The day is coming when quantum computers, once the stuff of science fiction, will help scientists solve complex, real-world problems that are proving intractable to classical computing.
Features
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Setting the Stage for Climate Action Under the Montreal Protocol
Twelve papers formed the scientific basis for fast action to strengthen the treaty, which was already safeguarding stratospheric ozone, so it also protects the climate by reducing super pollutants.
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Space Raindrops Splashing on Earth’s Magnetic Umbrella
Though not as damaging as extreme space weather events, showers of plasma jets hit Earth’s magnetic shield every day—yet we’re only beginning to understand their effects.
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Seismic Sources in the Aleutian Cradle of Tsunamis
Research over the past decade in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands has offered surprising insights into the pulses of great earthquakes that generate dangerous, often long-distance tsunamis.
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Simpler Presentations of Climate Change
The basics of climate change science have been known for a long time, and the predicted impact of a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide on global temperature hasn’t changed much in 100 years.
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Harmful Algal Blooms: No Good, Just the Bad and the Ugly
Natural and human factors are leading to larger, more frequent, and longer-lasting algae blooms. Recent research is increasingly revealing the scope of the problem and informing potential responses.
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Shake, Rattle, and Probe
Helioseismology allows scientists to study the interior of the Sun, solve some basic physics mysteries, and forecast space weather.
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11 Discoveries Awaiting Us at Solar Max
Each solar cycle might seem like the same old story, but one thing has changed significantly since the previous solar maximum–our technology.
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How an Unlikely Friendship Upended Permafrost Myths
“Beautifully long arguments” between an American scientist and a Russian researcher helped clarify several fundamental assumptions about permafrost thaw.
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Seeing Through Turbulence to Track Oil Spills in the Ocean
After oil and tar washed up on eastern Mediterranean beaches in 2021, scientists devised a way to trace the pollution back to its sources using satellite imagery and mathematics.