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Laser method can detect chemical weapons and bacteria in seconds

Researchers at Umeå University and the Swedish Defense Research Agency, FOI, have developed new laser methods that can quickly detect chemical weapons and harmful bacteria directly on site—without the need to send samples to a laboratory.

Hazardous chemicals can appear in many forms. They can be pollutants in waterways, pesticides in our food, or synthetic substances designed to cause harm—such as narcotics or . To reduce the risk of these substances entering our bodies, it is crucial to be able to detect them quickly and reliably.

A new doctoral thesis from Umeå University shows how can be used to do just that.

Milky Way shows gamma ray excess due to dark matter annihilation, study suggests

New research shows that dark matter has a different distribution in our galaxy than previously thought, and that advances dark matter’s status as a potential source of the observed gamma ray excess in the Milky Way’s center. High-resolution simulations reveal that the dark matter distribution in the inner galaxy is not spherical, but flattened and asymmetrical. The findings confirm the theory that the gamma ray excess is due to dark matter annihilation.

Scientists have long suspected to be a source of these rays, but the rays’ spatial spread did not match the arrangement of dark matter they had predicted. Another theory argues that ancient millisecond pulsars could produce the rays.

For the new study published in Physical Review Letters, researchers modeled the formation of Milky Way-like galaxies under environmental conditions similar to those of Earth’s cosmic neighborhood, thereby reproducing simulated Milky Way-like galaxies that bear strong resemblance to the real thing.

Shocking Discovery About Earth’s Magnetosphere Challenges Decades of Theory

The area of space influenced by Earth’s magnetic field is called the magnetosphere. Within this protective bubble, scientists have observed an electric force that moves from the morning side of the planet toward the evening side. This vast electric field plays a crucial role in generating disturbances in near-Earth space, including geomagnetic storms.

Because electric forces move from positive to negative charges, researchers once believed that the morning side of the magnetosphere carried a positive charge while the evening side was negative. However, new satellite data has revealed the reverse: the morning side is actually negatively charged, and the evening side is positively charged.

This unexpected finding led a research group from Kyoto University, Nagoya University, and Kyushu University to take a closer look at the mechanisms that shape the magnetosphere.

Decades-Old Earthquake Mystery Finally Solved by New Model

A new laboratory earthquake model connects real contact area with earthquake dynamics, paving the way for improved prediction and early warning systems. Scientists have created a new laboratory model that links the tiny, real contact areas between fault surfaces to the likelihood of earthquakes.

China Brought Something Unexpected Back From The Far Side of The Moon

Dust from the far side of the Moon has yielded an unexpected microscopic treasure we’ve never seen before.

A close examination of lunar material collected during the China National Space Administration’s Chang’e-6 mission revealed specks of dust from a kind of water-bearing meteorite so fragile it seldom survives the trip through Earth’s atmosphere.

It’s the first confirmed debris of a type of meteorite known as Ivuna-type carbonaceous chondrite – or CI chondrite – ever to be found on the Moon, demonstrating that fragile, water-bearing asteroids can leave microscopic traces embedded in the lunar regolith.

131 Chrome Extensions Caught Hijacking WhatsApp Web for Massive Spam Campaign

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a coordinated campaign that leveraged 131 rebranded clones of a WhatsApp Web automation extension for Google Chrome to spam Brazilian users at scale.

The 131 spamware extensions share the same codebase, design patterns, and infrastructure, according to supply chain security company Socket. The browser add-ons collectively have about 20,905 active users.

“They are not classic malware, but they function as high-risk spam automation that abuses platform rules,” security researcher Kirill Boychenko said. “The code injects directly into the WhatsApp Web page, running alongside WhatsApp’s own scripts, automates bulk outreach and scheduling in ways that aim to bypass WhatsApp’s anti-spam enforcement.”

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