Scientific News

Articles across mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and astronomy.

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  Science

  Yupana

  A yupana (from Quechua: yupay 'count') is a counting board used to perform arithmetic operations, dating back to the time of the Incas. Very little documentation exists concerning its precise physical form or how it was used.

  8/25/2026

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  Year of the Solar System

  The Year of the Solar System was a NASA education/public outreach initiative. The year ran October 2010 until August 2012, a Martian year.

  8/25/2026

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  Ytterbium chloride

  Ytterbium chloride may refer to either of these ytterbium compounds: Ytterbium(II) chloride, YbCl2 Ytterbium(III) chloride, YbCl3

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Yellowstone Caldera

  The Yellowstone Caldera, also known as the Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field, is a Quaternary volcanic field, caldera complex, and volcanic plateau spanning parts of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. It is driven by the Yellowstone hotspot and lies largely within Yellowstone National Park. The field comprises several overlapping caldera structures, multiple lava domes and resurgent domes, and numerous

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Yellowstone hotspot

  The Yellowstone hotspot is a volcanic hotspot in the United States responsible for large scale volcanism in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Wyoming, formed as the North American tectonic plate moved over it. It formed the eastern Snake River Plain through a succession of caldera-forming eruptions. The resulting calderas include the Island Park Caldera, Henry's Fork Caldera, and the Bruneau-Jar

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Yoga as therapy

  Yoga as therapy is the use of yoga as exercise, consisting mainly of postures called asanas, as a gentle form of exercise and relaxation applied specifically with the intention of improving health. This form of yoga is widely practised in classes, and may involve meditation, imagery, breath work (pranayama) and calming music as well as postural yoga. At least three types of health claims have been

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Yonaguni Monument

  The Yonaguni Monument (Japanese: 与那国島海底地形, Hepburn: Yonaguni-jima Kaitei Chikei; lit. 'Yonaguni Island Seafloor Topography'), also known as the Yonaguni (Island) Submarine Ruins (与那国（島）海底遺跡, Yonaguni(-jima) Kaitei Iseki), is a submerged rock formation off the coast of Yonaguni, the southernmost of the Ryukyu Islands, in Japan. It lies approximately 100 kilometres (54 nmi; 62 mi) east of Taiwan. Ma

  8/25/2026

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  Year zero

  A year zero is a date where the current year for a given calendar system is zero. In systems which include a year zero, this year would be the epoch. Year zero does not exist in the Anno Domini (AD) calendar year system commonly used to number years in the Gregorian calendar and Julian calendar. Instead, AD 1 is treated as the epoch, so that the year 1 BC is followed directly by year AD 1. However

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Yuktibhāṣā

  Yuktibhāṣā (Malayalam: യുക്തിഭാഷ, lit. 'Rationale'), also known as Gaṇita-yukti-bhāṣā and Gaṇitanyāyasaṅgraha (English: Compendium of Astronomical Rationale), is a treatise on mathematics and astronomy, written by the Indian astronomer Jyeṣṭhadeva of the Kerala school of mathematics around 1530. The treatise, written in Malayalam, is a consolidation of the discoveries by Madhava of Sangamagrama, N

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Young grab

  The Young grab, or the Young modified Van Veen grab sampler is an instrument to sample sediment in the ocean. It is a modified version of the Van Veen grab sampler, with a clamshell bucket made out of stainless steel mounted to a supporting frame. The sampling area extracted with this instrument can vary depending on its size. With the modifications this version of the Van Veen grab sampler is hea

  8/25/2026

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  Young blood transfusion

  Young blood transfusion refers to transfusing blood specifically from a young person into an older one with the intention of creating a health benefit. The efficacy and safety of young blood transfusions for anti-aging purposes remain a subject of debate in the scientific community, with limited clinical evidence in humans. There are also concerns of harm. While some preclinical studies on animals

  8/25/2026

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  Ytterbium fluoride

  Ytterbium fluoride may refer to: Ytterbium(II) fluoride (ytterbium difluoride), YbF2 Ytterbium(III) fluoride (ytterbium trifluoride), YbF3

  8/25/2026

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  Year loss table

  A year loss table (YLT) is a table that lists historical or simulated years, with financial losses for each year. YLTs are widely used in catastrophe modeling as a way to record and communicate historical or simulated losses from catastrophes. The use of lists of years with historical or simulated financial losses is discussed in many references on catastrophe modelling and disaster risk managemen

  8/25/2026

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  Ytterbium iodide

  Ytterbium iodide may refer to: Ytterbium(II) iodide (ytterbium diiodide), YbI2 Ytterbium(III) iodide (ytterbium triiodide), YbI3

  8/25/2026

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  Ytterbium sulfide

  Ytterbium sulfide may refer to: Ytterbium(II) sulfide (Ytterbium monosulfide), YbS Ytterbium(III) sulfide (Ytterbium sesquisulfide), Yb2S3

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Young Experimental Physicist Prize of EPS

  The Young Experimental Physicist Prize, launched in 2001, honors the work by one or more early-career experimental physicists in the field of Particle Physics and/or Particle Astrophysics. It is awarded every two years by the High Energy Particle Physics Division (EPS-HEPP) of the European Physical Society (EPS) during the EPS conference on High Energy Physics, together with the High Energy Partic

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Yoneda peak

  Yoneda peak (also Yoneda–Vineyard peak) is an enhancement in scattering intensity from scattered radiation propagating as an evanescent wave underneath a surface or another material interface. It appears under an exit angle αf that is close to the critical angle for total external reflection αc. For x-rays and neutrons, critical angles are small. The Yoneda peak is typically observed in off-specul

  8/25/2026

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  Yellow brick road (mathematics)

  A Yellow brick road is "the unique simple closed path that solves the antisocial jogger problem for any of the Platonic solids. Such a path must (1) begin and end at a single vertex of the solid, and (2) be a straight line path that may cross over edges, but may not pass through any other vertices." The solution for the dodecahedron was given by mathematicians Jayadev Athreya and David Aulicino in

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Woodward–Hoffmann rules

  The Woodward–Hoffmann rules (or the pericyclic selection rules) are a set of rules devised by Robert Burns Woodward and Roald Hoffmann to rationalize or predict certain aspects of the stereochemistry and activation energy of pericyclic reactions, an important class of reactions in organic chemistry. The rules originate in certain symmetries of the molecule's orbital structure that any molecular Ha

  8/25/2026

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  Wong–Sandler mixing rule

  The Wong–Sandler mixing rule is a thermodynamic mixing rule used for vapor–liquid equilibrium and liquid-liquid equilibrium calculations.

  8/25/2026

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  Xuezhikang

  Xuezhikang (Chinese: 血脂康; pinyin: xuè zhī kāng) is a traditional Chinese medicine formulation used for the treatment of hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular diseases. It is a partially purified extract of red yeast rice and contains a mixture of naturally occurring statins, including monacolin K, which is chemically identical to lovastatin. In clinical practice, xuezhikang is often considered a "natu

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Women in STEM

  Many scholars and policymakers have noted that the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have remained predominantly male with historically low participation among women since the origins of these fields in the 18th century during the Age of Enlightenment. Scholars are exploring the various reasons for the continued existence of this gender disparity in STEM fields. Th

  8/25/2026

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  Woolmer Lecture

  The Woolmer lecture is the flagship lecture of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine. It takes place annually during the Institute's Medical Physics and Engineering Conference.

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Wollaston Medal

  The Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology and the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London, the oldest geological society in the world. It is considered to be the most prestigious award in geology, and is given for outstanding contributions to geoscience. The medal is named after English chemist William Hyde Wollaston, and was first awarded in 1831. The Wollaston Meda

  8/25/2026

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  Work (electric field)

  Electric field work is the work performed by an electric field on a charged particle in its vicinity. The work per unit of charge is defined as the movement of negligible test charge between two points, and is expressed as the difference in electric potential at those points. The work can be done, for example, by generators, (electrochemical cells) or thermocouples generating an electromotive for

  8/25/2026

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  Woodstock of physics

  The Woodstock of physics was the popular name given by physicists to the marathon session of the American Physical Society’s meeting on March 18, 1987, which featured 51 presentations of recent discoveries in the science of high-temperature superconductors. Various presenters anticipated that these new materials would soon result in revolutionary technological applications, but in the three subseq

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Women in computing

  Women in computing were among the first programmers in the early 20th century, and contributed substantially to the industry. As technology and practices altered, the role of women as programmers has changed, and the recorded history of the field has downplayed their achievements. Since the 18th century, women have developed scientific computations, including Nicole-Reine Lepaute's prediction of H

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Work (thermodynamics)

  Thermodynamic work is one of the principal kinds of process by which a thermodynamic system can interact with and transfer energy to its surroundings. This results in externally measurable macroscopic forces on the system's surroundings, which can cause mechanical work, for example to lift a weight, or cause changes in external electromagnetic quantities. Also, the surroundings can perform thermod

  8/25/2026

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  Women in geology

  Women in geology concerns the history and contributions of women to the field of geology. There has been a long history of women in the field, but they have tended to be under-represented. In the era before the eighteenth century, science and geological science had not been as formalized as they would become later. Hence early geologists tended to be informal observers and collectors, whether they

  8/25/2026

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  Work output

  In physics, work output is the work done by a simple machine, compound machine, or any type of engine model. In common terms, it is the energy output, which for simple machines is always less than the energy input, even though the forces may be drastically different. In [thermodynamics], work output can refer to the thermodynamic work done by a heat engine, in which case the amount of work output

  8/25/2026

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  Woodward's rules

  Woodward's rules, named after Robert Burns Woodward and also known as Woodward–Fieser rules (for Louis Fieser) are several sets of empirically derived rules which attempt to predict the wavelength of the absorption maximum (λmax) in an ultraviolet–visible spectrum of a given compound. Inputs used in the calculation are the type of chromophores present, the auxochromes (substituents on the chromop

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Wolfram Demonstrations Project

  The Wolfram Demonstrations Project is an open-source collection of interactive programmes called Demonstrations. It is hosted by Wolfram Research. At its launch, it contained 1300 demonstrations but has grown to over 10,000. The site won a Parents' Choice Award in 2008. Wolfram Research's staff organizes and edits the Demonstrations, which may be created by any user of Mathematica, then freely pub

  8/25/2026

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  WolframAlpha

  WolframAlpha is an online knowledge engine developed by Wolfram Research, released in 2009. It is offered as an online service that answers queries by computing answers from externally sourced data.

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Wooded meadow

  Wooded meadows (also named wood-meadows, park meadows, etc.) are ecosystems in temperate forest regions. They are sparse natural stands with a regularly mowed herbaceous layer. While frequent throughout Europe during the Medieval period and before, wooded meadows have largely disappeared. Wooded meadows originated with the practices of hunter-gatherer communities. They were important in terms of s

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Women in chemistry

  This is a list of women chemists. It should include those who have been important to the development or practice of chemistry. Their research or application has made significant contributions in the area of basic or applied chemistry.

  8/25/2026

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  Woltjer's theorem

  In plasma physics, Woltjer's theorem states that force-free magnetic fields in a closed system with constant force-free parameter α {\displaystyle \alpha } represent the state with lowest magnetic energy in the system and that the magnetic helicity is invariant under this condition. It is named after Lodewijk Woltjer who derived it in 1958. A force-free

  8/25/2026

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  Women in Mathematics (book)

  Women in Mathematics is a book on women in mathematics. It was written by Lynn M. Osen, and published by the MIT Press in 1974.

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Wood-pasture hypothesis

  The wood-pasture hypothesis (also known as the Vera hypothesis and the megaherbivore theory) is a scientific hypothesis positing that open and semi-open pastures and wood-pastures formed the predominant type of landscape in post-glacial temperate Europe, rather than the common belief of primeval forests. The hypothesis proposes that such a landscape would be formed and maintained by large wild her

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Wormhole

  A wormhole is a hypothetical structure that connects disparate points in spacetime. It can be visualized as a tunnel with two ends at separate points in spacetime (i.e., different locations, different points in time, or both). Wormholes are based on a special solution of the Einstein field equations, and are consistent with the general theory of relativity. In 1995, Matt Visser suggested there may

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Woz U

  Woz U is a company founded by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak that focuses on technical education for independent students, and offers curriculum to universities and organizations to upskill their employees.

  8/25/2026

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  Working fluid

  For fluid power, a working fluid is a gas or liquid that primarily transfers force, motion, or mechanical energy. In hydraulics, water or hydraulic fluid transfers force between hydraulic components such as hydraulic pumps, hydraulic cylinders, and hydraulic motors that are assembled into hydraulic machinery, hydraulic drive systems, etc. In pneumatics, the working fluid is air or another gas whic

  8/25/2026

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  World Ocean Database Project

  The World Ocean Database Project, or WOD, was established by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). The project leader was Sydney Levitus, also director of the International Council for Science (ICSU) World Data Center (WDC) for Oceanography, Silver Spring. Sydney Levitus retired in 2013. In recognition of the success of the IOC Global Oceanographic Data Archaeological and Rescue Pr

  8/25/2026

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  Write barrier

  In operating systems, write barrier is a mechanism for enforcing a particular ordering in a sequence of writes to a storage system in a computer system. For example, a write barrier in a file system is a mechanism (program logic) that ensures that in-memory file system state is written out to persistent storage in the correct order.

  8/25/2026

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  World Ocean Circulation Experiment

  The World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) was a component of the international World Climate Research Program, and aimed to establish the role of the World Ocean in the Earth's climate system. WOCE's field phase ran between 1990 and 1998, and was followed by an analysis and modeling phase that ran until 2002. When the WOCE was conceived, there were three main motivations for its creation. The

  8/25/2026

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  World Ocean Atlas

  The World Ocean Atlas (WOA) is a data product of the Ocean Climate Laboratory of the National Centers for Environmental Information (U.S.). The WOA consists of a climatology of fields of in situ ocean properties for the World Ocean. It was first produced in 1994 (based on the earlier Climatological Atlas of the World Ocean, 1982), with later editions at roughly four year intervals in 1998, 2001,

  8/25/2026

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  Wu's method of characteristic set

  Wenjun Wu's method is an algorithm for solving multivariate polynomial equations introduced in the late 1970s by the Chinese mathematician Wen-Tsun Wu. This method is based on the mathematical concept of characteristic set introduced in the late 1940s by J.F. Ritt. It is fully independent of the Gröbner basis method, introduced by Bruno Buchberger (1965), even if Gröbner bases may be used to compu

  8/25/2026

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  Workgroup (computer networking)

  In computer networking a work group is a collection of computers connected on a LAN that share the common resources and responsibilities. Workgroup is Microsoft's term for a peer-to-peer local area network. Computers running Microsoft operating systems in the same work group may share files, printers, or Internet connection. Work group contrasts with a domain, in which computers rely on centralize

  8/25/2026

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  Science

  Wulff construction

  The Wulff construction is a method to determine the equilibrium shape of a droplet or crystal of fixed volume inside a separate phase (usually its saturated solution or vapor). Energy minimization arguments are used to show that certain crystal planes are preferred over others, giving the crystal its shape. It is of fundamental importance in a number of areas ranging from the shape of nanoparticle

  8/25/2026

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  Worship of heavenly bodies

  The worship of heavenly bodies is the veneration of stars (individually or together as the night sky), the planets, or other astronomical objects as deities, or the association of deities with heavenly bodies. In anthropological literature, these systems of practice may be referred to as astral cults. The most notable instances of this are sun gods and moon gods in polytheistic systems worldwide.

  8/25/2026

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  X (charge)

  In particle physics, the X charge (or simply X) is a conserved quantum number associated with the SO(10) grand unification theory. It is thought to be conserved in strong, weak, electromagnetic, gravitational, and Higgs interactions. Because the X charge is related to the weak hypercharge, it varies depending on the helicity of a particle. For example, a left-handed quark has an X charge of +1, wh

  8/25/2026