Rendering of the electronic device in which Majorana particles were observed. The device is made up of a superconductor (blue bar) and a magnetic topological insulator (gray strip). The Majorana particles result in transport channels (shown in red, pink, blue and yellow) in the electronic device. Credit: Courtesy UCLA

U.S. Army-funded researchers at ULCA have found a proverbial smoking gun signature of the long sought-after Majorana particle, and the find, they say, could block intruders on sensitive communication networks...

Dinosaur fossil (stock image). Credit: © ramirezom / Fotolia

It is commonly understood that the dinosaurs disappeared with a bang – wiped out by a great meteorite impact on the Earth 66 million years ago. But their origins have been less understood. In a new study, scientists from MUSE – Museum of Science, Trento, Italy, Universities of Ferrara and Padova, Italy and the University of Bristol show that the key expansion of dinosaurs was also triggered by a crisis – a mass extinction that happened 232 million years ago. evidence is provided to match the two events – the mass extinction, called the Carnian Pluvial Episode, and the initial diversification of dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs had originated much earlier, at the beginning of the Triassic Period, some 245 million years ago, but they remained...

Beer (stock image). Credit: © Amy Laughinghouse / Fotolia

Even moderate alcohol drinking linked to heart and circulatory diseases, study finds. Regularly drinking more than the recommended UK guidelines for alcohol could take years off your life, according to new research from the University of Cambridge. Part-funded by the British Heart Foundation, the study shows that drinking more alcohol is associated with a higher risk of stroke, fatal aneurysm, heart failure and death.

The authors say their findings challenge the widely held belief that moderate drinking is beneficial to cardiovascular health, and support the UK’s recently lowered guidelines...

Conceptual picture of the new exotic quantum states that have been generated in Innsbruck. The generation of quantum entanglement in a string of 20 single atoms is shown. Entanglement between neighboring atom pairs (blue), atom triplets (pink), atom quadruplets (red) and quintuplets (yellow) was observed, before the system became too complex to characterize with existing techniques. Credit: IQOQI Innsbruck/Harald Ritsch

Largest entangled quantum register of individually controllable systems to date. A research team is now presenting the largest entangled quantum register of individually controllable systems to date, consisting of a total of 20 quantum bits. The physicists are pushing experimental and theoretical methods to the limits of what is currently possible.

Some of the new quantum t...