Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jan 08, 2026
Giant DNA viruses that infect amoebae are providing new evidence that viruses may have helped drive the evolution of complex life, according to researchers at Tokyo University of Science and the National Institute of Natural Sciences in Japan. In work published online on November 24, 2025, in the Journal of Virology, the team reports the discovery of ushikuvirus, a newly isolated giant vir

Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Jan 07, 2026
One of the great successes of 20th-century physics was the quantum mechanical description of solids. This allowed scientists to understand for the first time how and why certain materials conduct electric current and how these properties could be purposefully modified. For instance, semiconductors such as silicon could be used to produce transistors, which revolutionized electronics and made mod

Davis CA (SPX) Jan 08, 2026
UC Davis researchers have developed a new method that uses light to transform amino acids - the building blocks of proteins - into molecules that are similar in structure to psychedelics and mimic their interaction with the brain. Like psychedelics, these molecules activate the brain's serotonin 5-HT2A receptors, which promote cortical neuron growth, and could be candidates to treat a host of br

London, UK (SPX) Jan 09, 2026
Physicists at the University of Oxford have contributed to a study showing that iron-rich asteroids can withstand much higher energy inputs than expected without breaking apart, a result that affects assessments of planetary defence strategies against hazardous objects. The work, published in Nature Communications, indicates that under rapid, intense heating these bodies can even become tougher

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jan 09, 2026
MDA Space Ltd. (TSX: MDA) reports it has received an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract from the Missile Defense Agency for the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) program. The IDIQ award makes MDA Space eligible to bid on future tasks and service orders under SHIELD, a US defense effort aimed at strengthening protection against threats acr

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jan 08, 2026
The Copernicus Sentinel 1 mission has delivered a 10 year record of how ice flows from Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets into the ocean, providing a consistent, high resolution view of a key driver of sea level rise. Starting in 2014, Sentinel 1 observations now form the first continuous map of surface flow velocities across both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets at continental scale

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 09, 2026
A recent study led by Colgate Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Cosmin Ilie, with collaborators Jillian Paulin at the University of Pennsylvania, Andreea Petric of the Space Telescope Science Institute, and Katherine Freese of the University of Texas at Austin, argues that dark stars can resolve three key puzzles from the cosmic dawn revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).