Researchers have developed a battery capable of converting nuclear energy into electricity through light emission, according to a new study.

Nuclear power plants generate about 20% of the electricity in the United States and produce minimal greenhouse gas emissions. However, they also generate radioactive waste, which poses risks to human health and the environment, making safe disposal a significant challenge.

To address this, a team led by researchers from The Ohio State University designed a system that harnesses ambient gamma radiation to generate electricity. By combining scintillator crystals—high-density materials that emit light when exposed to radiation—with solar cells, they successfully converted nuclear energy into an electric output powerful enough to run microelectronics, such as microchips.

Researchers have developed small robots that can work together as a collective that changes shape and even shifts between solid and “fluid-like” states — a concept that should be familiar to anyone still haunted by nightmares of the T-1000 robotic assassin from “Terminator 2.”

A team led by Matthew Devlin of UC Santa Barbara described this work in a paper recently published in Science, writing that the vision of “cohesive collectives of robotic units that can arrange into virtually any form with any physical properties … has long intrigued both science and fiction.”

Otger Campàs, a professor at Max Planck Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, told Ars Technica that the team was inspired by tissues in embryos to try and design robots with similar capabilities. These robots have motorized gears that allow them to move around within the collective, magnets so they can stay attached, and photodetectors that allow them to receive instructions from a flashlight with a polarization filter.

Well, now the Ultra is officially been released A handful of Chinese media drivers have finally gotten behind the wheel for a review—both in the context of on-the-road driving and hammering it in more aggressive circumstances. Haoran Zhou, the former car PR person and F1 reporter, did a lead-follow of the SU7 Ultra on track.

I have to note that this is technically a step down from the full-race-ready track-prepped version that Xiaomi sent around the Nürburgring. The two cars still have the same 1,526 horsepower, but the lap-setting version has essentially a full carbon-fiber body, complete with huge brake ducts right into the side of the car. This version uses mostly the body of the standard SU7, although it does have a new aluminum hood.

Because of this, the SU7 Ultra is still as fully featured as the standard car. Zhou spent half of the video using Xiaomi’s driver assistance features. It appears to work as well as the standard SU7, but Zhou did remark that it was a little surreal to have a 1,500-horsepower car do some sort of autonomous driving. “I’m trying my best to find a positive use case for it,” he said, theorizing that these features would save wear and tear on the vehicle itself between track day use. “No normal human being would be driving like this in an SU7 Ultra,” he said.

A small clinical trial, published in Occupational & Environmental Medicine, suggests that melatonin supplementation may help counteract DNA

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a molecule composed of two long strands of nucleotides that coil around each other to form a double helix. It is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms that carries genetic instructions for development, functioning, growth, and reproduction. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).

UT Austin researchers have developed a biodegradable, biomass-based hydrogel that efficiently extracts drinkable water from the air, offering a scalable, sustainable solution for water access in off-grid communities, emergency relief, and agriculture.

Discarded food scraps, stray branches, seashells, and other natural materials serve as key ingredients in a new system developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin that can extract drinkable water from thin air.

This innovative system, called “molecularly functionalized biomass hydrogels,” transforms a wide range of natural products into sorbents—materials that absorb liquids. By pairing these sorbents with mild heat, the researchers can extract gallons of drinkable water from the atmosphere, even in arid conditions.

OpenAi has launched GPT-4.5, which is the company’s largest and best model. The company is releasing a research preview of GPT‑4.5 that’s a step forward in scaling up pre-training and post-training. The latest model improves its ability to recognize patterns, draw connections, and generate creative insights without reasoning.

OpenAI revealed that as per early testing, interacting with GPT‑4.5 feels more natural. It has broader knowledge base, improved ability to follow user intent, and greater “EQ” make it useful for tasks like improving writing, programming, and solving practical problems.

Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) designed a “material-like” collective of programmable micro-robots, which can behave like a fluid or bond together to create new solid structures. The technology could lead to the development of a new sub-field of robotics.

The UCSB scientists set out to design simple robots that could work together, like a colony of ants or other collective groups. The study, recently published in Science, describes micro-robotic units that can switch from a “fluidizing” state to a more “solid” shape based on the rotational state of the robots.

The idea is ripped straight from science fiction concepts like the T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The researchers claim they have turned this theoretical vision into reality after studying embryonic morphogenesis, the biological process through which cells can change their shapes and turn into different tissues in the human body.

HD 20,794D, a planet six times the mass of Earth, orbits a Sun-like star just 20 light-years away. Its presence was confirmed after years of meticulous analysis, overcoming the limits of detection technology.

Although it lies in the habitable zone, its elliptical orbit presents challenges in determining its true potential for life. Future telescopes may soon provide deeper insights into its atmosphere, making this one of the most exciting exoplanet.

An exoplanet (or extrasolar planet) is a planet that is located outside our Solar System, orbiting around a star other than the Sun. The first suspected scientific detection of an exoplanet occurred in 1988, with the first confirmation of detection coming in 1992.

It’s more affordable than a Hyundai Ioniq 6 and does things a little differently. Plus, there’s a hatchback option too.

‘Quantum Supremacy’ author Dr. Michio Kaku discusses the future of quantum computing on ‘Making Money.’