Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog – Page 3

Get the latest international news and world events from around the world.

Log in for authorized contributors

Webb reveals metal-rich gas around Milky Way’s central black hole

The gas orbiting Sagittarius A (Sgr A•, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, is rich in metals, researchers at McGill University’s Trottier Space Institute have found. The metal enrichment probably resulted from stars that exploded and released material into the black hole’s surroundings over time, they said.

The team also learned this gas is similar in composition to many of the stars in the black hole’s orbit, suggesting the gas and stars may have formed together.

Sgr A* is closer to Earth, and therefore easier to see, than any other supermassive black hole. These findings could advance understanding of how metals are distributed around supermassive black holes in more distant galaxies, as well as the processes that supplied Earth with many of these elements, the researchers suggested.

Forgotten particle could answer mystery of why we exist, say physicists

Scientists have unveiled a new theory on the birth of the cosmos, suggesting the early universe was shaped by an ancient particle that has been overlooked for decades.

Their research tackles one of the greatest conundrums in modern physics—how matter triumphed over antimatter in the aftermath of the Big Bang.

According to current theories, both should have annihilated each other after a colossal explosion, leaving nothing but an empty universe of pure energy. But physicists at the University of Southampton and the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur say they found a clue in a neutrino, one of the lightest particles in the universe.

A little heat releases two fuels from a single crystalline compound

A team of researchers in India has developed a new compound capable of releasing both hydrogen and methane when heated at low temperatures. In their new study, published in Science Advances, the researchers show how this new compound can provide a foundation for creating recyclable molecular compounds for storing and delivering alternative fuel components.

Hydrogen is an attractive option as an alternative fuel source because it produces only water vapor and heat when used in a fuel cell or burned with oxygen. However, hydrogen fuel cells are expensive and technologies for the practical use of hydrogen fuel are still being studied and developed. Hydrogen–methane blends have been proposed as an option that may act as a transitional fuel between hydrocarbon-based fuels and hydrogen fuels.

Mixtures of hydrogen and methane have better combustion efficiency and lower emissions compared with hydrocarbon fuels. Hydrogen is highly combustible and flammable, but the addition of methane can lower the risks of flashback and detonation, making the fuel safer than pure hydrogen. However, there have been limitations associated with the storage and release of these mixtures.

Who is Elias the lighthouse keeper? AI fiction tells the same old story

Like a hack writer or a friend rehashing their glory days over and over, artificial intelligence tends to tell the same old story. For AI agents instructed to write fiction, that tale usually involves lighthouses and a keeper named Elias, according to new Cornell research.

Nearly 90% of AI-generated fictional stories written by current large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Claude include at least one of 11 recurring words, including “lighthouse,” “keeper” and the names “Elias,” “Mara” and “Elara,” researchers found when directing LLMs to tell stories. More than half of AI-generated stories featured a lighthouse.

They also found part of the reason for these recurrences may be that many AI developers have trained LLMs on an important dataset created by Cornell researchers.

AI facial health recognition tools help physicians assess age and survival risk to guide personalized treatment

Researchers are using AI tools to analyze simple facial photographs to determine key indicators of a person’s health. Mass General Brigham researchers built FAHR-Face (Foundation Artificial Intelligence for Health Recognition), a large AI foundation model trained on over 40 million face images.

They used the model to develop two complementary tools: FAHR-FaceAge, which estimates a patient’s biological age with greater accuracy compared to prior age estimation algorithms, and FAHR-FaceSurvival, which directly predicts survival outcomes in patients with cancer from a face photograph.

The model development and validation study showed that the deviation between a patient’s FAHR-FaceAge and their chronological age was independently linked to survival. It also demonstrated the robustness of the tools across common photo variations. The study is published in Lancet Digital Health.

Planetary ‘twins’ Uranus and Neptune may have different origin stories

Uranus and Neptune are the least explored planets in the solar system. Only the Voyager 2 spacecraft has flown by them, in 1986 and 1989, respectively. Yet understanding their origin is an important challenge for planetary science: Planets of comparable size account for more than half of the roughly 6,000 exoplanets discovered to date.

To trace the history of these two worlds, scientists seek to determine the composition of their deep layers, which are inaccessible to direct observation due in part to the many successive cloud layers. They must therefore identify tracers that can indirectly reveal their composition. Carbon monoxide (CO) is one such tracer. Produced or present in the deep layers of the atmosphere, it can be transported through multiple cloud layers to altitudes accessible to observation. Its concentration thus provides a window into regions located far below the visible clouds.

New ‘hunter-killer’ chemistry captures and destroys forever chemicals

They can turn up in a nonstick frying pan, a waterproof jacket, a takeout food wrapper or the foam used to fight fires. Known as “forever chemicals,” these substances are ubiquitous in modern society, prized for their extreme durability and versatility. However, their charm comes with a curse: They are so durable they resist degradation, posing threats to human health and the environment.

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, gained early widespread use in products such as Teflon, a coating that resists oil, heat, stains, grease and water. Today, they are everywhere, from paints and adhesives to furniture, carpets, cosmetics, semiconductors and waterproof fabrics. Unfortunately, they are also in our water, soil, food and even us.

Now, researchers at Arizona State University and their international colleagues are attacking the problem in a new way. Rather than filtering these harmful chemicals out of contaminated water, they have developed a technique to destroy them.

Normally forbidden emissions from graphene could expose quantum fluctuations in incoming light

Voltage fluctuations, light fluctuations, temperature fluctuations—any fluctuations are troublesome and thus undesirable. They don’t just cause discomfort; in engineering and medical applications, they affect the accuracy of measurements or introduce errors in controls. Even at the minute level of quantum phenomena, fluctuations are considered undesirable.

But what if some fluctuations can be made useful? A theoretical study from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) shows that structured quantum fluctuations in light can be used to sense and generate useful quantum optical signals.

Kartik Prabhu and professor Gopal Dixit of IIT Bombay’s Physics Department have proposed a new way to detect quantum fluctuations in light using the quantum material graphene as a sensor.

X-rays reveal surprisingly long-lived spin waves in copper oxide

Today’s computer technology, based on silicon chips, is slowly reaching its physical limits. Components cannot be miniaturized indefinitely, and clock speeds cannot be increased indefinitely. At the same time, huge AI data centers are being built in many places, and these consume an immense amount of electricity. This is why scientists around the world are searching for novel materials that can replace or complement silicon technology and consume significantly less electricity.

Using a combination of X-ray techniques, a research team at PSI has now been able to break down in detail the rapid interplay among different excitations in such a material—electronic, magnetic and lattice excitations.

The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.

Scientists redetermine a key strontium frequency with 50 times better precision for quantum technologies

The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) has remeasured a key transition frequency of the strontium (Sr) atom for the first time in 88 years, since 1938, using a photonic grating chip. It has established a new absolute frequency value with a measurement uncertainty reduced by more than 50 times. By providing an accurate reference value for next-generation quantum technologies, this achievement is expected to contribute to the precise control and miniaturization of quantum devices, including atomic clocks and neutral-atom quantum computers. The work is published in the journal Metrologia.

Strontium is an atom widely used in precision quantum technologies such as optical lattice clocks and quantum sensors. To use strontium in these technologies, fast-moving atoms must be slowed down and trapped with precisely tuned lasers. This requires knowing the exact resonant frequency of the laser light for the atomic transition.

However, the previous frequency value was obtained in 1938 by comparing the solar spectrum with the arc light of strontium, and its uncertainty was too large for today’s precise laser frequency settings. As a result, researchers have had to observe the atoms’ response directly and adjust the laser frequency as needed, much like turning the dial of an analog radio to tune in to a station.