This Week In Science (July 5 – 11)

Jul 12, 2026 11:38 AM

Shmong

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20781

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782

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3

Sauce:

1. https://www.sciencealert.com/a-new-non-surgical-procedure-provides-lasting-relief-for-knee-pain

2. https://www.sciencealert.com/physicists-just-set-a-new-world-record-for-superconductors

3. https://www.sciencealert.com/two-people-with-severe-autoimmune-disease-are-in-remission-after-stem-cell-transplant

4. https://www.sciencealert.com/an-unknown-chemical-signature-has-been-detected-on-pluto-and-titan

5. https://www.sciencealert.com/physicists-simulated-a-black-hole-in-a-lab-then-it-started-to-evaporate

6. https://www.sciencealert.com/fasting-style-diet-reduces-gum-inflammation-in-6-month-trial

I do a lot of real water fasting, and I had an issue with my gums that disappeared after a 7-day fast. Hasn’t returned.

2 weeks ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

#6 used a banana for scale lol

2 weeks ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

These were always one of my favorite things about imgur of yesteryear. I would put them up there with a newbadlyphotoshoppedMichealCera posts.

2 weeks ago | Likes 69 Dislikes 0

#1 we got injectable placebo for arthritis already

2 weeks ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

I always love these, thanks for posting.

2 weeks ago | Likes 98 Dislikes 0

#4 the axis choice on their x graphs annoy the shit out of me. Make them the same for comparison... or put bar markers that indicate the start and stop of the dip.

2 weeks ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

#2 "One of the best-known examples of a metastable material might be on your hand right now." <- read that while holding a Popsicle.

2 weeks ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Dang I hope that first one can help my disc degeneration in my back. This shit is painful

2 weeks ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Thank you for these lovely posts.

2 weeks ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Well now, #1 is extremely interesting to me...

2 weeks ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Holy shit that's amazing

2 weeks ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Microspheres… microplastics…

2 weeks ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Calory-counting was the only diet that worked for me. too "restaurant-greasy", or too much calories - including nuts in this case, just kept my fat going even if it was a healthy food.
I lost weight too fast so I had to get my gallbladder removed, but even after surgery, the doc's Liver Shrinkage Diet is what actually helped in the long term too

2 weeks ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

#3 Have you tried turning it off and then back on again?

2 weeks ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

#2 whoever makes room temp superconductors changes the world, so much power saved. hopefully that are not ran by a bunch of counters who fuck the licencing up and screw the world over for a buck.

2 weeks ago | Likes 14 Dislikes 0

elon musk will probably buy the company and claim he invented it

2 weeks ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

100++ years from now, the term "black hole" as a description ... will be as archaic as "Horseless Carriage" to describe a car

2 weeks ago | Likes 31 Dislikes 3

You think we'll be around in a hundred years? Thats wildly optimistic.

2 weeks ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Did you hear that they built another Blole factory down the road? Crazy.

2 weeks ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

...? No?

It's a black hole. We'll never understand it. It will always be a black hole. We already have terms like 'singularity' vs. 'event horizon' to describe the constituent parts as we understand them, but the object as a ... whole, will always be a void in our understanding, just like there are things beyond the cosmic horizon we'll never know.

2 weeks ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 2

Or atom for an indivisible particle.

2 weeks ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

"They're called atoms because they cannot be further divided without changing their properties" is an excuse I've heard. (Dudes, just admit you messed up the name…)

2 weeks ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Yeah maybe then people wouldn't get the stupid idea they're wormholes to other universes. Just off the cuff, "Dark Sun" makes more sense, but I'm sure there are better terms.

2 weeks ago | Likes 16 Dislikes 2

I dunno, when folks with PhDs talk about it and explain how the mathematics describing black holes say that black holes can lead to other universes, I'll believe that over a skeptic on the Internet.

2 weeks ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 3

Reference?

2 weeks ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Dark Star is an old term for black hole that makes more sense than Black Hole. I remember googling that when I was searching for a name for my scifi ttrpg homebrew. Collapsar is another, but that could only work for stellar mass BH's, I think, I'm no expert. just thumbs with the internet

2 weeks ago | Likes 12 Dislikes 1

Fermion Stars would sound cool

2 weeks ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0

It's a "hole" in that it sort of "breaks" the space-time continuum. It doesn't lead anywhere though. Maybe "black sink" would be a better term.

2 weeks ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0

#2 Oh, -122°C? That's not that low, actually! Seems kinda easy to achieve. I thought these were normally in the -200s.

2 weeks ago | Likes 17 Dislikes 0

Kinda annoyed that the article keeps talking about "-xxx.15°C" though. They're clearly converting round numbers from kelvin and making up the extra precision.

2 weeks ago | Likes 11 Dislikes 0

Yeah, that is in liquid nitrogen temperatures!

Which is great, because our helium supplies are in huge danger, so we need a new useable superconductor ASAP...

2 weeks ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Also, it's -122 *at atmospheric pressure*. Important note because there are plenty of superconductors that need relatively mild temperatures but the catch is that they need the pressure in the center of the Sun to work (OK maybe not that much, but still)

2 weeks ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0

The real catch is that many superconductors that we know can't be used because they can't be made in shapes to make them useful. There are already multiple high-temp (as in, sub -200C) superconductors, but they are often either extremely brittle, or can only be created as thin disks or ingots and can't be shaped at all. Which kinda ruins their industrial usefulness.

2 weeks ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

pressure in the center of the Sun is 3.74 tillion* psi while most superconductors are in only in the 14 million to 700 million psi range. see its totally doable...

2 weeks ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

The article makes it sound like this is the first time but I thought one had been discovered some time in the last few years already and it is already leading to Commonwealth Fusion Services believing they'll be able to produce net gain energy from fusion.

2 weeks ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Ok, so digging a little deeper, it seems that the other ones still required colder temperatures while this new one is several degrees above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. Still very cold but a whole lot warmer than others. Also it looks like heating it up (I article I found didn't say how warm) would cause it to anneal and lose its metastable properties and turn back into the version that needs high pressure. Fascinating stuff

2 weeks ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

…in as soon as 30 years?

2 weeks ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Heh. I mean that's always the joke but they're expecting to be generating power on the grid within about five years or so. We'll see how it goes, of course but they're planning on first plasma later this year

2 weeks ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0