Tokamaks are one of the most widely studied technologies in the global effort to achieve sustained nuclear fusion. Using intense magnetic fields, they confine superheated plasma within their doughnut-shaped interiors, allowing atomic nuclei to fuse together and release vast amounts of energy.
A recent study has investigated teleparallel gravity and its potential to resolve tension surrounding the expansion of the universe in a way that general relativity can’t.
Astronomers believe that at the heart of most, if not all, galaxies sits a titanic black hole with a mass that is millions or even billions of times that of our sun. These supermassive black holes cannot be directly created through the collapse of a massive star, as is the case with stellar mass black holes with masses tens of times that of the sun, as no star is large enough to birth such a huge object.
Humanity is on the verge of entering a new era of space exploration, with the Artemis III mission planning to return humans to the moon in 2026, for the first time in 50 years. Not only will Artemis see a woman and a person of color walk on the lunar surface for the first time, but the week-long mission to the south pole of the moon will begin a period of longer and longer stays in space.
A quantum physics experiment at the University of Vienna achieved groundbreaking precision in measuring Earth’s rotation using entangled photons.
The study utilizes an enhanced optical Sagnac interferometer that leverages quantum entanglement to detect rotational effects with unprecedented precision, offering potential breakthroughs in both quantum mechanics and general relativity.
Pioneering Quantum Experiment
Researchers discovered four mini-Neptunes with volatile-rich compositions around red dwarfs, using both space and ground-based telescopes. Researchers discovered mini-Neptunes[1] around four red dwarfs[2], which are named TOI-782, TOI-1448, TOI-2120, and TOI-2406, using observations from a glob.
Stanford scientists are enhancing liquid fuel storage methods by developing new catalytic systems for isopropanol production to optimize energy retention and release.
As California transitions rapidly to renewable fuels, it needs new technologies that can store power for the electric grid. Solar power drops at night and declines in winter. Wind power ebbs and flows. As a result, the state depends heavily on natural gas to smooth out the highs and lows of renewable power.
“The electric grid uses energy at the same rate that you generate it, and if you’re not using it at that time, and you can’t store it, you must throw it away,” said Robert Waymouth, the Robert Eckles Swain Professor in Chemistry in the School of Humanities and Sciences.
Study suggests heart rate may be a useful tool to determine where to stimulate the brains of individuals with depressive disorders when brain scans aren’t available.
New research suggests a common brain network exists between heart rate deceleration and depression. By evaluating data from 14 people with no depression symptoms, the team of researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, found stimulating some parts of the brain linked to depression with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), also affected heart rate, suggesting clinicians may be able to target those areas without the use of brain scans that aren’t widely available. The findings were published recently in the journal Nature Mental Health.
Heart-Brain Coupling and TMS.
Groundbreaking maps reveal the complex gene regulation in brains with and without mental disorders, enhancing the understanding of mental illnesses and potential treatments.
A consortium of researchers has produced the largest and most advanced multidimensional maps of gene regulation networks in the brains of people with and without mental disorders. These maps detail the many regulatory elements that coordinate the brain’s biological pathways and cellular functions. The research, supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), used postmortem brain tissue from over 2,500 donors to map gene regulation networks across different stages of brain development and multiple brain-related disorders.
“These groundbreaking findings advance our understanding of where, how, and when genetic risk contributes to mental disorders such as schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression,” said Joshua A. Gordon, M.D., Ph.D., director of NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). “Moreover, the critical resources, shared freely, will help researchers pinpoint genetic variants that are likely to play a causal role in mental illnesses and identify potential molecular targets for new therapeutics.”
The Institute for Molecular Science has launched a Commercialization Preparatory Platform, in collaboration with 10 industry partners, to accelerate the development of “cold (neutral) atom” quantum computers.
Institute for Molecular Science (IMS), National Institutes of Natural Sciences, has established a “Commercialization Preparatory Platform (PF)” to accelerate the development of novel quantum computers, based on the achievement of a research group led by Prof. Kenji Ohmori. The launch of the PF was made possible by collaboration with 10 industry partners, including companies and financial institutions.
The 10 partners that joined the PF include (listed alphabetically): blueqat Inc., Development Bank of Japan Inc., Fujitsu Limited, Groovenauts, Inc., Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., Hitachi, Ltd., and NEC Corporation.
