Some memories last a lifetime — and now, scientists have revealed a type of molecular “glue” that helps those memories stick around. Memories form when collections of neurons in a region of the brain called the hippocampus activate in response to a particular experience. Each time you recall that experience, the same set of cells … Read more
The monster black hole at the center of our galaxy may be unleashing huge, gassy explosions — and now, astronomers think they’ve pinpointed the exact spot where that superheated gas is spilling into the Milky Way. Acting like a gargantuan exhaust vent, the newly discovered feature is a bright region of X-ray energy that’s nearly … Read more
Researchers have synthesized highly durable solar cells made from perovskite — a common crystal structure (in its natural form a calcium titanium oxide mineral) — in a breakthrough that could revolutionize the solar industry. Solar power is the fastest-growing energy technology and plays a key role in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Solar power converts sunlight … Read more
The NASA’s JWST telescope has discovered what could be the earliest star clusters in the universe. JWST spotted the five proto-globular clusters — swarms of millions of stars bound together by gravity — inside the Cosmic Gems arc, a galaxy that formed just 460 million years after the Big Bang. The Cosmic Gems arc gets … Read more
With the release of artificial intelligence (AI) video generation products like Sora and Luma, we’re on the verge of a flood of AI-generated video content, and policymakers, public figures and software engineers are already warning about a deluge of deepfakes. Now it seems that AI itself might be our best defense against AI fakery after … Read more
Humans have shared stories about giants for thousands of years, from the cyclopes of Greek mythology to the biblical Goliath. But are these just tall tales, or have giant humans really walked this Earth? If you consider a nearly 9-foot-tall human a giant, then yes. Robert Wadlow, the tallest person on record, grew to 8 … Read more
Artificial intelligence (AI) systems could devour all of the internet’s free knowledge as soon as 2026, a new study has warned. AI models such as GPT-4, which powers ChatGPT, or Claude 3 Opus rely on the many trillions of words shared online to get smarter, but new projections suggest they will exhaust the supply of … Read more
Five artificial intelligence (AI) models, one each adopting the role of Aristotle, Mozart, Leonardo da Vinci, Cleopatra and Genghis Khan, are sitting inside the compartment of a moving train. But one is secretly human, and it’s their collective task to guess the imposter. That’s the setup of a viral video that pitted a range of … Read more
Scientists have developed an imaging chip that could equip future smartphones with “Superman-inspired” X-ray vision — albeit operating within a much more limited range than the caped Kryptonian superhero. The experimental chip consists of an array of three sensor pixels that emit and receive high-frequency radio signals in the millimeter-wave (mmWave) band of the electromagnetic … Read more
The sun is on the verge of a significant event: a magnetic field reversal. This phenomenon happens roughly every 11 years and marks an important stage in the solar cycle. The shift in polarity indicates the halfway point of solar maximum, the height of solar activity, and the beginning of the shift toward solar minimum. … Read more
