Scientists at JILA and NIST have built a three-dimensional quantum gas clock using strontium atoms that sets a new quality factor record and achieves errors of just 3.5 parts in 10 quintillion. The design, the first to use a degenerate Fermi gas, could improve timekeeping and aid the search for dark matter.
Hurricane Ida struck New Orleans, then caused deadly flooding in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, killing at least 20 people in the Northeast. Central Park recorded 3.14 inches of rain in one hour and Newark Airport 3.24, rainfall that experts say is linked to climate change and likely to recur.
The Ocean Cleanup, founded by Boyan Slat, used its Jenny barrier system to collect nearly 20,000 pounds of plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. While the nonprofit aims to remove 90 percent of floating ocean plastic by 2040, experts question the system's effectiveness because it only targets surface-level debris and relies on fossil-fuel-powered vessels.
The Exploration Vessel Nautilus crew studying the Liliʻuokalani Ridge in the Pacific Ocean filmed a dried lake bed formation that resembles a 'yellow brick road' to Atlantis. The Nautilus team says it is actually ancient active volcanic geology, not a mythical city.
Researchers from the University of Basel's Swiss Nanoscience Institute and colleagues in Japan used an atomic force microscope with a carbon monoxide–modified tip to directly measure the force and distance of hydrogen bonds in propellane compounds. The work, published in Science Advances, could support future identification of three-dimensional molecules such as DNA and polymers.
Smoke from wildfires in Canada's Manitoba province has triggered air quality warnings across eight U.S. states and four Canadian provinces. Millions of residents in cities including New York, Detroit, Dallas, and Houston are under alerts, with officials urging sensitive groups to stay indoors.
A new study in Antarctic Science led by Peter Doran of Louisiana State University suggests that the weight and movement of the Taylor Glacier pushes briny, iron-rich water from a buried lake to the surface, creating Antarctica's Blood Falls. GPS, time-lapse imagery, and temperature data show a 2018 eruption coincided with the glacier dropping less than an inch.
Astronomers using NASA's Swift satellite found a wind nebula around magnetar Swift J1834.9-0846, the first such detection. The finding challenges the view that only young pulsars can sustain these high-energy clouds, and researchers are investigating how the slow-spinning magnetar powers it.
Researchers at the University of Maryland have designed solar smart windows that use liquid crystals and amorphous silicon to switch between transparent and light-blocking states while storing solar energy. The NASA-funded study, published in ACS Photonics, could reduce the need for curtains and improve energy efficiency in buildings and optoelectronic devices.
As of May 1, Block Island, Rhode Island, became the first U.S. location powered by an offshore wind farm, eliminating the need for a diesel plant that burned about one million gallons of fuel annually. The project aims to demonstrate offshore wind's potential and provide residents with cleaner energy and more predictable electric bills.
Researchers at AMOLF have developed green solar panels using silicon nanopatterns that reduce power output by about 10 percent while offering a consistent color from most angles. The method, published in Applied Physics Letters, could make solar panels more attractive for buildings and lead to red and blue versions.
MIT researchers Xiao-Yu Wu and Ahmed Ghoniem developed a lanthanum-calcium-iron oxide membrane that separates oxygen from carbon dioxide at 990 degrees Celsius, producing carbon monoxide for fuel and chemicals. The system could offer power plants a revenue stream while reducing emissions.
Stanford researchers have developed a sodium-based battery that stores the same energy as lithium-ion at less than 80 percent of the cost. The design uses sodium and myo-inositol, an organic compound derived from rice bran or corn-milling byproducts, though volumetric energy density remains untested.
A solar pilot project in Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, saved over 400 liters of diesel between September and October, generating 1,100 kWh of electricity. The $560,000 project, managed by Makivik Corporation, is collecting 12 months of data to assess solar viability in Arctic conditions.
China has built the world's largest floating solar farm on a former coal mine lake in Anhui province, with 166,000 panels and 40 megawatts of capacity. The project reflects China's solar boom and its effort to shift away from polluting energy sources, though coal remains dominant.
China announced the discovery of Changesite-(Y), a phosphate mineral found in lunar basalt samples from the Chang'e-5 mission, and approved three additional uncrewed Moon missions over the next decade. The mineral is said to contain helium-3, an isotope some believe could serve as a future energy source.
Virginia Tech paleontologists have named a newly discovered ancient amphibian Funcusvermis gilmorei, or 'funky worm,' after the Ohio Players' 1972 song 'Funky Worm.' The fossil, found in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park, is the oldest caecilian ever discovered and helps fill an 87-million-year gap in the caecilian lineage.
Researchers have identified four new species of walking sharks, bringing the known total to nine. The sharks, which use their fins to crawl across coral reefs and briefly on land, are the most recently evolved sharks known to science, according to a study published Tuesday in Marine and Freshwater Research.
Data from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln drought monitor shows 45 US states are experiencing at least moderate drought, with Colorado and North Carolina among the hardest hit. The dry conditions are damaging winter wheat crops and raising wildfire risks as above-normal temperatures persist.
The White House's proposed 2018 budget would cut EPA funding from $8.2 billion to $6.1 billion and reduce staff from 15,000 to about 12,000. The Office of Research and Development could lose up to 42 percent of its budget, while grants to states and air and water programs face potential 30 percent reductions.
