Why some steel truss bridges stay standing after potentially catastrophic failure

Some fail when one component breaks, while others remain standing. This puzzling difference has long been a mystery, but a new study has finally come up with an explanation.

Iberian harvester ant queens are cloning different species to produce hybrid workers

Worker ants perform important tasks like gathering food, taking care of eggs and larvae and nest building. However, some species of ants cannot produce workers through reproductive means with their own species.

Cooling pollen sunscreen can block UV rays without harming corals

In experiments, the pollen-based sunscreen absorbed and blocked harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays as effectively as commercially available sunscreens, which commonly use minerals like titanium dioxide (TiO2) and zinc oxide (ZnO).

Most rodents have thumbnails instead of claws

Squirrels handle their food with their thumbs. And instead of the thin, curved claws on the rest of the squirrel’s fingers, their thumbs have smooth, flat nails.

== yjc, wrote a time series forecasting program in BASIC back in the 70s
Microsoft’s 6502 BASIC Is Now Open Source

Microsoft BASIC began in 1975 as the company’s very first product: a BASIC interpreter for the Intel 8080, written by Bill Gates and Paul Allen for the Altair 8800.

A ‘wasteful’ plant process makes a key prenatal vitamin—climate change may reduce it

For the first time, scientists have measured how much carbon flows through photorespiration to make folates, a class of compounds that includes vitamin B9.

Mutations driving evolution are informed by the genome, not random, study suggests

A study shows that an evolutionarily significant mutation in the human APOL1 gene arises not randomly but more frequently where it is needed to prevent disease, fundamentally challenging the notion that evolution is driven by random mutations.

World’s Biggest Iceberg Breaks Up After 40 Years

Megaberg’ known as A23a has rapidly disintegrated in warmer waters and could disappear within weeks.

AI-Powered Drone Swarms Have Now Entered the Battlefield

On a recent evening, a trio of Ukrainian drones flew under the cover of darkness to a Russian position and decided among themselves exactly when to strike.

== paywall?
Poor Amazon Rains Linked To Brazil Deforestation

For decades, the dry season in the Amazon rainforest has been getting drier.

How Europe’s deforestation law could change the global coffee trade

Starting in 2026, companies selling coffee on the European Union market will have to prove that their product is “deforestation-free.”

Pioneering strategy may keep breast cancer from coming back

The study builds on previous research that showed how dormant tumor cells continue to lay in wait in some patients after breast cancer treatment.

Scientists unveil a rubber band that generates electricity from body heat

This advance could allow the next generation of wearable electronics to generate their own power continuously without the need for bulky batteries or constant recharging.

8,000 years of human activity have affected the sizes of domestic and wild animals

Researchers studied tens of thousands of animal bones from Mediterranean France covering the last 8,000 years to see how the size of both types of animals has changed over time.

Novel hollow-core optical fiber transmits data 45% faster with record low loss

Despite the modern world relying heavily on digital optical communication, there has not been a significant improvement in the minimum attenuation of optical fibers in around 40 years.

Ancient mammoth remains yield the world’s oldest host-associated bacterial DNA

An international team has uncovered microbial DNA preserved in woolly and steppe mammoth remains dating back more than one million years.

Scientists track lightning ‘pollution’ in real time using NASA satellite

You’re stuck in traffic on a summer afternoon, checking the weather app on your phone as dark storm clouds roll in. You might think about power outages or possible flooding, but you probably don’t think about how every lightning bolt that flashes across the sky also emits a gas.

Physicists model vacuum tunneling in a 2D superfluid

In 1951, physicist Julian Schwinger theorized that by applying a uniform electrical field to a vacuum, electron-positron pairs would be spontaneously created out of nothing, through a phenomenon called quantum tunneling.

== yjc
Why the foam on Belgian beers lasts so long

Summertime is beer time. And for beer lovers, there is nothing better than a head of foam topping the golden, sparkling barley juice.

Rare oceanic plate delamination may explain Portugal’s mysterious earthquakes

One of the worst earthquakes in European history ripped through Portugal in 1755, causing a tsunami, fires and shaking that killed tens of thousands of people and caused widespread destruction.

Scientists find that ice generates electricity when bent

Researchers find that ice is a flexoelectric material, it can generate electricity when subjected to mechanical deformation.

People’s brain structure linked to their genetic risk of major depression, study finds

Depression is among the most widespread psychiatric disorders, experienced by an estimated 3.8% of the global population.

Stomach-brain communication predicts emotional symptoms and well-being, study finds

Internal physiological states, such as digestion, breathing and heartbeat, have been consistently linked to mental, psychological and emotional experiences.

== seen something on this before
Black hole spotted that may have been created moments after big bang

Sighting by James Webb space telescope of black hole with sparse halo of material could upend theories of the universe

== yjc
Canada’s first lunar rover looks to future space exploration

Canadensys is developing the first-ever Canadian-built rover for exploring the Earth’s only natural satellite, in what will be the first Canadian-led planetary exploration endeavour.

Smelling This One Specific Scent Can Boost The Brain’s Gray Matter

There are many ways to boost brain power, from exercising more often to learning new skills. But what about boosting the actual size of your brain?

== British and European perspective, but…
Drones join battle against eight-toothed beetle threatening forests

The bark beetle has been the scourge of Europe, killing millions of spruce trees, yet the government thought it could halt its spread to the UK by checking imported wood products at ports.

Wave Energy Projects Have Come a Long Way After 10 Years

A team has published a 41-page field-to-fabric review that distills a decade of blue-energy research into six design pillars for next-generation triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs).

‘Scientists Just Created Spacetime Crystals Made of Knotted Light’

Researchers have developed a blueprint for weaving hopfions—complex, knot-like light structures—into repeating spacetime crystals.

No Longer Extinct, Beaver Populations in the Netherlands Now Threaten Their Dikes

Reintroduced for environmental reasons, beavers are now in danger of causing serious flooding. Should there be more culls?

AI stethoscope could detect major heart conditions in seconds

The original stethoscope, invented in 1816, allows doctors to listen to the internal sounds of a patient’s body.