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An ROV collects mineral samples from the Escanaba seafloor. (ROV Jason/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute)What strange physics.ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.

Roofs were ripped off buildings after Isaias barrelled into the US on Friday evening, before it weakened to a post-tropical cyclone.

When we think about a diamond, we often think about a material whose value comes from its perfection. In my research, however, I am interested in something almost opposite: the tiny imperfections inside diamonds. These atomic-scale defects can give diamonds new optical and electronic properties, and some of them can serve as quantum systems. The challenge is learning how to control these defects without disturbing the others.

(Olha Danylenko/Moment RF/Getty Images)This doesn't make sense... at first.ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.

(thodsaph/Canva)Could this help us reduce sodium intake?ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.

(Peter Dazeley/The Image Bank/Getty Images)Two aging trends connected.ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.

Most of us recognize basic phases of matter and their properties: solids maintain their shape, liquids flow freely with constant volume, and gases expand to fill their container. Quantum phases, on the other hand, are much harder to categorize, overturning traditional notions of what a phase even is and forcing physicists to rethink their definitions.

Two cartoon characters appear on a screen. One belongs to a group of three, and the other to a group of two. Which character would you rather play with?

From coral reefs in Papua New Guinea to chimpanzees in West Africa, grizzly bears in Canada and albatross colonies off Tasmania, some ecosystems are thriving despite climate change, habitat loss and other environmental pressures.

Placard-waving opponents highlight concerns about a data centre development on the local landscape.

Some insects, including honeybees and ants, live in highly organized colonies where individuals take on specific roles. In many ant societies, young adult workers typically care for developing young inside the nest before beginning to forage, or search for food, outside it. Some ant species, however, start hunting for food as soon as they reach adulthood, without undergoing a transition period.

The researchers moved a diamond in a graphite plate. (Cassondra George/OIST)This is (relatively) huge.ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.

Hundreds of thousands of households are without power in Florida and Alabama as Isaias continues its path across south-eastern US.

Live Science spoke with Steve Winter ahead of the release of "Big Cats."

Physicists in the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford have used a hybrid quantum computer, made up of qubits and quantum oscillators, to observe the Aharonov–Bohm effect in a quantum simulation. The effect is a quantum phenomenon in which a particle can acquire a measurable phase by traveling around a magnetic flux, even though it never passes through a region where a magnetic field is present.

(Paul Hudson/Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)Including an actual wooden club.ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.

Dramatic flames from the huge Cairngorms wildfire in July have disappeared - but hot spots can continue to burn beneath the earth.

The written word has been revolutionary in preserving ideas from the past, and transmitting new ones in the present. But does it favor tradition or change?

(Alexandra C. Ribeiro/fStop/Getty Images)All the sweetness, no downsides?ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.

With Mount Batten Beach fenced off since July, residents and campaigners are demanding answers.

Barrels of forever chemicals left at a development site have been removed, a developer has said.

(Ed Reschke/Stone RF/Getty Images)"Cells from the ovary's nervous system appeared to be particularly sensitive."ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.

(Nataliya Vaitkevich/Pexels/Canva)Introducing type 5.ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.

Mountains preserve evidence of ancient oceans, moving continents and tectonic processes that have shaped Earth over millions of years. Later deformation, erosion and burial, however, can obscure important parts of this geological record. An international research team led by Istanbul Technical University (ITU) has identified evidence of a previously unrecognized Late Cretaceous continental magmatic arc in northwestern Iran.

(Silke Woweries/The Image Bank RF/Getty Images)Something to be aware of.ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.