Holographic message encoded in simple plastic

There are many ways to store data — digitally, on a hard disk, or using analogue storage technology, for example as a hologram. In most cases, it is technically quite complicated to create a hologram: High-precision laser technology is normally used for this. However, if the aim is simply to store data in a physical …

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Bodycams in court get broad police approval, according to survey

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain In the courtroom, Quebec provincial police officers seem to be broadly in favor of having images captured by body-worn cameras used as evidence, but are also concerned about some of the potential consequences for the pursuit of justice. They’d expect the footage to serve as visual evidence, to replace portions of …

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Two artificial intelligences talk to each other

Performing a new task based solely on verbal or written instructions, and then describing it to others so that they can reproduce it, is a cornerstone of human communication that still resists artificial intelligence (AI). A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has succeeded in modelling an artificial neural network capable of this cognitive …

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Cacao plants’ defense against toxic cadmium unveiled

Graphical Abstract. Credit: Environmental and Experimental Botany (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.envexpbot.2024.105713 Researchers from the University Grenoble Alpes (UGA), France, together with the ESRF, the European Synchrotron located in Grenoble, France, used ESRF’s bright X-rays to unveil how cacao trees protect themselves from toxic metal cadmium. This knowledge is relevant as new EU regulations restrict cadmium concentration …

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Backyard insect inspires invisibility devices, next gen tech

Leafhoppers, a common backyard insect, secrete and coat themselves in tiny mysterious particles that could provide both the inspiration and the instructions for next-generation technology, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers. In a first, the team precisely replicated the complex geometry of these particles, called brochosomes, and elucidated a better understanding …

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Are our current universe models are wrong?

We have a bit of a crisis on our hands — a dark matter crisis if you will. That’s because, for years, scientists theorized that dark matter, an unseen force, helps hold the universe together. However, new research suggests that our current models of the universe are wrong about how old the universe is and …

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Livestock farming is responsible for up to a quarter of air pollution in Lombardy region: Study

Livestock presence – Eurostat NUTS2 level. Credit: Environmental Impact Assessment Review (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107456 Agricultural activities and livestock farming are key contributors to the concentrations of hazardous pollutants for health and the environment in the atmosphere, but the potential action in these sectors is often overlooked in public debate. The recent pollution alarm in Northern …

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Tanks of the Triassic: New crocodile ancestor identified

Dinosaurs get all the glory. But aetosaurs, a heavily armored cousin of modern crocodiles, ruled the world before dinosaurs did. These tanks of the Triassic came in a variety of shapes and sizes before going extinct around 200 million years ago. Today, their fossils are found on every continent except Antarctica and Australia. Scientists use …

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50 years ago, superconductors were warming up

Superconductors inch upward — Science News, March 16, 1974 Superconductivity, the property by which certain metals lose all their electrical resistance, would be a grand thing to use technologically were it not for the extreme refrigeration necessary. Every superconductor has a transition temperature above which it becomes an ordinary conductor. Most transition temperatures are near …

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Urban greening can lead to an increase of rodent-borne zoonotic pathogens

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Wild rodents can host a great diversity of zoonotic pathogens. Rodents that live close to humans increase the likelihood of the transfer of such pathogens. “Changes in the environment, such as urban greening, can increase the presence of rodents and result in a higher human disease risk in urban areas,” states …

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