179 articles from THURSDAY 8.9.2022

Physicists invoke the cosmological collider to explain why matter, and not antimatter, dominates the universe

Early in its history, shortly after the Big Bang, the universe was filled with equal amounts of matter and 'antimatter' -- particles that are matter counterparts but with opposite charge. But then, as space expanded, the universe cooled. Today's universe is full of galaxies and stars which are made of matter. Where did the antimatter go, and how did matter come to dominate the universe? This...

Collaborative machine learning that preserves privacy

Researchers developed a system that streamlines the process of federated learning, a technique where users collaborate to train a machine-learning model in a way that safeguards each user's data. The system reduces communication costs of federated learning and boosts accuracy of a machine-learning model trained using this method, which would make federated learning more feasible to implement in...

Hubble finds spiraling stars, providing window into early universe

Stars are the machines that sculpt the universe, yet scientists don't fully know how they form. To understand the frenzied 'baby boom' of star birth that occurred early in the universe's history, researchers turned to the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. This nearby galaxy has a simpler chemical composition than the Milky Way, making it similar to the galaxies found in...

Weedy rice has become herbicide resistant through rapid evolution

Weedy rice is a closely related cousin of crop rice. It aggressively competes with cultivated rice in the field, leading to loss of yield and reductions in harvest quality that compromise market value. Biologists used whole-genome sequences of 48 contemporary weedy rice plants to show how herbicide resistance evolved by gene flow from crop rice. Almost all other cases of herbicide resistance in...

Modern humans generate more brain neurons than Neanderthals

The question of what makes modern humans unique has long been a driving force for researchers. Comparisons with our closest relatives, the Neanderthals, therefore provide fascinating insights. The increase in brain size, and in neuron production during brain development, are considered to be major factors for the increased cognitive abilities that occurred during human evolution. However, while...

Ecological tipping point: 5+ El Niño events per century controls coastal biotic communities

Many models predict that climate change will fuel stronger and more frequent El Niño events. However, our knowledge of ENSO and its influence on ecosystems only extends back about 200 years, making it difficult to understand what the long-term future will hold. In the new study, the authors leveraged a coastal rockshelter site called Abrigo de los Escorpiones, one of the largest and best-dated...

Unraveling a mystery surrounding cosmic matter

Early in its history, shortly after the Big Bang, the universe was filled with equal amounts of matter and "antimatter"—particles that are matter counterparts but with opposite charge. But then, as space expanded, the universe cooled. Today's universe is full of galaxies and stars that are made of matter. Where did the antimatter go, and how did matter come to dominate the universe? This cosmic...