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Science Highlights

Today's science news brings two fascinating studies from opposite ends of the research spectrum—from atmospheric phenomena to quantum materials.

NASA Campaign Explores Clouds Spawned by Wildfires

NASA's INSPYRE research campaign spent the summer hunting pyrocumulonimbus clouds—rare thunderclouds spawned by intense wildfires—after an unexpected encounter with one near the Wildhorse grass fire in eastern Idaho.

Scientists just made a superconductor stronger using "empty space"

Researchers have demonstrated that quantum fluctuations in a vacuum can strengthen superconductivity, raising the transition temperature of an ultrathin material by up to 5.4%, offering a new way to control quantum materials through engineered vacuum environments.

Enzyme UBE2N Shows Promise as Natural Defense Against Fatty Liver Disease Progression

Fatty liver disease affects an estimated 100 million Americans, ranging from benign fat accumulation to more dangerous inflammatory conditions. A new study has identified an enzyme that may act as a natural brake against disease progression. The enzyme, called UBE2N, helps liver cells perform two critical functions: removing damaged mitochondria—

MEGATRON Simulations Recreate How the First Stars Transformed the Early Universe

The first stars to ever shine in the universe were neither small nor simple. According to new ultra-detailed simulations, these primordial stellar giants—born from hydrogen and helium alone—ignited in a dark cosmos roughly 100 to 250 million years after the Big Bang, fundamentally transforming the universe's

Quantum Vacuum Fluctuations Shown to Enhance Superconductivity

A team of researchers has shown that "empty" space is never truly empty—quantum fluctuations that constantly arise and vanish in a vacuum can be harnessed to enhance superconductivity. By placing an ultrathin superconducting material in a specially engineered vacuum environment, the scientists were able to raise its

NASA Campaign Explores Clouds Spawned by Wildfires

Scientists just made a superconductor stronger using "empty space"

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