Researchers have developed a powerful new way to measure ultrashort, high-energy laser pulses in a single shot, solving long-standing challenges in capturing their complex profiles.
This innovation is crucial as laser technology moves toward unprecedented energy levels and plasma-based optics.
Breakthrough in Measuring Laser Pulses.
A recent study published in ACM Transactions on the Web by researchers at Queen Mary University of London sheds new light on one of the most significant collapses in cryptocurrency history: the crash of the TerraUSD stablecoin and its sister token, LUNA. The research team uncovered evidence of suspicious, large-scale trading activity that may point to a coordinated effort to destabilize the ecosystem, triggering a rapid $3.5 billion loss in market value.
Led by Dr. Richard Clegg, the study uses temporal multilayer graph analysis, an advanced method for tracking dynamic and interconnected systems over time. By applying this technique to transaction data from the Ethereum blockchain, the researchers were able to trace complex relationships between cryptocurrencies and pinpoint how TerraUSD was systematically undermined through a series of calculated trades.
Stablecoins like TerraUSD are designed to maintain a steady value, typically pegged to a fiat currency like the US dollar. However, in May 2022, TerraUSD and its sister currency, LUNA, experienced a catastrophic collapse. Dr. Clegg’s research sheds light on how this happened, uncovering evidence of a coordinated attack by traders who were betting against the system, a practice known as “shorting.”
Every star that hangs upon the evening firmament will one day die, its lights snuffed and its fires cooling in the dwindling cosmic end times.
We don’t always know when, but for a binary star system around 150 light-years from Earth, a precise time of death has now been discovered. Some 23 billion years from now, the two white dwarf stars are destined to smash together.
At least, they would, if not for the fact both will be taken out before this fated merger by a spectacular explosion – a Type Ia supernova, one of the measuring sticks against which we gauge distance in the Universe.
On April 1, 2025, the Taiwanese manufacturer TSMC introduced the world’s most advanced microchip: the 2 nanometre (2nm) chip.
Mass production is expected for the second half of the year, and TSMC promises it will represent a major step forward in performance and efficiency – potentially reshaping the technological landscape.
Microchips are the foundation of modern technology, found in nearly all electronic devices, from electric toothbrushes and smartphones to laptops and household appliances. They are made by layering and etching materials like silicon to create microscopic circuits containing billions of transistors.
Noticing somebody fidgeting can be distracting. Vexing. Even excruciating. But why?
According to research, the stressful sensations caused by seeing others fidget are an incredibly common psychological phenomenon, affecting as many as one in three people.
Called misokinesia – meaning ‘hatred of movements’ – this strange phenomenon had been little studied by scientists until recent years, but was noted in the context of a related condition, misophonia: a disorder where people become irritated upon hearing certain repetitious sounds.
If you go walking in the wild, you might expect that what you’re seeing is natural. All around you are trees, shrubs and grasses growing in their natural habitat.
But there’s something here that doesn’t add up. Across the world, there are large areas of habitat which would suit native plant species just fine. But very often, they’re simply absent.
Our new research gauges the scale of this problem, known as “dark diversity”. Our international team of 200 scientists examined plant species in thousands of sites worldwide.
Found on Google from link.springer.com