Science

For more than 30 years, manufacturers of ski and snowboard waxes have used PFAS—per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—to make skis and snowboards glide faster over snow. These synthetic chemicals were highly effective and common in competitive racing just about everywhere.

Summer brings with it the sight of surfers moving seamlessly across wave crests, with ocean waters carrying them along coastlines. A team of scientists has now created a similar phenomenon—with small objects rather than surfers—that can be controlled by humans rather than by nature.

Nanodiamonds are tiny diamond particles only a few nanometers in size. Because they are chemically highly stable and can host so-called color centers, optically active defects in the crystal lattice, they are considered promising materials for quantum technologies, sensing and biomedical research. Until now, however, it has been difficult to reliably produce nanodiamonds with uniform size, high purity and precisely integrated optical properties.

Researchers at IMDEA Materials Institute have developed a new hybrid methodology that combines quantum mechanics and thermodynamic calculations to predict the phase diagram of nickel-cobalt alloys.

In its native habitat, switchgrass flowered earlier when growing farther north. In experiments with diverse genetic samples, it flowered earlier in the south.

Humans can communicate various instructions to dogs without using actual words—simply by modulating the tone of their voice, a new study from ELTE University's Department of Ethology shows. By repeating the nonsense syllable 'bü' in different intonations, humans successfully signaled "Yes," "No," "Here," and "There" and, remarkably, dogs responded correctly, despite receiving no prior training. The findings reveal ancient acoustic codes, interpretable across species, that predate language itself. The study was published in Cognition.

Quantum computing, once only a theoretical possibility, promises to deliver faster, more energy-efficient computers—but only if scientists can build and scale the hardware needed to run the machines. New research from Virginia Commonwealth University brings scientists one small step closer to quantum computing at a practical scale, which could help dramatically reduce energy usage and computing times in some industries.

An international team of researchers including our Department of Geography has discovered a vast geological structure hidden beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The findings are published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

A new study in Nature Communications finds a critical climate tipping point in Tibetan permafrost ecosystems. Warming of 2–4 degrees Celsius triggers a self-reinforcing cycle of carbon release that could significantly accelerate climate change, according to the work.

A research team led by Professor Nenad Miljkovic in The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has published a breakthrough study in Nature Physics. The work reports the first experimental discovery of a previously unknown frost propagation mechanism—a "suspended ice bridge"—offering new pathways for anti-frosting surface design.

The first comprehensive map of nearly the entire Greenland shark genome is beginning to reveal some of the genetic clues behind its incredibly long life. The work could one day help scientists develop new cures and treatments for cancer and other age-related diseases.

NASA-supported scientists have provided new information about how the early Earth may have acquired some elements necessary for the planet to become habitable. They also suggest a new role for Jupiter in the distribution of these elements throughout the young solar system. The study, published today in Science Advances, examines this history by looking at […]

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Octopuses are remarkably intelligent creatures, as was demonstrated by Inky the Octopus's famous escape from the National Aquarium of New Zealand through a drainpipe back to sea in 2016. A new Dartmouth study shows octopuses can use mirrors to find food out of sight, demonstrating spatial cognitive abilities. The results are published in Current Biology.

Heads up, Argentine black and white tegu eggs hatch in June and July. The post Georgia is battling invasive, 4-foot-long lizards appeared first on Popular Science.