The brightest take on this week’s science
This week we’ve got an eclectic mix of incredible science stories to tell.
From physicists making a nuclear fusion breakthrough to neuroscientists finding a possible cause behind chronic fatigue syndrome.
Also in this issue:
🦖 The discovery of the very first baby T. rex
✈️ A mind-blowing fact about carbon emissions
🔬 A microscope mystery
Onwards to the science!
LOOK OUT
Physicists Make Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough
Illustration of a tokamak nuclear fusion reactor chamber. (Ruslanas Baranauskas/Science Photo Library/Getty Images)
Harnessing energy from nuclear fusion is no easy matter.
It requires a radioactive isotope that is virtually non-existent on Earth.
Now, for the first time, scientists have found nine ‘recipes’ they can potentially use to ‘breed’ tritium.
It could help physicists knock down one of the greatest barriers to fusion.
Nuclear fusion does not emit greenhouse gases like fossil fuels do, and it produces far less radioactive waste than nuclear fission.
But the tritium problem has been a thorn in the technology’s side.
Now, some scientists think the path ahead is looking ever more promising…
HEADLINES
This Week in Science
Tell Google you want more Science
Google now allows you to favor science news as a preferred source of information. One tap on CHOOSE SCIENCE and you make sure ScienceAlert is in your news feeds and used as a source for AI.
LOOK OUT
Scientists Discover The First T. Rex Hatchling
A photo of the baby T. rex puppet used in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. (Michael Irving/ScienceAlert)
We know next to nothing about how a T. rex grows up into one of the largest land animals this planet has ever seen.
Turns out, the hatchlings may start out as small as cats.
Scientists have now discovered the very first fossils of T. rex hatchling, hiding out in museums, disguised as smaller dinos.
The bones are changing the way we see these prehistoric creatures.
The main hatchling they found would have measured just 75 centimeters (30 inches) long and weighed around 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds).
That's much smaller than previous estimates.
ZOOM ZONE
Microscope Mystery: What Do You See?
(Oxford Scientific/The Image Bank/Getty Images)
A) Macrophage
B) Plasmodium
C) Uterus
D) Amoeba
Answer at the bottom.
In partnership with
200+ Claude Prompts Top Professionals Actually Use at Work
Claude can be your analyst, editor, and strategist.
But most professionals are using it to fix grammar.
These 200+ Claude prompts take it from grammar tool to your most powerful AI work assistant.
Sign up for Superhuman AI and get:
200+ ready-to-use Claude prompts to get real work done in minutes — researched, tested, and used by professionals at Google, Microsoft, and NASA
Superhuman AI newsletter (4 min daily) so you keep learning new AI tools and skills to stay ahead in your career — the prompts are just the beginning
LOOK IN
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Linked to The Brain's Clearing System
(Daisy-Daisy/iStock/Getty Images)
The brain’s hidden waste clearing system is changing how we think about neurological diseases.
Only in 2024 did scientists discover the first direct evidence of the brain’s glymphatic system, a new frontier in neuroscience research.
Now, just a few years later, brain scans suggest that faults in this brain sewage system may be at the very root of chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME).
The study is preliminary, but it compared the brain scans of 31 participants with CFS/ME with those of 27 healthy controls.
It found that patients with CFS/ME show signs of reduced glymphatic function.
WOW FACTOR
Science Fact of The Week
(frankpeters/iStock/Getty Images Plus)
Scientists recently calculated how much the world’s wealthiest 10 percent of people have caused in environmental damage.
Per person, it’s roughly $2.3k to $7.5k (in 2017 US dollars).
DOPAMINE HIT
Before You Go…
Say hello to Earth’s minimoon! This is the first close-up we’ve ever snapped…
It's Kamoʻoalewa! (CNSA)
Microscope answer: Amoeba
Amoebas are single-celled organisms with fearsome hunting abilities. This one is in the process of engulfing its next meal: another microorganism called a paramoecium. Microscopic life is killer!
That’s all for today… see you next week!
- Carly
