For children who are nervous about needles, a routine visit to the doctor can bring an uncomfortable wait before an injection. Kailyn Brown, a schoolgirl from Columbia, South Carolina, knows the feeling herself. Rather than simply putting up with it, she began thinking about something that might make the experience easier for other children. Her…
PC: NC State news release Researchers at North Carolina State University have demonstrated a laser-powered plasma antenna that transmits radio signals without a conventional metal radiating element. Resembling a lightsaber, the device uses a laser to ionise air and create a thin plasma filament that transmitted a 30 MHz radio signal during laboratory tests. According…
Representative Image of a vibrant underground river flowing through marble passages, with fluorescent dye tracing its path through the water (AI-generated image) At Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve in southwestern Oregon, a river flows beneath visitors’ feet through a network of marble passages, disappearing into parts of the cave that people cannot access. Known…
Natural materials can provide shelter for aquatic life (Kentucky Fish and Wildlife photo) Thousands of Christmas trees that decorated homes during the holiday season have found a new purpose at the bottom of lakes in Kentucky. Around 5,000 trees were donated to a state-run recycling programme this year, with approximately 1,700 placed in Boltz Lake…
PC: Frontiers in Fungal Biology A fungus discovered in the forests of southwestern China has drawn attention for its extraordinary size and ancient evolutionary history. The newly identified fungus, Dianjunus rex, produces massive, fleshy structures that can reach 50 centimetres in total height, including a buried stalk, with the heaviest specimen weighing 2.2 kilograms.Its unusual…
Kodak’s equipment contained about 3.5 pounds of highly enriched uranium (Representational AP photo) For most people, Kodak is a name associated with cameras and photographic film. But for 31 years, the American company had something far less familiar inside its research facility in Rochester, New York: a nuclear device containing highly enriched uranium.The machine began…
Identifying the type of snake venom quickly can help doctors choose the right treatment after a bite. Researchers have developed a laboratory sensor that can distinguish between cobra and viper venom with the help of artificial intelligence. The system achieved 95% accuracy in identifying the two types of venom with a sensing time of four…
Inside that fruit lies a toxin capable of disrupting the human heart. (Photo: The Washington Post) It looks like an ordinary tree growing beside Kerala’s backwaters, its glossy green leaves swaying in the breeze and its white flowers adding to the landscape. Its green, mango-like fruit does little to suggest danger. Yet inside that fruit…
Representative Image (AI-generated) In 2023, scientists relocated 246 endangered black abalone to a protected coastal site in California to help restore a population devastated by disease. Three years later, surveys recorded 302 individuals, compared with 54 before the intervention, while the density in high-quality habitat reached one abalone per square metre. Researchers also discovered juvenile…
BENGALURU: The two satellites — SDX01 and SDX02 — that formed the core of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro) Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on Oct 12 and 13, bringing the mission to an end after nearly 21 months in space.A senior scientist from the Isro Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (Istrac)…
