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2026-01-20T17:08:07+00:00
Trump administration convening first critical minerals summit
The Trump administration announced plans Tuesday to hold a critical minerals summit — a move that comes in the wake of President Trump’s ramped up pursuit of Greenland. “On February 4, @SecRubio will welcome partners from across the globe to the State Department for the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial,” the department posted on social platform…
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5696810-trump-state-department-critical-minerals-summit-greenland/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…860236.jpg?w=900
3679cc2f268b98bf7ae9a6220e6229d6f28f237c7ce44884b6f7a3bc04d995c6
2026-01-20T17:02:58+00:00
Replica of alleged Trump Epstein birthday note appears on National Mall
A large replica of a birthday note attributed to President Trump that was reportedly included in a book given to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003 appeared on the National Mall in Washington D.C., on Monday, a day before what would’ve been the convicted sex offender’s 73rd birthday. A plaque inviting visitors to…
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5696796-replica-of-alleged-trump-epstein-birthday-note-appears-on-national-mall/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…edited.jpg?w=900
995abc80658d3ac06b98b550d3d5f61761d07940c4f70b38a8489e178ca8ad58
2026-01-20T17:00:00+00:00
For Trump, life’s a game of monopoly
Donald Trump is obsessed with acquiring Greenland as his latest property, despite Denmark and Greenland both contending it is not for sale, and the U.S. already having unlimited access to the area under a 1951 treaty.
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/5695942-trump-greenland-nato-conflict/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…607756.jpg?w=900
75762ba2a72eaeb6c90e32a9a0d791a5cde7bd7acd2263d50852136359881ceb
2026-01-20T17:00:00+00:00
Watch: Trump joins press briefing as White House ramps up Greenland rhetoric
President Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will brief reporters as the administration ramps up its push to acquire Greenland from Denmark. Leavitt will also give an overview of first year of the president’s second term “In just one year, President Trump has accomplished more than many presidents do in eight. We’ve never…
https://thehill.com/video-clips/5696486-watch-live-white-house-press-briefing-trump-davos-greenland/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…177645.jpg?w=900
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2026-01-20T16:58:23+00:00
Macron wears aviators during Davos speech pushing back on Trump
French President Emmanuel Macron donned aviator sunglasses during his address to global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday.  In his speech, the French head of state criticized the Trump administration’s tariffs and economic policies, accusing President Trump of actions that “openly aim to weaken and subordinate Europe.” During a New…
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5696808-macron-davos-address-trump-tariffs/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…926335.jpg?w=900
0a49b9266ccd5162d408dcc9f7cf64c27b76333de0ea1ae6c7bb4256efb934b0
2026-01-20T16:56:14+00:00
GOP Rep. Letlow, backed by Trump, launches primary challenge to Cassidy in Louisiana
Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.) announced on Tuesday that she’s launching a primary challenge to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), just days after President Trump preemptively backed her for a Senate run in Louisiana. “I have fought alongside President Trump to put America first, standing up for our parents, securing our borders, supporting law enforcement, rooting out…
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5696835-julia-letlow-senate-cassidy-louisiana/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…ag02_w.jpg?w=900
42480a91fb415c00ee5d505d80ed5aec8c0cf5cd7c6fe9b2a3fa333f16ae93c1
2026-01-20T16:37:40+00:00
EU chief: Proposed Trump tariffs over Greenland a ‘mistake’
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, criticized President Trump for proposing tariffs on European Union (EU) nations over their support of Greenland’s sovereignty. “Artic security can only be achieved together, and this is why the proposed additional tariffs are a mistake, especially between long-standing allies,” von der Leyen said Tuesday at…
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5696673-eu-us-trade-deal-tariffs-greenland/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…Leyen-.png?w=900
e96387e02c8e8b1fd2ffa623f0475e1a2e6d3c872329d70b4cc931619390cdb1
2026-01-20T16:33:04+00:00
Macron: Trump wants to ‘weaken and subordinate’ Europe
French President Emmanuel Macron accused President Trump on Tuesday of wanting to “weaken and subordinate” Europe. Macron made the comments in front of global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The remarks come amid a furor over Trump’s push to seize Greenland and his vow to place tariffs on imports from Denmark…
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5696761-macron-trump-europe-greenland-davos/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…142494.jpg?w=900
cf26e668746e5af9d1b337215db5e4855fcce5893669d647601dc853dead7ece
2026-01-20T16:30:00+00:00
What’s behind Trump’s delay on attacking Iran?
The fundamental question must be: What is the strategic purpose of any action in Iran, kinetic or otherwise?
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/5694900-trump-iran-strategy-options/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…945441.jpg?w=900
dd5f979c4925eed7500f2a768b1b44ad2bd6bcbe01d32a5ac8ccce3f45d799f0
2026-01-20T16:08:37+00:00
House panel opens Minnesota fraud investigation
The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced Tuesday it has opened a social services fraud investigation into the state of Minnesota. “The extensive fraud schemes being perpetrated in Minnesota have wreaked havoc on government-funded health programs. We have an obligation to ensure finite taxpayer dollars are being used responsibly, and that the most vulnerable Americans…
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5696604-house-investigates-minnesota-medicaid/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…gn03_w.jpg?w=900
36fc23a98eb54309f7e38a546ec60816b73f22b453508ce5adad028ab537e8cd
2026-01-20T16:00:00+00:00
To restore trust in public health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. must go
Restoring faith in public health is clearly not one of Kennedy’s goals, nor is it within his skillset.
https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/5695581-kennedy-hhs-vaccine-policies/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…8298-1.jpg?w=900
c98d4a35aa7dc11d58d229325513aaf12a78759e6d5ae82ca7f99e555930470f
2026-01-20T15:58:00+00:00
Watch live: World Economic Forum in Davos
World leaders are meeting in Davos, Switzerland this week as part of the World Economic Forum to discuss geopolitics, tech, trade and more.  President Trump is set to address the forum on Wednesday amid tensions with European allies over his push for the U.S. to acquire Greenland, the semiautonomous arctic territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.  Treasury Secretary Scott…
https://thehill.com/video-clips/5696699-watch-live-world-economic-forum-davos/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…142494.jpg?w=900
09af0cbaff4a2f86ccbdb834a7900d12fd31b1f13f780565c1ab775350b9e328
2026-01-20T15:52:26+00:00
Trump on Norway denying Nobel Prize control: ‘I don’t care’
President Trump insisted Monday he does not care about the Nobel Peace Prize but maintained that Norway “controlled” the award despite the country’s leaders denying any involvement in deciding who receives the prize. “I don’t care about the Nobel Prize,” Trump told reporters. “First of all, a very fine woman felt that I deserved it…
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5696616-donald-trump-norway-nobel-peace-prize-control/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…139674.jpg?w=900
080f81a15dd31d21e24be1be787d660bf24c2648c0fcdf43f2ba19d9f5b3f882
2026-01-20T15:39:40+00:00
Newsom on world leaders’ response to Trump: ‘Pathetic’
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday slammed world leaders, calling their responses to President Trump’s foreign policy initiatives “pathetic.” “Do you have a message for Europeans who are concerned about the messages from the White House around Greenland this week?” Sky News’s Paul Kelso asked Newsom in Davos, Switzerland. “Yeah, it’s time to buck…
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5696625-gavin-newsom-donald-trump-davos/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…Warren.jpg?w=900
21d07a0f2491a019280bfd9cefe619520db53447cc45ea1f4668fa5ab59d0b8d
2026-01-20T15:36:55+00:00
Trump announces signing ceremony Thursday for Gaza peace board
A signing ceremony to formalize President Trump’s Board of Peace will be held Thursday in Davos, Switzerland. Trump is set to meet with global leaders later this week at the World Economic Forum and will sign the Board of Peace charter on Thursday morning, according to a White House schedule. The board, headed by Trump,…
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5696609-trump-board-of-peace-ceremony/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…584535.jpg?w=900
83e0183774152dc4b642abf2a4fd69da98c025b09b3b8b0b55874a4f19712b35
2026-01-20T15:30:00+00:00
Why should Democrats trust George Conway now?
Skepticism is warranted.
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5694808-george-conway-congress-bid-democrat/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…762106.jpg?w=900
0a2535f858f52c56dcc930334b7f1bc197e6a61ae3eb2e8c074143ff11e6850b
2026-01-20T15:26:36+00:00
Markets show turmoil over Trump’s Greenland demands
Stocks dipped early Tuesday amid President Trump’s continued push to acquire Greenland.  The Dow was down nearly 700 points as of 10:15 a.m. EST, with the S&P 500 down by more than 1.4 percent and the Nasdaq down by more than 1.7 percent.  Early Tuesday morning, the president reiterated his interest in acquiring the semiautonomous…
https://thehill.com/business/5696611-stocks-dip-trump-greenland/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…772704.jpg?w=900
1645aca6e7a8a5d18811a0609fd26e090a91144b585f2543d3cab1123560f8c4
2026-01-20T15:16:54+00:00
Trump Greenland envoy disinvited from dogsled race amid heightened rhetoric
President Trump’s Greenland envoy, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R), was disinvited from the territory’s annual dogsled race amid White House rhetoric encouraging the annexation of the self-governing Danish territory. The Greenland Dogsledding Association (KNQK) was “informed that the tourist company that invited Governor Jeff Landry from the United States has withdrawn its invitation. This is…
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5696573-landry-disinvited-greenland-dogsled/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…tOlson.jpg?w=900
439ea0c7f2a5fe9b11b961366fbde30cf465f90fb2b7547f53ae57ff331ef270
2026-01-20T15:11:34+00:00
Melania Trump reflects on one-year mark: Being first lady a ‘profound responsibility’
Melania Trump is reflecting on the one-year anniversary since President Trump’s return to the White House, calling her role as first lady a “profound responsibility.” “A year ago today, I was entrusted to serve our country once again,” she wrote in a Tuesday post on X. “Being First Lady is not just a privilege; it is a…
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5696583-melania-trump-first-year/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…gn03_w.jpg?w=900
68198501b2a411974d03395caac4404961682f5726784293795da255da248c04
2026-01-20T15:06:49+00:00
Bessent to Europe on Trump tariff threats over Greenland: ‘Do not retaliate’
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned European countries against retaliatory tariffs Tuesday, days after President Trump threatened multiple allies with additional import taxes over their criticism of the president’s push to take over Greenland. Speaking to Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Bessent said European leaders should “sit back [and]…
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5696459-bessent-trump-europe-tariffs-greenland/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…552736.jpg?w=900
f6d651d1c975b45c20f7f41a7ed4706254786618f4cacc02a5ebc8d5c3e8151b
2026-01-20T15:00:00+00:00
Iran’s regime has learned from Putin how to handle Trump’s warnings: Ignore them
Trump has been presented with the historic opportunity to liberate the Iranian population, but based on his present words and actions — or lack thereof — his legacy on Iran’s domestic future is rapidly becoming even more of a tragic failure than that of the Obama administration.
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/5694976-trump-iran-policy-failure/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…azakov.jpg?w=900
2a69ed26bc2e2eab53feaf76c72746f376a254906ce4740a99131ded27d8ac76
2026-01-20T14:48:27+00:00
White House issues MLK Day proclamation after criticism
The White House issued a proclamation recognizing the annual Martin Luther King Jr. holiday late Monday evening, following criticism from activists across the country. “Inspired by the tenets enshrined in our Declaration of Independence, we proudly renew our pledge to uphold our Nation’s long-cherished principles of liberty, equal justice under the law, and the God‑given…
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5696501-white-house-martin-luther-king-jr-day-proclamation/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…726908.jpg?w=900
eadccafa62d5acc0f3f9e8ce0068d733aaf9dda3a184d0c2fc9e8851f6208230
2026-01-20T14:46:21+00:00
WATCH: ICE removes citizen from Minnesota home in his underwear after warrantless search
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Federal immigration agents forced open a door and detained a U.S. citizen in his Minnesota home at gunpoint without a warrant, then led him out onto the streets in his underwear in subfreezing conditions, according to his family and videos reviewed by The Associated Press. ChongLy “Scott” Thao told the…
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5696306-minnesota-man-detained-ice-agents/
World & Politics
https://thehill.com/wp-c…791422.jpg?w=900
b83b768d3cd7dfa8c32193b24e3ad07ba92218dd65bde109c4c156c1f55213a6
2026-01-21T05:30:01
New cryogenic vacuum chamber cuts noise for quantum ion trapping
Even very slight environmental noise, such as microscopic vibrations or magnetic field fluctuations a hundred times smaller than Earth's magnetic field, can be catastrophic for quantum computing experiments with trapped ions.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-cryogenic-vacuum-chamber-noise-quantum.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…nic-vacuum-c.jpg
d3cf413b780321be0033b4a47133cf93c2655e40fb7e202edcc788f64af6ec8c
2026-01-20T17:40:02
AI-driven ultrafast spectrometer-on-a-chip advances real-time sensing
For decades, the ability to visualize the chemical composition of materials, whether for diagnosing a disease, assessing food quality, or analyzing pollution, depended on large, expensive laboratory instruments called spectrometers. These devices work by taking light, spreading it out into a rainbow using a prism or grating, and measuring the intensity of each color. The problem is that spreading light requires a long physical path, making the device inherently bulky.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-ai-driven-ultrafast-spectrometer-chip.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…ultrafast-sp.jpg
3687b4abc3e3049005134a29f7635b365dfc9c089323fdf7100c49ecced2a57c
2026-01-20T15:47:36
It started with a cat: How 100 years of quantum weirdness powers today's tech
A hundred years ago, quantum mechanics was a radical theory that baffled even the brightest minds. Today, it's the backbone of technologies that shape our lives, from lasers and microchips to quantum computers and secure communications.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-cat-years-quantum-weirdness-powers.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…rdingers-cat.jpg
fbc3f82991c8a1d6f3e961897c3edab2b66d723fdf95f2896693a2cbf7689623
2026-01-20T15:02:16
A twitch in time? Quantum collapse models hint at tiny time fluctuations
Quantum mechanics is rich with paradoxes and contradictions. It describes a microscopic world in which particles exist in a superposition of states—being in multiple places and configurations all at once, defined mathematically by what physicists call a "wavefunction." But this runs counter to our everyday experience of objects that are either here or there, never both at the same time.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-twitch-quantum-collapse-hint-tiny.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…n-time-quant.jpg
d92173cbe59abdb5487480f731ccc28d481c795ce5dc1cf664e8ae375500d4b4
2026-01-20T13:07:19
Physicists employ AI labmates to supercharge LED light control
In 2023, a team of physicists from Sandia National Laboratories announced a major discovery: a way to steer LED light. If refined, it could mean someday replacing lasers with cheaper, smaller, more energy-efficient LEDs in countless technologies, from UPC scanners and holographic projectors to self-driving cars. The team assumed it would take years of meticulous experimentation to refine their technique.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-physicists-employ-ai-labmates-supercharge.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…-employ-ai-l.jpg
79ec82ba9097fc8348d40159700e90e4fd1bab42541f6e397a8cdfec156dc6f7
2026-01-20T11:40:01
New method reveals quantum states using indirect measurements of particle flows
A team from UNIGE shows that it is possible to determine the state of a quantum system from indirect measurements when it is coupled to its environment.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-method-reveals-quantum-states-indirect.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…-to-decipher.jpg
97d345df09a471a546fdae7212de4fd604d0a9cab179309f3a70df32910992ab
2026-01-20T11:22:07
Physicists bridge worlds of quantum matter
A new unified theory connects two fundamental domains of modern quantum physics: It joins two opposite views of how a single exotic particle behaves in a many-body system, namely as a mobile or static impurity among a large number of fermions, a so-called Fermi sea.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-physicists-bridge-worlds-quantum.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…-bridge-worl.jpg
2fab52599842414f72d98d2e25a6c949040fb6e05322fb3142a3f269c30b5e89
2026-01-20T11:00:05
Bridging theories across physics helps reconcile controversy about thin liquid layer on icy surfaces
The ice in a domestic freezer is remarkably different from the single crystals that form in snow clouds, or even those formed on a frozen pond. As temperatures drop, ice crystals can grow in a variety of shapes: from stocky hexagonal prisms to flat plates, to Grecian columns.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-bridging-theories-physics-controversy-thin.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…ybe-theres-a.jpg
3ace9afcb3df174f1c57a441caa37492570321582d2856e1c4bf707bd58ae424
2026-01-20T09:52:48
Direct visualization captures hidden spatial order of electrons in a quantum material
The mystery of quantum phenomena inside materials—such as superconductivity, where electric current flows without energy loss—lies in when electrons move together and when they break apart. KAIST researchers have succeeded in directly observing the moments when electrons form and dissolve ordered patterns.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-visualization-captures-hidden-spatial-electrons.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…isualizing-t.jpg
5bc8b2de3c035c0d2407701caf729aa452e467d41dddcf068614b2d366024816
2026-01-20T07:30:01
An electrically powered source of entangled light on a chip
Quantum technologies are cutting-edge systems that can process, transfer, or store information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, particularly a phenomenon known as quantum entanglement. Entanglement entails a correlation between two or more distant particles, whereby measuring the state of one also defines the state of the others.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-electrically-powered-source-entangled-chip.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…lly-powere-1.jpg
8cd5dd8813e42b63de5a2f10cc2e06cc366215078ed8d0e91b5920d52ec0945e
2026-01-20T05:00:07
New quantum boundary discovered: Spin size determines how the Kondo effect behaves
Collective behavior is an unusual phenomenon in condensed-matter physics. When quantum spins interact together as a system, they produce unique effects not seen in individual particles. Understanding how quantum spins interact to produce this behavior is central to modern condensed-matter physics.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-quantum-boundary-size-kondo-effect.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…m-boundary-d.jpg
3930e6ccd05d00900bf170e2b253eaef11e40e9427de4d24bfa1054e50cd090e
2026-01-19T22:30:01
Building the world's first open-source quantum computer
Researchers from the University of Waterloo's Faculty of Science and the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) are prioritizing collaboration over competition to advance quantum computer development and the field of quantum information. They are doing this through Open Quantum Design (OQD), a non-profit organization that boasts the world's first open-source, full stack quantum computer.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-world-source-quantum.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…he-worlds-fi.jpg
30cbe14b679b3c272ff06f06bd173475944b16e71f29fbfce8e2a2c33823764a
2026-01-19T19:00:03
Stealth quantum sensors unlock possibilities anywhere GPS doesn't work
As commercial interest in quantum technologies accelerates, entrepreneurial minds at the University of Waterloo are not waiting for opportunities—they are creating them.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-stealth-quantum-sensors-possibilities-gps.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…antum-sensor.jpg
fb9ac4a18480d39cc05dc73f2ac93b5812b17383b44c4897205638f9551b5b6f
2026-01-19T15:30:06
How pointing errors impact quantum key distribution systems
Quantum key distribution (QKD) is an emerging communication technology that utilizes quantum mechanics principles to ensure highly secure communication between two parties. It enables the sender and receiver to generate a shared secret key over a channel that may be monitored by an attacker. Any attempt to eavesdrop introduces detectable errors in the quantum signals, allowing communicating parties to detect if communication is compromised via QKD protocols.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-errors-impact-quantum-key.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…-investigate.jpg
5696ceb5571eb009207fcb8b8da3fd9d5ef1d51d753d927a93f8781e36b4f5a1
2026-01-19T15:11:30
Ultrafast spectroscopy reveals step-by-step energy flow in germanium semiconductors
Whether in a smartphone or laptop, semiconductors form the basis of modern electronics and accompany us constantly in everyday life. The processes taking place inside these materials are the subject of ongoing research. When the electrons in a semiconductor material are activated using light or an electrical voltage, the excited electrons also set the atomic lattice in motion. This results in collective vibrations of the atoms, known as phonons or lattice vibrations, which interact with each other and with the electrons themselves.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-ultrafast-spectroscopy-reveals-energy-germanium.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…w-in-semicon.jpg
7a63c03472c4b3ea339b297f5d02040ee99bd17c051ab36a6e6a3b6be512eab5
2026-01-19T15:00:10
Physicists uncover hidden magnetic order in the mysterious pseudogap phase
Physicists have uncovered a link between magnetism and a mysterious phase of matter called the pseudogap, which appears in certain quantum materials just above the temperature at which they become superconducting. The findings could help researchers design new materials with sought-after properties such as high-temperature superconductivity, in which electric current flows without resistance.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-physicists-uncover-hidden-magnetic-mysterious.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…-in-quantu-1.jpg
cbfeb5a464b2d9c6485d86d0b3a48dbe6f68c9f919749ecff4989c18af4f83d0
2026-01-19T13:20:03
First direct evidence of Migdal effect opens new path for dark matter search
In a landmark discovery that bridges nearly a century of theoretical physics, a Chinese research team has successfully captured the first direct evidence of the Migdal effect, a breakthrough with profound implications for probing dark matter—the invisible substance thought to make up roughly 85% of the universe.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-evidence-migdal-effect-path-dark.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…g-to-help-pr.jpg
4ea9cdcd3b68cbff0247ec0f817aa363a994d3189a45ce78deb30c5fa46230e9
2026-01-19T12:28:32
Beta-decay half-life measurements reveal evolution of nuclear shell structure
An international team of researchers has systematically measured the β-decay half-lives of 40 nuclei near calcium-54, providing key experimental data for understanding the structure of extremely neutron-rich nuclei.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-beta-decay-life-reveal-evolution.html
Space & Physics
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/c…-half-life-m.jpg
786366848ce096b2d30977266e65d5b8c7a36b023177c50de10eb1d28178ce6d
2026-01-19T09:50:24
Observing the positronium beam as a quantum matter wave for the first time
One of the discoveries that fundamentally distinguished the emerging field of quantum physics from classical physics was the observation that matter behaves differently at the smallest scales. A key finding was wave-particle duality, the revelation that particles can exhibit wave-like properties.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-positronium-quantum.html
Space & Physics
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adef9e804c31d0eedb095b397c35a174805d7819f75b3678008af84a1602337d
2026-01-19T05:00:06
Quantum 'alchemy' made feasible with excitons
What if you could create new materials just by shining a light at them? To most, this sounds like science fiction or alchemy, but to physicists investigating the burgeoning field of Floquet engineering, this is the goal. With a periodic drive, like light, scientists can "dress up" the electronic structure of any material, altering its fundamental properties—such as turning a simple semiconductor into a superconductor.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-quantum-alchemy-feasible-excitons.html
Space & Physics
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d76fc0635a2207b284f8187bf56730f732372a88f31a09f72e665d80ba929ce0
2026-01-18T15:10:01
Bioinspired phototransistor achieves high-sensitivity detection of low-contrast targets
Drawing inspiration from the remarkable adaptability of the human eye, researchers from the Institute of Metal Research (IMR) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a novel phototransistor with tunable sensitivity.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-bioinspired-phototransistor-high-sensitivity-contrast.html
Space & Physics
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a32973b7f8744965e70a34430743d852afb5df78f62a489f8b775d11c2e530d3
2026-01-18T12:33:11
New class of strong magnets uses earth-abundant elements, avoids rare-earth metals
Georgetown University researchers have discovered a new class of strong magnets that do not rely on rare-earth or precious metals—a breakthrough that could significantly advance clean energy technologies and consumer electronics such as motors, robotics, MRI machines, data storage and smart phones.
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-class-strong-magnets-earth-abundant.html
Space & Physics
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fa8eda7125da9016bdfcbd837b98cf9d455111f1654d6f41c1830c4c98b55db7
2026-01-19T07:52:41
Inside the mysterious collapse of dark matter halos
Physicists have unveiled a new way to simulate a mysterious form of dark matter that can collide with itself but not with normal matter. This self-interacting dark matter may trigger a dramatic collapse inside dark matter halos, heating and densifying their cores in surprising ways. Until now, this crucial middle ground of behavior was nearly impossible to model accurately. The new code makes these simulations faster, more precise, and accessible enough to run on a laptop.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260118233609.htm
Space & Physics
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2026-01-19T07:05:39
This tiny power module could change how the world uses energy
As global energy demand surges—driven by AI-hungry data centers, advanced manufacturing, and electrified transportation—researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have unveiled a breakthrough that could help squeeze far more power from existing electricity supplies. Their new silicon-carbide-based power module, called ULIS, packs dramatically more power into a smaller, lighter, and cheaper design while wasting far less energy in the process.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260118233604.htm
Space & Physics
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2026-01-18T22:23:20
Silver just solved a major solid-state battery problem
Solid-state batteries could store more energy and charge faster than today’s batteries, but they tend to crack and fail over time. Stanford researchers found that a nanoscale silver treatment can greatly strengthen the battery’s ceramic core. The silver helps seal tiny flaws and prevents lithium from causing further damage. This simple approach could help unlock next-generation batteries.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260118064641.htm
Space & Physics
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26fb76e109b8a446b88dd9df104862538bf70e6928097a2a3526e4a03ad6a05c
2026-01-21T11:00:52+00:00
The obscure physics theory that helped Chinese science emerge from the shadows
“The Straton Model of elementary particles had very limited influence in the West,” said Jinyan Liu as she sat with me in a quiet corner of the CERN cafeteria. Liu, who I caught up with during a break in a recent conference on the history of particle physics, was referring to a particular model of elementary particle physics first put together in China in the mid-1960s. The Straton Model was, and still largely is, unknown outside that country. “But it was an essential step forward,” Liu added, “for Chinese physicists in joining the international community.” Liu was at CERN to give a talk on how Chinese theorists redirected their research efforts in the years after the Cultural Revolution, which ended in 1976. They switched from the Straton Model, which was a politically infused theory of matter favoured by Mao Zedong, the founder of the People’s Republic of China, to mainstream particle physics as practised by the rest of the world. It’s easy to portray the move as the long-overdue moment when Chinese scientists resumed their “real” physics research. But, Liu told me, “actually it was much more complicated”. A physicist by training, Liu received her PhD on contemporary theories of spontaneous charge-parity (CP) violation from the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 2013. She then switched to the CAS Institute for History of Natural Sciences, where she was its first member with a physics PhD. Her initial research topic was the history and development of the Straton Model. The model is essentially a theory of the structure of hadrons – either baryons (such as protons and neutrons) or mesons (such as pions and kaons). But the model’s origins are as improbable as they are labyrinthine. Mao, who had a keen interest in natural science, was convinced that matter was infinitely divisible, and in 1963 he came across an article by the Marxist-inspired Japanese physicist Shoichi Sakata (1911–1970). First published in Japanese in 1961 and later translated into Russian, Sakata’s paper was entitled “Dialogues concerning a new view of elementary particles”. It restated Sakata’s belief, which he had been working on since the 1950s, that hadrons are made of smaller constituents – “elementary particles are not the ultimate elements of matter” as he put it. With some Chinese scholars back then still paying close attention to publications from the Soviet Union, their former political and ideological ally, that paper was then translated into Chinese. Mao Zedong was engrossed in Shoichi Sakata’s paper, for it seemed to offer scientific support for his own views. This version appeared in the Bulletin of the Studies of Dialectics of Nature in 1963. Mao, who received an issue of that bulletin from his son-in-law, was engrossed in Sakata’s paper, for it seemed to offer scientific support for his own views. Sakata’s article – both in the original Japanese and now in Chinese – cited Friedrich Engels’ view that matter has numerous stages of discrete but qualitatively different parts. In addition, it quoted Lenin’s remark that “even the electron is inexhaustible”. “International politics now also entered,” Liu told me, as we discussed the issue further at CERN. A split between China and the Soviet Union had begun to open up in the late 1950s, with Mao breaking off relations with the Soviet Union and starting to establish non-governmental science and technology exchanges between China and Japan. Indeed, when China hosted the Peking Symposium of foreign scientists in 1964, Japan brought the biggest delegation, with Sakata as its leader. At the event, Mao personally congratulated Sakata on his theory. It was, Sakata later recalled, “the most unforgettable moment of my journey to China”. In 1965, Sakata’s paper was retranslated from the Japanese original, with an annotated version published in Red Flag and the newspaper Renmin ribao, or “People’s Daily”, both official organs of the Chinese Communist Party. Chinese physicists realized that they could capitalize on Mao’s enthusiasm to make elementary particle physics a legitimate research direction. Chinese physicists, who had been assigned to work on the atomic bomb and other research deemed important by the Communist Party, now started to take note. Uninterested in philosophy, they realized that they could capitalize on Mao’s enthusiasm to make elementary particle physics a legitimate research direction. As a result, 39 members of CAS, Peking University and the University of Science and Technology of China formed the Beijing Elementary Particle Group. Between 1965 and 1966, they wrote dozens of papers on a model of hadrons inspired by both Sakata’s work and quark theory based on the available experimental data. It was dubbed the Straton Model because it involved layers or “strata” of particles nested in each other. Liu has interviewed most surviving members of the group and studied details of the model. It differed from the model being developed at the time by the US theorist Murray Gell-Mann, which saw quarks as not physical but mathematical elements. As Liu discovered, Chinese particle physicists were now given resources they’d never had before. In particular, they could use computers, which until then had been devoted to urgent national defence work. “To be honest,” Liu chuckled, “the elementary particle physicists didn’t use computers much, but at least they were made available.” The high-water mark for the Straton Model occurred in July 1966 when members of the Beijing Elementary Particle Group presented it at a summer physics colloquium organized by the China Association for Science and Technology. The opening ceremony was held in Tiananmen Square, in what was then China’s biggest conference centre, with attendees including Abdus Salam from Imperial College London. The only high-profile figure to be invited from the West, Salam was deemed acceptable because he was science advisor to the president of Pakistan, a country considered outside the western orbit. The proceedings of the colloquium were later published as “Research on the theory of elementary particles carried out under the brilliant illumination of Mao Tse-Tung’s thought”. Its introduction was what Liu calls a “militant document” – designed to reinforce the idea that the authors were carrying Mao’s thought into scientific research to repudiate “decadent feudal, bourgeois and revisionist ideologies”. Participants in Beijing had expected to make their advances known internationally by publishing the proceedings in English. But the Cultural Revolution had just begun two months before, and publications in English were forbidden. “As a result,” Liu told me, “the model had very limited influence outside China.” Sakata, however, had an important influence on Japanese theorists having co-authored the key paper on neutrino flavour oscillation (Prog. Theoretical. Physics 28 870). In recent years, Liu has shed new light on the Straton Model, writing a paper in the journal Chinese Annals of History of Science and Technology (2 85). In 2022, she also published a 2022 Chinese-language book entitled Constructing a Theory of Hadron Structure: Chinese Physicists’ Straton Model, which describes the downfall of the model after 1966. None of its predicted material particles appeared, though a candidate event once occurred in a cosmic ray observatory in the south of China. By 1976, quantum chromodynamics (QCD) had convincingly emerged as the established model of hadrons. The effective end of the Straton Model took place at a conference in January 1980 in Conghua, near Hong Kong. Hung-Yuan Tzu, one of the key leaders of the Beijing Group, gave a paper entitled “Reminiscences of the Straton Model”, signalling that physics had moved on. During our meeting at CERN, Liu showed me photos of the 1980 event. “It was a very important conference in the history of Chinese physics,” she said, “the first opening to Chinese physicists in the West”. Visits by Chinese expatriates were organized by Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang, who shared the 1957 Nobel Prize for Physics for their work on parity violation. It is easy for westerners to mock the Straton Model; Sheldon Glashow once referred to it as about “Maons”. But Liu sees it as significant research that had many unexpected consequences, such as helping to advance physics research in China. “It gave physicists a way to pursue quantum field theory without having to do national defence work”. The model also trained young researchers in particle physics and honed their research competence. After the post-Cultural Revolution reform and its opening to the West, these physicists could then integrate into the international community. “The story,” Liu said, “shows how ingeniously the Chinese physicists adapted to the political situation.” The post The obscure physics theory that helped Chinese science emerge from the shadows appeared first on Physics World.
https://physicsworld.com/a/the-obscure-physics-theory-that-helped-chinese-science-emerge-from-the-shadows/
Space & Physics
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2026-01-21T07:47:29+00:00
A surprising critical state emerges in active nematic materials
Nematics are materials made of rod‑like particles that tend to align in the same direction. In active nematics, this alignment is constantly disrupted and renewed because the particles are driven by internal biological or chemical energy. As the orientation field twists and reorganises, it creates topological defects-points where the alignment breaks down. These defects are central to the collective behaviour of active matter, shaping flows, patterns, and self‑organisation. In this work, the researchers identify an active topological phase transition that separates two distinct regimes of defect organisation. As the system approaches this transition from below, the dynamics slow dramatically: the relaxation of defect density becomes sluggish, fluctuations in the number of defects grow in amplitude and lifetime, and the system becomes increasingly sensitive to small changes in activity. At the critical point, defects begin to interact over long distances, with correlation lengths that grow with system size. This behaviour produces a striking dual‑scaling pattern, defect fluctuations appear uniform at small scales but become anti‑hyperuniform at larger scales, meaning that the number of defects varies far more than expected from a random distribution. A key finding is that this anti‑hyperuniformity originates from defect clustering. Rather than forming ordered structures or undergoing phase separation, defects tend to appear near existing defects, creating multiscale clusters. This distinguishes the transition from well‑known defect‑unbinding processes such as the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in passive nematics or the nematic-isotropic transition in screened active systems. Above the critical activity, the system enters a defect‑laden turbulent state where defects are more uniformly distributed and correlations become short‑ranged and negative. The researchers confirm these behaviours experimentally using large‑field‑of‑view measurements of endothelial cell monolayers which are the cells that line blood vessels. The same dual‑scaling behaviour, long‑range correlations, and clustering appear in these living tissues, demonstrating that the transition is robust across system sizes, parameter variations, frictional damping, and boundary conditions. Anti-hyperuniform critical states of active topological defects Simon Guldager Andersen et al 2025 Rep. Prog. Phys. 88 108101 Do you want to learn more about this topic? Active phase separation: new phenomenology from non-equilibrium physics M E Cates and C Nardini (2025) The post A surprising critical state emerges in active nematic materials appeared first on Physics World.
https://physicsworld.com/a/a-surprising-critical-state-emerges-in-active-nematic-materials/
Space & Physics
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2026-01-21T07:42:34+00:00
Non-Abelian anyons: anything but easy
Topological quantum computing is a proposed approach to building quantum computers that aims to solve one of the biggest challenges in quantum technology: error correction. In conventional quantum systems, qubits are extremely sensitive to their environment and even tiny disturbances can cause errors. Topological quantum computing addresses this by encoding information in the global properties of a system: the topology of certain quantum states. These systems rely on the use of non-Abelian anyons, exotic quasiparticles that can exist in two-dimensional materials under special conditions. The main challenge faced by this approach to quantum computing is the creation and control of these quasiparticles. One possible source of non-Abelian anyons is the fractional quantum Hall state (FQH): an exotic state of matter which can exist at very low temperatures and high magnetic fields. These states come in two forms: even-denominator and odd-denominator. Here, we’re interested in the even-denominator states – the more interesting but less well understood of the two. In this latest work, researchers have observed this exotic state in gallium arsenide (GaAs) two-dimensional hole systems. Typically, FQH states are isotropic, showing no preferred direction. Here, however, the team found states that are strongly anisotropic, suggesting that the system spontaneously breaks rotational symmetry. This means that it forms a nematic phase – similar to liquid crystals – where molecules align along a direction without forming a rigid structure. This spontaneous symmetry breaking adds complexity to the state and can influence how quasiparticles behave, interact, and move. The observation of the existence of spontaneous nematicity in an even-denominator fractional quantum Hall state is the first of its kind. Although there are many questions left to be answered, the properties of this system could be hugely important for topological quantum computers as well as other novel quantum technologies. Even-denominator fractional quantum Hall states with spontaneously broken rotational symmetry – IOPscience C. Wang et al 2025 Rep. Prog. Phys. 88 100501 The post Non-Abelian anyons: anything but easy appeared first on Physics World.
https://physicsworld.com/a/non-abelian-anyons-anything-but-easy/
Space & Physics
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2026-01-20T17:49:05+00:00
Physicist Norbert Holtkamp takes over as head of Fermilab
Particle physicist Norbert Holtkamp has been appointed the new director of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. He took up the position on 12 January, replacing Young-Kee Kim from the University of Chicago, who held the job on an interim basis following the resignation of Lia Merminga last year. With a PhD in physics from the Technical University in Darmstadt, Germany, Holtkamp has managed large scientific projects throughout his career. Holtkamp is the former deputy director of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University where he managedthe construction of the Linac Coherent Light Source upgrade, the world’s most powerful X-ray laser, along with more than $2bn of onsite construction projects. Holtkamp also previously served as the principal deputy director general for the international fusion project ITER, which is currently under construction in Cadarache, France. Holtkamp worked at Fermilab between 1998 and 2001, where he worked on commissioning the Main Injector and also led a study on the feasibility of an intense neutrino source based on a muon storage ring. One of Holtkamp’s main aims as Fermilab boss will be to oversee the completion of the $5bn Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility-Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (LBNF-DUNE) at Fermilab, which is expected to come online towards the end of the decade. LBNF-DUNE will study the properties of neutrinos in unprecedented detail, as well as the differences in behaviour between neutrinos and antineutrinos. The DUNE detector, which lies about 1300 km from Fermilab, will measure the neutrinos that are generated by Fermilab’s accelerator complex, which is just outside Chicago. In a statement, Holtkamp said he is “deeply honoured” to lead the lab. “Fermilab has done so much to advance our collective understanding of the fundamentals of our universe,” he says. “I am committed to ensuring the laboratory remains the neutrino capital of the world, and the safe and successful completion of LBNF-DUNE is key to that goal. I’m excited to rejoin Fermilab at this pivotal moment to guide this project and our other important modernization efforts to prepare the lab for a bright future.” Fermilab has experienced a difficult few years, with questions raised about its internal management and external oversight. In August 2024 a group of anonymous self-styled whistleblowers published a 113-page “white paper” on the arXiv preprint server, asserting that the lab was “doomed without a management overhaul”. Then in October that year, a new organization – Fermi Forward Discovery Group – was announced to manage the lab for the US Department of Energy. That move came under scrutiny given it is dominated by the University of Chicago and Universities Research Association (URA), a consortium of research universities, which had already been part of the management since 2007. Then a month later, almost 2.5% of Fermilab’s employees were laid off. “We’re excited to welcome Norbert, who brings of a wealth of scientific and managerial experience to Fermilab,” noted University of Chicago president Paul Alivisatos, who is also chair of the board of directors of Fermi Forward Discovery Group. Alivisatos thanked Kim for her “tireless service” as director. “[Kim] played a critical role in strengthening relationships with Fermilab’s leading stakeholders, driving the lab’s modernization efforts, and positioning Fermilab to amplify DOE’s broader goals in areas like quantum science and AI,” added Alivisatos. The post Physicist Norbert Holtkamp takes over as head of Fermilab appeared first on Physics World.
https://physicsworld.com/a/physicist-norbert-holtkamp-takes-over-as-head-of-fermilab/
Space & Physics
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1f966abc06a24af0a96da540284bad88328ae33e14bf9bcee5cc6f3739becf19
2026-01-19T13:00:02+00:00
CERN accepts $1bn in private cash towards Future Circular Collider
The CERN particle-physics lab near Geneva has received $1bn from private donors towards the construction of the Future Circular Collider (FCC). The cash marks the first time in the lab’s 72-year history that individuals and philanthropic foundations have agreed to support a major CERN project. If built, the FCC would be the successor to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), where the Higgs boson was discovered. CERN originally released a four-volume conceptual design report for the FCC in early 2019, with more detail included in a three-volume feasibility study that came out last year. It calls for a giant tunnel some 90.7 km in circumference – roughly three times as long as the LHC – that would be built about 200m underground on average. The FCC has been recommended as the preferred option for the next flagship collider at CERN in the ongoing process to update the European Strategy for Particle Physics, which will be passed over to the CERN Council in May 2026.If the plans are given the green light by CERN Council in 2028, construction on the FCC electron-positron machine, dubbed FCC-ee, would begin in 2030. It would start operations in 2047, a few years after the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) closes down, and run for about 15 years until the early 2060s. The FCC-ee would focus on creating a million Higgs particles in total to allow physicists to study its properties with an accuracy an order of magnitude better that possible with the LHC. The FCC feasibility study then calls for a hadron machine, dubbed FCC-hh, to replace the FCC-ee in the existing 91 km tunnel. It would be a “discovery machine”, smashing together protons at high energy – about 85 TeV – with the aim of creating new particles. If built, the FCC-hh will begin operation in 2073 and run to the end of the century. The funding model for the FCC-ee, which is expected to have a price tag of about $18bn, is still a work in progress. But it is estimated that at least two-thirds of the construction costs will come from CERN’s 24 member states with the rest needing to be found elsewhere. One option to plug that gap is private donations and in late December CERN received a significant boost from several organizations including the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation, and the entrepreneurs John Elkann and Xavier Niel. Together, they pledged a total of $1bn towards the FCC-ee. Costas Fountas, president of the CERN Council says CERN is “extremely grateful” for the interest. “This once again demonstrates CERN’s relevance and positive impact on society, and the strong interest in CERN’s future that exists well beyond our own particle physics community,” he notes. Eric Schmidt, who founded Google, claims that he and Wendy Schmidt were “inspired by the ambition of this project and by what it could mean for the future of humanity”. The FCC, he believes, is an instrument that “could push the boundaries of human knowledge and deepen our understanding of the fundamental laws of the Universe” and could lead to technologies that could benefit society “in profound ways” from medicine to computing to sustainable energy. The cash promised has been welcomed by outgoing CERN director-general Fabiola Gianotti. “It’s the first time in history that private donors wish to partner with CERN to build an extraordinary research instrument that will allow humanity to take major steps forward in our understanding of fundamental physics and the universe,” she said. “I am profoundly grateful to them for their generosity, vision, and unwavering commitment to knowledge and exploration.” The cash comes a few months after the Circular Electron–Positron Collider (CEPC) – a rival collider to the FCC-ee that also involves building a huge 100 km tunnel to study the Higgs in unprecedented detail – was not considered for inclusion in China’s next five-year plan, which runs from 2026–2030. There has been much discussion in China whether the CEPC is the right project for the country, with the collider facing criticism from particle physicist and Nobel laureate Chen-Ning Yang, before he died last year. Wang Yifang of the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) in Beijing says they will submit the CEPC for consideration again in 2030 unless FCC is officially approved before then. But for particle theorist John Ellis from Kings College London, China’s decision to effectively put the CEPC on the back burner “certainly simplifies the FCC discussion”. “However, an opportunity for growing the world particle physics community has been lost, or at least deferred [by the decision],” Ellis told Physics World. Ellis adds, however, that he would welcome China’s participation in the FCC. “Their accelerator and detector [technical design reviews] show that they could bring a lot to the table, if the political obstacles can be overcome,” he says. However, if the FCC-ee goes ahead China could perhaps make significant “in-kind” contributions rather like those that occur with the ITER experimental fusion reactor, which is currently being built in France. In this case, instead of cash payments, the countries provide components, equipment and other materials. Those considerations and more will now fall to the British physicist Mark Thomson, who took over from Gianotti as CERN director-general on 1 January for a five-year term. As well as working on funding requirements for the FCC-ee, top of his in-tray will actually be shutting down the LHC in June to make way for further work on the HL-LHC, which involves installing powerful new superconducting magnets and improving the detection. About 90% of the 27 km LHC accelerator will be affected by the upgrade with a major part being to replace the magnets in the final focus systems of the two large experiments, ATLAS and CMS. These magnets will take the incoming beams and then focus them down to less than 10 microns in cross section. The upgrade includes the installation of brand new state-of-the-art niobium-tin (Nb3Sn) superconducting focusing magnets. The HL-LHC will probably not turn on until 2030, which is when Thomson’s term will nearly be over but that doesn’t deter him from leading the world’s foremost particle-physics lab. “It’s an incredibly exciting project,” Thomson told the Guardian. “It’s more interesting than just sitting here with the machine hammering away.” The post CERN accepts $1bn in private cash towards Future Circular Collider appeared first on Physics World.
https://physicsworld.com/a/cern-accepts-1bn-in-private-cash-towards-future-circular-collider/
Space & Physics
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0c6eef4891ac1f8865d57d6167bad83ea2898412d88b5082f15fb7211c7e699c
2026-01-19T09:30:58+00:00
Polarization-sensitive photoacoustic microscopy reveals heart tissue health
Many of the tissues in the human body rely upon highly organized microstructures to function effectively. If the collagen fibres in heart muscle become disordered, for instance, this can lead to or reflect disorders such as fibrosis and cancer. To image and analyse such structural changes, researchers at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) in Korea have developed a new label-free microscopy technique and demonstrated its use in engineered heart tissue. The ability to assess the alignment of microstructures such as protein fibres within tissue’s extracellular matrix provides a valuable tool for diagnosing disease, monitoring therapy response and evaluating tissue engineering models. Currently, however, this is achieved using histological imaging methods based on immunofluorescent staining, which can be labour-intensive and sensitive to the imaging conditions and antibodies used. Instead, a team headed up by Chulhong Kim and Jinah Jang is investigating photoacoustic microscopy (PAM), a label-free imaging modality that relies on light absorption by endogenous tissue chromophores to reveal structural and functional information. In particular, PAM with mid-infrared (MIR) incident light provides bond-selective, high-contrast imaging of proteins, lipids and carbohydrates. The researchers also incorporated dichroism-sensitive (DS) functionality, resulting in a technique referred to as MIR-DS-PAM. “Dichroism-sensitivity enables the quantitative assessment of fibre alignment by detecting the polarization-dependent absorption of anisotropic materials like collagen,” explains first author Eunwoo Park. “This adds a new contrast mechanism to conventional photoacoustic imaging, allowing simultaneous visualization of molecular content and microstructural organization without any labelling.” Park and colleagues constructed a MIR-DS-PAM system using a pulsed quantum cascade laser as the light source. They tuned the laser to a centre wavelength of 6.0 µm to correspond with an absorption peak from the C=O stretching vibration in proteins. The laser beam was linearly polarized, modulated by a half-wave plate and used to illuminate the target tissue. To validate the functionality of their MIR-DS-PAM technique, the researchers used it to image a formalin-fixed section of engineered heart tissue (EHT). They obtained images at four incident angles and used the acquired photoacoustic data to calculate the photoacoustic amplitude, which visualizes the protein content, as well as the degree of linear dichroism (DoLD) and the orientation angle of linear dichroism (AoLD), which reveal the extracellular matrix alignment. “Cardiac tissue features highly aligned extracellular matrix with complex fibre orientation and layered architecture, which are critical to its mechanical and electrical function,” Park explains. “These properties make it an ideal model for demonstrating the ability of MIR-DS-PAM to detect physiologically relevant histostructural and fibrosis-related changes.” The researchers also used MIR-DS-PAM to quantify the structural integrity of EHT during development, using specimens cultured for one to five days before fixing. Analysis of the label-free images revealed that as the tissue matured, the DoLD gradually increased, while the standard deviation of the AoLD decreased – indicating increased protein accumulation with more uniform fibre alignment over time. They note that these results agree with those from immunofluorescence-stained confocal fluorescence microscopy. Next, they examined diseased EHT with two types of fibrosis: cell-induced fibrosis (CIF) and drug-induced fibrosis (DIF). In the CIF sample, the average photoacoustic amplitude and AoLD uniformity were both lower than found in normal EHT, indicating reduced protein density and disrupted fibre alignment. DIF exhibited a higher photoacoustic amplitude and lower AoLD uniformity than normal EHT, suggesting extensive extracellular matrix accumulation with disorganized orientation. Both CIF and DIF showed a slight reduction in DoLD, again signifying a disorganized tissue structure, a common hallmark of fibrosis. The two fibrosis types, however, exhibited diverse biochemical profiles and different levels of mechanical dysfunction. The findings demonstrate the ability of MIR-DS-PAM to distinguish diseased from healthy tissue and identify different types of fibrosis. The researchers also imaged a tissue assembly containing both normal and fibrotic EHT to show that MIR-DS-PAM can capture features in a composite sample. They conclude that MIR-DS-PAM enables label-free monitoring of both tissue development and fibrotic remodelling. As such, the technique shows potential for use within tissue engineering research, as well as providing a diagnostic tool for assessing tissue fibrosis or remodelling in biopsied samples. “Its ability to visualize both biochemical composition and structural alignment could aid in identifying pathological changes in cardiological, musculoskeletal or ocular tissues,” says Park. “We are currently expanding the application of MIR-DS-PAM to disease contexts where extracellular matrix remodelling plays a central role,” he adds. “Our goal is to identify label-free histological biomarkers that capture both molecular and structural signatures of fibrosis and degeneration, enabling multiparametric analysis in pathological conditions.”   The post Polarization-sensitive photoacoustic microscopy reveals heart tissue health appeared first on Physics World.
https://physicsworld.com/a/polarization-sensitive-photoacoustic-microscopy-reveals-heart-tissue-health/
Space & Physics
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2026-01-21T11:00:00+00:00
Watch private German rocket attempt history-making launch from Sweden today
Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket will try to become the first vehicle ever to reach orbit from European soil today (Jan. 21), and you can watch the action live.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/isar-aerospace-second-orbital-launch-attempt-andoya-spaceport
Space & Physics
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2026-01-20T22:00:00+00:00
Mysterious polar weather on Jupiter and Saturn could be key to understanding their insides
"I don't think anyone's made this connection between the surface fluid pattern and the interior properties of these planets."
https://www.space.com/astronomy/solar-system/mysterious-polar-weather-on-jupiter-and-saturn-could-be-key-to-understanding-their-insides
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…QPoj-1280-80.png
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2026-01-20T20:00:00+00:00
Blue Origin launching 6 people to suborbital space on Jan. 22
Blue Origin will launch six people to the final frontier on Thursday (Jan. 22), and you can watch the space tourism mission live.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/private-spaceflight/blue-origin-ns-38-suborbital-space-tourism-mission
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…GWWS-1280-80.jpg
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2026-01-20T19:00:00+00:00
How to make a super-Earth: The universe's most common planets are whittled down by stellar radiation
The origin of super-Earths and sub-Neptunes has been revealed in a system of four young planets that are dramatically losing their thick atmospheres.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/how-to-make-a-super-earth-the-universes-most-common-planets-are-whittled-down-by-stellar-radiation
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…gvcN-1280-80.jpg
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2026-01-20T18:00:00+00:00
Total solar eclipse 2030: Everything you need to know about totality in southern Africa and southeast Australia
The total solar eclipse on Nov. 25, 2030, will mainly cross the Indian Ocean, but views will be possible from Australia, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Lesotho.
https://www.space.com/stargazing/solar-eclipses/total-solar-eclipse-2030-everything-you-need-to-know-about-totality-in-southern-africa-and-southeast-australia
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…Psv4-1280-80.jpg
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2026-01-20T16:55:23+00:00
Northern lights may be visible in 10 states Jan. 20 as Earth's magnetic field 'rings like a bell' after CME impact
Auroras may be visible from Alaska to Maine tonight as Earth reels from a colossal CME impact.
https://www.space.com/stargazing/auroras/northern-lights-may-be-visible-in-10-states-tonight-as-earths-magnetic-field-rings-like-a-bell-after-cme-impact
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…E84j-1280-80.jpg
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2026-01-20T16:00:00+00:00
Earth was just hit by the strongest solar radiation storm in over 20 years — here's what it means
Earth just experienced a rare S4 solar radiation storm, the most intense since 2003 — powerful for satellites and astronauts, but harmless on the ground.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/sun/earth-was-just-hit-by-the-strongest-solar-radiation-storm-in-over-20-years-heres-what-it-means
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…B7sV-1280-80.jpg
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2026-01-20T15:00:00+00:00
Universal truths: Astronomy's deepest theories quiz
Test your grasp of the forces and ideas that shape our universe.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/universal-truths-astronomys-deepest-theories-quiz
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…QZ7g-1280-80.jpg
ea800b0912cb3835dee11bd0a31e106eb3b08f9c40636dac79ce5ed4fd5609c2
2026-01-20T14:00:00+00:00
Mars orbiter sees odd etchings in the sand | Space photo of the day for Jan. 20, 2025
Even though the Red Planet's atmosphere is thin, wind is still one of Mars' most relentless sculptors.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/mars/mars-orbiter-sees-odd-etchings-in-the-sand-space-photo-of-the-day-for-jan-20-2025
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…ocSo-1280-80.jpg
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2026-01-20T13:00:00+00:00
James Webb Space Telescope discovers young galaxies age rapidly: 'It's like seeing 2-year-old children act like teenagers'
"The knowledge of these will ultimately help us understand the formation of the first stars and planets and how our own Milky Way came into being."
https://www.space.com/astronomy/galaxies/james-webb-space-telescope-discovers-young-galaxies-age-rapidly-its-like-seeing-2-year-old-children-act-like-teenagers
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…vJ6P-1280-80.png
4137bc7942d915dade2c8dbb3953f46adfb2413fd9bc96fe229f7aae37feebf3
2026-01-20T11:00:00+00:00
Comet Wierzchos buzzes the sun later today: But can you see it?
C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) brightened significantly ahead of its close approach to the sun.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/comets/comet-wierzchos-buzzes-the-sun-later-today-but-can-you-see-it
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…5HSe-1280-80.jpg
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2026-01-20T10:33:21+00:00
Severe G4 geomagnetic storm sparks jaw-dropping northern lights worldwide (photos)
A fast CME slammed into Earth on Jan. 19, unleashing hours of intense auroral activity and lighting up skies far beyond the poles.
https://www.space.com/stargazing/auroras/severe-g4-geomagnetic-storm-sparks-jaw-dropping-northern-lights-worldwide-photos
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…8ky6-1280-80.jpg
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2026-01-19T21:00:00+00:00
An armada of 6,500 Elite Dangerous players just embarked on a three-month expedition to explore the Milky Way, and there's still time to join them
To explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before!
https://www.space.com/entertainment/space-games/an-armada-of-6-500-elite-dangerous-players-just-embarked-on-a-three-month-expedition-to-explore-the-milky-way-and-theres-still-time-to-join-them
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…fr3G-1280-80.jpg
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2026-01-19T20:00:00+00:00
How astronomers plan to detect the signatures of alien life in the atmospheres of distant planets
Astonishingly, we can identify molecules present in the atmospheres of exoplanets.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/how-astronomers-plan-to-detect-the-signatures-of-alien-life-in-the-atmospheres-of-distant-planets
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…yvdK-1280-80.png
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2026-01-19T19:00:00+00:00
What the first medical evacuation from the International Space Station tells us about healthcare in space
The evacuation raises a question worth exploring: how do astronauts stay healthy in space, and why is this early evacuation so unusual?
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/human-spaceflight/what-the-first-medical-evacuation-from-the-international-space-station-tells-us-about-healthcare-in-space
Space & Physics
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2026-01-19T18:00:00+00:00
How to find 4 legendary spacecraft in January's night sky
Along with bonus stargazing targets!
https://www.space.com/stargazing/how-to-find-4-legendary-spacecraft-in-januarys-night-sky
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…4ip4-1280-80.jpg
1ac56ea00ce9b7e697fe312665aab55a85dd3a675e9168575d43d44a611cb4bf
2026-01-19T17:56:10+00:00
DJI Mini 5 Pro drone review
The DJI Mini 5 Pro is the best sub-250g drone ever made and redefines what’s possible in this regulator-friendly drone category.
https://www.space.com/technology/drones/dji-mini-5-pro-drone-review
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…iSiG-1280-80.jpg
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2026-01-19T17:00:00+00:00
Reborn black hole seen erupting across 1 million light-years of space like a cosmic volcano
"It's like watching a cosmic volcano erupt again after ages of calm — except this one is big enough to carve out structures stretching nearly a million light-years across space."
https://www.space.com/astronomy/black-holes/reborn-black-hole-seen-erupting-across-1-million-light-years-of-space-like-a-cosmic-volcano
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…aArY-1280-80.png
9f1a473a50e7cf0d5e0e9c9813f28fc9d28f41daf57f6a817cd777dd7464d0e1
2026-01-19T16:00:00+00:00
China previews how powerful its new Xuntian space telescope will be ahead of 2027 launch (video)
Chinese researchers have completed a full end-to-end simulation of the Chinese Space Station Telescope's observing systems, offering a preview of how the powerful scope will survey the universe.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/china-previews-how-powerful-its-new-xuntian-space-telescope-will-be-ahead-of-2027-launch-video
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…Nvy8-1280-80.jpg
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2026-01-19T15:06:11+00:00
Northern lights may be visible in 24 states Jan. 19 as a massive CME slams into Earth
Auroras may be visible from Alaska to Colorado tonight as a speedy coronal mass ejection impacts Earth.
https://www.space.com/stargazing/auroras/northern-lights-may-be-visible-in-24-states-tonight-as-massive-cme-races-toward-earth
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…aHUh-1280-80.jpg
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2026-01-19T15:00:00+00:00
NASA rolls Artemis 2 moon rocket to launch pad | Space photo of the day for Jan. 19, 2025
America's next mission to the moon is happening in only a few weeks.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/artemis/nasa-rolls-artemis-2-moon-rocket-to-launch-pad-space-photo-of-the-day-for-jan-19-2025
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…NUJ5-1280-80.jpg
de4ac71ffb5b849b9d9024148bbf14b6b0ba76cb8b4c82b42033af29e03c774a
2026-01-19T14:00:00+00:00
Was the Red Planet once blue? New evidence points to an ancient ocean on Mars
Ancient shoreline features hint that water on Mars once formed a vast ocean.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/mars/was-the-red-planet-once-blue-new-evidence-points-to-an-ancient-ocean-on-mars
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…3sxC-1280-80.jpg
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2026-01-19T13:00:00+00:00
This is the sharpest view ever seen of a black hole's dusty disk
"Instead of Webb's 6.5-meter diameter, it's like we are observing this region with a 13-meter space telescope."
https://www.space.com/astronomy/james-webb-space-telescope/this-is-the-sharpest-view-ever-seen-of-a-black-holes-dusty-disk
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…i4Bk-1280-80.jpg
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2026-01-19T11:00:01+00:00
Sun unleashes powerful X-flare, CME hits Earth sparking severe geomagnetic storm
Aurora alert! The colossal solar storm could impact and trigger impressive northern lights.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/sun/sun-erupts-with-powerful-x-class-flare-as-huge-cme-races-toward-earth-impact-possible-within-24-hours
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…yso8-1280-80.jpg
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2026-01-19T11:00:00+00:00
Astronomers discover an enormous iron bar in the famous Ring Nebula: 'We definitely need to know more'
"One thing popped out as clear as anything, this previously unknown 'bar' of ionized iron atoms, in the middle of the familiar and iconic ring."
https://www.space.com/astronomy/stars/astronomers-discover-an-enormous-iron-bar-in-the-famous-ring-nebula-we-definitely-need-to-know-more
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…HBdh-1280-80.png
65b51cc6e1a7188fe9bebaf3e7a5803d4a5f1d53786361ba5d70ede37e9c58f2
2026-01-19T00:27:37+00:00
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 29 Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida (video)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 29 Starlink satellites launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacex-starlink-6-100-b1080-ccsfs-asog
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…HSTa-1280-80.jpg
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2026-01-18T16:00:00+00:00
Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown gets a release date, bringing roguelite survival action to the Delta Quadrant
Get stranded in the Delta Quadrant all over again when Star Trek Voyager – Across the Unknown warps in on February 19th.
https://www.space.com/entertainment/space-games/star-trek-voyager-across-the-unknown-gets-a-release-date-bringing-roguelite-survival-action-to-the-delta-quadrant
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…JPXW-1280-80.jpg
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2026-01-18T15:00:00+00:00
Does antimatter 'fall up'?
We need to talk about antimatter.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/dark-universe/does-antimatter-fall-up
Space & Physics
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ee93f748d9e4a5c28c0353fc84c1d1664ea7b18175c590709850f457761a4c46
2026-01-18T15:00:00+00:00
'Starfleet Academy' isn't the first time that 'Star Trek' tried to go back to school
The new teen-led Paramount+ TV show isn't Trek's first attempt to study at the Academy.
https://www.space.com/entertainment/space-movies-shows/starfleet-academy-isnt-the-first-time-that-star-trek-tried-to-go-back-to-school
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…n9dn-1280-80.jpg
39383fb15377f9ad9888ad73e2856aad0d627d00308d9b2f322c6192953a815e
2026-01-18T14:00:00+00:00
What is below Earth, since space is present in every direction?
When my colleagues and I send them out to explore our solar system, it's important for us to understand the 3D map of our space neighborhood.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/what-is-below-earth-since-space-is-present-in-every-direction
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…gTYi-1280-80.jpg
ee5445c0a0a2ffc133184d065ee0909199b611d8c30d3cb10bec2876acd05d19
2026-01-18T13:00:00+00:00
New moon of January 2026 brings prime views of Jupiter, Saturn and winter stars tonight
With the moon out of the way on Jan. 18, bright Jupiter and Saturn become stand-outs in the January night sky.
https://www.space.com/stargazing/new-moon-brings-prime-views-of-jupiter-saturn-and-winter-stars
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…hV28-1280-80.jpg
52ac257715908196b9c50e442a8398cb985a783237a08bf50d33a70df3771d26
2026-01-18T11:00:00+00:00
Hubble Telescope watches star blast out jet of hot gas 32 light-years long
The protostar is launching the longest outburst ever seen at 32 light-years long.
https://www.space.com/astronomy/stars/hubble-telescope-watches-star-blast-out-jet-of-hot-gas-32-light-years-long
Space & Physics
https://cdn.mos.cms.futu…Hhh3-1280-80.png
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2026-01-21T01:43:04+00:00
Enceladus Plumes May Hold a Clear Clue to Ocean Habitability
How can scientists estimate the pH level of Enceladus’ subsurface ocean without landing on its surface? This is what a recently submitted study hopes to address as a team of scientists from Japan investigated new methods for sampling the plumes of Enceladus and provide more accurate measurements of its pH levels. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand the subsurface ocean conditions on Enceladus and whether it’s suitable for life as we know it.
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/enceladus-plumes-may-hold-a-clear-clue-to-ocean-habitability
Space & Physics
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2026-01-20T22:10:40+00:00
Studying Massive And Mysterious Young Protostars With The Hubble
Newly developing stars shrouded in thick dust get their first baby pictures in these images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble took these infant star snapshots in an effort to learn how massive stars form. Protostars are shrouded in thick dust that blocks light, but Hubble can detect the near-infrared emission that shines through holes carved in the gas by the young stars themselves.
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/studying-massive-and-mysterious-young-protostars-with-the-hubble
Space & Physics
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2026-01-20T19:04:47+00:00
What Created This Strange Iron Bar In The Ring Nebula?
The Ring Nebula is a well-studied planetary nebula about 2,570 light-years away. Nnew observations of the nebula with a new instrument have revealed a previously unseen component. The William Herschel Telescope used its WEAVE instrument to detect a massive 'iron bar' inside the nebula's inner layer.
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/what-created-this-strange-iron-bar-in-the-ring-nebula
Space & Physics
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2026-01-20T15:52:11+00:00
The 2030 Race for a Moon Reactor
The US’s federally funded space program has been struggling of late. With the recent cancellation of the Mars Sample Return mission, and mass layoffs / resignations taking place at NASA, the general sense of a lack of morale at the agency is palpable, even from a distance. Jared Isaacman, the billionaire software entrepreneur and rocket enthusiast who was recently confirmed as NASA administrator during his second confirmation hearing, hopes to change that, and one of his priorities is pushing the Artemis missions for a permanent human presence on the Moon. However, at least one big technical hurdle remains before being able to do so - how to power a base during the two week long lunar night. A recent press release describes how NASA, and another branch of the federal government (the Department of Energy - DoE) hope to solve that problem - with a lunar-ready nuclear fission reactor
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-2030-race-for-a-moon-reactor
Space & Physics
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2026-01-20T14:17:18+00:00
The Alien Hunter's Shopping List
We recently discussed the different types of worlds that the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is expected to find that might have noticeable biosignatures. However, no matter how good the instrumentation on board the observatory is, the data it collects will be useless if scientists don’t know how to interpret it. A paper explaining what data they need to collect before analyzing HWO data was authored by Niki Parenteau, a research biologist at NASA, and her co-authors, which is now available in pre-print on arXiv.
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-alien-hunters-shopping-list
Space & Physics
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2026-01-19T23:47:17+00:00
Astronomers Find that Black Holes "Seesaw" Between Ejecting Material as Winds or Jets
Astronomers at the University of Warwick have discovered that black holes don’t just consume matter—they manage it, choosing whether to blast it into space as high-speed jets or sweep it away in vast winds.
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/astronomers-find-that-black-holes-seesaw-between-ejecting-material-as-winds-or-jets
Space & Physics
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2026-01-19T23:25:00+00:00
Toxic Hydrogen Cyanide And Its Role In The Origins Of Life
Hydrogen Cyanide, which is toxic, may have played an important role in the emergence of life. Its unique properties, especially in frigid environments in space, may have helped generate the complex molecules necessary for life to appear.
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/toxic-hydrogen-cyanide-and-its-role-in-the-origins-of-life
Space & Physics
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2026-01-19T19:47:22+00:00
Could Bees Be a Model for SETI Searches?
Humans have always been fascinated with space. We frequently question whether we are alone in the universe. If not, what does intelligent life look like? And how would aliens communicate?
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/could-bees-be-a-model-for-seti-searches
Space & Physics
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2026-01-19T18:18:00+00:00
Deep Magma Oceans Could Help Make Super-Earths Habitable
Deep beneath the surface of distant exoplanets known as super-Earths, oceans of molten rock may be doing something extraordinary: powering magnetic fields strong enough to shield entire planets from dangerous cosmic radiation and other harmful high-energy particles.
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/deep-magma-oceans-could-help-make-super-earths-habitable
Space & Physics
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2026-01-19T13:41:23+00:00
Searching for 'Green Oceans' and 'Purple Earths'
The early stage of giant telescope development involves a lot of horse-trading to try to appease all the different stakeholders that are hoping to get what they want out of the project, but also to try to appease the financial managers that want to minimize its cost. Typically this horse-trading takes the form of a series of white papers that describe what would be needed to meet the stated objectives of the mission and suggest the type of instrumentation and systems that would be needed to achieve them. One such white paper was recently released by the Living Worlds Working Group, which is tasked with speccing out the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), one of the world’s premiere exoplanet hunting telescopes that is currently in the early development stage. Their argument in the paper, which is available in pre-print on arXiv, shows that, in order to meet the objectives laid out in the recent Decadal survey that called for the telescope, it must have extremely high signal-to-noise ratio, but also be able to capture a very wide spectrum of light.
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/searching-for-green-oceans-and-purple-earths
Space & Physics
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2026-01-19T11:55:35+00:00
The Universe's Most Common Water is a Hot Mess
Inside the cores of ice giant planets, the pressure and temperature are so extreme that the water residing there transitions into a phase completely unfamiliar under the normal conditions of Earth. Known as “superionic water”, this form of water is a type of ice. However, unlike regular ice it’s actually hot, and also black. For decades, scientists thought that the superionic water in the core of Neptune and Uranus is responsible for the wild, unaligned magnetic fields that the Voyager 2 spacecraft saw when passing them. A series of experiments described in a paper published in Nature Communications by Leon Andriambariarijaona and his co-authors at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the Sorbonne provides experimental evidence of why exactly the ice causes these weird magnetic fields - because it is far messier than anyone expected.
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-universes-most-common-water-is-a-hot-mess
Space & Physics
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2026-01-20T21:04:09+00:00
NASA’s Budget Woes Are Over, For Now
Congress has rejected a draconian budget request, passing a bill that funds the space agency similarly to 2025. The post NASA’s Budget Woes Are Over, For Now appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/nasas-budget-woes-are-over-for-now/
Space & Physics
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2cdca2f1a44a28a98c974a5b8e529471d51051386e9496c270e44eb39f7cbe67
2026-01-19T13:00:00+00:00
“Missing” Supernova Images Offer Measure of Universe’s Expansion
Astronomers have found two gravitationally lensed supernovae that are missing images. Those images' arrival will offer a measure of the universe's expansion. The post “Missing” Supernova Images Offer Measure of Universe’s Expansion appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/missing-supernova-images-offer-measure-of-universes-expansion/
Space & Physics
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bacc95a13d0b972e136d901c8a141438540c6f217ba1a9810cb81d55bb050f96
2026-01-21T04:46:48
Spacecraft captures the "magnetic avalanche" that triggers giant solar explosions
Solar Orbiter has captured the clearest evidence yet that a solar flare grows through a cascading “magnetic avalanche.” Small, weak magnetic disturbances rapidly multiplied, triggering stronger and stronger explosions that accelerated particles to extreme speeds. The process produced streams of glowing plasma blobs that rained through the Sun’s atmosphere long after the flare itself.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260121034114.htm
Science
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