Science
93 storiesGeneral Conference on Weights and Measures votes to abolish leap second from May 2027
The General Conference on Weights and Measures, meeting in France, decided on October 15 to abolish the leap second and introduce what Japanese outlets call a "leap hour", allowing the gap between atomic-clock time and Earth-rotation time t…
Russia targets mid-2030s for lunar nuclear power installation
Russia plans to create a nuclear power installation on the Moon by the mid-2030s, Rosatom chief Alexey Likhachev said. RIA Novosti reported that Rosatom and the Kurchatov Institute are working jointly on the project.
Google reports lower quantum-state errors in Willow chip experiment
Google said its quantum AI team demonstrated a technique on the Willow chip that reduced errors in particular quantum states by about a factor of 40. Chinese reports said the resulting states reached 99.99% accuracy and the research appeare…
South Korean microsatellite returns first Earth images 14 hours after launch
A microsatellite launched aboard South Korea's Nuri rocket returned its first Earth-observation images 14 hours and 29 minutes after launch, authorities said. All five satellites in the newly launched group were communicating normally, with…
South Korean team makes transistor components by selectively replacing atoms
Researchers at South Korea's Institute for Basic Science developed a method to form transistor components within a thin semiconductor film by selectively replacing atoms. The findings were published in Science, Korean outlets reported on Oc…
Frozen sperm fertilises endangered Okinawa rail egg; chick fails to hatch
A Japanese research team reported fertilising an endangered Okinawa rail's egg using frozen sperm, with development continuing until just before hatching. The chick failed to break through the shell and died, researchers reported in finding…
Nobel chemistry prize goes to Japan's Kenzō Soai and France's Henri Kagan
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Kenzō Soai, 76, an emeritus professor at Tokyo University of Science, and Henri Kagan of France, for the discovery of nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis. Soai…
Nobel chemistry prize goes to Japan's Soai Kenso and France's Henri Kagan
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said on 7 October that the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to Soai Kenso, 76, professor emeritus at Tokyo University of Science, and Henri Kagan of France, for work on nonlinear effects and autocatal…
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Awarded to Three Optogenetics Pioneers
Sweden's Karolinska Institutet said on Oct 5 local time that the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Karl Deisseroth of Stanford University, Peter Hegemann of Humboldt University Berlin and Georg Nagel of the University of Wü…
Nobel medicine prize goes to three researchers for optogenetics
The Karolinska Institute announced on October 5 that the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to Karl Deisseroth of Stanford University, Peter Hegemann of Humboldt University of Berlin and Georg Nagel of the University of Würzbur…
Nuri rocket erected on launch pad ahead of fifth flight on Oct 7
South Korea's Nuri rocket moved from its assembly building to the second launch pad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung on the morning of Oct 6 and was erected and fixed in place at 10:35, according to the Korea AeroSpace Administration and…
Researchers find Turkestan cockroaches established near Busan port
Researchers collected adult Turkestan cockroaches, nymphs and egg cases near Busan's Gamman port, evidence that the species has established itself in South Korea, Yonhap reported on October 10. Specimens were also found in a park outside th…
Nuri rocket lifts off on fifth flight carrying record 15 satellites
South Korea's Nuri rocket launched at 12:25 p.m. on Oct. 7 from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, after the launch management committee confirmed the time that morning. The rocket carries 15 satellites — five NEOANSAT microsatellite cluster…
Nobel Chemistry Prize goes to France's Henri Kagan and Japan's Soai Kenzo
Sweden's Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Oct 7 that the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded jointly to Henri Kagan of France and Soai Kenzo of Japan for discovering non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric org…
Nuri rocket completes fifth launch, placing satellites in orbit
South Korea’s Nuri rocket lifted off at 12:25 p.m. local time on Oct 7 from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, carrying 15 satellites, the most in its history, and placed the five main ultra-small cluster satellites in their target orbit. Ne…
Nobel physics prize goes to IceCube neutrino researcher Francis Halzen
Sweden's Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said on 6 October that the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics goes to Francis Halzen of the University of Wisconsin-Madison for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery…
LG affiliates to test five parts in space on Nuri rocket's fifth launch
LG Science Park said five parts from three LG affiliates will fly on a cubesat carried as a sub-payload on the Nuri rocket's fifth launch, scheduled for 7 October, in cooperation with lunar rover startup Unmanned Exploration Research Instit…
Nuri declared a success on fifth flight; five cluster satellites make contact
South Korea's Nuri rocket lifted off at 12:25 p.m. from the Naro Space Center in Goheung and the Korea Aerospace Administration declared the fifth flight a success, saying all 15 satellites were placed in orbit. Officials said 14 of the 15 …
Nuri rocket lifts off at 12:25 with 15 satellites on fifth flight
South Korea's Nuri launch vehicle lifted off at 12:25 local time on Oct 7 from the second pad of the Naro Space Center in Goheung, carrying five ultra-small cluster satellites and 10 cubesats. Kerosene and liquid oxygen loading was complete…
Nobel Prize in physics awarded to Francis Halzen for neutrino discovery
The 2026 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to Francis Halzen for his work on the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in Stockholm. Halz…