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1 week ago | 
phys.org | Sanjukta Mondal |Andrew Zinin
Beneath the surface of present-day western Honduras lie the ruins of Copán—an archaeological site that once stood as a vital city in the classic Maya world, situated at the crossroads between Central and South America.
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1 week ago | 
phys.org | Sanjukta Mondal |Sadie Harley |Robert Egan
Life on Earth possesses an exceptional ability to self-reproduce, which, even on a simple cellular level, is driven by complex biochemistry. But can self-reproduction exist in a biochemistry-free environment? A study by researchers from Harvard University demonstrated that the answer is yes.
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1 week ago | 
phys.org | Sanjukta Mondal |Sadie Harley |Robert Egan
The origin of lithium (Li), the third element of the periodic table, has long been shrouded in mystery. This element, commonly found in cosmic rays as two stable isotopes, 6Li and 7Li, is crucial to understanding the origins of the universe and the evolution of its chemical elements.
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1 week ago | 
phys.org | Sanjukta Mondal |Sadie Harley |Robert Egan
You are the protagonist in a thriller. One morning, an unknown caller with a distorted voice says, "To save your city, solve the puzzle. Go to the coordinates. X marks the clue." You rush to the spot and see an X on a distant billboard, too far to read. Your vision is sharp, but not that sharp. So, what do you do? A new laser emitter designed by a team of researchers from China could come to the rescue.
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1 week ago | 
phys.org | Sanjukta Mondal |Sadie Harley |Robert Egan
Tête de Moine, a semi-hard Swiss cheese that often finds its way onto charcuterie boards and salads, not only brings a rich, nutty and creamy flavor, but also adds a dramatic flare to the presentation. Instead of slicing, this cheese is shaved into delicate rosettes using a tool called a Girolle whose rotating blade gently scrapes thin layers of cheese into ruffled curls. These pretty cheese flowers are known to enhance the flavor and texture due to their high surface-to-volume ratio.
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2 weeks ago | 
phys.org | Sanjukta Mondal |Sadie Harley |Robert Egan
Alicella gigantea, a rarely sighted giant crustacean that inhabits the depths of the ocean and can reach up to 34 cm in length, is not rare after all. This species, though elusive, is one of the most widely distributed species of its kind, inhabiting and thriving in more than half of the world's oceans across the globe, as per a recent Royal Society Open Science paper by researchers from the University of Western Australia.
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2 weeks ago | 
phys.org | Sanjukta Mondal |Sadie Harley |Robert Egan
Soft-bodied robots are unlocking a new era of adaptive machines that can safely interact with the human body, squeeze through tight spaces, and propel themselves autonomously. Designing soft robots that can move around by themselves has been challenging. Luckily, nature has already done the hard work.
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2 weeks ago | 
medicalxpress.com | Sanjukta Mondal |Sadie Harley |Robert Egan
Height is one of the most evident sex-based differences observed in humans, as men are on an average 13 cm (5 inches) taller than women. Sex hormones certainly play a significant role in driving this dimorphism, but they are not the only factors at play.
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2 weeks ago | 
phys.org | Sanjukta Mondal
In the world of quantum computing, the Hilbert space dimension—the measure of the number of quantum states that a quantum computer can access—is a prized possession. Having a larger Hilbert space allows for more complex quantum operations and plays a crucial role in enabling quantum error correction (QEC), essential for protecting quantum information from noise and errors.
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2 weeks ago | 
phys.org | Sanjukta Mondal
The Parthenon, a mid-5th-century temple atop the hill of the Acropolis, is dedicated to Athena, the Greek deity of wisdom and the patron goddess of Athens. Despite enduring damage, that masterpiece remains a quintessential example of Classical Greek architecture, celebrated for the impressive 40-foot-tall chryselephantine (inlaid gold-and-ivory) statue of Athena housed within.
