X3a is approximately 10 times larger than the Sun, 15 times as massive, and is only several tens of thousands of years old. Multiwavelength detection of the X3 system with NIRC2 instrument at the W.M. Keck Observatory in 2019. Image credit: Peißker et al., doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aca977. “The properties of star formation are well defined and require environments characterized by a sufficiently…

Earth has a hot core that heats the surrounding mantle, which carries that heat up to the planet’s lithosphere. The heat is then lost to space, cooling the uppermost region of the mantle. This mantle convection drives tectonic processes on the surface, keeping a patchwork of mobile plates in motion. Venus, which is Earth’s twin in size, doesn’t have tectonic plates, so how the planet loses…

Oldowan tools, consisting of stones with one to a few flakes removed, are the oldest widespread and temporally persistent hominin tools. The oldest of these were previously known from around 2.6 million years ago in Ethiopia, and by 2 million years ago, they were found to be quite widespread. Now, paleoanthropologists have discovered a new, older fossil site from around 3 to 2.6 million years ago…

Paleontologists from the University of Vienna and elsewhere have revised a controversial species of the elasmobranch Protospinax annectans based on new specimens from the Late Jurassic Konservat-Lagerstätte of the Solnhofen Archipelago in Bavaria, Germany. Environmental reconstruction of the Solnhofen Archipelago, showing Protospinax annectans in association with the Late Jurassic ray Asterodermus…

Trap feeding and tread-water feeding are whale hunting strategies first recorded in the 2000s in two whale species at opposite sides of the globe. In both behaviors, whales sit motionless at the surface with their mouths open. Fish are attracted into the whale’s mouth and are trapped when the jaw is closed. Flinders University maritime archaeologist John McCarthy and his colleagues identified striking…

A new work from Google Quantum AI represents a step towards the development of scalable quantum error correction to enable quantum computers to reach sufficiently low error rates and run useful algorithms. Left: a fully assembled quantum system at Google Quantum AI; prominently displayed is the dilution refrigerator in which the computations occur, the quantum processor and quantum-limited amplifiers…

Dietary strawberries significantly improve cardiometabolic risks, mainly via improving insulin resistance and lipid particles, and improve vascular health, according to two separate studies led by University of Nevada and Illinois Institute of Technology researchers, respectively. Daily consumption of strawberries at a dose of two-and-a-half cups per day significantly improved insulin resistance…

Mathematical ability is moderately heritable, and it is a complex trait which can be evaluated in several different categories. A few genetic studies have been published on general mathematical ability. However, no genetic study focused on specific mathematical ability categories. In new research, scientists from Shaanxi Normal University and elsewhere performed genome-wide association studies on…

The El Ali meteorite, a 15.2-ton iron meteorite found in 2020 near the tiny town of El Ali in Somalia, contains at least two new minerals: elaliite and elkinstantonite. This sample of the El Ali meteorite contains two new minerals: elaliite and elkinstantonite. Image credit: Nick Gessler / Duke University. “Whenever you find a new mineral, it means that the actual geological conditions, the chemistry…

GeiwBot can climb on walls and ceilings of different textures including glass, polyimide, and aluminum; its climbing behavior is based on dynamic attachment and detachment of a gecko adhesive pad and the periodic body deformation of the inchworm. The climbing capabilities of living creatures such as geckos, tree frogs, and inchworms provide a promising platform for exploiting biomimetic soft climbing…