Sunday Special: Jingle Bells in Space

They say the only certainties in life are death and taxes. Now, death may be off the list. Also: some scientists are saying they’ve spotted ‘Christmas lights’ in the cosmos, while others are stumped by a couch. It’s been a big week in science.

SCIENCE SUNDAY

The most interesting scientific discoveries and breakthroughs this week

Magnet Mania: Physicists have captured the first-ever images of altermagnetism—a novel magnetic flow that can make non-magnetic objects sustain magnetism. This discovery may enable digital memory devices that can operate 1000x faster than current tech.

Death Denied: The Grim Reaper may soon be out of a job. Scientists have developed a mathematical model redefining cellular death, suggesting cells can be brought back to life by manipulating enzyme activity. This challenges the basic idea that death is final — a bold claim. We’ll believe it when we see it.

Jingle Bells in Space: Even the stars are getting into the Christmas spirit. Astronomers have discovered a new galaxy called "Firefly Sparkle" that twinkles like the holiday lights. This effect is caused by star clusters merging together in new galaxies. It could be our first glimpse into how the Universe may have formed billions of years ago.

Solar Surge: Yale researchers have hacked a biohybrid catalyst that turns sunlight into hydrogen fuel much more efficiently. By merging Photosystem I (a protein powerhouse) with platinum nanoparticles, the catalyst mimics photosynthesis to generate clean energy.

Gut to Gray Matter: A new study has finally solved an age-old puzzle: how did our brains get so big? Turns out gut microbes may have enabled the evolution of larger brains by ramping up energy production. This study opens up new avenues into brain research.

NEW TECH

Our favorite new tech gadgets this week

1. Spout Monolith AWG: Spout just launched the Monolith, a compact water generator that uses tech from NASA to harvest water straight out of the air.

2. Striv Insoles: These insoles act as your personal run coach. They use AI to track your stride length, power, and efficiency as you jog, crunching that data in real time.

3. AEKE K1: This AI-powered home gym is packed with more than 140+ classes, 280+ movements, and real-time form correction to help you work out from home.

4. Purrit SCUBIC Plus: This cat litter box self-cleans using a vertical scooping system. It’s also infused with plasma deodorization to keep your home odor-free. Doesn’t seem to be available for purchase yet but we’ll be keeping an eye on it.

SOCIAL SIGNALS

What’s trending in Tech on socials this week

AI Outlaw: A Reddit user accidentally jailbroke ChatGPT, tricking the bot into revealing its training rules. Now, they’re using this new-found power to bypass ChatGPT’s filters, making it do things it normally wouldn’t.

Game Over: A video of someone finally beating the retro mobile game ‘Snakes’ has got Redditors gushing and smashing the like button.

Bot Steps Up: A video of Tesla’s Optimus humanoid strolling up a hill flooded social media this week. It’s a huge step up from where the robot was just a few months ago.

Cosmic Mystery: NASA just captured a photo of a black hole jet smashing into a strange object in space, and Reddit is buzzing with theories of what the mystery body might be.

Furry Firefighters: An AI-generated film of a firefighter cat went viral a few months ago. Now, someone used OpenAI’s new Sora model to recreate it, and it’s a massive upgrade.

ONLY GOOD NEWS

A healthy dose of optimism to kickstart your week

Brain Hack: The days of cramming for exams are over. Scientists have developed a "Matrix-style" learning technique that encodes new information into the brain by manipulating brain activity patterns. It’s not just for acing exams though—this method could also help treat complex psychiatric disorders without the need for surgery.

Rapid Rocks: Scientists can now cook up real diamonds in the lab in 15 minutes flat. By using a mix of gallium and silicon, they’re able to bypass the extreme conditions typically required for diamond formation, giving way to faster and cheaper synthetic gems.

Barrier Busted: Scientists have finally breached the blood-brain barrier - cells that line the blood vessels in the brain. Still in its early stages, this breakthrough could eventually help targeted medicine enter the human brain and treat diseases like ALS and Alzheimer’s.

Meds No More: In 2021, a Chinese man underwent stem cell therapy to treat his diabetes. Now, a study confirms that his body has been producing insulin on its own for the past 33 months. If true, it could potentially benefit millions of diabetes patients who rely on lifelong medication.

Case Closed: A Korean mathematician has solved a problem that had baffled the world’s greatest minds for decades. The "moving sofa” problem, which asks for the largest object possible that can make it past an L-shaped corner, took the academic 100 pages to crack.

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