NASA fires up powerful lithium-fed thruster for trips to Mars

A technology that could propel crewed missions to Mars and robotic spacecraft throughout the solar system was recently put to the test at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. On Feb. 24, for the first time in years and at power levels exceeding any previous test in the United States, a team fired up […]

BWC: Ala. man bites K-9 while fighting officers working to arrest him

The man “inserted himself” into an investigation he was not involved in, yelling at Florence officers; when they tried to arrest him for suspected DUI, he resisted, eventually biting the dog

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A mechanical blue LED: Stretching GaN shifts light from UV to blue without changing chemistry

A research team from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has successfully used mechanical stretching technology to dynamically control the emission color of gallium nitride (GaN) material from ultraviolet (UV) to blue light. This technological breakthrough provides a new semiconductor material control solution for future advanced power transistors, optoelectronic components, […]

Houston officer fired for racist rant, DA reviewing criminal cases she was involved in

Ashley Gonzalez was fired after HPD officials connected her with videos where she said she used her role as an officer to target Black people

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Suspect in fatal shooting of Chicago officer allegedly pulled gun from hospital blanket during treatment

Alphanso Talley has been charged with murder and attempted murder in the shooting that killed Officer John Bartholomew and severely wounded another officer

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BWC: Rifle-wielding man fatally shoots Calif. officer in OIS standoff

Baldwin Park Police responded after a victim was fatally shot; Officer Samuel Riveros was shot by the suspect during a standoff while working to warn bystanders of the danger

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Image: Fiery fall color in southern Chile

The bright whites of mountain snow, muted browns of the arid plains, and gem-like blues and teals of glacial lakes typically dominate the Patagonian color palette. But for a short time in the austral autumn, temperate deciduous forests add splashes of warm tones. On April 12, 2026, a break in the clouds allowed the Landsat […]

Why do high-speed particles bounce higher in wet collisions?

Researchers have uncovered a counterintuitive phenomenon in collision dynamics: high-speed particles bounce back from wet walls much more strongly than expected. Integrating experimental observations with advanced numerical simulations revealed that increasing the impact speed induces a morphological transition in the post-collision liquid film, shifting it from a bridge to a dome shape. Further, it clarified […]

Astronomers release massive set of ‘virtual universes’ for global research

Understanding the universe as a whole requires simulations on cosmic scales. An international team of astrophysicists, with a leading role for researchers at Leiden University, Netherlands, has now released one of the largest cosmological simulation datasets ever produced. The dataset contains more than 2.5 petabytes of simulation data—roughly equivalent to half a million HD movies. […]

ALMA reveals giant molecular clouds across Needle galaxy’s full disk

An international team of astronomers has employed the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to perform high-resolution observations of the Needle galaxy. Results of the new observational campaign, presented April 15 on the arXiv preprint server, provide more insights into the properties of molecular gas in this galaxy.

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AI slashes the time needed to design better heat-harvesting devices

From wearable technology to industrial heat recovery, thermoelectric generators which convert waste heat into electricity have an enormous range of potential applications. So far, however, designing high-performing versions of these devices has remained a painstaking task.

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NASA’s Perseverance, Curiosity panoramas capture two sides of Mars

NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance rovers have captured two 360-degree landscapes that highlight how the missions are revealing details of the red planet’s formation, watery past, and potential for life. Located 2,345 miles (3,775 kilometers) apart from each other on Mars—about the distance from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C.—both rovers are exploring areas that are billions […]

JWST hunts for an ‘Earth-moon’ twin in a habitable zone, but the star has other plans

The moon has played a huge role in the development of Earth. It stabilizes the planet, tempers dramatic climate swings, and possibly even provides the tidal heating that might have led to the first life forms. So it’s natural we would want to find a similar Earth/Luna system somewhere else in the cosmos. But astronomers […]

This ultracold quantum device turns electricity into something far stranger that could unlock sound-based lasers

Researchers at McGill University have developed a novel device that generates sound-like particles known as phonons at extremely cold temperatures. The technology could be used to create phonon lasers, with possible applications in communications and medical diagnostics.

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Fragile no more, nickelates get an upgrade that changes how superconductivity endures

Discovered in 2019, the material known as nickelates has intrigued researchers for its potential to become a superconductor at elevated temperatures—a property that could significantly advance such fields as quantum science and energy transmission. However, it’s a very unstable material and difficult to work with. But the lab of Professor Charles Ahn has developed a […]