Imagine a jet engine that could propel an aircraft faster than a traditional engine, taking us all the way to the edge of the atmosphere, all without burning fossil fuels - and for a low cost. That's exactly what plasma jet engines should be able to do, although…

Mouse sperm that spent more than nine months in orbit have been used to produce a litter of healthy mice, giving hope that mammalian reproduction in space colonies could one day be possible. While humanity is already pretty obsessed with the idea of getting…

In classical computing, information is stored in bits that are read by physical phenomena such as electricity. You might recognise them as 1s and 0s, also called binary code. In quantum computing, it's stored in quantum bits, or 'qubits'. However, computers…

Perhaps one of the most intriguing and interesting phenomena in quantum physics is what Einstein referred to as a "spooky action at a distance" - also known as quantum entanglement. This quantum effect is behind what makes quantum computers work, as quantum…

Our brains are pretty good at filling in the blanks when it comes to our sense of perception - often to the point we have a mental movie of an entire event before it even finishes unfolding. New research has shown this 'mind's eye' prediction of future motion…

If at some point in your life, you end up needing a heart pump such as a ventricular assist device (VAD), you'll notice pretty quickly that there's a cable that comes out of you and connects the pump to its control unit and battery. But that uncomfortable…

Gastric bypass surgery is the most effective way for those with morbid obesity to lose weight, but new research has confirmed that there could be more to the procedure's success than just limiting food intake. It seems the bypass also swaps the ecosystem…

Still waiting patiently for quantum computing to bring about the next revolution in digital processing power? We might now be a little closer, with a discovery that could help us build quantum computers at mass scale. Scientists have refined a technique using…

Earth is full of bizarre landscapes. Some are land formations moulded over thousands of years, while others are human-made creations that have altered the planet in strange ways. From the bubbling lava lakes of Ethiopia, to a lake that has been nestled in…

For decades now, scientists have been investigating the possibility that our Universe is, or once was, a giant hologram, where the laws of physics require just two dimensions, but everything appears three-dimensional to us. It sounds far-fetched, but if true…

Some 5,000 light-years from Earth, there's a bizarre and mysterious nebula that clocks an average temperature of just 1 Kelvin (−272.15 °C or −457.87 °F), making it the coldest natural object in the known Universe. For decades, scientists have struggled to…

Humanity has sent dozens of probes and satellites to Mars over the decades. These plucky spacecraft have beamed back dazzling photos, inspired hit sci-fi movies like The Martian, and even gave Elon Musk the idea to colonise the red planet. But how much do…

It may have once been regarded as that 'freaky kid' of the physics world, but quantum entanglement has literally come a long way from the days when Einstein laughed it off as "spooky action at a distance". In a new study, scientists have successfully transmitted…

In what could be compared to finding patient zero in an outbreak, researchers have traced genes for antibiotic resistance back to their source. With an increasing variety of pathogenic bacteria evolving to protect themselves against our best chemical weapons…

Scientists have discovered that a simple model used to describe the formation an exotic type of quantum particle, an Efimov molecule, is wrong – flipping ten years of experimental data on its head. The result of this study came as a complete surprise to the…

Mini autonomous police cars paired with companion drones and facial-recognition technology will begin patrolling the streets of Dubai by the end of the year to help identify and track suspects. The announcement by city officials this week comes as Dubai races…