A new UCLA-led study shows that the 2022 eruption of underwater volcano Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai did not warm the planet as was expected but actually reduced temperatures over the Southern Hemisphere by 0.1 C. The eruption released far less sulfur dioxide and much more water vapor than expected into the stratosphere. The work underscores that geoengineering could have multiple consequences, and scientists need to understand a given atmospheric system properly in order to understand whether geoengineering it will contribute to cooling or warming.

Kenneth Merz, PhD, of Cleveland Clinic's Center for Computational Life Sciences, and his team are testing quantum computing’s abilities in chemistry through integrating machine learning and quantum circuits.  

Chemistry is one of the areas where quantum computing shows the most potential because of the technology’s ability to predict an unlimited number of possible outcomes. To determine quantum computing's ability to perform complex chemical calculations, Dr. Merz and Hongni Jin, PhD, decided to test its ability to simulate proton affinity, a fundamental chemical process that is critical to life. 

Dr. Merz and Dr. Jin focused on using machine learning applications on quantum hardware. This is a critical advantage over other quantum research which relies on simulators to mimic a quantum computer’s abilities. In this study, published in the Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, the team was able to demonstrate the capabilities of quantum machine learning by creating a model that was able to predict proton affinity more accurately than classical computing.  

About The Study: Spending on glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) increased from 2018 to 2023, with the largest growth rates from 2022 to 2023. Although spending for certain GLP-1 RAs increased substantially, spending declined for others. This study estimated that more than $71 billion was spent on GLP-1 RAs and more than $50 billion on a product based on either semaglutide or tirzepatide molecules.

In new images, scientists have gotten the close look yet at Sagittarius C—a "stellar nursery" where clouds of gas and dust have collapsed to form thousands of new stars.