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N.C. officer arrested, accused of using ALPR database to give undercover vehicle information to ‘drug target’

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg officer was charged with illegally accessing a government computer after allegedly handing undercover vehicle information to a person involved in a drug investigation

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Spectroscopy system detects aerosols using light reflected from traffic signs and tree trunks

Researchers have developed and tested an infrared spectroscopy system that can rapidly detect chemical aerosols from a distance by using light reflected from common surfaces such as traffic signs, tree trunks or painted surfaces. The new method could make it possible to detect hazards without complicated instruments, helping improve safety and ease operations at industrial sites, public venues and other high-risk locations.

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Cesium atoms and quantum dots generate indistinguishable photons for modular quantum networks

Large-scale quantum communication networks require both reliable quantum memories and coherent single-photon sources that can exchange quantum information efficiently. A coherent source of single photons with narrow linewidth, high brightness, spectral uniformity and compatibility with quantum memories is necessary. While a variety of single-photon sources, such as quantum dots (QDs) and atoms in warm vapor cells, have been developed in recent years, each has inherent limitations, making a scalable and functional quantum network challenging to achieve.

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Electrically controlled magnetic switching shows promise for next-gen cryogenic devices

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have demonstrated a new way of switching a material between two fundamentally different magnetic states using an electric current. The discovery could pave the way for compact, energy-efficient electronic devices that store information, perform logic operations and even interface with future quantum computers.

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Black hole feeding frenzy ends in lingering cosmic indigestion

Black holes are often portrayed as cosmic gluttons that swallow everything that comes too close. But new observations of a dramatic black hole outburst—led by Warwick Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Noel Castro Segura—suggest the reality is much messier.

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Image: Starburst galaxy Centaurus A

In this July 6, 2026, image, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) reveals the nearby galaxy Centaurus A, exposing the dusty structures and hidden activity that shape this unusual system.

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Learning may rely on stronger neural connections, not expanding networks

How does the brain learn? Does it acquire new knowledge by creating new neural pathways or by strengthening existing connections? A new study from Bar-Ilan University offers evidence in favor of the latter, suggesting that learning is driven primarily by changes in the strength of existing neural connections rather than by expanding the brain’s underlying architecture.

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Ancient stardust grains were seeds for the earliest solids in the solar system

How did the first solids that made up planets, moons and asteroids form from the “hot soup” that characterized our solar system’s earliest years? New research from Caltech analyzing pieces of a meteorite has found that, just as snowflakes crystallize around grains of dust, ancient stardust grains left over from long-gone suns may have been the seeds of our solar system’s earliest solids.

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Light’s hidden properties save quantum information from the chaos of bad weather

For years, researchers have tried to harness the “twist” of light to transmit data. This property describes how light spirals as it travels forward, and because it can be molded into a virtually infinite number of different twists, it provides a massive, promising alphabet for high-capacity communication.

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BWC: Conn. officers wade into waist-deep floodwaters to save stranded driver

Video shows Fairfield Police officers rescuing the driver after their vehicle became submerged in floodwaters in an underpass

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Physicists link the Riemann Hypothesis to phase transitions in quantum systems

A new study in Nature Communications has established a link between the Riemann Hypothesis and dynamical phase transitions in engineered quantum systems, demonstrating the effect on a quantum processor.

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Texas police academy temporarily suspended amid state investigation

The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement launched a probe into Fort Bend County’s police academy after receiving a complaint about an ineligible cadet

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BWC: Man stabs LASD deputy before fatal OIS

The man charged at the deputy swinging the knife just as the deputy was exiting his cruiser

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Scientists advance space agriculture for future moon and Mars missions

Space isn’t known for rich soil or ideal agricultural conditions anywhere in the solar system. Yet amid extreme temperatures and vast distances, multidisciplinary teams at USF’s Aerospace: Science, Technology, Research and Applications Center (ASTRA) are collaborating on sustainable space agriculture projects with potential applications back on Earth.

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Tracking satellites and space debris using radio antennae

Every year, thousands of satellites are launched into orbit around our planet. The result is an increasingly congested “space” above Earth populated by equipment that provides services to the surface. At the same time, these satellites affect ground-based astronomy and create the potential for damage when they eventually fall through Earth’s atmosphere to the surface. In addition, near-Earth space hosts old rocket bodies and other materials (cameras, gloves, etc.) left in orbit by past missions.

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