New Superconducting X‑Ray Detector Boosts Sensitivity by Up to 1,000‑Fold at Europe’s Premier Synchrotron
A superconducting transition‑edge sensor (TES) spectrometer has begun operation at the BESSY II synchrotron in Berlin, delivering Europe’s first TES‑based X‑ray detection system and claiming photon‑detection efficiency gains of up to 1,000 times over conventional detectors. The unprecedented sensitivity promises to…
Early Humans Carried Fire Into Caves 1.8 Million Years Ago
A new study of South Africa’s Wonderwerk Cave suggests that hominin ancestors were deliberately using fire inside the cave as far back as 1.79 million years ago, pushing the earliest known controlled use of fire back by several hundred thousand years.…
Why South Africa’s Leopards Shrank to Half Their Normal Size
South African leopards living in the Cape Floristic Region are markedly smaller than their continental counterparts, a new genetic study reveals. Researchers who sequenced the complete genomes of these cats found that the population has been isolated for roughly 20,000…
Scientists Identify “Footprints of Death” That May Aid Immune Clearance but Also Enable Influenza Spread
Researchers have described a previously unknown cellular phenomenon in which dying cells leave behind microscopic “footprints of death” that contain newly identified particles capable of signaling the immune system to remove cellular debris. The study, reported in Science Daily, suggests…
Scientists Identify Ancient Neuron Cluster That Filters Distractions in Mice
A team of neuroscientists has pinpointed a small group of neurons in a primitive brain region that appears to act as an internal “focus filter,” allowing the brain to block irrelevant stimuli and concentrate on salient tasks. The discovery, reported…
