Everything from cells to stars to particles exists on the edge of chaos | New Scientist
Chaos is a key ingredient of the cosmos Allexxandar/imageBROKER/Shutterstock
As an undergraduate, to earn some extra cash, I spent my summer holidays working at a local pub in my home village (shout out Giggleswick). When punters heard that I was studying physics, a fair few of them divulged their own theories of how the universe really worked – scribbling on the back of napkins à la Richard Feynman.
AI's solution to 87-year-old riddle takes mathematicians by surprise | New Scientist
Levent Alpöge announced the solution on X levent via Twitter
A mathematician has cracked an 87-year-old conundrum with the help of AI and announced the solution unceremoniously in a tweet. The finding is the most difficult mathematical problem yet solved by AI, say experts.
Food labeling combined with higher prices for carbon-intensive foods could help reduce UK greenhouse gases by 5%
Economists say labeling supermarket food to show its environmental impact, combined with taxing the most carbon-intensive items, could slash UK greenhouse gas emissions by almost 5% while generating net gains for society.
A shattered asteroid may have bombarded Earth 800 million years ago
A violent collision in the main asteroid belt may have triggered a prolonged wave of impacts across the inner solar system about 800 million years ago, according to a study led by the Southwest Research Institute.
How human activities compromise coral health and resilience
Human activities are fundamentally altering the chemical makeup of coral reefs, according to a study led by the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa and published in Nature Communications. The research team discovered that 25 contaminants from agricultural, industrial and pharmaceutical sources accumulated in the soft tissues of corals around Maui, Hawai'i. Additionally, in areas affected by human activities, energy and nutrient availability within coral tissue decreases, making corals significantly less resilient to environmental stressors such as warmer or more acidic waters.
A scheme to verify gates of a quantum computer without examining devices
Quantum computers, systems that process information using the principles of quantum mechanics, could solve some problems that cannot be tackled by the classical computers currently used worldwide. Despite their potential, verifying that these computers are working correctly and can reliably perform computations remains challenging.
Aboriginal people harvested this native grass for millennia: Scientists find an odd trait in its DNA
by Michael Westaway, Jennifer Silcock, Rahul Chandora, Robert Henry, Sammi Blinco, Shawnee Gorringe, The Conversation
Seen from the air, Channel Country resembles a vibrant, vast tapestry, with a network of waterways crisscrossing the land. Spread across more than 280,000 square kilometers (108,000 square miles) in outback Australia, it is one of the world's last free-flowing desert river systems.
Australia's most diverse marsupial predators have been hiding their origins for millions of years
When you think of carnivorous marsupials, you probably picture the Tasmanian devil or perhaps a spotted-tailed quoll. But these famous predators are only the largest members of a remarkable family of marsupials called dasyurids.
India's private space industry shoots for the stars
Private companies are reshaping India's space ambitions, building rockets and satellites as the country pushes to capture a bigger share of the global space economy.
Supplement that binds to microplastics may remove them from our body | New Scientist
Microplastics are ubiquitous in our environment, but we’re still figuring out what effect they have on our health, if any watchwaterrr/Adobe Stock
A postbiotic may limit our absorption of microplastics, according to the first human trial of a microplastic-removal supplement. It uses the rough surface of dead bacteria to attract microplastics, preventing them from entering cells.