Physicists are putting the finishing touches on the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory, or JUNO, which will delve into the secretive ways of neutrinos, a family of extremely lightweight subatomic particles with no electric charge, and their antiparticle partners, antineutrinos.Set to start taking data in summer 2025, JUNO aims to determinewhich of the three types of neutrinos is heaviest. It will be the largest detector of its type in the world.At the heart of the detector, located 700 meters underground in China, sits a roughly 35-meter-wide acrylic sphere. It will be filled with 20,000 metric tons of liquid scintillator, which emits light in response to particles produced when a passing antineutrino interacts with a proton in the liquid. Tens of thousands of photomultiplier tubes will eye the scintillator for antineutrino-induced glimmers. Surrounding the sphere, water will fill a cylindrical pit to help filter out subatomic particles that are not antineutrinos but might mimic them. Scientists began filling this pit with water on December 18.Once operational, the detector will scrutinize antineutrinos released as plentiful by-products from two nuclear power plants, each about 50 kilometers away.The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory is nestled into the mountains of Kaiping, in southern China. The detector sits 700 meters below the surface. JADE GAO/AFP via Getty Images A stainless-steel structure, about 40 meters in diameter, supports the JUNO detector. IHEP JUNOs 35-meter acrylic sphere (seen here from underneath) will eventually hold 20,000 metric tons of liquid scintillator. IHEP Workers install photomultiplier tubes (gold) that will search for antineutrino-induced flashes of light from the liquid scintillator contained within the 35-meter acrylic sphere. JADE GAO/AFP via Getty Images Tens of thousands of photomultiplier tubes (gold) will surround the acrylic sphere (top). YueXiang Liu, IHEP

NewsSpaceNASAs Parker Solar Probe survived its closest approach to the sunThe spacecraft will make two more close passes in 2025 NASAs Parker Solar Probe (illustrated here) is the closest artificial object to the sun.APL/NASABy Lisa Grossman1 hour agoNASAs Parker Solar Probe skimmed the sun on Christmas Eve and lived to tell the tale.The heat-hardened spacecraft made its closest solar flyby yet at 6:53 a.m. EST on December 24. It came within 6.1 million kilometers of the surface of the sun, beating its own 2023 record of 7.26 million kilometers.At the time of closest approach, the spacecraft was also the fastest object ever made by humans. It swung around the sun at about 692,000 kilometers per hour fast enough to travel from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., in about a second.

Twisting Words Crossword By Shannon Rapp1 minute agoSid Sivakumar, a puzzle constructor and M.D./Ph.D. student in biomedical engineering and neuroscience, edited this puzzle.Looking for answers? Go to sciencenews.org/puzzle-answers. Well publish science-themed crosswords and math puzzles on alternating months. Wed love to hear your thoughts. Email us at puzzles@sciencenews.org.

NewsAnimalsAmerican burying beetles are making a comeback in NebraskaNumbers of the threatened insect are on the rise in the grasslands of the Loess Canyons American burying beetles are North Americas largest carrion-eating beetle. Monitoring from Nebraskas Loess Canyons shows the first regional population increase in this threatened species since 1989.Jay Pruett/iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0)By Brianna Randall34 seconds agoOne of the worlds best insect undertakers is making a comeback.Populations of the American burying beetle, North Americas largest carrion beetle, have been decimated due mainly to habitat loss and dwindling wildlife species. Once abundant in 35 states and three Canadian provinces, the American burying beetle is now found only in small pockets in 10 states.But new data show that the beetles abundance increased over the last decade in southwestern Nebraskas Loess Canyons. Its the first regional increase since the insect was listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1989, researchers report in the January Biological Conservation.

NewsHealth & MedicineThe spread of breast cancer may be inheritedA variant of the genePCSK9may spur breast cancers spread. An approved antibody might stop it A commonly inherited version of thePCSK9gene may spur breast cancer cells to migrate to other parts of the body (metastasis illustrated). The gene is known for its role in raising cholesterol, and there's already a lab-made antibody for treating it that may also stop the cancer spread.wildpixel/iStock/Getty Images PlusBy Tina Hesman Saey14 seconds agoA gene involved in setting cholesterol levels may also determine whether breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body.A variant of the PCSK9 gene drives the spread of breast cancer, but a lab-made antibody already approved to treat high cholesterol may help stop the exodus, researchers report December 9 in Cell.For years, researchers have been examining normal tissue and breast cancer tumors that had spread to other parts of the body trying and failing to find mutations that spur the migration, says oncologist and cancer biologist Sohail Tavazoie of the Rockefeller University in New York City. Wenbin Mei, a cancer biologist in Tavazoies lab, wondered if inherited genetic variants instead of mutations that happen in tumors might give cancer cells wanderlust.

NewsParticle PhysicsScientists are building underwater neutrino telescopes in the MediterraneanThe devices will catch high-energy neutrinos that could reveal secrets of the cosmos Onboard a ship in the Mediterranean Sea, workers prepare launching equipment for the installation of the underwater neutrino telescope KM3NeT.Simone BiagiBy Emily ConoverDecember 23, 2024 at 9:00 amDeploying a telescope in space is one thing. Making two of them deep under the sea is a task in a league of its own.On a ship bobbing in the Mediterranean Sea, physicists not typically known for their sea legs brave weeklong voyages and rough waters, working around the clock to deploy the telescopes detectors.The telescopes are designed to detect not light, but neutrinos. These subatomic particles are spewed at high energies from mysterious, unidentified realms of space. But such high-energy neutrinos are so rare, and so stealthy, that the detectors that study them must be enormous. So scientists are outfitting a cubic kilometer of the Mediterranean with light-collecting devices designed to snag them.

NewsHealth & MedicineDogs team up with AI to sniff out cancerThe test, made by SpotitEarly, can detect 4 types of cancer This very good dog is part of a new screening test that relies on canine noses and artificial intelligence to sniff out the odor signature of cancer on peoples breath.SpotitEarlyBy Meghan RosenDecember 23, 2024 at 10:30 amThe dogs names are Mars, Moon and Pluto, and you might say their cancer-sniffing skills are out of this world.An experimental screening method that paired the dogs with artificial intelligence was able to detect the odor of cancer carried on patients breaths. The canine-AI duo was both highly accurate and highly sensitive, successfully spotting four types of cancer in 94 percent of cases, scientists report November 15 in Scientific Reports.Whats more, the screening worked just as well detecting early stage cancers as it did later stage cancers, says Assaf Rabinowicz, chief technology officer at SpotitEarly, the Israel-based company that developed the method. Thats crucial because early detection can substantially contribute to increasing cancer survival rates, he says.

A good sweater is like a cozy hug made out of yarn. For that, you can thank friction.A new study reveals how knit fabrics can take on versatile shapes that allow them to conform to the contours of a head or a body. The effect is the result of friction between the adjacent loops of fiber that make up a knit fabric, physicist Jrme Crassous and colleagues report in the Dec. 13 Physical Review Letters.When a knit fabric is stretched and released, it springs back. One might imagine that the fabric always returns to the size and shape it previously had, akin to a rubber band. But there is no unique shape, says Crassous, of the University of Rennes in France. There [are] many different possible shapes. These forms are known as metastable states.Knit fabric is created from loops of fiber, shown here in a computer simulation of a stockinette stitch. Friction occurs where the loops touch one another.Jrme CrassousIn a series of experiments, the researchers stretched a square of knit fabric, created with a basic stitch known as stockinette, on a rectangular frame. Then they released the force and measured the ratio of the swatchs length to its width. That ratio varied depending on how much the fabric was stretched and in which direction, indicating the fabric could take on various metastable states.Computer simulations of simplified fiber loops showed the same effect. And when the scientists decreased or removed the friction in the simulation, the multitude of metastable states disappeared. Without friction, the fabric would always spring back to the same shape.The phenomenon helps explain the process knitters often go through after knitting a garment, known as blocking, which involves wetting the fabric, shaping it and laying it out to dry. That process locks the fabric into just the right configuration to swaddle the body in warmth.

NewsHealth & MedicineShort bursts of physical activity cut womens risk of heart attackJust a few minutes of vigorous movement per day offers cardiovascular benefits Just a small amount of vigorous activity per day like romping with your dog can lower womens risk of heart attack and other serious cardiovascular problems.Eleganza/Getty ImagesBy Meghan RosenDecember 26, 2024 at 9:36 amA dash of vigorous activity a day could keep the heart troubles away.Women who included short bursts of intense physical activity in their daily routines saw theirrisk of major cardiovascular problems drop 45 percentcompared with women who did none, scientists reported December 3 in theBritish Journal of Sports Medicine.And those short bursts of activity can bereallyshort, says Emmanuel Stamatakis, a physical activity epidemiologist at the University of Sydney just 20 to 30 seconds of intense physical exertion sprinkled multiple times throughout the day. In his teams study, a few minutes total of these bursts was enough to see hefty heart benefits.

NewsEarthScientists predict an undersea volcano eruption near Oregon in 2025Real-time data from Axial Seamount provides a good test case for eruption forecasting A 3-D bathymetric (seafloor) map of Axial Seamount in July 2014 shows lava flows from previous eruptions. Red indicates lava at the highest elevation above the seafloor, while dark blue at the edges shows where lava flow was thinnest. Susan Merle/Oregon State UniversityBy Rachel BerkowitzDecember 27, 2024 at 9:15 amAn undersea volcano is likely to erupt sometime in 2025.This much advance notice is a big deal, because forecasting eruptions more than hours ahead is pretty unique, says geophysicist William Chadwick. But 470 kilometers off the Oregon coast and over a kilometer beneath the waves, a volcano known as Axial Seamount ticks all the boxes that hint at imminent activity, Chadwick and his colleagues reported December 10 at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D.C.