit (CPU) in a classical device. However, […]
Winter Solstice 2025: The Ultimate Guide to the Shortest Day of the Year
When is winter? Forecasters in the Northern Hemisphere report what is known as meteorological winter from December 1st to the end of February. However, based on the Earth’s tilt and orbit around the sun, it will be from December 21, 2025 to March 20, 2026. This is an astronomical winter, beginning at the winter solstice, […]
A 1,700-year-old mosaic unearthed in Britain depicts the long-lost story of the Trojan War
A recently discovered Roman mosaic in Britain depicts a different and long-lost version of the most famous story of the Trojan War. This artifact, known as the Keton Mosaic, depicts a major conflict during the Trojan War. But this story is not based on Homer’s Iliad, the longest-told story, researchers report in a new study. […]
New research hints at a decades-old X-ray mystery in which two black holes took turns killing this star
About 3 billion years ago, an unlucky star got caught in a twisted tug of war between two massive black holes. And now we are witnessing the faint screams of X-rays emanating from this violent event. If confirmed, this could be the most distant episode of two black holes attacking a star ever observed. An […]
The Amazon rainforest is transitioning to a ‘subtropical’ climate – and the trees won’t tolerate it for long
The Amazon rainforest is inching toward a “subtropical” climate regime that has not existed on Earth for at least 10 million years, a new study suggests. Scientists predict that this regime could lead to more frequent and extreme droughts, leading to mass tree mortality. By 2100, the Amazon could experience hot droughts lasting 150 days […]
‘This is the most exciting discovery of my 40-year career’: Archaeologists find evidence that Neanderthals were making fires in Britain 400,000 years ago
Neanderthals were the world’s first innovators in fire technology, a small body of evidence from Britain suggests. Fragments of pyrite found at a more than 400,000-year-old site in Suffolk, eastern England, push back on archaeologists’ evidence of controlled fire-starting and suggest that significant human brain development began much earlier than previously thought. “We are a […]
Scientists develop new solid-state sodium-ion battery – they say it could make EVs cheaper and safer
A breakthrough battery technology could significantly improve the safety of batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs) and improve the stability of the energy grid, scientists say. Researchers have made a breakthrough during the development of solid-state sodium ion (Na ion) batteries. This battery could one day complement and replace the lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries used in […]
Russia’s Vezimiany volcano exploded on its own 69 years ago. It is now almost fully grown.
In late November, Russia’s restless volcano could erupt, sending a cloud of ash 10 kilometers into the sky and pushing the mountain closer to its original height. Vezimianny Volcano is a dramatic cone-shaped stratovolcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s far east. It self-destructed in 1956, but a 2020 study found that it had largely […]
New discoveries at Hadrian’s Wall are changing the picture of what life was like on the border of the Roman Empire
Two millennia ago, the Roman Empire reached the limits of its power in Britain. The island marked the northernmost border of the Roman Empire and the point at which the ancient superpower’s expansion came to a halt. The Romans launched several invasions and kept 10% of the entire army in the province but failed to […]
Diagnostic dilemma: Donor scratched by skunk, organ transplant infects man with rabies
Patient: Michigan man Symptoms: About five weeks after a man underwent a left kidney transplant at an Ohio hospital, he began experiencing tremors, leg weakness, urinary incontinence, and even confusion. What happened next: About a week after these initial symptoms appeared, the man was admitted to the hospital with additional health problems, including a fever […]