Edu D Study

Earth’s first animal revealed — and it’s not what you think

Scientists at MIT have uncovered compelling evidence that ancient sea sponges were Earth's first animals. Chemical fossils found in rocks over 541 million years old point to these soft-bodied ocean dwellers. This discovery challenges previous ideas about the dawn of animal life. It suggests sponges existed long before the Cambrian explosion, fundamentally reshaping our understanding of evolution's earliest stages.

Three scientists win Physics Nobel for work that paved way for cellphones

US scientists John Clarke, Michel Devoret, and John Martinis have won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for groundbreaking experiments demonstrating quantum physics in action. Their work, proving quantum tunneling and energy quantization in a visible system, laid the foundation for technologies like cellphones and current quantum computing efforts.

Can gold grow on trees? Scientists find nature’s hidden gold-making process

Finnish researchers discovered tiny gold nanoparticles within Norway spruce needles, a process seemingly driven by microbes. Specific bacteria, living in biofilms inside the needles, transform soluble gold from soil into solid particles. This groundbreaking finding could revolutionize gold exploration, making it greener and more sustainable by using plants as indicators and potentially for metal recovery.

New telescope cuts through space noise in search for Earth-like planets: PoET and PLATO

Scientists are developing PoET, a new EU-funded solar telescope, to overcome stellar noise hindering the search for Earth-like exoplanets around Sun-like stars. This project will analyze the Sun's surface to refine detection techniques, critically supporting the upcoming PLATO mission in identifying habitable worlds and paving the way for future exoplanet exploration.