Researchers at the Tyndall National Institute have engineered a scalable array of electrically driven quantum dots that can produce entangled photons, offering physicists greater control over photon entanglement. The method uses conventional semiconductor fabrication and easily-sourced materials, potentially accelerating progress toward quantum computing.
The Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities is retrofitting a pre-1940s house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, into HouseZero, a building designed to produce all its own power and achieve the most rigorous efficiency standards for a retrofit to date. The project aims to show that ultra-efficient green design is achievable for average existing structures.
Voyager 1 crossed the heliopause, the boundary where the solar wind gives way to interstellar wind, a 2013 study confirmed through a 40-fold rise in electron density. But under the Sun's gravity and far inside the Oort cloud, the probe has not truly left the solar system.
Donald Trump's continued interest in acquiring Greenland may be driven by the island's melting ice revealing valuable minerals like graphite, zinc, and rare earths, according to a New York Times analysis. Greenland lost 105 billion metric tons of ice from September 2024 to September 2025, and its ice sheet has shrunk by 2,000 square miles since 1985, exposing resources as the climate warms.
A property owner in Pombal, Portugal, discovered dinosaur bone fragments in his backyard in 2017, leading to an excavation that has now uncovered what may be the largest sauropod fossil ever found in Europe. The University of Lisbon announced the find, highlighting the rare preservation of ribs in their original anatomical position.
UK officials are expected to ask people to send fewer unnecessary emails at next year's COP26 climate summit, citing carbon savings. But the BBC notes that one fewer email per person daily would cut only about 0.0037 percent of the UK's annual greenhouse gas emissions, and an expert says the actual savings are likely far smaller.
Massachusetts Democratic lawmakers have introduced SD.1932, the 100 Percent Renewable Energy Act, which would raise the state's renewable portfolio standard to 100% by 2035 and phase out fossil fuels by 2050. The bill also aims to eliminate fossil fuel use in heating and transportation and includes a provision for clean energy workforce development.
Researchers at UC San Diego have developed tiny 3D-printed 'micro-fish' robots that can swim through fluids, remove toxins, and potentially deliver drugs to hard-to-reach areas of the body. The technology, still in development, is backed by grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
An active-duty US Army soldier, Gannon Ken Van Dyke, has been indicted on charges of using classified information to place over $33,000 in Polymarket bets tied to the US military operation in Venezuela. The case, unsealed in Manhattan federal court, highlights concerns about insider trading on prediction markets.
A new ODNI Global Risk Assessment warns that China is expanding military and commercial activity in space, including capabilities to disable or destroy satellites. Director Avril Haines told lawmakers China is focused on achieving space leadership, while China also prepares to build a new orbital station.
CBC News obtained hundreds of pages of Canadian military documents showing confusion after Pokémon Go players wandered onto bases following the game's July 2016 launch. Emails reveal officers unfamiliar with the game, with one suggesting hiring a 12-year-old for help, while another noted a possible museum visitor boost.
A five-year European research initiative called FOCAS has concluded after developing robotic bees and fish that blend into animal societies. Researchers say the robots allowed an inside view of honeybee colonies and could eventually help steer bees toward survival as they face potential extinction.
Columbia University researchers announced Wednesday they found the first evidence of an exomoon, a moon orbiting a planet beyond our solar system, around Jupiter-sized Kepler-1625b about 4,000 lightyears away. The team used NASA's Kepler survey and the Hubble telescope but cautions the work is preliminary and needs confirmation.
A Harvard study published in Geophysical Research Letters found that Earth's crust rebounds and warps as ice melts, with deformations larger than previously thought. The effects can influence ecosystems for thousands of years and may create a feedback loop that displaces more ice, according to planetary scientist Sophie Coulson.
The EPA has updated its cost-benefit analysis to assign a zero value to human life, eliminating the 'value of a statistical life' metric previously set at $11.7 million. This change is expected to weaken regulations on ozone and fine particulate matter, potentially reversing gains made since the Clean Air Act, according to Fortune and economist Michael Greenstone.
NOAA data show the contiguous US averaged 76.89 degrees Fahrenheit in July, hotter than July 1936 during the Dust Bowl, according to the source. Meteorologist Jeff Masters attributes the record to a strong El Niño layered on human-caused climate change, with drought and wildfires compounding the impact.
The United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, killing about 80,000 people instantly, with total deaths from the Japan blasts estimated at over 200,000. The United Nations calls nuclear weapons the most dangerous on Earth, and the source asks how far disarmament has come.
DC Marijuana Justice plans to distribute free cannabis bags to people vaccinated against COVID-19 at select Washington, D.C. locations. The group aims to incentivize vaccinations and recruit recipients for federal marijuana legalization advocacy.
MIT researchers developed a concrete supercapacitor using cement, water, and carbon black that can store and release electrical energy. The proof-of-concept can power a 10-watt LED for 30 hours, and the team is planning a larger version to meet a home's daily energy needs.
Beijing's municipal development and reform commission announced Tuesday that coal use will be nearly eliminated in the city's plain areas and six downtown districts by 2020, with a citywide coal consumption cap of 5 million tonnes. The plan aims to replace coal-fired heating and industrial boilers with clean energy, electricity, and gas, while renewable sources are projected to exceed 8 percent of total energy consumption.