Extreme Climate Survey Scientific news is collecting readers’ questions about how to navigate our planet’s changing climate. What do you want to know about extreme heat and how it can lead to extreme weather events? McCall: Argivoltaics is a term for the co-location of solar and agricultural activities, such as grazing, crop production and also … Ler mais
For the first time, scientists have measured a long-sought global electric field in Earth’s atmosphere. This field, called the ambipolar electric field, was predicted to exist decades ago but was never discovered until now. his animation shows how the ambipolar electric field works. The most abundant gas in the lower atmosphere, the part we live … Ler mais
For the first time, a quantum computer has improved its results by continuously correcting its own miscalculations with a technique called quantum error correction. Scientists have long known that quantum computers need error correction to fulfill their potential to solve the problems that hinder standard, “classic” computers (SN: 22.6.20). Quantum computers compute with quantum bits, … Ler mais
Flicking the dimmer switch can help some indoor farmers curb one of their biggest challenges: rising electricity costs. Growing crops in stacked rows indoors under fixed-intensity artificial lights can produce more food per square foot using less land and water than traditional outdoor farms. But this vertical farming technique is also energy intensive and expensive … Ler mais
A cyclist is pedaling on the road. Signs, trees and fire hydrants pass by. As they cycle, their brain receives information from what they have perceived but can no longer see. Their brains sort through that information—color, shape, and text in signs, for example—and pick out what’s most important. Based on this, the motorist takes … Ler mais
Black holes about the size of a hydrogen atom may be careening into the solar system without being noticed. But their days of stealth may be numbered. Two teams of researchers propose methods to search for these hypothetical small objects, which would have the mass of an asteroid. Because they would have formed at the … Ler mais
Quantum entanglement has made its way to the top. Scientists have measured the strange quantum phenomenon of entanglement in top quarks, the heaviest fundamental subatomic particles known. It is the first detection of entanglement between pairs of quarks – a class of subatomic particles that make up larger particles, including protons and neutrons. Particles that … Ler mais
The ocean circulation system may not be as bad as previously thought. A vital oceanic artery known as the Florida Current, a signal of the ocean’s ability to regulate Earth’s climate, has apparently been weakening for decades. But this latest decline may not be as severe as suspected. The current has actually remained stable over … Ler mais
One of the most remarkable things about the human brain is that it changes. A lot. This ability to reinvent oneself, to take shape, to strengthen some ties and let others go, fascinates Andrea Gomez. A molecular and cellular biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, Gomez spends her time trying to understand how the … Ler mais
Bhavin Shastri still gets excited when he sees a laser pointer and has been fascinated by them since he was about 10 years old. “I was amazed that a beam of light could retain its brightness, concentrated in a small spot even after traveling a great distance,” says Shastri. “A laser pointer in my hand … Ler mais