1021
Students invent quieter leaf blower
Patent-pending design by Hopkins undergrads could be available in stores within two years
New
The latest blog posts to take off on Hacker News. 4,455 posts.
1022
Earth rotation limits in-body image stabilization to 6.3 stops (2020)
In 2016, Olympus Camera made some buzz in the photo world when they claimed that their new camera was capable of an impressive 6.5 stops of stabilization and that the limiting factor was in fact th…
1023
Three of the oldest stars in the universe found circling the Milky Way
MIT astronomers discovered three of the oldest stars in the universe, and they live in our own galactic neighborhood. The stars are in the Milky Way’s “halo” — the cloud of stars that envelopes the entire main galactic disk — and they appear to have formed between 12 and 13 billion years ago, when the very first…
1024
Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic
It's unsafe and probably ineffective
1025
Fastest rate of natural carbon dioxide rise over the last 50k years
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Today’s rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide increase is 10 times faster than at any other point in the past 50,000 years, researchers have found through a detailed chemical analysis of ancient Antarctic ice. The findings, just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provide…
1026
Sir, there's a cat in your mirror dimension
Pets do the darndest things, especially if you teach them a bit of math.
1027
New work extends the thermodynamic theory of computation
In a paper published in Physical Review X on May 13, a quartet of physicists and computer scientists expand the modern theory of the thermodynamics of computation. By combining approaches from statistical physics and computer science, the researchers introduce mathematical equations that reveal the minimum and maximum…
1028
New gel breaks down alcohol in the body
Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a protein-based gel that breaks down alcohol in the gastrointestinal tract without harming the body. In the future, people who take the gel could reduce the harmful and intoxicating effects of alcohol.
1029
A review on protein language models
Protein “language” is a lot like human language. Given the similarities, researchers have been building and training language models on protein sequence data, replicating the success seen in other domains, with profound implications. In this post, I will explore how transformer models have been applied to protein data…
1030
New mRNA cancer vaccine triggers immune response to malignant brain tumor
In a first-ever human clinical trial of four adult patients, an mRNA cancer vaccine developed at the University of Florida quickly reprogrammed the immune…
1031
Brain Uses Quantum Effects, New Study Finds [video]
Science News, Physics, Science, Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
1032
Ancient Egyptian Stone-Drilling (1983)
<p>More than most technical procedures in the ancient world, drilling of hard stone such as quartz and granite has evoked […]</p>
1033
Jim Simons has died
It is with great sadness that the Simons Foundation announces the death of its co-founder and chair emeritus, James Harris Simons, on May 10, 2024, at the age of 86, in New York City. Jim (as he…
1034
The world has probably passed peak pollution
Millions die prematurely from local air pollution, but we can reduce this number significantly.
1035
How bad are satellite megaconstellations for astronomy?
Over the last number of years, our planet has become encircled by Starlink, OneWeb, and other “megaconstellation” satellites.
1036
AlphaFold 3 predicts the structure and interactions of life's molecules
Our new AI model AlphaFold 3 can predict the structure and interactions of all life’s molecules with unprecedented accuracy.
1037
Sound-suppressing silk can create quiet spaces
MIT researchers developed a silk fabric, which is barely thicker than a human hair, that can suppress unwanted noise and reduce noise transmission in a large room.
1038
Cold brew coffee in 3 minutes using acoustic cavitation
UNSW Sydney engineers have utilised sound waves to cut the time it takes to make a cold brew coffee from many hours down to mere minutes.
1039
The Mirror Fusion Test Facility (2023)
A decade-long effort to build a machine to unlock the promise of nuclear fusion fell victim to budget constraints and competing science, and was shut down the day it was dedicated. It was never turned on.
1040
1041
Georgia Tech, Meta create open dataset to advance solutions for carbon capture
To avoid catastrophic climate impacts, excessive carbon emissions must be addressed. At this point, cutting emissions isn’t enough. Direct air capture, a technology that pulls carbon dioxide out of ambient air, has great potential to help solve the problem.
1042
Building a rocket engine from scratch
How I learned to stop worrying and love the burn.
1043
Gene banks aren’t enough to save the world’s food
Why gene banks aren’t enough to save the world’s food
1044
1045
Enzymes open new path to universal donor blood
Researchers at DTU and Lund University have discovered enzymes that remove hindrances that stood in the way of developing universal donor blood.
1046
Webb captures iconic Horsehead Nebula in unprecedented detail
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured the sharpest infrared images to date of one of the most distinctive objects in our skies, the Horsehead Nebula. These observations show a part of the iconic nebula in a whole new light, capturing its complexity with unprecedented spatial resolution.
1047
Atomic nucleus excited with laser: A breakthrough after decades
The "thorium transition", which physicists have been looking for for decades, has now been excited for the first time with lasers. This paves the way for revolutionary high precision technologies, including nuclear clocks.
1048
The unstallable plane that stalled
The Cessna 185 Skywagon is a high wing, single engine aircraft: basically a Cessna 180 with six seats, a strengthened fuselage and a slightly more powerful engine. It’s a popular aircraft in remote…
1049
How to prevent Lyme disease this summer
The risk of Lyme disease has increased due to climate change and warmer temperature. A rheumatologist offers advice on how to best avoid ticks while going outdoors.
1050
Carl Sagan, nuking the moon, and not nuking the moon
Most of us go about our lives comforted by the thought “I would never drop a nuclear weapon on the moon.” The truth is that given a lot of power, a nuclear weapon, and a lot of extremely specific c…