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Sometimes it's fun to look back at old missions that never were. There are more of those than the missions that receive funding and are launched, but many of those were influenced by the ones that were funded that came before. A great fountain of mission ideas is the Alpbach Summer School, held annually in Austria. Every year, at least two teams publish papers defining a complete mission concept as part of their capstone experience at the school. One published in 2014 describes a mission designed to look at Venus' tectonic activity, and even though the concept is over 11 years old, the scientific questions it sought to answer are still outstanding today.

Several recent experiments showcase a sharp increase in the number of quantum bits that can be entangled, echoing Moore’s law for increasing computing power on traditional chips

The Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) aboard NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft has successfully completed its initial commissioning following the October 14, 2024, launch. Scheduled to arrive in the Jovian system in 2030, the spacecraft will orbit Jupiter and ultimately perform repeated close flybys of the icy moon Europa. Previous observations show strong evidence for a subsurface ocean of liquid water that could host conditions favorable for life.

The Small Magellanic Cloud is one of our closest galactic neighbours. It's a dwarf irregular galaxy about 200,000 light-years away, containing several hundred million stars. New research based on massive stars in the SMC shows it's being stretched along two different axes.

An infant with a severe genetic condition has shown signs of improvement after receiving a gene-editing treatment tailored to his specific mutation

Computational Fluid Dynamics. Those words are enough to strike fear into the heart of many an undergraduate engineer. Modeling how liquids move through a system is mathematically challenging, but in many cases, absolutely vital to understanding how those systems work. Computational Fluid Dynamics (more commonly called CFD) is our best effort at understanding those complex systems. A new paper from researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) applies those mathematical models to an area critical for the upcoming era of space exploration - propellant production from in-situ resources.

In Project Chimera, a game lab combines a VR computer game with educational problems in order to convey scientific content in a motivating way.

In Project Chimera, a game lab combines a VR computer game with educational problems in order to convey scientific content in a motivating way.

Location data is considered particularly sensitive -- its misuse can have serious consequences. Researchers have now developed a method that allows individuals to cryptographically prove their location -- without revealing it. The foundation of this method is the so-called zero-knowledge proof with standardized floating-point numbers.

Researchers have discovered the mechanism for supercurrent rectification, in which current flows primarily in one direction in a superconductor. By using a specific iron-based superconductor, they were able to observe this phenomenon over a broad range of magnetic and temperature fields. This understanding paves the way for the design and construction of superconducting diodes and other ultra-low energy electronics.

Researchers have discovered the mechanism for supercurrent rectification, in which current flows primarily in one direction in a superconductor. By using a specific iron-based superconductor, they were able to observe this phenomenon over a broad range of magnetic and temperature fields. This understanding paves the way for the design and construction of superconducting diodes and other ultra-low energy electronics.

Agents, chatbots and other tools based on artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly used in everyday life by many. So-called large language model (LLM)-based agents, such as ChatGPT and Llama, have become impressively fluent in the responses they form, but quite often provide convincing yet incorrect information. Researchers draw parallels between this issue and a human language disorder known as aphasia, where sufferers may speak fluently but make meaningless or hard-to-understand statements. This similarity could point toward better forms of diagnosis for aphasia, and even provide insight to AI engineers seeking to improve LLM-based agents.

Charge transfer, or the movement of electrons, can occur either within a molecule or between two molecules. Combining the two types of charge transfer is challenging. Now, scientists have developed a hybrid charge transfer crystal using a novel pyrazinacene molecule. This crystal is capable of reacting with naphthalene to produce a reversible color shift, from greenish-blue to red-violet. Such color-changing crystals can have various potential applications in materials science.

A research team has unveiled a breakthrough in improving the performance of zinc-air batteries (ZABs), which are an important energy storage technology. This breakthrough involves a new catalyst that significantly boosts the efficiency of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), a crucial process in ZABs. The development could lead to more efficient, long-lasting batteries for practical applications.

Found in knee replacements and bone plates, aircraft components, and catalytic converters, the exceptionally strong metals known as multiple principal element alloys (MPEA) are about to get even stronger through to artificial intelligence. Scientists have designed a new MPEA with superior mechanical properties using a data-driven framework that leverages the supercomputing power of explainable artificial intelligence (AI).

Found in knee replacements and bone plates, aircraft components, and catalytic converters, the exceptionally strong metals known as multiple principal element alloys (MPEA) are about to get even stronger through to artificial intelligence. Scientists have designed a new MPEA with superior mechanical properties using a data-driven framework that leverages the supercomputing power of explainable artificial intelligence (AI).

Researchers have found a way to observe clotting activity in blood as it happens -- without needing invasive procedures. Using a new type of microscope and artificial intelligence (AI), their study shows how platelet clumping can be tracked in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), opening the door to safer, more personalized treatment.

A breakthrough study has revealed why emerging electric aircraft engine technology sounds so annoying -- and how to fix it.

Using new observations with the ALMA telescope array in Chile, researchers have compiled the most precise map of three regions in the Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone to date, providing valuable information on how stars form in that region.

New research shows that cyberbullying should be classified as an adverse childhood experience due to its strong link to trauma. Even subtle forms -- like exclusion from group chats -- can trigger PTSD-level distress. Nearly 90% of teens experienced some form of cyberbullying, accounting for 32% of the variation in trauma symptoms. Indirect harassment was most common, with more than half reporting hurtful comments, rumors or deliberate exclusion. What mattered most was the overall amount of cyberbullying: the more often a student was targeted, the more trauma symptoms they showed.