Giving 3D images a new life on next-gen AR displays
Augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) headsets have come a long way in recent years, but one problem continues to frustrate users: eyestrain.
The discomfort comes...
Talking robots could help ease the burden of caregivers
Caring for a loved one can be one of life’s most meaningful roles, but it often comes with heavy emotional costs.
Many informal caregivers—people who...
Is dark energy changing? New evidence challenges Einstein’s theory
For more than two decades, astronomers have wrestled with one of the biggest mysteries in science: what is driving the universe’s expansion to speed...
How tiny defects threaten perovskite solar cells
Perovskite solar cells have been hailed as the next big thing in renewable energy.
They are cheaper and easier to produce than traditional silicon solar...
Scientists create first real-time shape-changing robot
Imagine a robot that can change its shape on demand, twisting, bending, or stretching without needing its magnetic field altered.
This is the breakthrough achieved...
Forever chemicals found in 95% of beer products in the U.S.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are often called “forever chemicals” because they do not break down easily in the environment or the human...
Robots learn to hike on their own in virtual wilderness
Humanoid robots may soon be able to handle rugged trails as well as people do, thanks to new research from the University of Michigan.
A...
Astronomers catch a planet in the act of being born
Protoplanets are celestial objects in the act of forming into full planets within the gas and dust disks surrounding hot, young stars.
These objects, often...
New test strip makes the invisible world of nanoplastics visible
Plastic pollution is one of the biggest global problems of our time.
Most people are familiar with the images of plastic bottles and bags floating...
A tiny switch could power the future of computing
Engineers at the University of Michigan have created a breakthrough device that can control the flow of excitons—tiny bundles of energy that could one...
Scientists solve 1,500-year-old mystery of the first pandemic
For centuries, historians have debated what caused the Plague of Justinian, the world’s first recorded pandemic.
Now, for the first time, scientists have found direct...
Astronomers witness a one-of-a-kind cosmic explosion
Astronomers have detected a cosmic explosion unlike anything ever seen before—an event that could point to a rare type of black hole long suspected...
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New catalyst helps capture carbon from smokestacks
Researchers at the University of Toronto have developed a new catalyst that can efficiently convert captured carbon into valuable products, even in the presence...
Scientists may have just solved the universe’s biggest headache
For years, scientists have puzzled over a strange mismatch in how fast the universe seems to be expanding.
Depending on whether they looked at the...
Cosmic clues reveal where the universe’s missing matter was hiding
For decades, scientists have been searching for something strange: a huge portion of the universe’s ordinary matter seemed to be missing.
Not dark matter, but...
Did supernova explosions cause ancient mass extinctions on Earth?
Scientists from Keele University have found strong evidence that some of Earth’s past mass extinctions could have been caused by nearby supernova explosions—massive star...
Einstein’s theory of General Relativity might not be the only way to explain how...
Einstein’s theory of General Relativity is world famous – but it might not be the only way to explain how gravity works and how...