Science

‘Star Wars’ holds clues to making speedier spacecraft in the real world

ANAHEIM, CALIF. — At the world’s largest gathering of physicists, a talk about Microsoft’s claimed new type of quantum computing chip was perhaps the main attraction.  Microsoft’s February announcement of a chip containing the first topological quantum bits, or qubits, has ignited heated blowback in the physics community. The discovery was announced by press release, without…

One of the keys to performing like an elite athlete — or at least having the metabolism of one — may be pooping like one. Transplanting feces from certain top-level cyclists and soccer players into mice boosted levels of a molecule that fuels intense workouts, researchers report March 27 in Cell Reports. Our gut microbiota…

When the countdown hit zero on September 23, 1992, the desert surface puffed up into the air, as if a giant balloon had inflated it from below. It wasn’t a balloon. Scientists had exploded a nuclear device hundreds of meters below the Nevada desert, equivalent to thousands of tons of TNT. The ensuing fireball reached…

Surgeons transplanted a pig’s liver into a human

Many dog owners can tell how their precious pooch is feeling, watching it wag its tail or raise its ears — at least, they think they can. But people’s perception of canine emotions may be strongly influenced by environmental context around the dog, researchers report March 10 in Anthrozoös. Animal welfare scientist Holly Molinaro filmed…