Science news this week: Japan laser weapon trial, comet 3I/ATLAS bids farewell, and AI solves 'impossible' math problems

This week's science news has featured some mind-blowing technological innovations, with the development of a new kind of quantum processor that lasts 15 times longer than those used by Google and IBM.

Fabricated from the rare earth element tantalum, the processor is an important step on the road to stable quantum computing. However, scientists still need to overcome key challenges, such as the processors' millisecond decoherence time and the extreme scarcity of tantalum.

Elsewhere, scientists revealed they took inspiration from the heat vision of snakes to build an imaging system that could one day end up in smartphones, and Japan's military tested a 100-kilowatt laser weapon that can cut through metal and slice drones out of the air.

Comet 3I/ATLAS bids farewell

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS makes closest pass of Earth. Where's it heading next?

3I/ATLAS passed its closest point to Earth this week and is now set to leave our cosmic neighborhood for good.

Since its discovery in July, comet 3I/ATLAS, has dazzled astronomers and skywatchers alike as it zoomed behind our sun, rapidly brightened, erupted in ice volcanoes and changed colors multiple times while shedding its highly irradiated coma.

The comet, which is up to several miles wide and 7 billion years old, is now traveling at 130,000 mph (210,000 km/h) on a path out of our solar system.

But that doesn't mean it's the last we'll be hearing of the interstellar object, which has generated a frenzy of speculation surrounding its (incredibly doubtful) alien origins. 3I/ATLAS will leave our solar system after passing Pluto in 2029, giving scientists and spacecraft plenty of time to observe it.

Discover more space news

—NASA's Parker Solar Probe mapped an unseen part of the sun at its most active moment

—'We were amazed': Scientists using James Webb telescope may have discovered the earliest supernova in the known universe

—30 models of the universe proved wrong by final data from groundbreaking cosmology telescope

...Or is it just goodbye for now?

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is rapidly moving away from us. Can we 'intercept' it before it leaves us forever?

Or could we chase down 3I/ATLAS before it leaves our solar system? As farfetched as it may sound, some scientists are eager to send a spacecraft after the comet before it leaves.

Doing so would not only reveal further clues as to how the comet formed, but also help to answer whether we're alone in our universe, Live Science reveals in this fascinating Science Spotlight.

Life's Little Mysteries

Can a turtle tuck its head all the way inside its shell?

Turtles' bodies are protected by hard shells that are surprisingly varied between species. But how did these natural suits of armor evolve in the first place? And can turtles really hide their heads inside their shells?

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Penguin-feasting pumas show strange behavioral changes

Pumas in Patagonia started feasting on penguins — but now they're behaving strangely, a new study finds

The strange behavior of pumas (Puma concolor) in Monte León National Park in Patagonia, Argentina shone a light on the surprising knock-on effects of conservation efforts this week. Pumas were forced out of the region by sheep farmers in the 20th century, but the apex predators returned when the national park was established in 2004.

So far, so typical, but scientists were surprised after the pumas set their sights on a colony of roughly 40,000 Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) that had settled in their absence. The pumas that ate the penguins began tolerating each other more than usual.

The new behavior suggests that restoring wildlife in changed habitats does more than just reset the clock — it creates entirely new behaviors and ecosystems.

Discover more animals news

—Polar bears in southern Greenland are 'using jumping genes to rapidly rewrite their own DNA' to survive melting sea ice

—Scientists finally sequence the vampire squid's huge genome, revealing secrets of the 'living fossil'

—Cassius the giant crocodile died from sepsis after 40-year-old dormant infection burst from 'abscess,' necropsy reveals

Also in science news this week

—Ancient Egyptian valley temple excavated — and it's connected to a massive upper temple dedicated to the sun god, Ra

—Undersea lava rubble acts as a 'sponge' for carbon dioxide, study finds

—Brain scans reveal 'dial' that helps keep us from getting lost

—Oldest known evidence of father-daughter incest found in 3,700-year-old bones in Italy

—It matters what time of day you get cancer treatment, study suggests

Science Spotlight

AI is solving 'impossible' math problems. Can it best the world's top mathematicians?

Artificial intelligence models are making steady progress in cracking increasingly difficult math problems, but will they soon eclipse humans in cracking the hardest unsolved conjectures? Or is it all just hype? Live Science spoke with some of the world's best mathematicians to find out.

Something for the weekend

If you're looking for something a little longer to read over the weekend, here are some of the best crosswords, skywatching guides and opinion pieces published this week.

—Live Science crossword puzzle #23: Distance around the edge of a circle — 6 down [Crossword]

—Ursid meteor shower 2025: When and where to see 'shooting stars' on the longest night of the year [Skywatching]

—'This has re-written our understanding of Roman concrete manufacture': Abandoned Pompeii worksite reveal how self-healing concrete was made [Opinion]

Science in pictures

Strange, 7-hour explosion from deep space is unlike anything scientists have seen — Space photo of the week

This week’s science photo displays one of the most powerful, and longest lasting, cosmic explosions ever detected — a seven-hour blast that ripped from a dying star at 99% the speed of light.

The event, dubbed GRB 250702B, is the longest-duration gamma-ray burst ever recorded and may have been caused by a supernova, a star being torn to shreds by a black hole, or a black hole and helium star merging.

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