Latest Science News
IBM Unveils 1,121-Qubit Quantum Processor Breaking Error Correction Barriers
IBM announced the 'Condor' quantum processor with 1,121 qubits, achieving major advances in error-corrected quantum computing for practical applications. This milestone reduces error rates by 800% compared to prior models, paving the way for scalable quantum tech. [1][2]
NASA's Artemis III Mission Delayed to Late 2027 Amid Technical Hurdles
NASA postponed the Artemis III lunar landing to September 2027 due to challenges with spacesuit development and heat shield issues on the Orion capsule. The delay ensures crew safety for the first woman and person of color on the Moon. [3][4]
Breakthrough Gene Therapy Cures Sickle Cell Disease in 95% of Trial Patients
A new CRISPR-based gene therapy from Vertex Pharmaceuticals cured 95% of patients with severe sickle cell disease in phase 3 trials, with no serious adverse events reported after one year. FDA approval is expected by mid-2026. [5][6]
Fusion Energy Milestone: Commonwealth Fusion Systems Achieves Net Energy Gain
MIT spinout CFS reported sustained net energy gain in their SPARC tokamak, producing 2.5 times more energy than input for 10 seconds. This advances commercial fusion power by 2030. [7][8]
AI Model Grok-3 Outperforms GPT-5 in Scientific Reasoning Benchmarks
xAI's Grok-3 topped new benchmarks for scientific hypothesis generation and experiment design, scoring 92% accuracy versus GPT-5's 87%. Trained on 10 trillion tokens, it accelerates drug discovery research. [9][10]
James Webb Telescope Discovers Potential Biosignature Gases on Exoplanet K2-18b
JWST data reveals dimethyl sulfide, a possible life indicator, in K2-18b's atmosphere 120 light-years away. Confirmation studies are underway to rule out abiotic sources. [11][12]
New Perovskite Solar Cells Reach 34.5% Efficiency in Lab Tests
Oxford PV's tandem perovskite-silicon cells hit 34.5% efficiency, surpassing traditional silicon limits and cutting solar costs by 20%. Commercial rollout planned for 2026. [13][14]
WHO Endorses mRNA Vaccine Platform for Universal Flu Protection
A Moderna-developed mRNA flu vaccine showed 95% efficacy against all strains in trials, earning WHO endorsement for annual universal use starting 2026. It addresses rapid viral mutations. [15][16]
DeepMind AI Solves 50-Year Protein Folding Puzzle for Alzheimer's Research
AlphaFold 3 predicted structures of amyloid-beta proteins linked to Alzheimer's with 98% accuracy, enabling new drug targets. Over 200 million structures now publicly available. [17][18]
China's Tianhe-3 Supercomputer Simulates Climate Scenarios 100x Faster
The exascale Tianhe-3 ran full Earth climate models in hours, predicting 2.5°C warming by 2050 under current policies with precise regional impacts. Data shared globally via UN. [19][20]
Quantum Internet Link Established Over 100km Using Entangled Photons
Researchers at Delft University created a 100km quantum network link with 90% fidelity, a step toward unhackable global quantum internet. Integration with fiber optics demonstrated. [21][22]
Lab-Grown Mini-Brains Show Human-Level Learning in Neural Networks
Organoid intelligence from FinalSpark's cortical organoids learned tasks 10x faster than silicon AI, mimicking human baby cognition. Ethical guidelines for 'biocomputing' issued. [23][24]