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Fusion power may never happen if we don't fix the lithium bottleneck

5 June 2025

Nuclear fusion power will probably require vast quantities of enriched lithium – but we aren’t making nearly enough, and ramping up production will mean using toxic mercury

We've figured out how our brains sort imagination from reality

5 June 2025

Two brain regions seem to work together to determine whether we are seeing something real, or merely a product of our imaginations - and understanding them further may help treat visual hallucinations

Worms team up to form tentacles when they want to go places

5 June 2025

Thousands of tiny nematode worms can join up to form tentacle-like towers that can straddle large gaps or hitch rides on larger animals

Ancient humans evolved to be better teachers as technology advanced

5 June 2025

As our ancestors developed more advanced tools and cultural practices, they also developed new ways of explaining concepts to others – culminating in the emergence of complex language

DGYATR 5503. PART OF THE ISAIAH SCROLL, THE LONGEST AND OLDEST (C. 100 B.C.) OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS FOUND IN QUMRAN.

Dead Sea Scrolls analysis may force rethink of ancient Jewish history

4 June 2025

Thanks to AI and modern carbon dating techniques, we have a new understanding of when the Dead Sea Scrolls were written – which could revise the story of Judea

The eye is first drawn, in this new NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope Picture of the Month, to the central mega-monster that is galaxy cluster Abell S1063. This behemoth collection of galaxies, lying 4.5 billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Grus (the Crane), dominates the scene. Looking more closely, this dense collection of heavy galaxies is surrounded by glowing streaks of light, and these warped arcs are the true object of scientists??? interest: faint galaxies from the Universe???s distant past. Abell S1063 was previously observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope???s Frontier Fields programme. It is a strong gravitational lens: the galaxy cluster is so massive that the light of distant galaxies aligned behind it is bent around it, creating the warped arcs that we see here. Like a glass lens, it focuses the light from these faraway galaxies. The resulting images, albeit distorted, are both bright and magnified ??? enough to be observed and studied. This was the aim of Hubble???s observations, using the galaxy cluster as a magnifying glass to investigate the early Universe. The new imagery from Webb???s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) takes this quest even further back in time. This image showcases an incredible forest of lensing arcs around Abell S1063, which reveal distorted background galaxies at a range of cosmic distances, along with a multitude of faint galaxies and previously unseen features. This image is what???s known as a deep field ??? a long exposure of a single area of the sky, collecting as much light as possible to draw out the most faint and distant galaxies that don???t appear in ordinary images. With 9 separate snapshots of different near-infrared wavelengths of light, totalling around 120 hours of observing time and aided by the magnifying effect of gravitational lensing, this is Webb???s deepest gaze on a single target to date. Focusing such observing power on a massive gravitational lens, like Abell S1063, therefore h

Peer into the early universe as light bends around huge galaxy cluster

4 June 2025

Abell S1063 is so massive that the light from distant galaxies bends around it, allowing it to act as a magnifying glass to the early universe

Rivers are leaking ancient carbon back into the atmosphere

4 June 2025

Carbon stored in landscapes for thousands of years is leaching back into the atmosphere via rivers, and human activity may be to blame

Massaging the neck and face may help flush waste out of the brain

4 June 2025

The glymphatic system flushes out waste products from the brain – now scientists have found a way to boost it in mice, which could open treatment possibilities for neurodegenerative diseases

Quantum computers are on the edge of revealing new particle physics

4 June 2025

Computer simulations of high-energy particles are pushing the boundaries of what we can learn about the interactions that happen inside particle colliders

Adhesive made from wood works in a standard glue gun

4 June 2025

Most widely used adhesives are toxic and derived from petroleum, but researchers have come up with a safe, recyclable alternative made from xylan, a component of plant cell walls