Decay

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice and 16 state attorneys general brought a wide-ranging antitrust lawsuit against Apple for abusing its monopoly in the smartphone market.The complaint lays out a series of alleged abuses: Apple has unfairly limited access to its popular iOS platform, blocked out certain app developers, and prohibited key functionality that could make its service better for users or give them more choice. It even took aim at the infamous green bubbles that appear when iPhone owners deign to text…

The human brain, it turns out, can be surprisingly resistant to the ravages of time.A new study has cataloged human brains that have been found on the archaeological record around the world and discovered that this remarkable organ resists decomposition far more than we thought – even when the rest of the body's soft tissues have completely melted away.Led by molecular taphonomist Alexandra Morton-Hayward of the University of Oxford, a team of scientists has identified more than 4,400 preserved human brains, dating back…

New research demonstrates that silver diamine fluoride (SDF) is as effective as dental sealants in preventing tooth decay among over 4,000 elementary school students, offering a less expensive and quicker application process. This alternative treatment not only prevents cavities but also represents a significant cost-saving measure that can increase access to dental care, particularly in school-based cavity prevention programs.Silver diamine fluoride prevents cavities and keeps existing ones from worsening in school-based…

Scientists from Newcastle University, as part of an international team, have made a groundbreaking discovery by providing the first experimental evidence of vacuum decay. This achievement, pivotal for understanding the early universe and fundamental physics, was observed in a supercooled gas near absolute zero and has set the stage for further research in quantum field phenomena.An experiment carried out in Italy, backed by theoretical support from Newcastle University, has produced the first experimental evidence of…

A groundbreaking study in nanophotonics introduces a method for measuring light interaction at the nanoscale. This method uses single molecules to probe nanoantennas, resulting in a significant enhancement of light interaction. This advancement is pivotal for future technologies in quantum computing and medical fields. Credit: SciTechDaily.comScientists have made a breakthrough in nanophotonics by developing a method to measure nanoscale light interaction, paving the way for advancements in quantum computing and medical…

Paleoclimate records for the last 400,000 years in the study region of Hajar mountains, Oman. This includes alluvial records of wetter (blue) and drier (orange) conditions from both the sample sites and literature (a), lake sediments (b), speleothem records from Hoti Cave (c), marine organic carbon from bromine (d), prediction of Indian Ocean Summer Monsoon (e), solar insolation reaching Earth at 30°N in June (f), and benthic oxygen isotopes as a proxy…

Examination of Viking jaw and teeth. Credit: Carolina Bertilsson, CC-BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Vikings in Sweden suffered from painful dental issues and occasionally tried to treat them, according to a study published December 13, 2023, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Carolina Bertilsson of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden and colleagues. …

S. sputigena cells form a honeycomb-like structure that encapsulates S. mutans to greatly increase and concentrate acid production that boosts caries development and severity. Credit: Hyun (Michel) KooA large study in children reveals Selenomonas sputigena’s crucial role as a collaborative partner of Streptococcus in the development of dental cavities.A collaborative study by scientists from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine and the Adams School of Dentistry and the Gillings School of Global Public…

By U.S. Department of Energy June 22, 2023A spinning neutron disintegrates into a proton, electron, and antineutrino when a down quark in the neutron emits a W boson and converts into an up quark. The exchange of quanta of light (γ) among charged particles changes the strength of this transition. Credit: Image courtesy of Vincenzo Cirigliano, Institute for Nuclear TheoryNew Insights on the Interplay of Electromagnetism and the Weak Nuclear ForceNuclear theorists have discovered a major effect in neutron decay related to…

A refined hunt for the extremely rare transformation of the Higgs boson has delivered results, providing the first evidence of a process that could hint at unknown particles.Reconciling the results of several years' worth of proton crashes inside two different detectors at the European Organization for Nuclear Research's (CERN) Large Hadron Collider (LHC), physicists bumped up the statistical precision of the rate at which the famous 'mass-giving' particle decayed into a photon and a Z boson.The results, shared at the…