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The most popular blog posts about science & space on Hacker News. 2,419 posts.
by Gemma Reguera — For over a century, microbiologists have been using growth media solidified with agar to culture microbes from environmental samples. Individual cells are easily separated on th…
Occupational factors associated with higher sperm concentrations and serum testosterone
50 years ago, the total fertility rate was five. This figure has more than halved. Yet the global population is still rising — why?
Living at high altitude reduces risk of dying from heart disease: Low oxygen may spur genes to create blood vessels. Summary: Researchers have found that people living at higher altitudes have a lower chance of dying from heart disease and live longer. Jeanne and I live at 8,400 feet (2.560 meters)
Essentialism—what I’ve called "the tyranny of the discontinuous mind"—stems from Plato, with his characteristically Greek geometer’s view of things. For Plato, a circle, or a right triangle, were ideal forms, definable mathematically but never realised in practice. A circle drawn in the sand was an imperfect…
IBM kicked off the IBM Quantum Summit 2022, announcing new breakthrough advancements in quantum hardware and software and outlining its pioneering vision for quantum-centric supercomputing.
Neurons might contain something incredible within them.
UC San Diego researchers have discovered the root cause of why lithium metal batteries fail, challenging a long-held belief in the field. The study presents new ways to boost battery performance and brings research a step closer to incorporating lithium anodes into rechargeable batteries.
An MIT study suggests our brains are not optimized to calculate the shortest possible route when navigating on foot. Instead, pedestrians use vector-based navigation, choosing “pointiest” paths that point most directly toward their destination, even if the routes are longer.
This week, the Axion Dark Matter Experiment (ADMX) announced that it has achieved the necessary sensitivity to “hear” the telltale signs of dark matter axions.
ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) has successfully completed a world-first lunar-Earth flyby, using the gravity of Earth to send it Venus-bound, on a shortcut to Jupiter through the inner Solar System.
PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University physicists have created a fluid with negative mass, which is exactly what it sounds like. Push it, and unlike every physical object in the world we know, it doesn’t accelerate in the direction it was pushed. It accelerates backwards.
MIT researchers designed a self-powering, battery-free, energy-harvesting sensor. Using the framework they developed, they produced a temperature sensor that can harvest and store the energy from the magnetic field that exists in the open air around a wire.
MIT scientists built a 3D atlas of the ocean’s oxygen-starved waters that could help predict oceanic response to climate change.
After a major metamaterials breakthrough, David Smith learned how to turn promising research into real-world applications.
American Chemical Society: Chemistry for Life.
MIT physicists have developed a faster way to make Bose-Einstein condensates, to speed up investigations into magnetism and superconductivity.
EPFL researchers have succeeded in directing floating objects around an aquatic obstacle course using only soundwaves. Their novel, optics-inspired method holds great promise for biomedical applications such as noninvasive targeted drug delivery.
Gel-based audio speaker demonstrates capabilities of ionic conductors, long thought limited in application
The brain’s sensitivity to rewarding experiences — a critical factor in motivation and attention — can be shaped by socioeconomic conditions, according to an MIT study.
Dr Judith Brown is our Head of Autism Knowledge and Expertise. In this blog, she explains why our charity is updating our advice and guidance to state definitively that autism is genetic.
The reaction generates amino acids and orotic acid, the building blocks of proteins and DNA.
Founded by polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk, the Salk Institute is an independent, nonprofit organization. We drive foundational, risk-taking research that addresses society’s most pressing challenges, including cancer, Alzheimer’s, and agricultural resilience.
Grâce au dernier catalogue du satellite Gaia de l'ESA, une équipe internationale, conduite par des astronomes de l'Observatoire de Paris - PSL et du CNRS, obtient la mesure la plus précise de la…
Research links creativity with inability to filter irrelevant sensory information
Humans communicate with one another using a dazzling array of languages, each differing from the next in innumerable ways. Do the languages we speak shape the way we see the world, the way we think, and the way we live our lives? Do people who speak different languages think differently simply because they speak…
Philips announces digital pathology scanner with native, configurable DICOM JPEG and JPEG XL output in world first
