295 articles from WEDNESDAY 19.8.2020

Despite winning contract, SpaceX sticks with lawsuit against feds and rocket rivals

SpaceX says it will keep pursuing its lawsuit against the federal government as well as its rivals in the launch industry, including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space venture, even though it's been cleared for billions of dollars in contracts for national security space missions. Both sides in the long-running dispute laid out their positions in a notice filed in U.S. District Court...

New approach takes quantum key distribution further

In an important step toward practical implementation of secure quantum-based communication, researchers have demonstrated secure measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) transmission over a record-breaking 170 kilometers.

Unlocking the cell enhances student learning of the genetic code

An open-source educational biotechnology called the "Genetic Code Kit" has been developed by California Polytechnic State University researchers to allow students to interact with the molecular process inside cells in new ways. Researchers show that adapting state-of-the-art biotechnology for the classroom could transform how biology and biochemistry are taught to high school and undergraduate...

We rely on science. Why is it letting us down when we need it most?

Science is suffering from a replication crisis. Too many landmark studies can't be repeated in independent labs, a process crucial to separating flukes and errors from solid results. The consequences are hard to overstate: Public policy, medical treatments and the way we see the world may have been built on the shakiest of foundations.

Lungfish fins reveal how limbs evolved

New research on the fin development of the Australian lungfis elucidates how fins evolved into limbs with hands with digits. The main finding is that in lungfish a primitive hand is already present, but that functional fingers and toes only evolved in land animals due to changes in embryonic development.