Science

  • Intermittent fasting linked to a higher risk of heart disease death

    Eating within an 8-hour window, commonly known as the 16:8 diet, is a popular form of fasting CRISTINA PEDRAZZINI/Science Photo Library/Getty Images Restricting your eating window to just 8 hours a day, a popular type of intermittent fasting, has been linked to a higher risk of dying from heart disease. But some scientists argue that people with pre-existing health conditions…

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  • Perfectly straight ridges may cover the poles of Saturn’s moon Titan

    Landforms called yardangs can form on Earth – and they might also be present on Saturn’s moon Titan Ma Mingyan/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images Saturn’s moon Titan may have strange features called yardangs all over its polar regions. Yardangs are long, perfectly straight ridges that form when erosion wears away strips of soft ground, and they could help us…

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  • Miniature furniture 3D printed using ink made from recycled wood

    A miniature chair and table 3D printed from waste wood Thakur et al., Sci. Adv. 10, eadk3250 (2024) Recycled wood can be turned into an ink for 3D printing, which could offer a more sustainable way to manufacture furniture or even build houses. “Wood has been used for building and structural purposes for centuries,” says Muhammad Rahman at Rice University…

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  • Gold flecks make super-transparent glass fully opaque from one side

    Objects seen through a glare-free material are clear, while conventional anti-glare film (right) blurs the view Mu Wang et al./Nanjing University Glare-free windows could be made from a material studded with billions of tiny metal patches. This makes a one-way window that is matte – it looks opaque, reflecting barely 1 per cent of light from the outside – but…

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  • What do home faecal test kits really reveal about our gut microbiome?

    Faeces reveals the bacteria in our gut, but we don’t yet know which are optimal STEVE GSCHMEISSNER/Science Photo Library/Alamy The science of our gut microbiome is often painted as one of the hottest new areas of medicine, but there have also been claims that the research is being overhyped. The latest aspect of this field to come under the spotlight…

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  • One in eight ski resorts worldwide could have no snow by 2100

    Some ski resorts are increasingly being troubled by a lack of snow Abaca Press / Alamy Stock Photo Skiing in many parts of the world will face being wiped out as the grip of climate change tightens. A study predicting future changes in snowfall in seven regions across the world has found that 13 per cent of ski areas are…

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  • City moths may have evolved smaller wings due to light pollution

    A spindle ermine moth perched on a flower DP Wildlife Invertebrates / Alamy Moths trying to survive in bright cities may have evolved smaller wings to limit how much they are drawn in by the light. Artificial light shining at night disrupts the lives of many insect species, diverting them from their habitats and mates, and exposing them to predators.…

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  • The moons of Mars may have been formed in an icy planetary collision

    How did Mars acquire its moons? NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/Texas A&M University The mystery of where Mars’s two moons came from may finally be solved. If Phobos and Deimos were formed when an icy object smashed into Mars, it could explain their contradictory properties, which have long baffled researchers. Measurements of the geological makeup of Phobos and Deimos, including tentative…

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  • Quantum memory device could stop unhackable networks from failing

    A quantum version of RAM might improve long-distance quantum networks Dmitriy Rybin/Shutterstock A quantum version of a random access memory can read and write information 1000 times, and could eventually become a key component in long-distance quantum networks. In conventional computers, random access memory (RAM) is essential for short-term information storage. Random access quantum memory (RAQM) is similar, and the…

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  • Snail robot excretes sticky mucus that helps it crawl up slopes

    Snails have an unusual way of walking that has now been replicated in a robot Zuzha/Shutterstock A mucus-excreting robot with a single large foot can effectively imitate the way snails crawl over surfaces – even steeply inclined ones. “I always say that snails are like Michael Jackson to me. You don’t see how they move, but somehow gliding is happening,”…

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