Latest Science & Research News

This Teen Helped Native American Students Earn Ham Radio Licenses

For many high school students, summer vacation is a time to unplug. For Ruchira Shree, a rising sophomore at West Windsor–Plainsboro High School South, in New Jersey, the break allows her to ramp up her extracurricular pursuits.Much of her time is spent assisting with IEEE Princeton Central Jersey Section activities. She got involved with the PCJS because of her mother, IEEE Senior Member Shubha Bommalingaiahnapallya, a principal engineer at Intel.“I started going to the IEEE meetings when I was little,” Shree says. “I used to go with my mom and just sit in the back of the room.”This summer sh...

These worms move faster when you give them less space

California blackworms can squeeze through narrow channels faster than they can wriggle across wide ones, a finding that may help with robot design.

To nap or not to nap? Science is still waking up to the question

Many people struggle to sleep enough at night. Surprisingly, science cannot say if adding in a nap to sleep in two blocks is healthy.

Popular sweeteners may leave effects that last for generations

Two widely used zero-calorie sweeteners, sucralose and stevia, may have effects that linger far longer than the sweet taste itself. In mice, researchers found that both sweeteners altered the gut microbiome, reduced beneficial compounds produced by gut bacteria, and changed the activity of genes involved in metabolism and inflammation. Some of those changes were also detected in later generations that had never consumed the sweeteners themselves.

The E.U.’s AI Drive Undermines Its ​Own Chip Strategy

This story was originally published by Tech Policy Press.The European Union’s push for technological sovereignty faces an uncomfortable contradiction.As the E.U. rolls out AI factories, gigafactories, and new data centers, it is creating a surge in demand for the advanced semiconductors that underpin artificial intelligence. Yet Europe produces fewer than 10 percent of the world’s chips and remains heavily dependent on U.S. designers and Asian manufacturers for the most advanced processors.That tension sits at the heart of Chips Act 2.0, the European Commission’s planned overhaul of its flagsh...

The First Battery Was Inspired By a Dead Frog

In a display case on the lower level of the Faraday Museum at the Royal Institution in London, there’s an unassuming stack of gray metal discs and blotting paper. It’s not at all obvious that this humble object is the starting point of today’s multibillion-dollar global battery industry. The object’s invention in 1799 grew out of a disagreement that Alessandro Volta—the Italian physicist for whom the unit of measurement for electrical potential is named—had with his friend Luigi Galvani over a dead frog.The Debate Over Animal Electricity Galvani was a well-respected Italian physician. In the 1...

Scientists build tiny robots without motors that can fly using sound waves alone

A century-old trick for tuning musical instruments has been repurposed to power robots that fly, float and steer themselves using nothing but sound waves.

Scientists find why the liver may not heal even after you stop drinking

Alcohol-related liver disease may trap damaged liver cells in a regenerative limbo, preventing the organ from rebuilding itself even after drinking stops. Researchers linked the problem to inflammation-driven RNA errors and identified a pathway that could potentially be targeted to restore liver repair.

Crown of Kerch: A 1,600-year-old gold, gem-studded diadem found in the grave of a Hun noblewoman

This crown depicts two birds of prey and was discovered in the grave of a fifth-century noblewoman in Crimea.

NASA launches Roman Space Telescope to explore dark energy and distant worlds

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is on a mission to probe dark energy, hunt for distant worlds and transform our view of the universe

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope launches to reveal the Universe’s darkest secrets

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope has launched on a million mile journey to L2, where it will scan huge portions of the cosmos for clues about dark matter, dark energy, and distant worlds. With survey speeds roughly 1,000 times faster than Hubble and a torrent of 1.4 terabytes of data per day, Roman could uncover cosmic surprises astronomers have never seen before.

Planting crops in fields of solar panels is more efficient, protects the plants and helps keep workers cool, study finds

A new model simulates the benefits of agrivoltaic farming, in which solar panels and crops share the same land.

Dark matter experiment catches quietest neutrinos ever measured

In its hunt for dark matter, the XENONnT experiment has detected the rare, feeble glow of neutrinos smacking into electrons

How an MIT research project became a global programming language

With millions of users across the world, Julia has been used to conduct cutting-edge research and to design new drugs, jet engines, heat pumps, and more.

Commercial paleontology: How much should a dinosaur cost?

Fossils are selling for tens of millions of dollars at auction. But why are the ancient creatures the hot new thing for the ultrarich?

Undergraduate prizes awarded to seven students for academic achievement

Princeton celebrated the students' accomplishments at Opening Exercises.

At Opening Exercises, President Eisgruber encourages new Princeton students to value ‘what you learn along the way’

The ceremony marks the start of a new academic year for first-year students in the Class of 2030, incoming transfer students and new graduate students ahead of the start of classes.

Archived: Building 18 Updates

HEPA air purifiers may boost brain function after just one month

Adults aged 40 and older performed about 12% faster on a test of executive function after using a HEPA air purifier at home for one month. The findings suggest that cleaner indoor air could offer a simple way to help protect the brain from the effects of traffic-related pollution.

An amusement park on Mount Vernon? The agency tasked to protect cultural heritage just abdicated its responsibilities, opening the door for federal agencies to wipe out our past

Proposed federal rule changes would eliminate the requirement for public feedback and consultation with key parties like Tribal Nations and ultimately lead to the destruction of much of our cultural heritage. There's still time to weigh in, says archaeologist Joe Watkins.

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Telescope launches to space

The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope will probe dark matter and dark energy, discover exoplanets and study stars

Something doesn't add up in the Chandelier Cluster, Hubble telescope finds — Space photo of the week

A dazzling new Hubble image of NGC 6723 poses one of astronomy's biggest questions: How did the Milky Way's oldest star clusters form?

Why obsessing over self-improvement could be sabotaging your brain

Our obsession with ‘maxxing’ every aspect of our lives could actually be stressing us out

How many cosmic particles are passing through your body at any moment?

While Earth's atmosphere protects us from harmful cosmic rays, other cosmic particles are passing through us every second.