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String Theorists Accidentally Find a New Formula for Pi

Two physicists have come across infinitely many novel equations for pi while trying to develop a unifying theory of the fundamental forces

Manon Bischoff

How Deadly is Mpox, What Vaccines are Effective, And Other Questions Answered

Sara Reardon, Nature magazine

Brain Scientists Finally Discover the Glue that Makes Memories Stick for a Lifetime

Simon Makin

This Ancient Sea Cow Was Killed by a Croc and Eaten by a Shark

Meghan Bartels

Spellements: Thursday, August 29, 2024

Sarah Lewin Frasier

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Ancient Viruses Preserved in Glaciers Show Adaptation to Climate Change

Zhi-Ping Zhong, Ellen Mosley-Thompson, Lonnie Thompson, Matthew Sullivan, Virginia Rich, The Conversation US

A Dolphin That Has Been Biting People May Just Be Friendly

Anna Ikarashi, Nature magazine

What to Know about Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus Spread by Mosquitoes

Lauren J. Young

'Sloth Fever' Virus Is Spreading. Here’s What You Need to Know about Oropouche

Mariana Lenharo, Nature News

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September 2024 Issue

What Was It Like to Be a Dinosaur?

Amy M. Balanoff, Daniel T. Ksepka

What If We Never Find Dark Matter?

Tracy R. Slatyer, Tim M. P. Tait

Can Pulling Carbon from Thin Air Slow Climate Change?

The End of the Lab Rat?

Rachel Nuwer

New Painkiller Could Bring Relief to Millions—Without Addiction Risk

Marla Broadfoot

Can Space and Time Exist as Two Shapes at Once? Mind-Bending Experiments Aim to Find Out

Nick Huggett, Carlo Rovelli

Spellements

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The Pitfalls of Houseplant Collection

Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Jeffery DelViscio

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Ascends, Ozempic Is Linked to Depression, and Mpox Cases Spread Rapidly

Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper

What a Linguist Hears when Kamala Harris Speaks

Rachel Feltman, Kelso Harper, Fonda Mwangi

‘ Dark Oxygen’ from Seafloor Deposits Perplexes Researchers

Rachel Feltman, Allison Parshall, Fonda Mwangi, Jeffery DelViscio

James Cameron’s OceanXplorers Shows Scientists at Work

Popular stories.

‘Corn Sweat’ and Climate Change Bring Sweltering Weather to the Midwest

A heat wave is sending temperatures soaring in the Midwest , and “corn sweat” is pushing humidity sky-high

Andrea Thompson

The medication initially known as VX-548 blocks sodium channels in nerves, blocking pain signals before they reach the brain

Why Aging Comes in Dramatic Waves in Our 40s and 60s

A new study suggests that waves of aging-related changes occur at two distinct points in our life

Saima S. Iqbal

We Know the Origins of the Asteroid That Killed the Dinosaurs

New evidence points to a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer solar system as the culprit for Earth’s most recent mass extinction

Lee Billings

Experiments Prepare to Test Whether Consciousness Arises from Quantum Weirdness

Researchers wish to probe whether consciousness has a basis in quantum mechanical phenomena

Hartmut Neven, Christof Koch

Ultrasound Brain Stimulation Boosts Mindfulness

Study participants felt time distortion, fewer negative thoughts and greater detachment from feelings with a noninvasive ultrasound intervention

It starts earlier than you might think.

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How starfish lose limbs (on purpose) and survive how starfish lose limbs (on purpose) and survive.

By Laura Baisas

Crocodile attacks sea cow. Tiger Shark picks apart sea cow. Crocodile attacks sea cow. Tiger Shark picks apart sea cow.

The ‘internet of animals’ could transform what we know about wildlife the ‘internet of animals’ could transform what we know about wildlife.

By Hillary Rosner / Yale Environment 360

Why the ‘Wow!’ signal is probably not from aliens after all Why the ‘Wow!’ signal is probably not from aliens after all

By Briley Lewis

Birds have ‘culture.’ Just look at these nests.

Avian architectural choices may be impacted by more than just genes and the environment.

By Lauren Leffer

The ‘forbidden experiment’ is an infamously evil chapter in scientific history The ‘forbidden experiment’ is an infamously evil chapter in scientific history

1929: the graf zeppelin becomes the first ship to sail around the world—by air 1929: the graf zeppelin becomes the first ship to sail around the world—by air, gear and reviews.

The best weather radios for 2024

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Amazon has some of the most popular Nintendo Switch games on sale right now

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Ants perform teeny tiny operations to save their injured comrades

The olympics has been obsessed with sex for centuries the olympics has been obsessed with sex for centuries, how scientists accidentally found out that some bees can hibernate underwater how scientists accidentally found out that some bees can hibernate underwater, giraffes are a lot gayer than most people give them credit for giraffes are a lot gayer than most people give them credit for, these viking ladies tried to start a trend for pointy heads, but it didn’t take off these viking ladies tried to start a trend for pointy heads, but it didn’t take off, rachel feltman.

At Popular Science, we report and write dozens of science and tech stories every week. And while a lot of the fun facts we stumble across make it into our articles, there are lots of other weird facts that we just keep around the office. So we figured, why not share those with you?

Welcome to  The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week .

Latest Articles

After eee death in new hampshire, here’s what to know about the mosquito-borne virus after eee death in new hampshire, here’s what to know about the mosquito-borne virus.

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The skyscraper window-washing robots are here The skyscraper window-washing robots are here

Skyline Robotics claims its autonomous robot Ozmo can clean windows three times faster than humans alone.

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How to spot when your hard drive will fail before it does How to spot when your hard drive will fail before it does

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New images of deep sea wonders are surprisingly adorable New images of deep sea wonders are surprisingly adorable

A very rare squid, the ‘Casper’ octopus, two ‘flying spaghetti monsters’, and more were also documented on this expedition.

Extreme weather 101: Your guide to staying prepared and informed Extreme weather 101: Your guide to staying prepared and informed

How to pack a go-bag, get emergency alerts, and find disaster aid.

By Lyndsey Gilpin & Jake Bittle / Grist

The ‘disco’ gene could help moths tell time The ‘disco’ gene could help moths tell time

This sleep-regulating gene could be the reason two similar species fly at different times of day.

Our pest control is killing the bees Our pest control is killing the bees

Researchers link wild bee decline and pesticides, and call for the adoption of alternative pest control methods.

By Harri Weber

Mummified brains show cocaine arrived in Europe far earlier than we thought Mummified brains show cocaine arrived in Europe far earlier than we thought

Italians used coca leaves by at least the 17th century.

By Andrew Paul

Better images of black holes are coming—maybe even movies Better images of black holes are coming—maybe even movies

Event Horizon Telescope’s newest advancements are ‘a stepping stone to full color, high-definition movies of black holes.’

By Tom Hawking

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Webb Finds Early Galaxies Weren’t Too Big for Their Britches After All

It got called the crisis in cosmology. But now astronomers can explain some surprising recent discoveries.

When astronomers got their first glimpses of galaxies in the early universe from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, they were expecting to find galactic pipsqueaks, but instead they found what appeared to be a bevy of Olympic bodybuilders. Some galaxies appeared to have grown so massive, so quickly, that simulations couldn’t account for them. Some researchers suggested this meant that something might be wrong with the theory that explains what the universe is made of and how it has evolved since the big bang, known as the standard model of cosmology.

According to a new study in the Astronomical Journal led by University of Texas at Austin graduate student Katherine Chworowsky, some of those early galaxies are in fact much less massive than they first appeared. Black holes in some of these galaxies make them appear much brighter and bigger than they really are.

“We are still seeing more galaxies than predicted, although none of them are so massive that they ‘break’ the universe,” Chworowsky said.

The evidence was provided by Webb’s Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey , led by Steven Finkelstein, a professor of astronomy at UT Austin and study co-author.

Image A : CEERS Deep Field (NIRCam)

Black holes add to brightness.

According to this latest study, the galaxies that appeared overly massive likely host black holes rapidly consuming gas. Friction in the fast-moving gas emits heat and light, making these galaxies much brighter than they would be if that light emanated just from stars. This extra light can make it appear that the galaxies contain many more stars, and hence are more massive, than we would otherwise estimate. When scientists remove these galaxies, dubbed “little red dots” (based on their red color and small size), from the analysis, the remaining early galaxies are not too massive to fit within predictions of the standard model.

“So, the bottom line is there is no crisis in terms of the standard model of cosmology,” Finkelstein said. “Any time you have a theory that has stood the test of time for so long, you have to have overwhelming evidence to really throw it out. And that’s simply not the case.”

Efficient Star Factories

Although they’ve settled the main dilemma, a less thorny problem remains: There are still roughly twice as many massive galaxies in Webb’s data of the early universe than expected from the standard model. One possible reason might be that stars formed more quickly in the early universe than they do today.

“Maybe in the early universe, galaxies were better at turning gas into stars,” Chworowsky said.

Star formation happens when hot gas cools enough to succumb to gravity and condense into one or more stars. But as the gas contracts, it heats up, generating outward pressure. In our region of the universe, the balance of these opposing forces tends to make the star formation process very slow. But perhaps, according to some theories, because the early universe was denser than today, it was harder to blow gas out during star formation, allowing the process to go faster.

More Evidence of Black Holes

Concurrently, astronomers have been analyzing the spectra of "little red dots" discovered with Webb, with researchers in both the CEERS team and others finding evidence of fast-moving hydrogen gas, a signature of black hole accretion disks. This supports the idea that at least some of the light coming from these compact, red objects comes from gas swirling around black holes, rather than stars – reinforcing Chworowsky and their team’s conclusion that they are probably not as massive as astronomers initially thought.  However, further observations of these intriguing objects are incoming, and should help solve the puzzle about how much light comes from stars versus gas around black holes.

Often in science, when you answer one question, that leads to new questions. While Chworowsky and their colleagues have shown that the standard model of cosmology likely isn’t broken, their work points to the need for new ideas in star formation.

“And so there is still that sense of intrigue,” Chworowsky said. “Not everything is fully understood. That’s what makes doing this kind of science fun, because it’d be a terribly boring field if one paper figured everything out, or there were no more questions to answer.” The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

Right click any image to save it or open a larger version in a new tab/window via the browser's popup menu.

View/Download all image products at all resolutions for this article from the Space Telescope Science Institute.

View/Download the research results from the Astronomical Journal .

Media Contacts

Laura Betz  -  [email protected] , Rob Gutro - [email protected] NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, Md.

Marc Airhart - [email protected] University of Texas at Austin

Christine Pulliam - [email protected] Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore, Md.

Related Information

VIDEO : CEERS Fly-through data visualization

ARTICLE : Webb Science - Galaxies Through Time

INFOGRAPHIC : Learn More about black holes

VIDEO : Webb Science Snippets Video: “The Early Universe”

INFOGRAPHIC : What is Cosmological Redshift?

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Science News

Arctic expedition uncovers deep-sea microbes that may harbor the next generation of antibiotics

By Emily Cooke published 30 August 24

Analysis of samples from an expedition to the Arctic Ocean suggest that marine microbes could be a promising new source of antibiotics.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket grounded for 2nd time in 2 months following explosive landing failure

By Brandon Specktor published 29 August 24

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket for the second time in as many months following a routine landing that ended in flames on Wednesday (Aug. 28).

Ancient Egyptians used so much copper, they polluted the harbor near the pyramids, study finds

By Evan Howell, Eos.org published 29 August 24

New geoarchaeological research shows that metalworking in ancient Egypt led to significant contamination in a nearby port.

James Webb telescope spots 6 enormous 'rogue planets' tumbling through space without a star

By Ben Turner published 29 August 24

The James Webb Space Telescope has uncovered six "rogue planets" careening through space without a star. The objects are believed to have formed directly from gas collapse, blurring the lines between planets and stars.

T. rex relative with giant, protruding eyebrows discovered in Kyrgyzstan

By Patrick Pester published 29 August 24

The newly discovered Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus fossils are the first of their kind from Kyrgyzstan and provide evidence of predatory dinosaurs caring for offspring in the Jurassic.

'Everything we found shattered our expectations': Archaeologists discover 1st astronomical observatory from ancient Egypt

By Reham Atya published 29 August 24

This first ancient Egyptian observatory discovered in modern times showcases advanced knowledge of astronomy and its profound link to the Egyptians' spiritual and ritualistic practices.

1st Americans impaled and killed mammoths with pikes, not spears, study suggests

By Sascha Pare published 29 August 24

Ancient hunters may have mounted Clovis points on sophisticated pikes that fractured inside large mammals like woolly mammoths to inflict fatal injuries, archaeologists say.

Mice on remote island that eat albatrosses alive sentenced to death by 'bombing,' scientists decree

The wandering albatrosses of Marion Island can't defend themselves against an invasive mice population that devours birds alive, but conservationists say a rodenticide 'bomb' could save them.

Ancient people in Taiwan yanked healthy teeth from their mouths for 'aesthetic expression' and 'tests of courage,' study finds

By Jennifer Nalewicki published 29 August 24

For thousands of years, people in Taiwan pulled out healthy teeth. Now we know why they underwent this painful procedure.

Ancient viral genomes plucked from glaciers reveal how pathogens have adapted to Earth's shifting climate

By Zhi-Ping Zhong, Ellen Mosley-Thompson, Lonnie Thompson, Matthew Sullivan, Virginia Rich published 29 August 24

Over the past 41,000 years, viral communities have varied significantly between cold and warm climatic periods, scientists found.

Save over $1,500 on this medium format Fujifilm camera at Target

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China's upgraded light-powered 'AGI chip' is now a million times more efficient than before, researchers say

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The Taichi-II chiplet, which could one day power super-intelligent AI models, ups the ante in light-based processing.

Ancient sea cow was killed by prehistoric croc then torn apart by a tiger shark

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For C. diff, antibiotic resistance comes at a cost

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Large patch of the Atlantic Ocean near the equator has been cooling at record speeds — and scientists can't figure out why

By Sharmila Kuthunur published 28 August 24

Scientists are trying to decipher what drove the recent dramatic cooling of the tropical Atlantic, but so far few clues have emerged. "We are still scratching our heads as to what's actually happening," the researchers said.

Gravitational waves hint at a 'supercool' secret about the Big Bang

By Robert Lea published 28 August 24

Scientists might be on track to revealing new facets of physics.

New reactor could more than triple the yield of one of the world's most valuable chemicals

By Victoria Atkinson published 28 August 24

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New invention harvests ambient Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals to power small devices

By Rory Bathgate published 28 August 24

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200 meteorites on Earth traced to 5 craters on Mars

By Victoria Corless published 27 August 24

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Scientists collect high-resolution images of the North Star's surface for 1st time

By Monisha Ravisetti published 27 August 24

The North Star's surface is surprisingly spotty, new high-definition observations of Polaris reveal.

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• 2 Ancient Egyptians used so much copper, they polluted the harbor near the pyramids, study finds
• 3 James Webb telescope spots 6 enormous 'rogue planets' tumbling through space without a star
• 4 T. rex relative with giant, protruding eyebrows discovered in Kyrgyzstan
• 5 'Everything we found shattered our expectations': Archaeologists discover 1st astronomical observatory from ancient Egypt

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Energy & Environmental Science

Active site switching on high entropy phosphides as bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts for rechargeable/robust zn–air battery †.

* Corresponding authors

a Catalonia Energy Research Institute – IREC, Sant Adria de Besòs, 08930 Barcelona, Spain E-mail: [email protected]

b Enginyeria Electrònica i Biomèdica Facultat de Física, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

c Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallic Materials, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China

d Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Am Campus 1, 3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria

e Hebei Key Lab of Optic-electronic Information and Materials, College of Physics Science and Technology, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China

f Songshan lake materials laboratory, Dongguan 523820, China

g Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus de la UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain

h National Engineering Research Center for Marine Aquaculture, Marine Science and Technology College, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province 316004, China

i Department of Physics, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany

j Materials Chemistry Group for Thin Film Catalysis – CatLab, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Albert-Einstein-Str. 15, 12489 Berlin, Germany E-mail: [email protected] , [email protected]

k College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China E-mail: [email protected]

l NOMATEN Centre of Excellence, National Centre for Nuclear Research, Otwock 05-400, Poland

m Department of Chemistry, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17 Juni 135, Sekr. C2, 10623 Berlin, Germany

n ICREA, Pg. Lluis Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

High-entropy materials (HEMs) offer a quasi-continuous spectrum of active sites and have generated great expectations in fields such as electrocatalysis and energy storage. Despite their potential, the complex composition and associated surface phenomena of HEMs pose challenges to their rational design and development. In this context, we have synthesized FeCoNiPdWP high entropy phosphide (HEP) nanoparticles using a low-temperature colloidal method, and explored their application as bifunctional electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution and reduction reactions (OER/ORR). Our analysis provides a detailed understanding of the individual roles and transformations of each element during OER/ORR operation. Notably, the HEPs exhibit an exceptionally low OER overpotential of 227 mV at 10 mA cm −2 , attributed to the reconstructed HEP surface into a FeCoNiPdW high entropy oxyhydroxide with high oxidation states of Fe, Co, and Ni serving as the active sites. Additionally, Pd and W play crucial roles in modulating the electronic structure to optimize the adsorption energy of oxygen intermediates. For the ORR, Pd emerges as the most active component. In the reconstructed catalyst, the strong d–d orbital coupling of especially Pd, Co, and W fine-tunes ORR electron transfer pathways, delivering an ORR half-wave potential of 0.81 V with a pure four-electron reduction mechanism. The practicality of these HEPs catalysts is showcased through the assembly of aqueous zinc–air batteries. These batteries demonstrate a superior specific capacity of 886 mA h g Zn −1 and maintain excellent stability over more than 700 hours of continuous operation. Overall, this study not only elucidates the role of each element in HEMs but also establishes a foundational framework for the design and development of next-generation bifunctional oxygen catalysts, broadening the potential applications of these complex materials in advanced energy systems.

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Active site switching on high entropy phosphides as bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts for rechargeable/robust Zn–air battery

R. He, S. Wang, L. Yang, S. Horta, Y. Ding, C. Di, X. Zhang, Y. Xu, M. Ibáñez, Y. Zhou, S. Mebs, H. Dau, J. N. Hausmann, W. Huo, P. W. Menezes and A. Cabot, Energy Environ. Sci. , 2024, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D4EE01912A

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• 23 August 2024

Stone Age builders had engineering savvy, finds study of 6,000-year-old monument

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Archaeologists used laser scans and diagrams from earlier excavations to investigate the construction of the Dolmen of Menga. Credit: Cavan Images/Getty

The Neolithic farmers and herders who built a massive stone chamber in southern Spain nearly 6,000 years ago possessed a good rudimentary grasp of physics, geometry, geology and architectural principles, finds a detailed study of the site.

Using data from a high-resolution laser scan, as well as unpublished photos and diagrams from earlier excavations, archaeologists pieced together a probable construction process for the monument known as the Dolmen of Menga. Their findings, published on 23 August in Science Advances 1 , reveal new insights into the structure and its Neolithic builders’ technical abilities.

Stonehenge’s enigmatic centre stone was hauled 800 kilometres from Scotland

The dolmen pre-dates the main stone circle at Stonehenge in the United Kingdom by about 1,000 years, but the construction process described in the study would have involved similar techniques and demanded a similar level of engineering.

“These people had no blueprints to work with, nor, as far as we know, any previous experience at building something like this,” says study co-author Leonardo García Sanjuán, an archaeologist at the University of Seville in Spain. “And yet, they understood how to fit together huge blocks of stone” with “a precision that would keep the monument intact for nearly 6,000 years”.

“There’s no way you could do that without at least a basic working knowledge of science,” he adds.

Super-solid structure

To construct the dolmen, its builders transported 32 giant stone blocks from a quarry around one kilometre away and used them to form the walls, pillars and roof of a massive chamber measuring around 28 metres long, 6 metres wide and 3.5 metres high. The largest of these blocks, one of the capstones that forms part of the roof, is 8 metres long and weighs an estimated 150 tonnes. By comparison, the biggest stone used to build Stonehenge weighs about 30 tonnes.

Transporting these huge slabs from the quarry to the site without breaking them would have required particular care, the researchers say, particularly with the soft sandstone used for the roof. They suggest that this could have been done using specially built wooden tracks to reduce friction as the stones were dragged along, much as the builders of Stonehenge are thought to have done.

The dolmen’s stones are fitted together with high precision, suggesting that the people who built the tomb understood principles of science and engineering. Credit: Album/Alamy

Another task that demanded precision and skill was finessing the upright slabs into sockets carved 1.5 metres deep into the bedrock. The laser scans revealed that the builders used counterweights and ramps to move the uprights carefully into the sockets, tilting them at precise, millimetre-scale angles. The stones were carved into facets that meant they locked against their neighbours when the weights and ramps were removed.

These ancient whittled logs could be the earliest known wooden structure

“I’ve always been amazed by the engineering skills needed to build this dolmen,” says Michael Parker Pearson, an archaeologist at University College London. “This paper reveals just how precisely that has to have been done, with an extraordinary eye on dimensions and angles. With such big stones, they could not have afforded to make mistakes when manoeuvring them into position. If even just one was a few centimetres out, that would have been hard to correct once an upright stone was set in its trench.”

Parker Pearson adds that the prehistoric engineers’ understanding of physics and geometry resulted in a ‘super-solid monument’. “It’s the sort of thing we see at Stonehenge a thousand years later, with the mortise and tenon joining of uprights and lintels.”

But unlike Stonehenge, the Dolmen of Menga is in a seismically active, earthquake-prone area. Despite this, after nearly 6,000 years, the stonework is still snug and secure, says García Sanjuán. “These people really knew what they were doing.”

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02776-w

Lozano Rodríguez, J. A. et al. Sci. Adv. 10 , eadp1295 (2024).

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