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A research team at the University of Tsukuba reported that 43.3% of Japanese esports players were classified as having poor subjective sleep quality, according to a cross-sectional survey. In particular, poor sleep quality was common among individuals who engaged in esports play between 3:00 a.m. and 8:59 a.m. The study also identified differences in sleep patterns according to competitive level: Professional players were more likely to have later bedtimes and wake-up times, and amateur players tended to report a shorter total sleep time.

Adult finches make "heat calls" as the temperature rises. Exposure to the song prepares their unhatched young's brains for the heat.

He built interfaces that allowed engineers, scientists and everyday people to solve difficult problems without having to write the underlying code.

Paleontologists have identified a previously unknown species of amphicyonid -- the extinct family of carnivorous mammals popularly known as bear-dogs -- from two specimens unearthed at a rich fossil site in the Vallès-Penedès Basin near Barcelona, Spain.

The post New Species of Ancient Bear-Dog Identified in Spain appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

In 1995, he and Thomas Bopp spotted, from different states, the same mysterious object in the sky. What turned out to be a comet was named after them: Hale-Bopp.

Elon Musk’s rocket company said it would sell more than 555 million shares at $135 each in its blockbuster initial public offering, which is set to begin trading on Friday.

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Crowding the gates of a major health care conference, protesters called for Palantir to be booted out of the UK’s National Health Service over privacy concerns and political grievances.

Shion arrives when Season 3 starts on June 16.

Two Times tech reporters and their editor talk about assessing the sky-high valuation of the rocket and satellite maker, the potential economic impact of its public debut and the role of the world’s richest man in it all.

Stellantis has integrated Factorial Energy’s solid-state battery cells into a Dodge Charger Daytona development vehicle and begun road testing the technology, marking a key step toward bringing solid-state batteries into production vehicles.

The milestone is the first time Factorial’s FEST (Factorial Electrolyte System Technology) solid-state cells have been installed in a Stellantis vehicle. The companies will now evaluate battery performance, reliability, and safety under real-world driving and charging conditions.

The development follows laboratory validation completed in 2025, when Stellantis and Factorial demonstrated automotive-scale FEST cells with an energy density of 375 Wh/kg. The cells also achieved charging from 15 percent to 90 percent in 18 minutes and operated across temperatures ranging from -22 °F to 113 °F.

Moving from laboratory testing to an on-road vehicle required engineers to redesign parts of the battery system. Stellantis said it developed a patented mechanical architecture that allows the solid-state cells to fit within an existing battery pack while maximizing performance.

From lab to road

Engineers also modified battery controls and pack design to meet automotive requirements for durability and safety. According to the companies, these changes were needed to ensure consistent performance under a range of driving and charging conditions.

The battery pack is based on Stellantis’ STLA Large platform and serves as the first vehicle in a previously announced multi-stage development program.

“Battery development is a balancing act. It’s not enough to optimize a single metric. We need a system that delivers real benefits in a real vehicle,” said Ned Curic, Stellantis Chief Engineering and Technology Officer.

“This milestone shows we are bringing solid-state batteries closer to our customers with the potential for longer range, faster charging, and lower costs. Just as important, FEST’s strong compatibility with lithium-ion manufacturing processes gives us a critical path to scale this technology.”

Solid-state batteries replace the liquid electrolyte used in conventional lithium-ion batteries with a solid material. The technology is expected to improve energy density, increase safety, and reduce charging times. However, scaling production and integrating the cells into vehicles have remained major challenges for automakers and battery developers.

Scaling battery technology

With the battery now installed in a working vehicle, Stellantis and Factorial have launched a testing and calibration program to gather performance data from real-world operation.

The companies said the program will evaluate charging behavior, vehicle safety, and long-term reliability. The results will also help refine battery management systems and pack-level controls before any future commercial deployment.

“We are deeply honored to work alongside Stellantis, one of the world’s great mass-market automakers, on this STLA Large-based development car,” said Siyu Huang, CEO of Factorial.

“What we have built together, from cell chemistry to pack architecture to enable real-world road testing, is exactly the kind of deep, full-stack collaboration that solid-state has always required.”

Factorial, which is backed by Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai and Kia, is among several companies racing to commercialize solid-state batteries. The latest milestone moves its technology beyond cell-level testing and into vehicle validation, a critical stage before potential mass-market adoption.

Thibault Sottiaux helped make AI coding one of OpenAI’s fastest-growing businesses. Now he’s overseeing a sweeping overhaul of ChatGPT.

When Google’s AI Overviews labeled two Munich publishers as scam operations, the companies did what anyone falsely accused

Climate disclosures help investors and the public understand how companies view risks such as extreme weather, carbon regulation and the transition to cleaner energy. "Because these risks are uncertain and forward-looking, company leaders have considerable influence over what is communicated and how," says Postdoctoral Researcher Javad Rajabalizadeh from the University of Turku.

The United States is working to rebuild its domestic uranium enrichment infrastructure for its defense programs, through a project known as DUECE (Domestic Uranium Enrichment Centrifuge Experiment).

It began in 2016, with an objective to develop and demonstrate the next generation of gas centrifuges for uranium enrichment. DUCE is based out of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

The project is strategically significant as it aims to provide a domestic source of highly enriched uranium for powering US nuclear submarines as well as provide tritium for the US nuclear weapons stockpile.

The US imports low enriched uranium for its commercial power reactors but international treaties prohibit the use of imported uranium for military applications.

A capability gap decades in the making

The US once operated three large gaseous diffusion plants for uranium enrichment. These were located in Oak Ridge Tennessee, Portsmouth Ohio, and Paducah, Kentucky (which remained operational until 2013).

These facilities consumed enormous amounts of electricity and were gradually shut down as cheaper, more energy-efficient centrifuge-based enrichment became the global standard.

The US was also developing centrifuge technology at Oak Ridge to eventually replace gaseous diffusion. But events like the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster, the end of the Cold War, and the decrease in global demand for enriched uranium halted plans for commercializing the gas centrifuge technology.

The enrichment process

Gas centrifuge enrichment works by spinning uranium hexafluoride gas at high speed; the heavier uranium-238 isotope migrates toward the outer wall while the lighter, fissile uranium-235 concentrates near the axis. Cascades of thousands of centrifuges connected in series are required to achieve commercially useful enrichment levels.

In general the enrichment levels of uranium fuel in US nuclear submarines is 93-97%. These enable high power density and long-lived reactor cores. It also facilitates in building more compact naval reactors.

What DUECE is building

Currently the project is focused on building a pilot plant in collaboration with BWX Technologies (BWXT). BWXT built a Centrifuge Manufacturing Development Facility to support the pilot plant, it commenced operations in January 2026. The plant will use centrifuges based on the ORNL’s Generation 1 centrifuge design. Currently the Generation 1 design is deployed in a laboratory cascade at ORNL.

It commenced operations on June 1, 2026. Additional deployments of the Generation 1 machine at ORNL are planned through the early 2030s to mature the TRL (Technology Readiness Level) of the design in time for the pilot plant deployment.

Michael Whedbee ORNL’s technical project manager for DUECE said “ The DUECE project plans to use the developments in computing and in materials to continue to advance and develop new potential designs and capabilities in the centrifuge arena.”

Eventually the technical and operational learnings from the pilot plant will be utilized in building a follow on commercial scale facility in the 2040s. The DUECE project fits within a broader federal push to secure the nuclear fuel cycle, which includes funding for domestic uranium mining, conversion, enrichment and reprocessing.

NASA is introducing a new funding opportunity to accelerate academic research and technology development. The Minority University Research and Education Project Space Technology Artemis Research (M‑STAR) application window opened Thursday and will remain open through 11:59 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Aug. 11.

The research funded through this award supports the agency’s priorities for exploring the Moon, Mars, and deep space, while strengthening eligible institutions in the future of space exploration. Through M-STAR, institutions are encouraged to grow their scientific and engineering capabilities, enhance faculty and student engagement in aerospace research, and expand their ability to compete for future federal and commercial research awards.

Administered by NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, this initiative contributes to NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, and supports the agency’s broader mission to develop innovative technologies that improve space transportation, human exploration, robotic discovery, and the growing space economy.

NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement fosters an ecosystem across education, industry, and government to cultivate a well‑prepared talent pool, while the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate develops the transformative space technologies that enable future NASA missions and ensure U.S. leadership in aerospace. Together, they accelerate mission readiness by aligning cutting edge technological innovation with the workforce needed to carry it forward.

For complete eligibility information, help session registration, and to submit an M-STAR proposal, visit:

https://go.nasa.gov/4exkPiH

America’s most affordable EV offering over 315 miles of range, as GM calls it, just got significantly more expensive to lease this month.

Ukraine is still using a lot of Soviet military equipment, and this is not going to change any

The defenders of Ukraine are doing a tremendous job destroying the majority of the Russian Geran-2 drones with