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Category: science

Video: Why ‘basic science’ is the foundation of innovation

At first glance, some scientific research can seem, well, impractical. When physicists began exploring the strange, subatomic world of quantum mechanics a century ago, they weren’t trying to build better medical tools or high-speed internet. They were simply curious about how the universe worked at its most fundamental level.

Yet without that “curiosity-driven” research—often called basic science—the modern world would look unrecognizable.

“Basic science drives the really big discoveries,” says Steve Kahn, UC Berkeley’s dean of mathematical and physical sciences. “Those paradigm changes are what really drive innovation.”

Quantum tools set to transform life science, researchers say

A team at Japan’s National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) has published a field-defining Perspective that places the societal payoff of quantum technologies front and center: earlier disease detection, faster drug development, and new routes to clean energy. Their paper has been published online in the journal ACS Nano on December 18, 2025.

Rocks and rolls: The computational infrastructure of earthquakes and physics of planetary science

Sometimes to truly study something up close, you have to take a step back. That’s what Andrea Donnellan does. An expert in Earth sciences and seismology, she gets much of her data from a bird’s-eye view, studying the planet’s surface from the air and space, using the data to make discoveries and deepen understanding about earthquakes and other geological processes.

“The history of Earth processes is written in the landscapes,” Donnellan said. “Studying Earth’s surface can help us understand what is happening now and what might happen in the future.”

Donnellan, professor and head of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences in Purdue’s College of Science, has watched Earth for a long time. Her original research was studying and tracking glaciers in Antarctica.

Chemist proposes shared ‘model proteins’ to improve reproducibility in protein science

Protein scientists could improve reproducibility and coordination across the field by rallying around a small, shared set of “model proteins,” according to a new Perspective by Connecticut College chemist Marc Zimmer.

The article appears in the 40th-anniversary issue of Protein Engineering, Design and Selection. Zimmer argues that protein science is ready to adopt a framework similar to the one that transformed research using model organisms such as fruit flies, mice, yeast and C. elegans.

Those organisms became powerful research tools not only because their biology is conserved, Zimmer notes, but because scientific communities coordinated around them. Shared protocols, databases and benchmarks made results easier to compare, reproduce and build upon.

LANL: Los Alamos To Play Key Role In Renewed Quantum Science Center

PRESS RELEASE — The Department of Energy has renewed funding for the Quantum Science Center, with Los Alamos National Laboratory continuing to play a vital role along with Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the center’s mission to advance quantum science and technology. The center will be funded for $125 million over five years to focus on quantum-accelerated high-performance computing.

“The Quantum Science Center is establishing the scientific and technical foundation for quantum computing,” said Mark Chadwick, associate Laboratory director for Simulation, Computing and Theory. “In this new, critical evolution for the center, the integration of quantum and high-performance computing stands to accelerate advancements in crucial scientific areas related to technological progress and even national security applications.”

The Quantum Science Center combines the efforts of three national laboratories, with ORNL hosting the center and Los Alamos a principal partner alongside various universities, industry partners and other laboratories. Created as one of five National Quantum Information Science Research Centers supported by the DOE’s Office of Science, the Quantum Science Center seeks to create a scientific ecosystem for the advancement of fault-tolerant, quantum-accelerated high-performance computing.

The electrifying science behind Martian dust

Mars, often depicted as a barren red planet, is far from lifeless. With its thin atmosphere and dusty surface, it is an energetic and electrically charged environment where dust storms and dust devils continually reshape the landscape, creating dynamic processes that have intrigued scientists.

Planetary scientist Alian Wang has been shedding light on Mars’s electrifying dust activities through a series of papers. Her latest research, published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, explores the isotopic geochemical consequences of these activities.

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