The US is investing hundreds of billions of dollars to build new chip manufacturing facilities. Here’s what we know about them so far. — The history of semiconductor innovation in the United States dates back to the mid-20th century. In 1947, scientists at Bell Labs developed the first working transistor, which paved the way for creating the first commercially successful integrated circuit in 1958. Semiconductor chips, also known as microchips or integrated circuits, are…

Although scientists believe the signals are probably due to Earthly interference, they hope artificial intelligence will be a powerful tool moving forward in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. — The search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI, is a scientific endeavor to find evidence of intelligent life beyond Earth. This has been a topic of great interest and speculation for centuries. …

The 2022 year-end IFI Claims report goes over who’s innovating and what they’re innovating on. — Patents play a critical role in protecting and fostering technology innovation. They provide inventors and companies with the legal means to safeguard their innovative ideas and creations. By securing exclusive rights to their invention, inventors can attract investment and commercialize their ideas, which ultimately leads to the development and growth…

CRISPR gene editing is accelerating medical research through the creation of model organisms. — You’ve probably heard of the gene-editing tool CRISPR, often referred to as “word processing for DNA.” CRISPR is a revolutionary technology that has opened up new possibilities for studying biological processes, accelerating medical research, and developing new therapies. CRISPR, short for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, allows scientists to…

Another milestone was achieved by the James Webb Space Telescope. — Researchers confirmed an exoplanet, a planet outside our Solar System, using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope for the first time. Formally classified as LHS 475 b, the exoplanet in the constellation Octans and is relatively close at only 41 light-years away. LHS 475 b is almost exactly the same size…

A new paper proposes how current and future-generation gravitational wave observatories can detect warp drive signatures. — In Star Trek, Starfleet is the exploratory and defensive force of the United Federation of Planets. Starfleet’s most important rule is the Prime Directive, which dictates that no Starfleet personnel should knowingly interfere with the natural progression of “pre-warp civilizations.” The warp drive is faster-than-light space travel technology, allowing users…

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) worked better than we had hoped! — On September 26, 2022, NASA completed its DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission, a groundbreaking effort to study the feasibility of deflecting asteroids that could potentially impact Earth. NASA’s DART spacecraft collided with Dimorphos, a small moonlet that orbited a larger Near-Earth Asteroid Didymos, to test kinetic impact. Kinetic impact…

A new systematic review finds social media is a double-edged sword for democracy worldwide. — Social media has revolutionized the way we communicate and access information. It has provided a platform for people worldwide to express their views and engage in public discourse. However, like all new technology, there are both positive and negative impacts on society. …

This achievement means we’re one step closer to commercial nuclear fusion, but we still have a long way to go. — For the first time in history, scientists at the National Ignition Facility have achieved a nuclear fusion reaction where the energy generated exceeded the amount of energy put into triggering fusion. This momentous achievement puts us one step closer to commercial nuclear fusion, often touted as the “holy grail” in…