Science & Medicine
Here we bring you the latest on all things science from physical science, evolution, astronomy, space, physics, chemistry, and medicine
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Tweak to Schrödinger’s cat equation could unite Einstein’s relativity and quantum mechanics, study hints
Andrey Feldman / LIVESCI=NCE
Theoretical physicists have proposed a new solution to the Schrödinger’s cat paradox, which may allow the theories of quantum mechanics and Einstein’s relativity to live in better harmony.
The bizarre laws of quantum physics postulate that physical objects can exist in a combination of multiple states, like being in two places at once or possessing various velocities simultaneously. According to this theory, a system remains in such a “superposition” until it interacts with a measuring device, only acquiring definite values as a result of the measurement. Such an abrupt change in the state of the system is called a collapse.
Physicist Erwin Schrödinger summarized this theory in 1935 with his famous feline paradox — using the metaphor of a cat in a sealed box being simultaneously dead and alive until the box is opened, thus collapsing the cat’s state and revealing its fate.
However, applying these rules to real-world scenarios faces challenges — and that’s where…Read more here.
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Scientists Turn to Venus in the Search for Alien Life
By University of California – Riverside – SciTechDaily
Similar to Earth but incapable of sustaining life. Despite surface temperatures hot enough to melt lead, lava-spewing volcanoes, and puffy clouds of sulfuric acid, uninhabitable Venus offers vital lessons about the potential for life on other planets, a new paper argues.
“We often assume that Earth is the model of habitability, but if you consider this planet in isolation, we don’t know where the boundaries and limitations are,” said UC Riverside astrophysicist and paper first author Stephen Kane. “Venus gives us that.”
Published in the journal Nature Astronomy, the paper compiles much of the known information about Earth and Venus. It also describes Venus as an anchor point from which scientists can better understand the conditions that preclude life on planets around other stars.
Though it also features a pressure cooker-like atmosphere that would instantly flatten…Read more here.
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Researchers create artificial cells that act like living cells
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill / ScienceDaily
In a new study published in Nature Chemistry, UNC-Chapel Hill researcher Ronit Freeman and her colleagues describe the steps they took to manipulate DNA and proteins — essential building blocks of life — to create cells that look and act like cells from the body. This accomplishment, a first in the field, has implications for efforts in regenerative medicine, drug delivery systems, and diagnostic tools.
“With this discovery, we can think of engineering fabrics or tissues that can be sensitive to changes in their environment and behave in dynamic ways,” says Freeman, whose lab is in the Applied Physical Sciences Department of the UNC College of Arts and Sciences.
Cells and tissues are made of proteins that come together to perform tasks and make structures. Proteins are essential for forming the framework of a cell, called the cytoskeleton allows cells to be flexible, both in shape and in response to their environment.
Without using natural proteins, the Freeman Lab built cells with functional cytoskeletons…Read more here.
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NASA’s Juno Unlocks Secrets of Io’s Volcanic Fury and Jupiter’s Storms
By Jet Propulsion Laboratory – SciTechDaily
Scientists on NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter have transformed data collected during two recent flybys of Io into animations that highlight two of the Jovian moon’s most dramatic features: a mountain and an almost glass-smooth lake of cooling lava. Other recent science results from the solar-powered spacecraft include updates on Jupiter’s polar cyclones and water abundance.
The new findings were announced on April 16, by Juno’s principal investigator Scott Bolton during a news conference at the European Geophysical Union General Assembly in Vienna.
Detailed Flyby Observations: Juno made extremely close flybys of Io in December 2023 and February 2024, getting within about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) of the surface, obtaining the first close-up images of the moon’s northern latitudes.
“Io is simply littered with volcanoes, and we caught a few of them in action,” said…Read more here.
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