Mar 15th, 2026 - Sick passengers and crew members isolated during the outbreak, CDC says More than 150 people onboard a Princess Cruises ship became ill with norovirus during a Caribbean voyage this week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The outbreak occurred aboard the Star Princess during a voyage from March 7 to March 14, according to the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP), which monitors illness on cruise ships. Those reported sick included 104 passengers and 49 crew members — out of 4,307 passengers and 1,561 crew members in total, the CDC said. The outbreak ... [Read More]

Mar 14th, 2026 - Diamond is famously known as the hardest mineral on Earth. But researchers have been pursuing an unusual variant of it — known as hexagonal diamond — that might be even harder. After decades of claims and counterclaims about whether this mysterious material can be synthesized in a laboratory, researchers in China report that they have done it. Scientists covet the material because it "has potential applications in many fields, for example in cutting tools, in thermal management materials and in quantum sensing ," says Chongxin Shan, a physicist at Zhengzhou University, who co-led ... [Read More]

Mar 13th, 2026 - In icy burrows, queens can briefly breathe underwater and wait out disaster. A newly mated bumblebee queen typically spends the winter alone underground. After mating in late summer or fall, she burrows into the soil and slips into diapause, an insect state of suspended development. By spring, if she survives, she will emerge to found an entire colony. Still, underground isn't always safe. Heavy rain can soak the soil, snowmelt can trickle down, and rising water tables can flood a queen's burrow. A new study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B , shows just how tough these queens ... [Read More]

Mar 13th, 2026 - Anthony J. Leggett, who shared the Nobel Prize in physics in 2003 for discovering that the anomalies in his colleagues' experiments were in fact signs of a scientific breakthrough -- that the rare gas helium-3 had transformed into a superfluid, a state in which a liquid can climb up and over the walls of a container without friction or loss of kinetic energy -- died on Sunday at his home in Urbana, Ill. He was 87. His death was confirmed by his colleague Smitha Vishveshwara, a physics professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In June 1972, Robert C. Richardson, an ... [Read More]

Mar 13th, 2026 - A new comet has been discovered by astronomers that could put on a pretty impressive sky show in the next few weeks. Officially called C/2026 A1 (MAPS), the object might even turn into an "Easter comet" if it survives the flyby past the scorching Sun. It was first photographed on January 13 at the AMACS1 Observatory in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Four French astronomers, Alain Maury, Georges Attard, Daniel Parrott, and Florian Signoret, discovered the space rock . Together, they run a program dedicated to hunting near-Earth asteroids. The program is called MAPS, named using the initials of ... [Read More]

Mar 13th, 2026 - Archaeologists will soon begin work to confirm whether 10 potential graves found in a November 2024 survey remain under a Tropicana Field parking lot. The St. Petersburg City Council approved $378,896 March 5 to begin the third phase of determining whether graves remain after cemeteries there were moved out. The city began looking into that land in the Historic Gas Plant District six years ago for the redevelopment of the Trop. While preparation will begin before opening day on April 6, digging will start after baseball season ends for the Tampa Bay Rays to avoid interference with home ... [Read More]

Mar 13th, 2026 - A snowy valley in Yellowstone National Park appears to be dotted with a party of black silhouettes, a rampage of ravens crowding over what seems like a reddish, meaty carcass. With pointy beaks, the birds nibble and peck at the carcass, shredding it into tiny bits. A stone's throw away, a pack of wolves can be seen voraciously feeding on hunks of the dead animal. A raven swoops down near a wolf to have a quick bite. Disturbed, the wolf stands up, its tongue lolling, teeth exposed in a growl, and mouth opening and closing in masticating motions to scare away the pestering bird.  This is ... [Read More]

Mar 13th, 2026 - PsiQuantum will work with the National Cancer Center Japan to develop fault-tolerant algorithms and quantum applications. PsiQuantum and the National Cancer Center Japan have entered a collaborative research agreement to drive advancements in utility-scale quantum computing within drug discovery and oncology. The partnership aims to investigate ways to implement quantum computing solutions throughout the healthcare value chain, with a focus on resource allocation, research and development, and patient outcomes in cancer care. Within this collaboration, PsiQuantum will work with the National ... [Read More]