By Roger Harrabin & Katie Prescott Mini nuclear reactors could be generating power in the UK by the end of the decade. Manufacturer Rolls-Royce has told the BBC’s Today programme that it plans to install and operate factory-built power stations by 2029. Mini nuclear stations can be mass manufactured and delivered in chunks on […]
A widely used vaccine against tuberculosis has now been shown to provide almost complete protection when injected intravenously. This is a striking improvement over vaccination through the typical intradermal route. by Samuel M. Behar & Chris Sassetti Tuberculosis is the deadliest human infection, killing 1.5 million people in 2018 alone (go.nature.com/2kbuiq). It is widely accepted […]
The object is locked in orbit with a star about 13,800 light-years away from Earth By Christopher Crockett A heavyweight black hole in our galaxy has some explaining to do. With a mass of about 68 suns, it is far heftier than other stellar-mass black holes (those with masses below about 100 suns) in and […]
The hallucinogenic drug may help treat addiction by weakening past memories of drinking By Laura Sanders A single dose of ketamine may cut down problematic drinking. Taken in the right context, the hallucinogenic drug may be able to weaken the pull of the cues that trigger people to drink beer, researchers report November 26 in […]
A new count shows the population off Brazil went from about 450 in the 1950s to 25,000 now By Pablo Hernández-Mares Once hunted almost to extinction, the population of humpback whales that swims the seas between South America and Antarctica has bounced back. An estimated 25,000 Megaptera novaeangliae now live in the western South Atlantic. […]
A tiny switch could redirect light between computer chips in mere nanoseconds By Maria Temming Microscopic switches that route light signals between computer chips like tiny traffic conductors could help make faster, more efficient electronics. Light waves can carry information more easily than the electric current used in traditional circuitry, because particles of light called […]
W ‘n B: “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” (Dan. 12:4) China racing against Japan, Europe to build largest machine in the world to study the Higgs boson The Higgs boson, […]
The first artificial material that follows sunlight may upgrade solar panels By Sofie Bates As the sun moves across the sky, sunflowers continually orient themselves to soak up the most light (SN: 8/4/16). Now a type of human-made material can do that, too. This is the first artificial material capable of phototropism, researchers report November […]
People who lack olfactory bulbs shouldn’t be able to smell. But some women can The structures are the parts of the brain known to receive sensations of smell from the nose By Sofie Bates Some people may be able to smell even without key structures that relay odor information from the nose to the brain. […]
A study published today in JAMA Pediatrics warns that kids’ literacy and language skills suffer with screen use, and MRI scans of their brains appear to back up the findings. The study: Forty-seven 3- to 5-year-olds took a test to measure their cognitive abilities, and their parents were asked to answer a detailed survey about […]
