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AI Is Heading For an Energy Crisis That Has Tech Giants Scrambling

The artificial intelligence industry is scrambling to reduce its massive energy consumption through better cooling systems, more efficient computer chips, and smarter programming – all while AI usage explodes worldwide.

AI depends entirely on data centers, which could consume three percent of the world’s electricity by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency. That’s double what they use today.

Experts at McKinsey, a US consulting firm, describe a race to build enough data centers to keep up with AI’s rapid growth, while warning that the world is heading toward an electricity shortage.

Sound of Earth’s Flipping Magnetic Field Haunts Again From 780,000 Years Ago

In 2024, researchers transformed readings of an epic upheaval of Earth’s magnetic field flipping 41,000 years ago into an eerie, auditory experience.

Now a team containing some of those same scientists has sonified an even earlier flip, from epochs ago.

The resulting cacophony is an unnerving translation of geological data on the Matuyama-Brunhes reversal, a switching of the planet’s magnetic poles that took place roughly 780,000 years ago.

Extreme Conditions of Early Universe Recreated in Collider Experiment

A team of researchers have made progress in understanding how some of the Universe’s heaviest particles behave under extreme conditions similar to those that existed just after the Big Bang.

A study published in Physics Reports provides new insights into the fundamental forces that shaped our Universe and continues to guide its evolution today.

The research, conducted by an international team from the University of Barcelona, the Indian Institute of Technology, and Texas A&M University, focuses on particles containing heavy quarks, the building blocks of some of the most massive particles in existence.

Atomic swap in morphine core structure leads to safer, non-rewarding opioid alternative

One of the greatest revolutions in the field of pain medication was the isolation of morphine from the opium poppy in the 19th century. Morphine molecules act as painkillers by attaching themselves to the µ-opioid receptor (MOR) in the central nervous system and blocking the brain from sending pain signals to the rest of the body. This potent opioid analgesic also has side effects such as constipation, respiratory depression, and even serious addiction problems.

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found that a single heavy atom replacement in the morphine core structure can transform its pharmacological behavior, resulting in reduced and no evidence of reward behavior—a key component of addiction tendencies—even at high doses.

Based on the insight that core-atom changes to the drug molecule may exhibit biological effects distinct from the parent compound, the researchers developed a 15-step total synthesis of a morphine derivative where an oxygen atom in the E-ring is replaced with a methylene (CH2) group and called the new derivative carbamorphine.

Astronomers perform a comprehensive study of two open clusters

Using the TUBITAK National Observatory and ESA’s Gaia satellite, astronomers from the Istanbul University in Turkey and elsewhere have conducted comprehensive observations of two open clusters, namely: Czernik 41 and NGC 1342. Results of the observational campaign, published July 7 on the arXiv preprint server, deliver important insights into the properties of these clusters.

Open clusters (OCs) are groups of stars formed from the same giant molecular cloud and loosely gravitationally bound to each other. Astronomers are interested in inspecting OCs in detail as such studies could be crucial for improving our understanding of the formation and evolution of our galaxy.

That is why a group of researchers led by Istanbul University’s Burçin Tanık Öztürk decided to take a closer look at two well-known OCs—Czernik 41, discovered in 1966, and NGC 1,342, dubbed the Stingray Cluster, which was identified by William Herschel in 1799. For this purpose, they employed the T100 telescope at the TUBITAK National Observatory in Turkey and analyzed the data from the Gaia satellite.

Childhood trauma shapes adult stress appraisal and mental health outcomes, research reveals

University of Leeds psychologists report that stress appraisal and perceived stress act as key conduits linking childhood trauma to adult depression, anxiety, defeat, and entrapment.

Childhood trauma affects nearly one third of young people in the United Kingdom. Early experiences of abuse or neglect have been associated with depression, anxiety, , and substance use later in life.

Exposure to multiple types of trauma has been linked to higher rates of suicidal thoughts and . Females who experience childhood sexual abuse can face substantially elevated risks of attempting suicide compared to peers without such histories.

NASA’s IXPE imager reveals mysteries of rare pulsar

An international team of astronomers has uncovered new evidence to explain how pulsing remnants of exploded stars interact with surrounding matter deep in the cosmos, using observations from NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) and other telescopes.

Scientists based in the U.S., Italy, and Spain, set their sights on a mysterious cosmic duo called PSR J1023+0038, or J1023 for short. The J1023 system is comprised of a rapidly rotating neutron star feeding off of its low-mass companion star, which has created an accretion disk around the neutron star. This neutron star is also a pulsar, emitting powerful twin beams of light from its opposing as it rotates, spinning like a lighthouse beacon.

The J1023 system is rare and valuable to study because the pulsar transitions clearly between its active state, in which it feeds off its companion star, and a more dormant state, when it emits detectable pulsations as radio waves. This makes it a “transitional millisecond pulsar.”

New liquid can simplify hydrogen transportation and storage

Researchers at EPFL and Kyoto University have created a stable hydrogen-rich liquid formed by mixing two simple chemicals. This breakthrough could make hydrogen storage easier, safer, and more efficient at room temperature.

Hydrogen can be the clean fuel of the future, but getting it from the lab to everyday life isn’t simple. Most hydrogen-rich materials are solids at , or they only become liquids under like high pressure or freezing temperatures.

Even materials such as , a solid, hydrogen-rich compound that can store a lot of hydrogen, are difficult because they release hydrogen only when heated, often producing unwanted byproducts.