Sunday Special: Crowd Vortexes and Self-Healing Roads

A new study claims to have found a way to slow down aging with a solution that’s been hiding in plain sight this entire time. And scalable quantum computers may not be as far off as you think — researchers have spotted a brand new quantum particle that could rewrite the textbook on quantum mechanics.

P.S. The Sunday Special is designed to help you discover the most important scientific and technological breakthroughs outside of AI. Our regular AI and Tech updates will resume as usual on Monday.

SCIENCE SUNDAY

The most interesting scientific discoveries and breakthroughs this week

Quantum Leap: Oxford scientists made a massive leap in quantum computing scalability this week by linking separate processors into a single system using photonic links. Quantum teleportation — a process by which smaller quantum devices communicate and work together like a supercomputer — finally brings quantum computing closer to large-scale practical use.

Rule Bender: Speaking of quantum breakthroughs, scientists at Brown have detected fractional excitons, a new class of quantum particles, for the first time. These particles behave as a mix of two quantum opposites — bosons and fermions. This finding challenges our traditional understanding of physics and could prove a game-changer for the future of quantum computing.

Flow Factor: Scientists studied Spain’s famous San Fermín festival and found that large crowds don’t just move randomly — they flow like a liquid. When crowd density hits four people per square meter, it creates a swirling "vortex-like" pattern that subtly pulls people in. This discovery helps us predict the motion of large crowds, potentially preventing future stampedes.

Fusion Frontier: A US company called Zap Energy reported promising results in their quest to produce nuclear fusion power without using magnetic fields. Their latest study suggests that their plasma — the superhot matter needed for fusion — remains stable, addressing a problem that has challenged similar approaches for decades. If these findings hold up, their technology could be on track to be scaled up for practical energy production.

Pattern Play: A new study claims that AI models trained in one language can somehow perform well in other languages that were not part of the training set. Turns out they’re trained on multilingual representations of grammar instead of word-to-word translations, causing them to share deep grammatical concepts across unrelated languages. By tweaking specific model features, they could even steer translations based on grammar rules.

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NEW TECH

Our favorite new tech gadgets this week

1. Oclean X Ultra S: The world’s first Wi-Fi-enabled smart toothbrush, which tracks your brushing in real-time with AI-powered bone conduction technology and delivers more than 84,000 movements per minute.

2. Soulscircuit Pilet 5: An open-source mini-computer, packed with a modular design and a 7-hour battery life. It also has tools like a trackball and game controls for coding, gaming, and tinkering.

3. Yarbo Lawnmower: The world’s first modular yard robot, designed to handle year-round yard maintenance with interchangeable modules for mowing, snow blowing, and leaf blowing.

4. Nutr Gen N: A smart, plant-based milk maker that helps you make oat, almond, or soy milk without additives at home. It’s packed with touchscreen controls, self-cleaning mechanisms, and can even integrate with an app.

SOCIAL SIGNALS

What’s trending in Tech on socials this week

Body Double: A Redditor tests out Pickle AI - an AI video generator that creates a live screen of users that syncs with their voice and streams directly to video calls. The results are mind-bending and amusing.

Nano Nova: ASML’s new generation of "2nm" chips just blew up on X and users can’t believe their eyes. Some users have pointed out that the video is probably digitally altered since light itself breaks down at the nanoscale.

Drift Demon: YouTuber and toymaker James Bruton just built the ultimate thrill ride — an omnidirectional drift bike with wheels made of plastic circus balls, which allow it to glide in any direction.

Retro Rig: If Isaac Newton designed gaming PCs, this is exactly what they would look like. PC builder Billet Labs just unveiled a miniature device that looks like a distillery from the 19th century but is actually a copper- and water-cooled, RTX 4090-powered PC.

Clean Sweep: China’s got Reddit buzzing, announcing that the country has hit its clean energy goals an impressive six years ahead of schedule.

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ONLY GOOD NEWS

A healthy dose of optimism to kickstart your week

Super Specs: EssilorLuxottica’s Nuance Audio Glasses just became the first software as a medical device (SaMD) to score FDA clearance in the US. The specs act as discreet hearing aids, and with an estimated 1.25B people facing mild to moderate hearing loss across the world, the glasses are a step towards helping people hear better.

Cheat Code: A new Swiss study has found a simple solution to slow down aging by up to 4 months. Researchers tracked DNA changes over time and found that a daily intake of omega-3s, coupled with vitamin D supplements and simple strength training, can significantly slow down our biological clock. Plans are in place to expand the study across Europe to see if it holds up.

Cancer Crusher: In a phase I clinical trial, nine patients received a personalized vaccine that targeted mutant kidney cancer tumors. Each patient is said to have generated an anti-cancer immune response successfully, without any known instances of the cancer reappearing. It’s still early days, but a viable cancer vaccine could potentially flip the script on cancer treatment.

Crack Killer: A major culprit behind fender benders may finally just fix itself. Scientists have developed self-healing asphalt using tiny, oil-filled spores that can self-repair cracks in the road before they turn into craters. In lab tests, these spores fixed microcracks in under an hour, paving the way for self-repairing bitumen.

Spinal Spark: A potential drug-free treatment is giving new hope to people with spinal muscle atrophy (SMA). In a small trial, scientists used electrical spinal stimulation to reawaken motor neurons, boosting muscle strength, endurance, and walking ability. Researchers think this tech could help tackle other neurodegenerative diseases like ALS as well, and are now gearing up for wider trials.

MEME OF THE WEEK

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