World News Guru

Vaccination led to a 20 percent reduction in dementia risk in Wales Hailshadow/Getty Images " data-image-caption=" A shingles vaccine might have an unexpected benefit, potentially reducing the risk of being diagnosed with dementia. " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/040225_av_zoster-dementia_feat.jpg?fit=680%2C383&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/040225_av_zoster-dementia_feat.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1"> A shingles vaccine might have an unexpected benefit, potentially reducing the risk of being diagnosed with dementia. People who receive the live-attenuated shingles...

On the ISS, the Japanese condiment developed nuttier notes than earthbound versions The space environment may impart a unique taste of space on foods fermented there. For miso, that led to a nuttier, more roasted flavor, according to a new study. " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/040125_mp_space-miso_feat.jpg?fit=680%2C383&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/040125_mp_space-miso_feat.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1"> The space environment may impart a unique taste of space on foods fermented there. For miso, that led to a nuttier, more roasted flavor, according to a new study. kuppa_rock/iStock/Getty Images Plus ...

The electrical waves may help injured cells’ neighbors prepare to heal wounds Wounded skin cells, like the keratinocytes shown in this colored scanning electron micrograph, send out bursts of electricity, a new study finds. The signal may act as a beacon calling neighboring cells to heal the injury. " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/032525_ts_screaming-cells_feat.jpg?fit=680%2C383&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/032525_ts_screaming-cells_feat.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1"> Wounded skin cells, like the keratinocytes shown in this colored scanning electron micrograph, send out bursts of electricity, a new study finds. The signal may act as a beacon calling neighboring cells to heal the injury. ...

As rescue and recovery efforts continue to ramp-up in earthquake-ravaged Myanmar, new details about how the geologic setting amplified the disaster are beginning to emerge. The March 28 magnitude 7.7 earthquake that rocked through Southeast Asia collapsed buildings, dams and bridges, and killed at least 2,700 people. The rupture occurred along several hundred kilometers of a roughly 1,400-kilometer-long fault known as the Sagaing Fault. The epicenter of the event was just 10 kilometers beneath Earth’s surface and occurred near the Myanmar city of Mandalay. The shallowness of the rupture meant that all of the waves of seismic energy it generated arrived at Earth’s surface at nearly the same time, producing powerful, catastrophic shaking, says Susan Hough, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Earthquake Hazards Program in Pasadena, Calif. Science News talked with Hough about the quake and how a phenomenon known as liquefaction added to its dam...

The assembly process has remained mysterious for more than 300 years Living plant cells regenerate their protective cell walls under a microscope, providing the first high-resolution time-lapse videos of the assembly process. The cell wall’s primary component — cellulose — glows thanks to a molecular probe that stuck to the compound when freshly made. " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/032725_mp_cell-rebuilding_rev.gif?fit=510%2C290&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/032725_mp_cell-rebuilding_rev.gif?fit=510%2C290&ssl=1"> Living plant cells regenerate their protective cell walls under a microscope, providing the first high-resolution time-lapse videos of the assembly process. The cell wall...

Charge-parity violation occurs in a class of particles called baryons  Two protons (indicated with p’s) collide at the LHCb experiment, producing a lambda-b baryon comprised of three quarks — dubbed up (u), down (d) and bottom (b) — that decays into various other particles (colored lines). " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/032625_ec_baryon-CP-violation_feat.jpg?fit=680%2C383&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/032625_ec_baryon-CP-violation_feat.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1"> Two protons (indicated with p’s) collide at the LHCb experiment, producing a lambda-b baryon comprised of three quarks — dubbed up (u), down (d) and bottom (b) — that decays into various other particles (colored lines). ...

Mandimycin soaks up molecules that all forms of life share, yet appears to target only fungi Fungi, like this colony growing in a lab dish, are notoriously hard to treat. A newly discovered compound made by bacteria kills even fungi that are resistant to other antifungal drugs. The compound may one day become a drug — if scientists can figure out why it doesn’t also kill human cells and bacteria. " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/032425_ts_new-antifungal_feat.jpg?fit=680%2C383&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/032425_ts_new-antifungal_feat.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1"> Fungi, like this colony growing in a lab dish, are notoriously hard to treat. A newly discovered compound made by bacteria kills ...

A type of tool pioneered by European Neandertals may have traveled a continent away Multipurpose stone tools such as this one, found at a 60,000- to 50,000-year-old Chinese site, closely resemble implements made by European and western Asian Neandertals. " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/033125_bb_china-tools_feat.jpg?fit=680%2C383&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/033125_bb_china-tools_feat.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1"> Multipurpose stone tools such as this one, found at a 60,000- to 50,000-year-old Chinese site, closely resemble implements made by European and western Asian Neandertals. Hao Li ...

The technique could convert cement manufacture from carbon superemitter to carbon sequesterer Cement production (shown) accounts for a fourth of the world’s carbon emissions. But a new technique using seawater splitting might make its production carbon-negative. " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/032025_cg_carbon-sink-concrete_feat.jpg?fit=680%2C383&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/032025_cg_carbon-sink-concrete_feat.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1"> Cement production (shown) accounts for a fourth of the world’s carbon emissions. But a new technique using seawater splitting might make its production carbon-negative. ...

X-ray emission could offer a way to explore the cataclysmic final chapters of planets In the Helix Nebula, X-rays (blue in this composite false-color image) from a white dwarf at the center (not visible) heat a surrounding envelope of dust and gas (yellow). " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/031925_rga_helix-nebula_feat.jpg?fit=680%2C383&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/031925_rga_helix-nebula_feat.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1"> In the Helix Nebula, X-rays (blue in this composite false-color image) from a white dwarf at the center (not visible) heat a surrounding envelope of dust and gas (yellow). JPL-Ca...

The tools could help uncover better cancer treatments, illuminate rare diseases and more New AI tools to detect and describe previously undiscovered proteins have the potential to improve disease treatments and boost our basic biological knowledge. " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/032825_ll_AI-protein-sequencing_feat.jpg?fit=680%2C383&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/032825_ll_AI-protein-sequencing_feat.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1"> New AI tools to detect and describe previously undiscovered proteins have the potential to improve disease treatments and boost our basic biological knowledge. Annekatrine Ki...

On display Museum experts are exploring how to bring the science dioramas of yore into the 21st century, while ensuring scientific accuracy and acknowledging past biases, freelance writer Amber Dance reported in “ The diorama dilemma .” Reader Gary Hoyle reminisced about his time working as an exhibits artist and curator of natural history at the Maine State Museum. Hoyle recounted working with esteemed diorama painter Fred Scherer and learning about another renowned diorama artist, James Perry Wilson. “Wilson was a trained architect draftsman who had worked to develop a grid pattern that minimized the distortion of viewing a curved background against the three-dimensional foreground of dioramas. His and Fred’s sensitivity to light and the colors of nature astound me still,” Hoyle wrote. “When painting backgrounds, they consciously modified colors to reduce the green tint from the plate glass in the viewing...

Science News has been covering nuclear physics since our earliest incarnation, starting with scientists’ effort to decode the secrets of the atom . In the 1930s, readers learned about the discovery of the positron and scientists’ first splitting of a uranium atom. The first sustained nuclear reaction followed soon after, in a repurposed squash court at the University of Chicago in 1942. By then, what had once been a pursuit of basic knowledge had become a desperate wartime race to develop a nuclear weapon. The United States won that race. In 1945, U.S. forces dropped two atomic bombs on Japan that destroyed the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, hastening the end of World War II. In the 80 years since, no other nuclear bomb has been used as a weapon, though thousands of devices have been developed for testing. And while tests by the United States and other countries continued after the war, most countries halted these tests in the...

The Sagaing Fault region has a long history of devastating earthquakes A magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck March 28 in neighboring Myanmar turned this building in Bangkok, Thailand, into a mountain of collapsed concrete and twisted rubble, and a gargantuan task for rescue workers. " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/032825_cg_myanmar-quake_feat.jpg?fit=680%2C383&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/032825_cg_myanmar-quake_feat.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1"> A magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck March 28 in neighboring Myanmar turned this building in Bangkok, Thailand, into a mountain of collapsed concrete and twisted rubble, and a gargantuan task for rescue workers. ...

Engineers are exploring propulsion methods that could enable longer-distance travel Perhaps someday spacecraft will be able to take humans beyond the solar system. " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/040125_technically-fiction_feat.jpg?fit=680%2C383&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/040125_technically-fiction_feat.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1"> Perhaps someday spacecraft will be able to take humans beyond the solar system. GLENN HARVEY Pilots in Star Wars enter a dimension, hyperspace, to travel between ...

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 publicly shared data backing it up. A  concurrent paper in  Nature  fell short of demonstrating a topological qubit. Microsoft researcher Chetan Nayak, a coauthor on that paper, promised  to provide solid evidence during his March 18 talk  at the American Physical Society’s Global Physics Summit. Before the talk, the chair of the session made an announcement: Follow the code of conduct; treat others with respect. The room, jam-packed with hundreds of eager physicists filling the seats and standing along the walls, chuckled knowingly at the implication that decorum might be lost. ...