Here are today’s most important updates from the realm of Science and Space.
Tired of medicines and home remedies when battling infested sinuses? Scientists may have a cure, albeit one that is far too sci-fi for the liking of the majority. Researchers have developed a swarm of tiny robots, no longer than a speck of dust, that are deployed in the nose to relieve congestion. These micro-robots are a fraction of the width of human hair and have been successfully inserted into animal sinuses in pre-clinical trials. Once inside, the robots are guided by a magnetic field to reach the exact spot where the infection is hiding. Made from a mix of magnetic particles and copper, the robots can be activated by shining light through a fine optical fibre. The light heats up the robots, allowing them to break through sticky pus and penetrate bacterial defences. Once at the site, they trigger chemical reactions that help kill the bacteria causing the infection.
A new study suggests that climate change could be triggering minor earthquakes in the Alps, raising broader concerns about global warming's impact on seismic activity. Researchers have found that intense glacier melt, driven by rising temperatures, can infiltrate underground fault lines and increase the risk of tremors. Seismic records showed a sharp increase in small earthquakes following a 2015 heatwave. Researchers detected over 12,000 previously overlooked micro-earthquakes since 2006. These tremors coincided with glacier meltwater percolating into deep rock layers, a process that weakens geological faults. If replicated in other mountain ranges, melting glaciers may contribute to larger, more dangerous earthquakes in the future.
A new study has found that individuals with higher IQs are better at making accurate predictions, which helps them make smarter decisions and achieve better life outcomes. Individuals with a higher IQ are significantly better at forecasting, making fewer errors (both positive and negative) and showing more consistent judgement compared to those with a lower IQ. IQ is already known to predict health, wealth, income, occupational status and educational attainment and this research highlights one possible channel through which people with a lower IQ do worse on all these outcomes.
The extremely low temperatures in the icy Arctic and Antarctic areas often limit devices that require a lot of energy, making communication difficult. Scientists have discovered a new method for writing and preserving messages: making patterns of air bubbles trapped in ice sheets. Their method is based on controlling the size, shape, and placement of air bubbles that occur when water freezes naturally. This unconventional technique uses ice-trapped air bubbles to create different bubble forms that can be used to encode messages in binary or Morse code. The concept of bubble messages was inspired by the air bubbles that naturally develop in glaciers.
