So, Let’s delve into the new scientific research that happened in the past month or so and explore the latest technologies that are being created and breakthroughs that were achieved in this field.
In the current blog, you will read about the following science events of the month:
China leading in R&D of almost all leading technologies in the World
Study shows AI chatbots can easily manipulate Political view
Protests over AI Data Centres in USA grow louder
Trump set to dismantle National Centre of Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
Australia bans Social Media for Children under 16
Heat seeking Insects pollinated the Plants before the advent of Flowers
New 3D Map Captures 97% Buildings on the Earth
Researchers modify Undersea Telecom Cable into an Earthquake Detector
Deep Sea Mining Impacts One Third of the Life on the Seabed
3I/Atlas Comet makes closest approach to the Earth
Study shows AI chatbots can easily manipulate Political view
Protests over AI Data Centres in USA grow louder
Trump set to dismantle National Centre of Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
Australia bans Social Media for Children under 16
Heat seeking Insects pollinated the Plants before the advent of Flowers
New 3D Map Captures 97% Buildings on the Earth
Researchers modify Undersea Telecom Cable into an Earthquake Detector
Deep Sea Mining Impacts One Third of the Life on the Seabed
3I/Atlas Comet makes closest approach to the Earth
.png "Mufawad December 2025 Current Science Report") |
| Current Science Report: December 2025; Mufawad |
China leading in R&D of almost all leading technologies in the World
China now leads global research in nearly 90% of technologies considered critical to national interests, marking a dramatic shift from the early 2000s, according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Critical Technology Tracker. The 2024 assessment reviewed high-quality research across 74 current and emerging technologies and found China ranked first in 66 areas, including nuclear energy, synthetic biology and small satellites. The United States led in the remaining eight, such as quantum computing and geoengineering. At the start of this century, the situation was reversed, with the US leading more than 90% of these fields and China less than 5%.
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Experts attribute China’s rise to sustained investment in research, development and scientific publishing. Analysts note that while the trend itself is expected, the scale of China’s dominance across so many fields is striking. Part of this reflects China’s focus on newer technologies, where it has concentrated resources, rather than more established sectors such as advanced semiconductor chips, where other countries still hold an edge.
The tracker draws on more than nine million global research papers, ranking countries by their share of the top 10% most-cited publications produced between 2020 and 2024. One notable result is China’s lead over the US in cloud and edge computing, areas seen as central to deploying artificial intelligence at scale. Observers suggest this reflects Beijing’s push to move AI rapidly from research into real-world use.
Despite the findings, researchers caution against interpreting the results as a decline in US technological power. The United States remains a major global player across many of these technologies. At the same time, ASPI researchers warn that democratic countries risk losing long-standing advantages in cutting-edge science if current trends continue.
The study also has limitations. High publication output does not automatically translate into engineering strength, manufacturing capability or commercial success. In advanced aircraft engines, for example, China leads in research output but its products still lag behind leading US and European models in performance and reliability. The methodology may also favour countries with large research communities, which are more likely to cite work by domestic authors.
Courtesy: Nature
Study shows AI chatbots can easily manipulate Political view
Short conversations with partisan AI chatbots can measurably influence voters’ political views, according to new studies published in Science and Nature. Researchers found that chatbots using evidence-based arguments,whether accurate or not,were particularly effective at persuasion.
In experiments conducted ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, interactions with generative AI systems such as OpenAI and the Chinese model DeepSeek shifted supporters of Donald Trump toward Democratic candidate Kamala Harris by nearly four points on a 100-point political scale. Similar tests in Canada and Poland in 2025 showed even larger effects, with opposition voters’ views moving by as much as 10 points after engaging with persuasive bots.
These shifts were large enough to affect voting choices, said David Rand of Cornell University, a senior author of the studies. In hypothetical elections held at the time of the surveys, about one in 10 respondents in Canada and Poland said they would change their vote, compared with roughly one in 25 in the United States. Although voting intentions do not always translate into real-world behavior, follow-up surveys showed that a substantial portion of the effect persisted: about half after one month in the United Kingdom and roughly one-third in the United States.
The research found that chatbots were most persuasive when they remained polite and cited evidence, while those instructed to avoid facts were far less effective. This challenges the common assumption in political psychology that people routinely dismiss facts that clash with their political identities. However, the evidence used by the bots was not always reliable. While most claims checked out, chatbots promoting right-leaning candidates made more inaccurate statements, a pattern the researchers attribute to biases in online training data.
Participants, recruited through online gig platforms, were informed that they were interacting with AI systems. The authors say future research should explore how much influence AI can ultimately exert on political opinions and whether newer models, such as GPT-5 or Google’s Gemini 3, might prove even more persuasive.
Courtesy: Japan Times
Protests over AI Data Centres in USA grow louder
More than 230 environmental organizations have called for an immediate nationwide pause on the construction of new data centers in the United States, intensifying opposition to the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence industry. The groups argue that the surge in data centers is driving up electricity costs, worsening climate change, and placing severe pressure on water resources.
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In a letter to members of Congress, organizations including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Food & Water Watch urged lawmakers to halt approvals for new facilities until stronger regulations are introduced. They warned that the largely unregulated expansion of data centers supporting AI and cryptocurrency is producing high carbon emissions, consuming vast quantities of water and contributing to rising power bills for households.
The demand comes as major technology companies such as Meta, Google and OpenAI invest hundreds of billions of dollars in new data centers to meet the growing computational needs of AI. At least 16 proposed projects, collectively worth about $64 billion, have already been delayed or blocked due to local resistance, largely over concerns about electricity prices and water use, particularly in regions facing water scarcity.
What began as localized opposition has evolved into a broader political issue, influencing recent election outcomes in states including Virginia, New Jersey and Georgia. Candidates campaigning on lowering energy costs and limiting data center expansion have achieved notable victories, highlighting the growing political weight of electricity affordability.
This trend presents a challenge for President Donald Trump, who has promoted rapid AI growth while also pledging to reduce energy costs. Despite those promises, household electricity prices have risen by about 13% during his term. Trump has dismissed affordability concerns following recent election losses, calling them a political fabrication, even as tens of millions of Americans struggle to pay electricity and gas bills.
According to Charles Hua of the non-partisan group PowerLines, roughly 80 million people are finding it difficult to cover energy costs, with data centers widely blamed regardless of political affiliation. He noted that rising utility bills played a decisive role in recent elections and signaled the emergence of a new political focus centered on electricity prices. While factors such as ageing infrastructure and extreme weather also contribute to higher costs, Hua said the rapid growth of data centers to support AI,projected to nearly triple electricity demand over the next decade,has become the primary target of public anger.
If current trends continue, datacenters could add as much as 44 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, equivalent to putting 10 million additional cars on the road. However, environmental advocates acknowledge that it is rising power bills, rather than climate concerns, that are driving most public opposition.
Emily Wurth of Food & Water Watch said she has been struck by the scale and diversity of grassroots resistance, describing it as bipartisan and widespread. Many people, she said, see few tangible benefits from AI development but fear they will bear the costs through higher energy bills and strained water supplies. With utility prices rising nationwide, affordability has become a powerful rallying point for environmental groups seeking to challenge the unchecked expansion of datacenters.
Courtesy: Guardian
Trump set to dismantle National Centre of Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
The Trump administration has begun dismantling the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Colorado, signaling plans to dissolve a leading climate research lab that a senior White House official labeled a major source of “climate alarmism.” Budget Director Russ Vought announced that a comprehensive review is underway and said core functions such as weather research would be transferred elsewhere.
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NCAR hosts the federal government’s largest climate-change research program and plays a key role in forecasting and preparing for severe weather and natural disasters. The center is operated by a nonprofit consortium of more than 130 universities under the National Science Foundation. Administration officials criticized what they described as the lab’s “woke direction,” pointing to projects focused on Indigenous perspectives in science and studies linking air pollution to vehicles and fossil fuel operations, which they said waste taxpayer money.
Climate scientists strongly condemned the move. Katharine Hayhoe of Texas Tech University called NCAR central to global climate and weather science, supporting hurricane research, advanced radar development, weather modeling, and the world’s largest community climate model. She warned that dismantling the center would severely undermine scientific understanding of the planet.
Founded after World War II amid growing interest in atmospheric science, NCAR expanded significantly in the late 20th century as federal attention to climate research increased. Colorado Governor Jared Polis said the lab’s work extends far beyond climate change, providing critical data on fires, floods, and other disasters that help save lives and property. He warned that weakening NCAR would erode U.S. scientific leadership and competitiveness.
The White House said President Trump is restoring the lab to its original mission, but it remains unclear how many of NCAR’s roughly 830 employees and affiliated university programs will be affected. The move follows recent actions against another Colorado facility, the former National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which was renamed after its focus on wind and solar power was reduced.
Colorado’s Democratic lawmakers called the decision reckless and dangerous, arguing that NCAR’s research has enabled early disaster warnings and advanced understanding of Earth systems nationwide. Antonio Busalacchi, president of the managing consortium, said dismantling the lab would seriously impair the nation’s ability to anticipate and respond to extreme weather and natural disasters.
Courtesy: PBS
Australia bans Social Media for Children under 16
Australia has launched a sweeping experiment by barring children under 16 from creating accounts on major social-media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, and Twitch. Under rules that took effect on December 10, companies must make “reasonable” efforts to keep younger users off their platforms or face significant fines. The government argues that reducing children’s exposure to social media will improve their health and well-being, citing concerns ranging from grooming and cyberbullying to addictive design and algorithmic manipulation.
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Australia is the first country to impose such a broad restriction, though others, including the United States, are considering similar measures. While the risks social media poses to young people are widely discussed,such as disrupted sleep, reduced physical activity, and mental-health concerns,it remains unclear how success will be measured. A scientific advisory group has been appointed to evaluate the ban over the next two years, but the task is complex, with many variables involved and no obvious control group.
Researchers say the first question is whether the ban actually keeps children off social media, especially since platforms can choose their own age-verification methods and many teenagers may find ways around the rules, sometimes with parental help. Even though public support for the law is high, relatively few parents say they will strictly enforce it at home. If compliance can be established, researchers will then look for changes in behavior, such as sleep patterns or time spent studying and socializing offline, which are easier to track than longer-term outcomes like anxiety, depression, or academic performance.
Experts also warn against drawing quick conclusions. Some fear politicians may claim success based on anecdotes rather than solid evidence, while others stress the need to watch for unintended consequences, such as increased conflict between parents and children or harm to groups like LGBTQ teens who rely on online communities for support. Although many believe the dangers of social media justify decisive action, the scientific evidence linking it directly to a large-scale public-health crisis remains limited. Most researchers find only modest effects, suggesting that the ban, even if beneficial, is unlikely to be a cure-all and should be seen as just one part of a broader approach to supporting young people’s mental health.
Courtesy: Atlantic
Heat seeking Insects pollinated the Plants before the advent of Flowers
Plants evolved ways to attract pollinators long before colorful flowers appeared, and new research shows that some ancient plants rely on heat rather than visual signals. Scientists have found that cycads, palmlike plants that predate flowering plants, attract their beetle pollinators by heating their cones, which emit infrared radiation that the insects can detect.
The study, published in Science, reveals that beetles sense these thermal signals using specialized infrared-sensitive neurons located at the tips of their antennae. These neurons contain the TRPA1 gene, previously known for its role in heat detection in animals such as snakes and mosquitoes. When this gene’s activity was blocked, the beetles no longer responded to warmth, confirming that infrared radiation plays a key role in guiding them to the plants.
Experiments showed that cycad cones can heat up several degrees above their surroundings, effectively acting as thermal beacons. Field and laboratory tests demonstrated that beetles are strongly drawn to the warmest parts of the cones and respond directly to radiant heat rather than to warm air or scent alone. Artificially heated, scent-free replica cones also attracted beetles, strengthening the case that infrared cues are central to this pollination system.
The research further showed that beetles can distinguish between different cycad species based solely on temperature patterns, with each beetle species responding most strongly to the heat range of its preferred host plant. In some cycads, male cones reach peak temperatures earlier than female cones, likely prompting beetles to move pollen efficiently between them.
Notably, these beetle pollinators have relatively poor color vision compared with other insects, suggesting they rely less on sight and more on thermal cues. Researchers suggest that dependence on infrared signals, far less flexible than color, may help explain why cycads are far less diverse than flowering plants. By evolving a narrow, heat-based communication system with specific nocturnal insects, cycads may have limited their evolutionary potential, locking them into a highly specialized but constrained pollination strategy.
Courtesy: Science
New 3D Map Captures 97% Buildings on the Earth
Researchers have created the most comprehensive 3D map of the world’s buildings so far. Known as the Global Building Atlas, it uses satellite imagery and machine-learning techniques to generate three-dimensional models for around 97% of buildings worldwide.
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Published on 1 December in the open-access journal Earth System Science Data, the dataset covers approximately 2.75 billion buildings. Each structure is mapped with its footprint and height at a spatial resolution of 3 × 3 metres.
According to co-author Xiaoxiang Zhu, an Earth-observation data scientist at the Technical University of Munich, the atlas opens up new possibilities for disaster-risk assessment, climate modelling and urban planning. It could also strengthen efforts to monitor progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals related to cities and communities.
Creating detailed 3D maps at a global scale has traditionally been difficult because it usually relies on expensive laser scanning or high-resolution stereo imagery. To address this, the researchers combined deep-learning methods with laser-scanning data to estimate building heights. Their model was trained using LiDAR reference data from 168 cities, mainly in Europe, North America and Oceania.
The team processed about 800,000 satellite images captured in 2019, using the model to estimate building height, volume and area. The results show that Asia contains nearly half of the world’s buildings, around 1.22 billion, and accounts for the largest share of total building volume at 1.27 trillion cubic metres, reflecting rapid urbanisation and dense metropolitan regions in China, India and Southeast Asia.
Africa has the second-largest number of buildings, roughly 540 million, but their combined volume is much lower at 117 billion cubic metres, highlighting the dominance of small, low-rise structures. City-level comparisons reveal clear links between building volume, population density and economic development. Finland, for example, has six times more building volume per person than Greece, while Niger’s per-capita building volume is 27 times below the global average. These patterns suggest that traditional two-dimensional measures of urban growth can obscure important differences in infrastructure and living conditions.
Urban-planning researcher Dorina Pojani from the University of Queensland says the dataset would be extremely valuable for research that has so far relied on static, 2D information. Because it can be updated regularly, she notes, it could reveal how urban areas evolve over the next five to ten years.
Pojani also points to its potential for studying corruption, as it could allow researchers to link buildings and developments to specific companies or politically connected individuals and examine whether certain networks dominate high-value or strategically located projects. She adds that a more dynamic dataset could strengthen research into informal settlements, which are often overlooked during elections, by providing stronger, evidence-based insights.
Liton Kamruzzaman, a transport and urban-planning specialist at Monash University, says the dataset has significant potential to improve global tracking of urbanisation. Many parts of the world lack reliable information on how their cities and buildings are expanding, he notes, making this resource valuable regardless of location.
Courtesy: Nature
Researchers modify Undersea Telecom Cable into an Earthquake Detector
Researchers have turned an undersea internet cable into a vast earthquake-sensing system, offering a powerful new way to monitor seismic activity across the largely uninstrumented ocean floor. Seismic stations are scarce beneath the oceans, limiting scientists’ ability to detect tsunami-generating earthquakes or probe Earth’s deep interior. But fiber-optic cables that carry global internet traffic now offer an unexpected solution.
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A team led by scientists at Nokia Bell Labs has transformed a 4,400-kilometer telecom cable connecting Hawaii and California into the equivalent of 44,000 seismic sensors spaced just 100 meters apart. The advance, unveiled at the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting, could significantly improve monitoring of earthquakes, tsunamis, and the structure of Earth’s mantle and core.
During tests earlier this year, the cable detected seismic waves from a magnitude-8.8 earthquake near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, as well as subtle signals from the tsunami that followed. The system builds on distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), a technique in which tiny changes in light traveling through fiber-optic cables reveal vibrations caused by earthquakes, ocean waves, or even whale calls.
Applying DAS offshore has been challenging because seafloor cables contain repeaters, devices that boost signals but suppress the faint light reflections needed for sensing. The Bell Labs team overcame this by exploiting built-in “loop-back” paths within the repeaters, allowing reflected signals to return along different fibers and be amplified rather than lost. With advanced computing, the researchers were able to recover signals from the entire length of the cable, effectively creating a dense, transoceanic seismic array.
One major advantage is cost: the method works on existing commercial cables and requires only a laser signal that operates alongside internet traffic. However, practical hurdles remain. Security concerns from telecom companies and the military, such as revealing cable locations or detecting submarine movement, could limit data access and scientific transparency.
Despite these challenges, scientists say the potential is enormous. Such cable-based sensors could track earthquakes, tsunamis, ocean currents, and marine life, and provide unprecedented views of tectonic processes beneath the oceans. As researchers note, the sensing infrastructure is already in place, the key now is learning how best to use it.
Courtesy: Science
Deep Sea Mining Impacts One Third of the Life on the Seabed
Scientists say test operations for deep-sea mining have caused substantial harm to seabed life, according to the most extensive study conducted so far. Their findings show that the number of animals found along the paths of mining machines dropped by 37% compared with undisturbed areas.
The research revealed more than 4,000 animal species living on the ocean floor in a remote region of the Pacific, around 90% of which were previously unknown to science. Although the deep ocean is believed to contain vast reserves of minerals vital for green technologies, mining in international waters remains highly contentious and is not permitted until its environmental consequences are better understood.
The study was carried out by researchers from the Natural History Museum in London, the UK National Oceanography Centre and the University of Gothenburg, at the request of deep-sea mining firm The Metals Company. The scientists said the research was conducted independently, noting that while the company was allowed to review the results before publication, it had no authority to change them.
Biodiversity was assessed two years before and two months after test mining vehicles travelled roughly 80 kilometres across the seafloor. The team focused on animals between 0.3 millimetres and 2 centimetres in size, including worms, sea spiders, snails and clams. Within the vehicle tracks, both the number of animals and species diversity fell sharply,by 37% and 32%, respectively.
Lead author Eva Stewart explained that the machines scrape away the top five centimetres of sediment, which is where most seabed organisms live, inevitably removing the animals along with it. Researchers also warned that pollution generated by mining could gradually kill more vulnerable species, even if they initially survive the disturbance. While some organisms may move away, it remains uncertain whether they can return and re-establish populations.
In nearby areas affected by sediment plumes settling from the mining activity, overall animal numbers did not decline, although changes were observed in which species were most dominant. This outcome was less severe than expected, according to researchers, though it still indicated ecological disruption.
The Metals Company said the findings were encouraging, arguing that biodiversity impacts appear confined to the directly mined zones rather than spreading widely. However, some experts strongly disagree. Patrick Schroder of Chatham House said the study demonstrates that existing mining technologies are too destructive for commercial-scale use, warning that larger operations would likely cause even greater damage.
The research was conducted in the Clarion–Clipperton Zone, a six-million-square-kilometre region of the Pacific Ocean thought to contain more than 21 billion tonnes of mineral-rich nodules, including nickel, cobalt and copper. Demand for these materials, which are essential for renewable energy technologies such as electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels, is expected to at least double by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency.
Despite this demand, many scientists and environmental groups fear that deep-sea mining could irreversibly damage ecosystems that are still largely unexplored. Oceans play a crucial role in regulating Earth’s climate and are already under stress from rising temperatures.
The International Seabed Authority, which regulates activities in international waters, has not yet approved commercial mining, although it has issued 31 exploration licences. Thirty-seven countries, including the UK and France, support a temporary ban on mining. Norway has recently delayed plans to mine in its own waters, including the Arctic, while the United States has called for faster approval of projects to secure mineral supplies for strategic purposes.
If regulators determine that current mining methods are excessively harmful, companies may be forced to develop less invasive extraction technologies. The study has been published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Courtesy: BBC
3I/Atlas Comet makes closest approach to the Earth
A comet from beyond our solar system is making its closest pass by Earth this week before continuing its journey back into interstellar space. Known as 3I/Atlas, the object was discovered over the summer and will come within about 167 million miles (269 million kilometers) of Earth on Friday, its nearest approach during its brief visit.
NASA is closely tracking the icy visitor with space telescopes, estimating its size to range from roughly 440 meters to 5.6 kilometers. Although the comet is gradually fading as it moves away from the Sun, astronomers say this is the best opportunity for skywatchers with telescopes to observe it.
In March, 3I/Atlas will pass much closer to Jupiter, approaching within 33 million miles (53 million kilometers), before heading outward. According to NASA scientist Paul Chodas, the comet is expected to leave the solar system for good by the mid-2030s.
This marks only the third confirmed interstellar object observed passing through our solar system. Unlike comets such as Halley’s, which originate from the outer regions of our own system, interstellar comets come from distant star systems elsewhere in the Milky Way. The first such visitor was detected in 2017, followed by another in 2019.
Researchers believe 3I/Atlas is harmless and may have formed in a star system far older than our own, making it a scientifically intriguing target as it completes its fleeting passage through our cosmic neighborhood.
Courtesy: AP
