By Isaac Schultz Published May 23, 2025 | Comments (0) | A volcanic eruption. Photo: United States Geological Survey (M. Patrick) Earth’s core is apparently a bit leakier than scientists expected. In a new study published in Nature, researchers describe evidence that traces of precious metals from Earth’s metallic core, including ruthenium and gold, are seeping up into volcanic rocks on the surface. The University of Göttingen-led team examined lava from Hawaii’s volcanic islands and discovered an unusually high concentration of a rare isotope: ruthenium-100, an isotope that’s more common in Earth’s core than in the rocky mantle. The isotope’s presence suggested that the lava had somehow picked up material from the planet’s deepest layer—more than 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) beneath your feet. “When the first results came in, we realized that we had literally struck gold,” said Nils Messling, a geochemist at the University of Göttingen, in a university release. “Our data confirmed that material from the core, including gold and other precious metals, is leaking into the Earth’s mantle above.” Earth’s core formed over 4 billion years ago and contains more than 99.999% of the planet’s gold supply. But as Nature reported, previous studies indicated that some volcanic rocks consisted of material from Earth’s core, raising questions about how the heck that material got to the surface. Now, thanks to ultra-high precision isotopic analysis developed by the Göttingen team, researchers were able to resolve previously undetectable differences in ruthenium isotopes—an achievement that dialed the team into the relationship between Earth’s center and its most explosive sites on the surface. “Our findings not only show that the Earth’s core is not as isolated as previously assumed,” said Professor Matthias Willbold, also of the University of Göttingen, “We can now also prove that huge volumes of super-heated mantle material–several hundreds of quadrillion metric tonnes of rock–originate at the core-mantle boundary and rise to the Earth’s surface to form ocean islands like Hawaii.” The team’s findings indicate that Earth’s supply of precious metals near the surface may owe some of its origins to this deep-seated reserve of molten rock. Studying other hotspots—think of Iceland, Japan, and other regions crammed with active volcanoes—could clarify how much of the material brought to the surface originates from the boundary between Earth’s core and its mantle. Daily Newsletter You May Also Like By Margherita Bassi Published May 21, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published May 6, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published April 27, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published March 18, 2025 By Margherita Bassi Published March 15, 2025 By Adam Kovac Published March 2, 2025

House for Lisa and Bert / Alpina ArchitectsSave this picture!Courtesy of Alpina ArchitectsHouses•Ixelles, Belgium Architects: Alpina Architects Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2024 More SpecsLess Specs Save this picture! Text description provided by the architects. From Racines, you can look down on Vipiteno from above. Here, architecture blends seamlessly into a striking Alpine landscape; the built environment engages in a measured dialogue with the mountains, respecting centuries-old building traditions rooted in a smart economy of resources and an innate ability to adapt, even through the harshest winters. Within this context stands an old farmhouse, the subject of our intervention, soon to become the home of Lisa and Bert.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Existing Conditions - The project revolves around the renovation of a traditional farmhouse, perched within a landscape where the balance of solid and void, built and natural, defines the very quality of living. This is a typical Alpine farmhouse, characterised by solid stone walls and a double-pitched timber roof. Its internal layout reflects the typological organisation of rural Alpine dwellings: the ground floor is primarily residential, while the attic space has traditionally served as storage and utility space. The floor plan follows a tripartite layout, structured around a central circulation core. One distinctive feature of farmhouses in this valley is the hayloft, which is directly integrated into the main residential volume. Now obsolete in its original function, it offers significant potential for new uses. The challenge of the project is to intervene without disrupting the existing balance—to preserve the essence of the farmhouse, its history, while allowing it to embrace new life.Save this picture!Vision and Functional Programme - Lisa and Bert, a young couple, envision a home that is both deeply rooted in tradition and open to new ways of living. They dream of a space that enhances their connection to the landscape, allowing for seamless transitions between indoors and outdoors—a home that balances intimate spaces with large openings towards the Alpine surroundings. The programme calls for the division of the building into two distinct residential units: a holiday apartment on the lower floor and the main residence spanning the ground floor and attic. A key design choice is the inversion of conventional living arrangements—placing the main living area in the attic to take advantage of the height and natural light, creating open, panoramic spaces.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Design Approach - The project is based on a reinterpretation of the traditional farmhouse typology, maintaining its primary structural elements while reorganising the interior with a fresh spatial logic. The renovation of the existing building is conceived as an act of continuity—a transformation that renews without erasing, reinterpreting form and function through a contemporary lens while preserving the constructive memory of the place. The ground floor houses the bedrooms, conceived as sheltered, intimate spaces, while the attic is dedicated to the living area, unfolding as a fluid, open space closely connected to the surrounding landscape. The intervention on the hayloft creates a new threshold between the home and the outdoors, providing covered parking and a generous entrance area. A light timber staircase leads up to the upper level, where the kitchen and living room merge into a single, light-filled space, crowned by a rhythmic sequence of exposed beams that amplify the spatial perception. Opposing loggias and fully glazed gables frame breathtaking views of the mountain landscape. Strategically placed skylights ensure carefully calibrated zenithal lighting, strengthening the home's connection to the sky. A Leseerker (a reading bow-window) on the first floor serves as a cosy retreat, offering a suspended view over the valley. New balconies, designed with slender steel cable railings, extend along the east and west façades, creating sheltered outdoor spaces that open directly onto the Alpine scenery. A sequence of vertical wooden slats, arranged in a dynamic rhythm, generates a play of solid and void, filtering views while ensuring privacy and protection.Save this picture!Materiality - The project embraces a sustainable and site-sensitive approach, selecting local materials and construction techniques that align with tradition. The existing structure is preserved and reinforced, with plastered walls treated in soft, natural pigments that harmonise with the surrounding landscape. The attic extension is clad in larch, a material that evolves over time, acquiring a silver-grey patina that reflects the continuous dialogue between architecture and nature. The balconies, also in larch, reference the Alpine vernacular. This material selection is not merely aesthetic—it expresses a deliberate intent to create an architecture that becomes part of the landscape, where every detail contributes to a larger narrative of memory, historical layering, and dialogue with the territory.Save this picture! Project gallerySee allShow less About this officeAlpina ArchitectsOffice••• MaterialWoodMaterials and TagsPublished on May 23, 2025Cite: "House for Lisa and Bert / Alpina Architects" 23 May 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1030372/haus-fur-lisa-und-bert-alpina-architects&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save世界上最受欢迎的建筑网站现已推出你的母语版本!想浏览ArchDaily中国吗?是否 You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

In this quick tip, we tackle a common issue in Unreal Engine 5 while creating stunning portal gate energy effects. Watch as we select, scale, and adjust elements to achieve the perfect bevel. Don't let small hiccups stop your creativity!#UnrealEngine #UE5 #VFX #GameDevelopment #QuickTips

A cataclysmic asteroid collision may not sound like the starting place for life. But 66 million years ago, the Chicxulub impactor that wiped out the dinosaurs and much of the Cretaceous period’s fauna also kick-started a hydrothermal system that became a hotbed for life to recover in the local area. That’s the finding from a recent paper published in Nature Communications. Chicxulub Impact and Rapid RecoveryThe impact itself was truly a catastrophe, says Philippe Claeys, Chair of the Large Research Group AMGC at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and a co-author on the paper. When the asteroid – estimated at 10 to 15 kilometers [about 6 miles to 9 miles] in diameter – slammed into the earth it sent vast amounts of energy into the atmosphere, resulting in a massive cloud plume that lead to the collapse of photosynthesis, large-scale cooling, and the demise of up to 70 percent of life on earth, including the dinosaurs.  That extended to the oceans. “At least for 500,000 years, there's good evidence to show that the world's oceans were not functioning exactly as modern or Cretaceous oceans were,” Claeys says.Past research found that within decades, the waters around the site recovered quickly. This recent paper suggests that it is because the massive impact and the resultant melt sheet created a hydrothermal system that funneled hot water and nutrients to the surrounding area, enabling this surprisingly quick comeback.“What is interesting in this new paper is that we teamed up with geochemists, crater specialists, and micropalaeontologists to look at the effect on the biosphere, on the micro plankton within the region surrounding the crater in the Gulf of Mexico,” Claeys says. “The conclusion, that was a little bit surprising, is that the recovery of life seems to be accelerated compared to the rest of the oceans.”Read More: Two Asteroids May Have Wiped Out The DinosaursHydrothermal System Funneled Nutrients That multi-disciplinary team traced levels of osmium – an element found in asteroids like the Chicxulub impactor – in sediments taken from core samples in the crater. Sean Gulick, a research professor at The University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences, and a co-author on the study, was part of a 2016 drill team that took core samples from the crater. These samples were vital to these recent findings.He explains that in this instance, osmium acts as a “tracer for all sorts of nutrients that might be enriching the oceans above.” That showed that the hydrothermal system following the collision was likely funneling nutrients to the ocean above for at least 700,000 years.“We do know that an asteroid impact with all of this energy, if it's large enough, can cause a mass extinction event globally, because of all the atmospheric effects,” Gulick says. “But it also turns out to be beneficial to life, at least locally.”Even though the Chicxulub impact resulted in a “kiss of death for dinosaurs,” it also acted as a “cradle for life,” Gulick says. Possibility of Life on Other Planets Their research also showed that during the time the hydrothermal system functioned, the type of marine life mainly comprised of plankton species adapted to high-nutrient environments. This shifted to species that thrive in low-nutrient environments over time.In Gulick’s view, their findings open up the possibility of a mechanism to kick-start life on other planets. “Everything out there gets smacked with objects flying around. From the original creation of the planets and from collisions in the asteroid belt and everything else,” Gulick says. “Every one of those planets has a way to have their surface changed by impact cratering that then reorganizes things, brings things to the surface, and adds heat.”  As long as there are fluids or ice that could result in a hydrothermal system, Gulick adds. “So, if this is a viable mechanism to get life going, then that means it's entirely possible to have life on a lot of different planets.”Read More: Did a Dust Plume Kill the Dinosaurs?Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this articleUniversity of Texas Institute of Geophysics. Life Recovered Rapidly at Site of Dino-Killing Asteroid. A Hydrothermal System May Have Helped.University of Texas Geosciences. Drilling into Dino Doomsday Sean Mowbray is a freelance writer based in Scotland. He covers the environment, archaeology, and general science topics. His work has also appeared in outlets such as Mongabay, New Scientist, Hakai Magazine, Ancient History Magazine, and others.

When a mother is pregnant, it’s normal—dare we say expected—for her partner to make sure she is taken care of. Hornbills, however, take these great expectations to a whole new level. Hornbills are colorful birds with large beaks native to Africa and Southeast Asia. They usually mate for life, Emily Bridges, Senior Bird Care Specialist at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, tells Popular Science, and have an incredibly unique nesting process.  Hornbill pairs start by identifying a tree cavity to their liking. They will then modify it by digging or adding material. It turns out they can be quite picky about what goes in their nests. At the Jacksonville Zoo, employees put pine shavings and tree bark in a tree cavity for hornbill mates named Humphrey and Bacall, “which they did not care for and threw most of it out,” Bridges admitted. “The preference for nesting materials varies from each pair and each species.”  Hornbills then start “walling,” or closing the tree cavity’s opening with materials such as soft fruit, feces, mud, and woodchips, and the female hornbill tucked inside. The birds leave a small opening in the seal through which the male can feed the female while she lays eggs and raises their chicks. Interestingly, females also poop out of the slit to keep the nest nice and clean. According to Bridges, hornbills are the only known bird species that nest in this way. [ Related: Bittersweet fledge watch begins for bald eagles Sunny and Gizmo. ] Bacall is currently sealed in, and you can check on her progress through a livecam. If her eggs hatch, she will care for the chick or chicks within the nest for somewhere between 111 to 137 days. After that nesting period, the adult birds will break the seal and continue raising their young together.   The pair (whose names are a call back to one of old Hollywood’s most prolific couples) became mates after Humphrey arrived at Jacksonville Zoo in January. The zoo staff undertook quite the matchmaking efforts. Initially, “we introduced Humphrey and Bacall through side-by-side enclosures so that they could see and hear each other,” says Bridges.  When the birds started demonstrating behaviors indicating that they liked each other, such as sitting next to each other for a long time, sharing food, and dual calling, “we introduced them together in a shared space under close monitoring at increasingly longer periods of time over a few weeks,” she adds. “We are lucky that these two seemed to be compatible quickly, as hornbills can take years to bond enough to want to nest together.” Here’s to hoping Bacall and Humphrey soon become parents!  The post Male hornbills are at their mates’ every beck and call appeared first on Popular Science.

This month, we visit a trendy (but fictional) spa with an unusual feature: hot mud beds. You lay a plastic sheet on the mud. Then you lay your body upon the sheet. Without any direct contact between mud and body, you spend several minutes enjoying the soft and saunalike heat, sweating all over the plastic. Even though the spa session doesn’t last long, it is said to be wonderfully restorative. One day, three friends arrive. Unfortunately, only two plastic sheets are available. No one wants to miss out; then again, no one wants to lie on someone else’s sweat. “Wait!” says one. “It’s simple! I’ll use one side of the sheet, and you can use the other.” “Are you kidding?” another replies. “That side will be covered in mud.” The first friend smiles. “Not if we plan ahead.” #1: How can all three friends partake in the spa using just two sheets? #2: The next day, five friends visit the spa, and only three sheets are available. Can they all partake? (Let’s assume the spa now forbids laying an already-sweaty side of a sheet directly on their precious mud.) #3: Soon, 10 friends visit the spa. Only five sheets are available. “Someone will have to miss out,” one of them declares. “There’s no way to know that,” says another, “until we at least look for a solution.” Who’s right? #4: Later, the spa introduces a second kind of mud, which must not be mixed with the first. If three friends want to try both muds, how many sheets do they need at minimum? (Let’s assume each person is begrudgingly willing to lie twice on the same sheet.) #5: Lurking here is a fully general question, one that mathematical researchers have yet to solve: What’s the minimum number of sheets that allows N friends to experience M kinds of mud if each side of a sheet may touch only a single person or a single kind of mud? (You might begin by assuming M = 1.) While trying these puzzles, I recommend grabbing some index cards or sheets of paper to manipulate. Or if you’re feeling ambitious, grab some plastic sheets, some sweaty friends and a convenient mud patch. Looking for answers? Go to sciencenews.org/puzzle-answers. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Email us at puzzles@sciencenews.org.

Nature, Published online: 23 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01638-3Andrew Robinson reviews five of the best science picks.

China has launched the first cluster of satellites for a planned AI supercomputer array. The first-of-its-kind array will enable scientists to perform in-orbit data processing.

New FlippedNormals Video! Learn how to hide objects in Substance Painter (you probably don't know this one)https://youtu.be/PPW7vo4Zcxk