Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory may have found a dramatically more efficient route to fusion energy by reversing the traditional approach: heating plasma first, then increasing its density. Their calculations could help future reactors reach self-sustaining fusion with far less energy while avoiding hidden problems that make ignition harder.
A large study suggests loneliness and social isolation can cost people years of healthy life, especially when it comes to mental health. Men experiencing both lost about 5.8 years free from depression and anxiety, while women lost roughly 3.7 years.
Astronomers have discovered a bizarre star system about 300 light-years from Earth where a small star is slowly devouring a nearby brown dwarf, an object too massive to be a planet but too small to be a true star. Unlike stars that rapidly swallow their companions, this one is gradually stealing material in a process that could continue for billions of years.
A short course of immunotherapy before surgery may offer remarkably durable protection for some patients with stage two or three bowel cancer. In the NEOPRISM-CRC trial, 32 patients with a specific genetic form of bowel cancer received pembrolizumab for up to nine weeks before surgery instead of the usual post-surgery chemotherapy. After nearly three years of follow-up, none of the patients had experienced a cancer recurrence, including those who still had small traces of disease after treatment.
Nearly 300,000 people may live in areas at risk of flooding in the Nepalese, Indian and Chinese areas of the Himalayas. The results, from a study published in Scientific Reports, also indicate that the total area covered by buildings within potential flood zones increased by approximately 45% between 2016 and 2023.
Most of us recognize basic phases of matter and their properties: solids maintain their shape, liquids flow freely with constant volume, and gases expand to fill their container. Quantum phases, on the other hand, are much harder to categorize, overturning traditional notions of what a phase even is and forcing physicists to rethink their definitions.
From coral reefs in Papua New Guinea to chimpanzees in West Africa, grizzly bears in Canada and albatross colonies off Tasmania, some ecosystems are thriving despite climate change, habitat loss and other environmental pressures.
Powerful waves thrashed communities along California's southern coast Friday, damaging homes and sending water cascading through streets as residents braced for more potential damage wrought by Tropical Storm Rachel.
Isaias weakened from a hurricane to a post-tropical cyclone early Saturday after it made landfall in northwestern Florida, where it lashed the U.S. Gulf Coast with heavy rain and strong winds, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Some insects, including honeybees and ants, live in highly organized colonies where individuals take on specific roles. In many ant societies, young adult workers typically care for developing young inside the nest before beginning to forage, or search for food, outside it. Some ant species, however, start hunting for food as soon as they reach adulthood, without undergoing a transition period.
