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For more than 100 years, modern physics has been built around two powerful theories. Quantum mechanics explains how extremely small objects such as atoms and particles behave, while Albert Einstein’s theory of gravity explains how gravity affects matter, motion and the structure of the universe. Both theories have been extraordinarily successful. Yet there is still a major unanswered question: How do quantum mechanics and gravity work together? Now, an international team of scientists has taken an important step toward answering that question. Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the University of Ulm and the University of Oxford, along with collaborators from other institutions, have observed a long-predicted effect of gravity on a falling quantum object. The study, published in Science Advances on September 2, involved Nobel Prize-winning physicist Professor Sir Roger Penrose . The experiment shows that a fundamental idea behind Einstein's description of gravit...

Imagine a robot that can not only sense pressure, temperature and painful contact, but can also process that information directly where it is detected, learn from it and react quickly—even if part of its artificial skin is damaged . That is the idea behind a new neuromorphic robotic-skin system developed by Rohit Abraham John and his team . The researchers have created a decentralized artificial nervous system that moves some of the intelligence away from a central processor and directly into the robot's sensing nodes. The technology combines memtransistors, artificial nociceptors, learning synapses, neurons and self-healing materials . Together, these components allow robotic skin to identify potentially harmful stimuli, associate different types of touch and help trigger an appropriate response. Why Today's Robot Skin Has a Major Problem Most robots are designed to operate in controlled environments. They follow programmed instructions and use sensors to understand what is ha...

A remarkable discovery by a researcher at the University of Limerick could change what historians know about the early development of telescopes and the scientific work of the legendary astronomer Galileo Galilei. Dr. José María Moreno Madrid, a researcher at the University of Limerick’s School of History and Geography, has uncovered a previously unknown 17th-century technical description of a four-lens terrestrial telescope that was explicitly described as being “fabricatum a Galilaeo” —Latin for “manufactured by Galileo.” The discovery is particularly important because the telescope described in the document does not appear to follow the simple optical design that Galileo became famous for. Instead, it was a more complex four-lens instrument , suggesting that experimentation with such telescopes may have begun much earlier than historians previously believed. A 1666 Manuscript Holds a Major Clue Moreno Madrid made the discovery while examining a manuscript written in 1666 by Ignacio...

Saturn is famous for many things: its spectacular rings, enormous size, and powerful storms. But now, scientists have discovered something completely unexpected at the planet’s south pole—a giant atmospheric wave forming a striking 10-sided shape . Recent observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have revealed a huge, evolving atmospheric pattern known as a decagon around Saturn’s south pole. The discovery is particularly exciting because Saturn already has a famous geometric atmospheric feature at its north pole: a long-lasting six-sided jet-stream pattern known as the northern hexagon . However, the newly discovered southern structure is not simply a copy of the northern hexagon. It appears to be developing and strengthening over time, giving scientists a rare opportunity to watch a giant atmospheric pattern form on another planet. The findings have been published in the journal Science Advances . A Strange Pattern Appears at Saturn’s South Pole Saturn’s atmosphere is constan...

Astronomers have found intriguing evidence that comets may play an important role in delivering water to planets as planetary systems develop. By studying a young star system called PDS 70, researchers at Lund University in Sweden have detected signs that comets may be moving from the cold outer regions of the system toward the inner region, where planets can form. The discovery offers scientists a rare opportunity to observe a process that may have also occurred billions of years ago in our own Solar System. It could help explain one of astronomy's biggest questions: How did Earth get its water? A Young Planetary System PDS 70 is located approximately 370 light-years from Earth and is only a little over 5 million years old . In astronomical terms, that makes it extremely young compared with our Solar System, which formed about 4.6 billion years ago. The star at the center of PDS 70 is slightly cooler than our Sun. Scientists already know that the system contains at least two lar...

Venus is often called Earth’s “twin” because it is similar to Earth in size, mass and density. But despite these similarities, Venus is an extremely strange world. Its surface is hot enough to melt lead, its atmosphere is incredibly thick, and it rotates in the opposite direction to most planets in the Solar System. There is another major difference that has puzzled scientists for decades: Venus has no moon. Earth has a large natural satellite that strongly influences its planet. Mars has two tiny moons, while the outer planets have dozens. Even much smaller bodies in the Solar System can have satellites. So why does Venus have none? Did Venus simply fail to form a moon? Or did it once have one that eventually disappeared? A new study led by planetary scientist Stephen R. Kane explores a fascinating possibility: Venus may once have had a moon, but the planet itself could have caused its destruction. The Mystery of Venus’s Missing Moon Scientists have proposed several explanations for V...

What if something as ordinary as a falling water droplet could be used to generate useful electricity? Water droplets are everywhere. Rain, splashing water, condensation, and other natural or human-made sources continuously produce tiny droplets. Although each droplet contains only a small amount of mechanical energy, the enormous number of droplets around us makes them an interesting potential source of renewable energy. Now, researchers led by Dongik Kam have developed a new technology designed to capture more of this energy. Their invention, called a 4D-printed elastic hybrid droplet-based electricity generator (HDEG) , combines two different methods of generating electricity into a single device. The researchers found that their hybrid system can produce approximately 30% more electrical output than a conventional droplet-based electricity generator. It also demonstrated a 25% improvement in energy-supply performance , showing potential for applications as a small-scale power sou...