Sci-Tech news

• Proxima Centauri's Dust Belt Hints at More Planets

  03-11-2017 18:07 via feedproxy.google.com
  Our nearest neighboring star just got a whole lot richer as a system—and a whole lot weirder.In research published today in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers from the European Southern Observatory announced … quite a few things, really. The biggest and brightest—literally—of their discoveries is a ring of icy dust around our nearest star, Proxima Centauri, that’s sort of like that system’s version of the Kuiper Belt.The Kuiper Belt is a circumste
  
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• Early Reader Weighs In On Crucible of Tokens

  22-09-2026 05:26 via technocracy.news
  
  Crucible of Tokens is the capstone of my trilogy, started 10 months ago with The Final Betrayal with Courtenay Turner. Then came The New Economics of Technocracy, which explained the mechanics of “You will own nothing.” Now comes the “gloves off” accusation that tokenization, driven by AI, is going to strip the world bare of real property, in terms of deeds, titles, and ownership in general. Keep your hand on your wallet. Take courage and take cover,  because it&rsqu
  
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• 20 soaring images from the Bird Photographer of the Year 2026 awards

  22-09-2026 02:01 via popsci.com
  
  A northern gannet dramatically breaks the surface of the ocean, propelling through the water like a torpedo at speeds of up to 86km/h 53mph). Photographer Henley Spiers captured the moment in a stunning image (seen below) and earned the top prize at the 2026 Bird Photographer of the Year awards.
  “The handsome northern gannets lead a dualistic existence,” Spiers said in a press release. “In the nest, their newborn is carefully nurtured, and a couple’s bond is reinforced by
  
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• China’s new supersonic plane could travel twice as fast as sound

  21-09-2026 20:45 via popsci.com
  
  The United States isn’t the only nation itching to restart supersonic passenger air travel. Earlier this month, China announced its TMS-10 experimental demonstrator plane has entered the final assembly phase and is on schedule to conduct its first test flight by the end of the year. The fullscale aircraft engineered by Tianmushan Laboratory in collaboration with Beihang University marks a major step forward from the 1:18-scale prototype tested in June 2025. In that phase, the smaller model
  
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• These Singing Lemurs Belt Like Opera Stars, Scientists Say

  21-09-2026 20:05 via nytimes.com
  Scientists have found singing lemurs, known as indris, and opera singers use similar mouth shapes to create loud, high-pitched calls.
  
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• Opera singers and shrieking lemurs share vocalization strategies

  21-09-2026 20:00 via popsci.com
  
  With piercing, emergency siren-like calls, the indri (Indri indri) is the world’s only known singing lemur. The primates found in Madagascar’s rainforest swing through the trees, making these sounds that contain a surprisingly human element. To hit those high notes, indris appear to deploy a technique similar to human opera singers. The lemurs coordinate their mouth opening with their songs—the higher the pitch of the song, the wider they open their mouth to sing it. A stu
  
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• Reasons to Feel A.I. Optimism Right Now

  21-09-2026 19:43 via nytimes.com
  The past two weeks have prompted a public outcry over A.I. safety. On the “Hard Fork” podcast, Kevin Roose said this has made him more optimistic about the future, and humanity’s ability to stop A.I. advancement when needed.
  
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• Walker and his big booty fight for Fat Bear Week glory

  21-09-2026 19:06 via popsci.com
  
  Behold, the glorious backside of Bear #151 aka Walker. Is 2026 the year he finally gets the respect he deserves and takes the Fat Bear Week crown? Well, that’s determined by voters, butt he’s certainly making a compelling case.Walker has competed in Fat Bear Week since 2018 without ever taking home the top honors. In his early days of competing, he lost out to legends like two-time champion Grazer (2023 and 2024) and four-time champion Otis (2014, 2016, 2017, and 2021).
  At the Brooks
  
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• Chairman Xi Comes To Washington

  21-09-2026 18:18 via technocracy.news
  
  Last Sunday morning, the Treasury Secretary Bessent and the Vice Premier of China sat down to negotiate the commercial future of the two largest economies on earth. They did not meet at the Treasury or at a consulate, but rather at the Manhattan headquarters of JPMorgan Chase. This seems a little fishy to me.
  The official explanation, given to Reuters by one unnamed person, is that UN security made the building convenient and that JPMorgan was not a party to the talks. But when two governments n
  
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• Fragment of oldest known peace treaty discovered in Turkey

  21-09-2026 17:28 via popsci.com
  
  Around 1259 BCE, two ancient kingdoms finally decided to let bygones be bygones. After two centuries of intermittent skirmishes for regional control, the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II and Hittite King Ḫattušili III agreed to what is now known as the Kadesh Peace Treaty. The rulers signed their agreement about 15 years after the famous Battle of Kadesh, marking the oldest known peace proclamation in recorded history. Archaeologists have extensively documented treaty fragments preserve
  
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• 3 myths about working from home, debunked

  21-09-2026 16:14 via popsci.com
  
  Remote work isn’t new—I’ve known people who telecommuted in the 1960s, and farmers were working from home long before that. But many people worked remotely for the first time in 2020, for reasons you may remember. Since then, managers and CEOs have confidently—and loudly—stated that remote work is unproductive and hurts morale. Research doesn’t necessarily agree with them. To be clear: I would never argue that there are no downsides to working from h
  
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• How to pick the best iPhone for you in 2026

  21-09-2026 15:04 via popsci.com
  
  If you’re looking to buy an iPhone right now, you’ve got more choice than ever before: new flagship models, including the foldable iPhone Duo, older flagship models, and more affordable models all jostling for space in Apple’s 2026 lineup.Unless you’ve been paying very close attention, it’s not all that easy to figure out the differences between these models. Whether you want the one with the best cameras or the one that’s the best value for money, Apple doesn
  
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• CNN, Politico and MS NOW plan to sue Trump admin over ban on White House coverage

  21-09-2026 13:44 via nbcnews.com
  
  News outlets CNN, Politico and MS NOW filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration after President Donald Trump banned from covering the White House.
  
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• Mama Bear #132 has one of Fat Bear Week’s most compelling stories

  21-09-2026 13:05 via popsci.com
  
  Don’t underestimate the perseverance of a mama bear.
  Fat Bear Week first-timer Bear #132 demonstrated her resiliency this summer after one of her spring cubs separated from the pack. Bear #132 emerged this year with three cubs, her fourth known litter. Around mid-July, one of her cubs somehow ended up on its own and was later spotted wandering near the Brooks River alone. The cub tried approaching other bear families, only to be chased away or ignored.Cubs without the protection of their m
  
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• U.S. proposes AI alert system with China ahead of Trump-Xi summit

  21-09-2026 06:46 via nbcnews.com
  
  The United States has proposed a new AI safety notification mechanism for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to consider at their summit in Washington this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday.
  
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• Scientists Digitize One of the World’s Rarest Animals Before It Disappears

  20-09-2026 22:26 via scitechdaily.com
  Researchers have turned a fragile vaquita skeleton into freely accessible 3D models, preserving detailed anatomy as the porpoise nears extinction. Only an estimated handful of vaquitas (Phocoena sinus) remain in the shallow waters of Mexico’s northern Gulf of California, the only place this small porpoise lives. With the species nearing extinction, researchers have created a [...]
  
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• Astronomers Expected More Tiny Worlds Beyond Neptune – Webb Found Something Else

  20-09-2026 21:51 via scitechdaily.com
  Tiny icy bodies beyond Neptune are scarcer than some models predicted, and their colors suggest they may preserve traces of their formation. Far beyond Neptune, astronomers expected to find more small, icy bodies than their deepest survey revealed. These trans-Neptunian objects, or TNOs, are remnants of the material that built the planets. Studying the smallest [...]
  
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• White House Moves to Take Control of N.I.H. Grants

  20-09-2026 20:29 via nytimes.com
  Federal officials are drafting an executive order that would place grants under review by an outside panel, the latest effort to redirect billions of dollars in research spending.
  
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• Neurosurgeon recounts a ‘miracle of biology’

  20-09-2026 19:15 via popsci.com
  
  The following excerpt from Off the Top of My Head: Stories from the Operating Room That Will Make You Laugh (Or Cry) by Dr. Barbara Lazio has been run with permission
  Was This the Life You Wanted Saved?“Show me two fingers,” I shouted, too close to his ear, as if trying to wake one of my kids for school. Beau’s surgery was a few days prior, and I hadn’t seen much response from him; he still leaned toward the coma side of the coma scale. Another hopeless case, I thought, h
  
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• Neurosurgeon recounts a ‘a miracle of biology’

  20-09-2026 19:15 via popsci.com
  
  The following excerpt from Off the Top of My Head: Stories from the Operating Room That Will Make You Laugh (Or Cry) by Dr. Barbara Lazio has been run with permission
  Was This the Life You Wanted Saved?“Show me two fingers,” I shouted, too close to his ear, as if trying to wake one of my kids for school. Beau’s surgery was a few days prior, and I hadn’t seen much response from him; he still leaned toward the coma side of the coma scale. Another hopeless case, I thought, h
  
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• Five Very Different Diseases May Share a Hidden Biological Link

  20-09-2026 17:47 via scitechdaily.com
  The findings suggest that chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), long COVID, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis (MS) may share underlying biological mechanisms. An infection and a traumatic experience have little in common, yet both can be followed by lasting exhaustion, brain fog, and disturbed sleep. Researchers at the University of East Anglia [...]
  
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• Scientists Link “Lonely” Sleep Waves to Memory Decline With Age

  20-09-2026 17:12 via scitechdaily.com
  As tau builds up in the brain, the brain waves that help form memories during non-REM sleep become irregular. You’ve finished grocery shopping and are ready to get home and start dinner. Then you reach the parking lot and realize you cannot remember where you left the car. You parked it only a short time [...]
  
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• Scientists Discover New Compound That Burns Fat Without Killing Your Appetite

  20-09-2026 16:37 via scitechdaily.com
  Unlike GLP-1 drugs, which suppress appetite and reduce energy intake, a newly identified molecular compound helps cells burn more energy without changing food intake or exercise and has shown promise in mouse models. The most successful new obesity drugs largely work by helping people eat less. Researchers at UC Berkeley are exploring a different strategy: [...]
  
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• Tiny ‘chaos potatoes’ show off parkour moves

  20-09-2026 16:08 via popsci.com
  
  England’s Chester Zoo has recently welcomed into the world three rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) pups. The adorable mammals are tiny, round, adorable—and related to elephants, if you can believe it.“They look completely different, but there are some clues to their unusual family history,” Chester Zoo keeper Megan Carpenter said in a statement. “Their long front teeth, for example, are a little bit like miniature elephant tusks, and their feet have some resemblance to
  
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• The reason your face looks wrong in photos

  20-09-2026 13:59 via popsci.com
  
  If you’re anything like me, you’ve had this experience: You see a photo of yourself—maybe on a day you actually felt relatively put-together before leaving the house—and you suddenly feel betrayed by your own face. For me, it’s usually some combination of the following: one eye squinting against the sun, a smile that somehow always turns into a tortured rictus, my chin multiplying despite my best “strategic selfie” angle. That can’t be me
  
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• Australia’s Indigenous Population May Have Been Far Larger Before Colonization Than Historians Thought

  20-09-2026 13:59 via scitechdaily.com
  New estimates suggest Australia’s Indigenous population was much larger before European colonization and declined by roughly 93% between 1788 and 1861. European colonization of Australia began in 1788 with the arrival of Britain’s First Fleet. By the time early censuses counted Indigenous people, disease and violence had already devastated their communities, leaving those records an [...]
  
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• A Cloudy Climate Mystery Over Antarctica Has Scientists Rethinking Their Models

  20-09-2026 13:24 via scitechdaily.com
  Researchers compare observations with leading climate models to identify errors and help improve future climate predictions. Some simulations put too many low clouds over the Southern Ocean, yet still underestimate how much heat reaches the surface below. Observations from an Antarctic research voyage suggest that fixing the cloud count alone will not solve the problem. [...]
  
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• Mount Vesuvius Buried These Scrolls for 2,000 Years – Now Scientists May Read Them

  20-09-2026 12:49 via scitechdaily.com
  Researchers recreated a damaged ancient scroll to test a new way to study the past. Lead in ancient ink could help researchers read the Herculaneum papyri, Roman scrolls buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE. Many are now too brittle to open, and reading them with X-rays poses its own problem. The ink and [...]
  
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• A New Helium Measurement Is Testing the Universe’s First Five Minutes

  20-09-2026 05:21 via scitechdaily.com
  Large Binocular Telescope data cut helium measurement uncertainty threefold. Helium, a light chemical element, carries clues to what the universe was like during its first five minutes. To read that record, an international team turned to 15 small, remote galaxies whose chemistry has changed very little, preserving a composition close to that of the early [...]
  
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• Fastest Star Ever Found in the Milky Way Is Racing Around Our Galaxy’s Black Hole

  20-09-2026 04:46 via scitechdaily.com
  The fastest known star in the Milky Way could give astronomers their first direct measurement of the spin of Sagittarius A*. Near the center of the Milky Way, a star is racing around Sagittarius A* at speeds reaching 25 000 km/s. Named S301, it is the fastest known star in our galaxy and passes closer [...]
  
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