All posts tagged: detect

Astronomers detect first direct evidence of star-forming gas in early galaxies

Astronomers detect first direct evidence of star-forming gas in early galaxies

Published by Jenni Sidey

The first galaxies were already busy by the time the universe was 700 to 800 million years old. Stars were forming fast. Structures were taking shape. Additionally, huge stores of gas were feeding that growth. What astronomers have struggled to see clearly is the neutral gas at the center of that process. It is the cooler material that directly supplies star formation. That missing piece has now come into view. An international team led by Assistant Professor Yoshinobu Fudamoto and Professor Masamune Oguri of Chiba University used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or ALMA, to detect the [O I] 145 micrometer emission line in four distant galaxies. The signal comes from neutral oxygen and serves as a direct tracer of neutral gas. As a result, it is a powerful way to study the material that fuels early star formation. The galaxies were seen as they existed more than 13 billion years ago, at redshifts above 6.5. According to the team, this is the most distant direct detection yet of neutral gas in typical star-forming galaxies. …

Atomic clocks may be powerful enough to detect the quantum fabric of time

Atomic clocks may be powerful enough to detect the quantum fabric of time

Published by Jenni Sidey

Time feels familiar. It marks every moment of daily life, from the ticking of a wall clock to the changing numbers on a smartphone screen. Yet despite its constant presence, time remains one of the deepest mysteries in science. For more than a century, physicists have known that time is not fixed. Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity showed that time can speed up or slow down depending on motion and gravity. The faster an object moves, or the closer it is to a massive object, the more differently it experiences time. But another revolution in physics, quantum mechanics, introduced an even stranger possibility. At the quantum level, particles can exist in multiple states at once through a phenomenon called superposition. If motion can exist in a superposition, then time itself may also flow in multiple ways simultaneously. Scientists have long wondered whether this bizarre idea is real. Until now, no experiment has been capable of testing it. Illustration of classical, semiclassical, and quantum proper time dynamics of a trapped-ion atomic clock that we consider. (CREDIT: …

MIT astronomers detect oldest known flickering quasar from the cosmic dawn

MIT astronomers detect oldest known flickering quasar from the cosmic dawn

Published by Jenni Sidey

A quasar from the universe’s first 850 million years has started to look less like a distant pinprick and more like a real physical system. By catching it flickering over time, astronomers have traced the structure of matter swirling around one of the earliest known supermassive black holes. What they found deepens one of cosmology’s biggest puzzles. The object, known as J0439+1634, sits at a redshift of 6.51. This means its light comes from a time just 850 million years after the Big Bang. Quasars are among the brightest objects in the universe, powered by supermassive black holes pulling in gas and dust. As that material spirals inward, it heats up and radiates enormous amounts of energy. Sometimes, it outshines the galaxy around it. Many quasars have already been found from this early era, often called the cosmic dawn. What makes this one stand out is not just its age, but its variability. Astronomers at MIT and elsewhere have detected a quasar flickering from the very early universe. This artist’s concept illustrates a quasar accretion …

Blood test could detect signs of Alzheimer’s ‘decades before symptoms’ – study

Blood test could detect signs of Alzheimer’s ‘decades before symptoms’ – study

Published by Sam Flores

Reacting to the studies, Dr Jacqui Hanley, head of research funding at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “These two studies add to a growing body of evidence showing progress in detecting the biological changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease much earlier in life, using a range of biomarkers from blood tests through to advanced brain imaging. Source link

New AI model reads the language of genes to detect diseases faster

New AI model reads the language of genes to detect diseases faster

Published by Jenni Sidey

Artificial intelligence is helping scientists read gene behavior more like language, revealing how genes cluster, shift roles, and shape disease. A new model from Mount Sinai learns from vast datasets to predict missing links, spotlight obscure genes, and hint at faster biomedical discoveries. Artificial intelligence has transformed how computers understand human language. Now, scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai are using a similar idea to decode one of biology’s biggest mysteries: how genes work together inside human cells. In a new study, researchers introduced a gene set foundation model, or GSFM, designed to learn relationships between genes across millions of biological datasets. The system draws inspiration from large language models such as ChatGPT, which learn how words gain meaning from context. Instead of studying sentences, however, this new AI studies groups of genes. The result is a system that can predict how genes interact, identify poorly understood genes and even suggest possible disease targets. Researchers believe the model could eventually improve drug discovery, diagnostics and the understanding of human disease. “Genes …

Memorial Day Dyson Vacuum Deals: V15 Detect, Gen5Detect, PencilVac On Sale

Memorial Day Dyson Vacuum Deals: V15 Detect, Gen5Detect, PencilVac On Sale

Published by skeptic

Shopping for a Dyson vacuum is an experience. There are many models to navigate and serious price tags on most of them. As someone who tests vacuums for a living, I have to admit that a Dyson blows most other vacuums away. There are a few cheaper models I’ll still grab (check out my full guide to cordless and robot vacuums for more recommendations), but if you’re dreaming of a Dyson, this weekend is a great time to buy. Several Dyson models I love are on sale for the long weekend. This weekend’s sale includes Dyson’s newest robot vacuum and the PencilVac that I can’t stop using, and my overall favorites like the V15 Detect and Gen5Detect, and more models our team has loved using. Read on to find out every on-sale Dyson I’d buy this weekend. Best Dyson Vacuums on Sale for Memorial Day The Best Dyson for the Price If you’re looking for the best features for the best price, I already recommend the Dyson V15 Detect when it’s not on sale, making …

Scientists Detect Huge Structure Under Ocean Fueling the Deadly Upcoming El Niño

Scientists Detect Huge Structure Under Ocean Fueling the Deadly Upcoming El Niño

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Scientists say they’ve pinpointed the super-warm undersea structure responsible for this year’s El Niño weather pattern, which they fear will be one of the worst warming events in recorded history. Called a Kelvin wave, scientists have identified a massive pool of warm water in the Pacific carrying temperatures up to 13.5 degrees Fahrenheit above average in similar parts of the ocean. As the Wall Street Journal notes, that’s a major heat wave as far as the ocean is concerned, as deep water temperature patterns take much longer to shift than they would on land. Kelvin waves are fueled by abrupt changes in wind force, such as the westerly bursts that push the superheated waters from the west Pacific to the east. That shift in wind forces a blob of warm water to stretch much farther into the Pacific than it might otherwise, creating the El Niño conditions that roil weather patterns around the world. That said, the magnitude …

Best Dyson Vacuums (2026): V15 Detect, Gen5Detect, PencilVac

Best Dyson Vacuums (2026): V15 Detect, Gen5Detect, PencilVac

Published by skeptic

Comparing Our Favorite Dyson Vacuums What’s Still to Come from Dyson in 2026 Dyson announced in September 2025 that its lineup of vacuums has been totally refreshed for 2026. A few vacuums have already come out, including the PencilVac and new robot vacuum, while a couple are yet to come. Here’s what we’re still waiting to see this year: The Dyson V8 Cyclone. This is an update to Dyson’s popular V8 vacuum, with 30 percent more suction power—150 air watts—and twice the run time, giving it over an hour over the original V8’s 30 minutes. It’ll have a triggerless power button and a self-emptying docking station, which is the addition I’m most excited about. The Dyson V16 Piston Animal. This is a new cordless stick vacuum with the latest motor, a cleaner head that can sense the floor type, and a wet roller head option, like the Dyson V15’s Submarine variant (aptly named Submarine 2.0). It promises 315 air watts of power and a 70-minute run time, and will have a wipe-clean mechanism that helps …

Scientists Detect Weird Anomalies in Clouds of Venus

Scientists Detect Weird Anomalies in Clouds of Venus

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Mysteries abound on our planetary neighbor Venus, not least of all because it’s permanently shrouded in a thick and nigh-impenetrable layer of clouds. But when the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Akatsuki space probe visited the steaming hot world in 2016, it managed to spot something anomalous in the atmospheric veil obscuring the planet’s inscrutable surface: an enormous wave tearing through the atmosphere for days at a time, creating a cloud that stretched up to 3,700 miles across. What possibly could’ve been responsible for this monstrosity was unclear. Now, astronomers have an answer about what they glimpsed. In a new study published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, a team led by researchers from the University of Tokyo suggest that the atmospheric behemoth was spawned by turmoil in a lower cloud layer, in a phenomenon known as a “hydraulic jump” that burst to the surface. “We identified the phenomena, but for years we couldn’t understand it,” said lead author …

Teen builds ‘Bionic Underwater Robotic Turtle’ to detect ecological threats

Teen builds ‘Bionic Underwater Robotic Turtle’ to detect ecological threats

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Fifteen-year-old Evan Budz was on a camping trip when he saw a snapping turtle that would become the impetus for an award-winning invention. As someone who loves hiking, canoeing, and just being outside, the Canadian high school student from Burlington, Ontario, had actively been looking for ways that he could go out and help the planet.  “My parents brought me up with the sort of principle that every place that I visit, I should leave it a bit better than I found it,” he says. So when Budz noticed the turtle swimming in some nearby waters, he knew that he’d found his next passion project: a bionic robot turtle that could help protect underwater environments.  How a turtle inspired an award-winning science project “When I saw the snapping turtle, it was so graceful, fluidic, and generally non-disruptive” to its surroundings, says Budz. “I thought it’d be really interesting to go and try and replicate its natural swimming kinematics [basically …