Reference Terms
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Weapons of mass destruction
Weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a term used to describe a munition with the capacity to indiscriminately kill large numbers of living beings. The phrase broadly encompasses several areas of weapon synthesis, including nuclear, biological, chemical and, increasingly, radiological weapons.
The term first arose in 1937 in reference to the mass destruction of Guernica, Spain, by aerial bombardment. Following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and progressing through the Cold War, the term came to refer more to non-conventional weapons. The phrase entered popular usage in relation to the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. Terms used in a military context include atomic, biological, and chemical warfare (ABC warfare), nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) after the invention of the hydrogen bomb, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN), recognizing the threat of non-explosive radiological weapons.
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Matter & Energy News
August 27, 2025
Aug. 27, 2025 — Researchers have developed a blueprint for weaving hopfions—complex, knot-like light structures—into repeating spacetime crystals. By exploiting two-color beams, they can generate ordered chains and lattices with tunable topology, potentially ...
Aug. 27, 2025 — Researchers in Germany have unveiled the Metafiber, a breakthrough device that allows ultra-precise, rapid, and compact control of light focus directly within an optical fiber. Unlike traditional ...
Aug. 27, 2025 — Hydrogen fuel cells could power cars, devices, and homes with nothing but water as a byproduct—but platinum’s cost holds them back. Chinese researchers have now unveiled a breakthrough iron-based catalyst that could rival platinum while boosting ...
Aug. 26, 2025 — A research team created a plant-inspired molecule that can store four charges using sunlight, a key step toward artificial photosynthesis. Unlike past attempts, it works with dimmer light, edging closer to real-world solar fuel ...
Aug. 26, 2025 — Scientists have cracked one of chemistry’s toughest challenges with indoles, using copper to unlock a spot once thought too stubborn to change. The discovery could pave the way for easier, cheaper ...
Aug. 25, 2025 — Scientists using Google’s quantum processor have taken a major step toward unraveling the deepest mysteries of the universe. By simulating fundamental interactions described by gauge theories, the ...
Aug. 25, 2025 — Physicists have built a novel superconducting platform that mimics hidden vortex states once thought unobservable. Their "backdoor" method overcomes experimental limits, letting them control quantum behavior on demand. The discovery could pave the ...
Aug. 25, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that electron spin loss, long considered waste, can instead drive magnetization switching in spintronic devices, boosting efficiency by up to three times. The scalable, semiconductor-friendly method could accelerate the ...
Aug. 25, 2025 — Researchers cracked the mystery of altermagnets, materials with no net magnetization yet strange light-reflecting powers, by creating a new optical measurement method. Their findings confirmed altermagnetism in an organic crystal and opened doors to ...
Aug. 24, 2025 — A Rochester team engineered a new type of solar thermoelectric generator that produces 15 times more power than earlier versions. By enhancing heat absorption and dissipation rather than tweaking semiconductor materials, they dramatically improved ...
Aug. 24, 2025 — Ripple bugs’ fan-like legs inspired engineers to build the Rhagobot, a tiny robot with self-morphing fans. By mimicking these insects’ passive, ultra-fast movements, the robot gains speed, control, and endurance without extra ...
Aug. 24, 2025 — Scientists have developed a groundbreaking cryo-optical microscopy technique that freezes living cells mid-action, capturing ultra-detailed snapshots of fast biological processes. By rapidly immobilizing cells at precise moments, researchers can ...
Latest Headlines
updated 12:56 pm ET
Aug. 26, 2025 — Deep beneath southern China, JUNO has launched one of the most ambitious neutrino experiments in history. With its massive 20,000-ton liquid ...
Aug. 25, 2025 — Scientists at CERN’s ATLAS experiment have uncovered compelling evidence of Higgs bosons decaying into muons, an incredibly rare event that could deepen our understanding of how particles acquire ...
Aug. 23, 2025 — By using quantum dots and smart encryption protocols, researchers overcame a 40-year barrier in quantum communication, showing that secure networks don’t need perfect hardware to outperform ...
Aug. 23, 2025 — Researchers at the University of British Columbia have shown that a small bench-top reactor can enhance nuclear fusion rates by electrochemically loading a metal with deuterium fuel. Unlike massive ...
Aug. 23, 2025 — Researchers at Zhejiang University have found a way to stop performance-killing Auger recombination in perovskite lasers, using a clever additive during processing. Their method produced a ...
Aug. 23, 2025 — Scientists may have uncovered the missing piece of quantum computing by reviving a particle once dismissed as useless. This particle, called the neglecton, could give fragile quantum systems the full ...
Aug. 22, 2025 — Scientists are rethinking the universe’s deepest mysteries using numerical relativity, complex computer simulations of Einstein’s equations in extreme conditions. This method could help explore ...
Aug. 22, 2025 — Researchers developed a crystal that inhales and exhales oxygen like lungs. It stays stable under real-world conditions and can be reused many times, making it ideal for energy and electronic ...
Aug. 19, 2025 — Lithium battery recycling offers a powerful solution to rising demand, with discarded batteries still holding most of their valuable materials. Compared to mining, recycling slashes emissions and ...
Aug. 19, 2025 — A team in Milan has developed a first-of-its-kind single-atom catalyst that acts like a molecular switch, enabling cleaner, more adaptable chemical ...