Majorana fermions, particles that act as their own antiparticle and were first hypothesized by Italian physicist Ettore Majorana in 1937, have not been detected after all.

A 2017 report of the discovery of a particular kind of Majorana fermion, the chiral Majorana fermion, was a false alarm, finds a new study, which means construction of a topological quantum computer also remains elusive.

Some particle physicists are using underground observatories to discover if the ghost-like particle known as the neutrino, a subatomic particle that rarely interacts with matter, might be a Majorana fermion.

Every time a disaster occurs, people show their philanthropic side, but the same framing that works for blood drives, such as 'gift of life' appeals, is far less effective when it comes to organ donation.

Though much is known about why people donate blood or register as an organ donor, we don't know a lot about why individuals continue to choose not to do so. Most people do not and never will donate so it makes sense that asking people 'why not' rather than 'why' has more value.  The anonymous data for the study was collected via a survey promoted by Australian donation organisations including Zaidee's Rainbow Foundation, Kidney Health Australia, and Transplant Australia.

When Christopher Columbus discovered a continent unknown to Europeans, his accounts included harrowing descriptions of native pirates who cannibalized men and kept women as sex slaves, but more recent humanities scholars, even ones who readily accept oral histories long changed, dismissed that as myth.

However, the belief stuck. He had no reason to lie, the Spaniards didn't know they had a new continent and didn't colonize it until that realization happened.

Artificial intelligence (AI) for histopathological diagnosis and grading of prostate cancer has the potential to solve one of the bottlenecks in today's prostate cancer histopathology; by providing more accurate diagnosis and better treatment decisions.

A new study finds the AI-system is as good at identifying and grading prostate cancer as world-leading uro-pathologists.

Stevia rebaudiana is part of the sunflower family (Asteraceae), like the daisy. It is native to Brazil and Paraguay, where the local populations have used it as a sweetener for as long as written records have been kept.

Australian academics have a filed patent (PCT/AU 2019/051239) on the manufacturing process for a lithium-sulphur battery capable of powering a smartphone for five continuous days. Even better for them, they got $2.5 million in government funding and industry partners to test it.

They say their ultra-high capacity Li-S battery has four times better performance and less environmental impact than current lithium-ion products. Improvements are certainly needed. Li-ion batteries were developed decades ago and while technology has zoomed into the future in many areas, in battery storage it has not. The lack of progress holds back applications that require storage, like solar power.