Researchers have made a significant discovery in the study of chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological illness affecting deer. The first detailed structure of an infectious prion responsible for CWD reveals a unique 180-degree twist, which could aid in vaccine development or explain why the disease hasn’t yet jumped to humans. This finding may…
discovery on The Soothsayer / page 11
Physicists at TU Wien in Austria have proposed a new explanation for the long-standing neutron lifetime problem. The team suggests that the discrepancy in measurements could be caused by free neutrons being in a mix of different states, with some in the ground state and others in higher-energy excited states. This would alter the neutrons’…
Mathematician Hector Pasten has made a groundbreaking discovery in number theory, solving a problem that has puzzled mathematicians for over a century. By using a time-tested productivity hack, Pasten was able to embed information about prime factors in an elliptic curve, leading to a surprising strength in his result. This breakthrough has the potential to…
Scientists have successfully cooled and accelerated a beam of muons, a breakthrough that could lead to new types of particle physics experiments. Muons, heavy cousins of electrons, could be accelerated and slammed together at future particle colliders to unlock physics secrets. This achievement is a crucial step towards making muon colliders a reality. Forecast for…
Researchers from the Netherlands, the UK, and the US have made a groundbreaking discovery that could bring us closer to understanding dark matter. They found that hypothetical particles called axions could form dense clouds around neutron stars, emitting signals that radio telescopes can detect. This breakthrough raises hopes that axions could be the long-sought solution…
Scientists have discovered that Uranus’ unusual magnetic field and radiation belts, observed by Voyager 2 in 1986, may be due to a rare solar wind event that compressed the planet’s magnetosphere. This finding could explain several long-standing puzzles about Uranus and its moons, and may inform planning for future missions to the planet. Forecast for…
Researchers at Curtin University have made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of nanotechnology. They found that molecules known as ligands attach more densely to flatter, platelet-shaped semiconductor nanocrystals than to spherical ones. This counterintuitive result could lead to significant improvements in LED and solar cell technology, as well as applications in biomedicine. Forecast for…
Mathematicians have made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of geometry, solving a decades-old problem by identifying new shapes with constant width. The breakthrough was inspired by a 1986 space shuttle disaster, where physicist Richard Feynman discovered that the failure of O-ring seals was due to cold temperatures. The new shapes, including the Reuleaux triangle…
Researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery about the world’s oldest tree, Pando, a quaking aspen in Utah. By analyzing DNA samples from the tree, they have determined its age to be between 16,000 and 80,000 years old. The study has also revealed clues about the tree’s evolutionary history and its ability to adapt and evolve…
In a groundbreaking discovery, two independent studies have revealed that the brown dwarf Gliese 229 B is not a single object, but rather a pair of brown dwarfs. This finding has significant implications for our understanding of star formation and the existence of binary systems in the universe. The discovery was made possible by the…
