Science

BERLIN/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Wednesday it had achieved a breakthrough in computing research by using a quantum computer to solve in minutes a complex problem that would take today’s most powerful supercomputer thousands of years to crack. Google researchers expect that quantum computers within a few years will fuel advancements

BERLIN (Reuters) – Researchers at Google say they have achieved ‘quantum supremacy’, in which a computer harnessing the properties of sub-atomic particles did a far better job of solving a problem than the world’s most powerful supercomputer. FILE PHOTO: A handout picture from October 2019 shows a component of Google’s Quantum Computer in the Santa

PIXLEY, Calif. (Reuters) – Joey Airoso has always been proud of his cows, whose milk goes into the butter sold by national dairy company Land O’Lakes. Now he has something new to brag about: the vast amounts of gas produced by his 2,900-head herd is powering truck fleets, homes and factories across the state of

Interxion managing director Fabrice Coquio is seen at the construction site of Interxion MRS3 data center installed in an old German submarine base built during the Second World War in Marseille, France, October 22, 2019. REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier PARIS (Reuters) – The thick concrete walls of a long-abandoned World War Two German submarine base in Marseille,

Founder, Chairman, CEO and President of Amazon Jeff Bezos unveils his space company Blue Origin’s space exploration lunar lander rocket called Blue Moon during an unveiling event in Washington, U.S., May 9, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. billionaire Jeff Bezos said on Tuesday his space company Blue Origin has signed agreements with

Smart Dragon-1 rocket, China’s first rocket designed for commercial use, carrying three satellites lifts off from the launch pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province, China August 17, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer BEIJING (Reuters) – China will launch test flights for the next two space rockets in its Smart Dragon series meant for commercial use in

(Reuters) – U.S. astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir made history on Friday when they stepped outside the International Space Station (ISS) on the first all-female spacewalk. U.S. astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir step out of the International Space Station (ISS) to attempt the first all-female spacewalk, in this still image taken from NASA

The “blob”, slime mould (Physarum polycephalum), a single-celled organism forming over over a pieces of tree chunk, is pictured at the Paris Zoological Park during a press preview in Paris, France, October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier PARIS (Reuters) – A Paris zoo showcased a mysterious new organism on Wednesday, dubbed the “blob”, a yellowish unicellular

LONDON (Reuters) – Uncertainty surrounding Britain’s exit from the European Union has hit science funding to the tune of almost half a billion euros and is putting off international researchers from coming to Britain, a leading institution said on Wednesday. An anti-Brexit protester demonstrates outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 11, 2019.

LONDON (Reuters) – Scientists who resurrected a 50,000-year-old gene sequence have analyzed it to figure out how the world’s deadliest malaria parasite jumped from gorillas to humans – giving insight into the origins of one of human history’s biggest killers. The researchers said their work also deepens understanding of a process known as zoonosis –

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – U.S. astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir will make history on Friday when they conduct the first ever all-female spacewalk to replace the power source on the International Space Station (ISS). FILE PHOTO: The International Space Station (ISS) crew member Jessica Meir of the U.S. boards the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – One of the world’s largest freshwater fish is protected by the natural equivalent of a “bullet-proof vest,” helping it thrive in the dangerous waters of the Amazon River basin with flexible armor-like scales able to withstand ferocious piranha attacks. FILE PHOTO: Diver Alex Reeson checks on the Arapaima or Pirarucu fishes in

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – NASA on Tuesday showed off two new spacesuits tailored for future moonwalking astronauts, signaling development of a crucial component to the space agency’s accelerated drive to return to the moon by 2024. Two NASA engineers strutted on a stage inside the agency’s Washington, D.C. headquarters, donning the new spacesuits, modeling and doing

People attend a mourning ceremony and a funeral for Alexei Leonov, the first man to conduct a space walk in 1965, in Mytishchi, outside Moscow, Russia October 15, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina MOSCOW (Reuters) – Hundreds of Russians bade farewell to cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, the first human to walk in space, at a solemn funeral ceremony

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – U.S.-based economists Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer won the 2019 Nobel Economics Prize on Monday for work fighting poverty that has helped millions of children by favoring practical steps over theory. French-American Duflo becomes only the second woman to win the economics prize in its 50-year history, as well as

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The second interstellar object ever spotted passing through the solar system is a comet that appears quite like those formed in our neighborhood of the cosmos, providing fresh evidence that other planetary systems may be very similar to our own. A two-color composite image shows comet 2I/Borisov captured by the Gemini North

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian politicians and academics cheered the Nobel economics prize awarded on Monday to Indian-born American Abhijit Banerjee, whose proud mother told visitors crowding into her apartment that he came from “a family of economists”. Nirmala Banerjee, mother of Abhijit Banerjee, one of the winners of 2019 Nobel Economics Prize, speaks on

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Economists Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer won the 2019 Nobel Economics Prize for their work in fighting global poverty, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said on Monday. FILE PHOTO: French economist Esther Duflo gets fitted with an earphone before a news conference in Oviedo, October 22, 2015. REUTERS/Eloy Alonso

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. regulators on Friday gave the green light for genetically modified cotton to be used for human consumption, paving the way for a protein-packed new food source – edible cottonseed that tastes a bit like chickpeas – that its developers said could help tackle global malnutrition. Genetically modified cotton plants with an

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Stratolaunch Systems Corp, the space company founded by late billionaire and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) co-founder Paul Allen, said on Friday it was continuing operations after transitioning ownership, but did not name the new owner. FILE PHOTO: The world’s largest airplane, built by the late Paul Allen’s company Stratolaunch Systems, makes its first

FILE PHOTO: The world’s largest airplane, built by the late Paul Allen’s company Stratolaunch Systems, makes its first test flight in Mojave, California, U.S. April 13, 2019. REUTERS/Gene Blevins SEATTLE (Reuters) – Stratolaunch Systems Corp, the space company founded by late billionaire and Microsoft Corp co-founder Paul Allen, said on Friday it has “transitioned ownership

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Alexei Leonov, who became the first human to walk in space in 1965, died on Friday at the age of 85 after a long illness, Russia’s TASS news agency reported. FILE PHOTO: Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov (L), the first human to conduct a space walk, and his compatriot Valentina Tereshkova, the first

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Two-thirds of bird species in North America, already disappearing at an alarming rate, face extinction unless immediate action is taken to slow the rate of climate change, the National Audubon Society said on Thursday. FILE PHOTO: Pelicans silhouetted by a setting sun fly as they look for fish along the California

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk opened up his private rocket factory to the top official of NASA on Thursday for a tour and progress report on the company’s long-delayed Crew Dragon astronaut capsule. FILE PHOTO: SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks during a conversation with legendary game designer Todd

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Saturn is now being recognized as the “moon king” of our solar system, with astronomers spotting 20 more of them orbiting the giant ringed planet, bringing its total count to 82 – three more than Jupiter. FILE PHOTO: One of the last looks at Saturn and its main rings as captured by

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fossils of a large carnivorous dinosaur that was a top predator about 115 million years ago have been unearthed in Thailand — a brute that was among the early members of an impressive group of flesh-ripping dinosaurs known for their shark-like teeth. A reconstruction of the skull of the large meat-eating dinosaur

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany should aim to be a leader in technologies needed to make and utilize hydrogen, which offers a green alternative to fossil fuels in the shift toward a low carbon economy, the economy minister said on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO: German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier attends a joint news conference after a meeting

STOCKHOLM/LONDON (Reuters) – Three scientists won the 2019 Nobel Prize for Chemistry on Wednesday for developing and refining rechargeable lithium-ion batteries which made the global information technology, mobile and fossil-fuel free revolutions possible. A screen displays the portraits of the laureates of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (L-R) John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham,

FILE PHOTO: The International Space Station (ISS) crew member Nick Hague of the U.S. gestures after donning space suits shortly before launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan March 14, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday bestowed a prestigious state award for courage on Nick Hague, the U.S. astronaut

The pioneering four-limb robotic system, or exoskeleton, that is commanded and controlled by signals from the patient’s brain is seen following a news conference after Thibault, a 28-year-old man, paralyzed from the shoulders down, had been able to walk using it at the French research center Clinatec in Grenoble, France, October 7, 2019. REUTERS/Emmanuel Foudrot