New research claims to have resolved one of the biggest scientific paradoxes, first identified by Stephen Hawking in the 1970s, pertaining to black holes. Einstein’s general theory of relativity posits that anything that goes into one cannot come out, yet at the same time, the laws of quantum mechanics say that this is impossible. This contradiction raises the possibility that either theory could be flawed, a notion …
Not only is an Amazonian water lily massive, with leaves that can grow up to 10 feet, but it’s also strong enough to withstand the weight of a small child. For years, researchers have attempted to ascertain how lily pads can do this. A recent study from Science Advances uncovered how a network of fractal veins, which radiate concentrically from a central stem, efficiently support the …
Recently a team of scientists built a school of robotic fish powered by human heart cells—a project that attempts to understand how to construct replacement hearts for those with cardiovascular diseases. The biohybrid fish—made from paper, plastic, gelatin and two strips of living heart muscle cells—can swim entirely on their own for more than three months, as movement causes the strips of cells to contract, …
