Does modernization—economic growth, technological advancement, globalization, increased education, and urbanization—reduce cultural differences? Conventional wisdom suggests that as nations get richer and more educated, a globalized, modern culture emerges featuring low birth
A recently detected flash of energy appears to have emanated from the wreckage of colliding galaxies, according to an international team of astronomers led by Penn State scientists. The burst, known as GRB 230906A, was likely caused by the collision of two neutron stars
A new study led by researchers at the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Institute of Science Tokyo challenges a long-standing assumption about Earth's most extreme ice ages. Using numerical geochemical models, the team showed that chemical weathering may have continued
When choosing an education or job, your choice is not only based on skills and opportunities. Your personality plays a notable role, too—and according to new research, certain traits can cause you to disregard certain types of work. This is also true for people who score high
Materials that encourage mineralization, mimicking the process in the human body, are becoming increasingly important in medicine and technology. This process, which occurs at the interface between inorganic materials and organic coatings, can facilitate the formation of
A research team at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, has developed new laser technology that could lead to tiny, cost-effective biosensors. The sensors integrate lasers and optics together on a centimeter-sized chip, which could move testing from hospitals to patients'
A study led by McKenna Litynski, a Ph.D. graduate in anthropology and adjunct assistant professor at the University of Wyoming, confirms that ancient needles and awls enabled humans to survive in cold climates and shows these tools served a variety of purposes beyond clothing
Climate change since the 1950s has doubled the amount of time per year that millions of people around the world must endure heat so extreme that everyday physical activities cannot be done safely, a new study concludes.
Computer scientists and weather scientists have taken the first steps toward creating an AI agent capable of analyzing and answering questions in natural language, such as English, about data from AI-driven weather and climate forecasting models. The research team from the
Ultraviolet cameras captured faint electrical flashes from leaves and branches as storm charges built up in the atmosphere.
A nearly complete dinosaur skeleton discovered in Patagonia is helping scientists crack the mystery of alvarezsaurs, a bizarre group of bird-like dinosaurs. The fossil of Alnashetri cerropoliciensis reveals that these animals became tiny before developing their later
Molecular patterns and machine learning can pin down crime scene maggots
Scientists studying Mars may have uncovered a brand-new mineral hidden in the planet’s ancient sulfate deposits. By combining laboratory experiments with orbital data, researchers identified an unusual iron sulfate—ferric hydroxysulfate—forming in layered deposits near the
Cosmic voids may seem like the emptiest places in the universe, stripped of matter, radiation, and even dark matter. But they’re far from nothing. Even in these vast empty regions, the fundamental quantum fields that fill all of space remain, carrying a small but real amount of
For millions of commuters, the workday doesn't just begin with a train ride. It also begins with a blast of heat. In one of the largest studies ever conducted on thermal comfort in metro systems, Northwestern University scientists found that subway riders consistently report
Colorblindness may be doing more than making traffic lights confusing — it could also be hiding a life-threatening warning sign. Researchers analyzing millions of medical records found that people with bladder cancer who are also colorblind have a 52% higher mortality rate over
Scientists have uncovered how brewer’s yeast developed its unusually tiny centromeres, the DNA regions that guide chromosome separation during cell division. By studying related yeast species, researchers found centromeres that appear to represent evolutionary halfway points.
A new analysis of more than 422,000 patients reveals a stark Alzheimer’s care gap between Maryland’s urban and rural communities. Rural regions often lack hospitals and dementia specialists, forcing older patients to travel farther for diagnosis and treatment. Researchers found
When NASA’s DART spacecraft deliberately crashed into the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos, it did more than change the asteroid’s local orbit — it slightly shifted the path of the entire asteroid pair around the Sun. The impact blasted debris into space, doubling the force of the
Farmers could turn more of the UK's farmland into productive agroforestry systems if they had access to trusted advice and real farm examples, according to new research from the University of Reading. Dr. Amelia Hood, from the Department of Sustainable Land Management at the
Global warming has picked up speed in the past decade, according to a new analysis from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). By removing short term natural influences such as El Niño, volcanic eruptions, and solar cycles from temperature records, researchers
Researchers have found hundreds of metabolic enzymes attached to human DNA inside the cell nucleus. Different tissues and cancers show unique patterns of these enzymes, forming a “nuclear metabolic fingerprint.” Some of the enzymes gather around damaged DNA to assist with
Indigenous people in the United States are at higher risk of fatal police violence in and around American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) reservations, according to the first comprehensive national study on the subject from researchers at Drexel University's Dornsife School of
By 2050, nearly 20% of the areas currently suitable for cocoa cultivation in Colombia could lose the climate conditions needed for production, particularly in the lowlands of the Caribbean region and the country's northeastern departments, according to a new scientific study.
How you respond to art—from poetry, to visual art, to music—may be partly written in your DNA The post Were You Born to Love Music? appeared first on Nautilus .
Observations of the Rimae Bode region on the moon reveal five distinct types of terrain and identify several potential landing sites for China's first crewed mission, according to research titled "Geology of Rimae Bode region as priority site candidate for China's first crewed
Researchers have created a method called optovolution that uses light to guide the evolution of proteins with dynamic behaviors. By engineering yeast cells so their survival depended on proteins switching states at the right time, scientists could rapidly select the
They raid compost bins, outsmart latches and sometimes look gleeful doing it. A new study in Animal Behaviour suggests raccoons may not just be opportunistic—they may be genuinely curious.
Asteroids are some of the oldest objects in the solar system: leftovers from the chaotic time when planets were assembling from dust and rock. They're time capsules, preserving clues about what the early solar system was like, and, ultimately, what the building blocks of
An international team of researchers has modified a probiotic yeast to make it safer for use by immunocompromised people, older adults and infants. Testing in an animal model found that the modified yeast is less likely to cause infection than unmodified strains of the same
Exercise normally boosts the body’s ability to use oxygen, a key marker of health and longevity — but high blood sugar can block that benefit. Researchers found that a ketogenic diet helped mice normalize blood sugar and dramatically improved how their muscles responded to
Somewhere in the North Atlantic, more than a kilometer beneath its surface, a cold-water coral reef stretches across an unnamed seamount. Despite never appearing on a chart, this underwater forest has existed for centuries, growing a centimeter or two each year.
Global levels of physical activity have not improved over the past two decades, despite widespread policy development and adoption, and large disparities persist across gender and socioeconomic groups. The findings from three papers published in Nature Medicine and Nature
The search for materials that can conduct electricity at room temperature without losing energy is one of the greatest and most consequential challenges of modern physics: loss-free power transmission, more efficient motors and generators, more powerful quantum computers,
Drug discovery is like molecular Tetris. Chemists snap atoms together, adjusting the pieces until everything fits, and suddenly, a molecule makes a promising new medicine. Normally, creating better molecules consumes huge amounts of time and money. In a new study appearing in
Controlling light with light is a long-sought goal for computing and communication technologies. Achieving this capability would allow optical signals to be processed without converting them into electrical signals, potentially enabling faster and more energy-efficient devices.
Lifespan in the United States plateaued over a decade ago The post Baby Boomers Are a Transition Generation in Our Longevity Crisis appeared first on Nautilus .
After a heart attack, the heart struggles to recoup and maintain energy. One-third of patients develop heart failure as a result—a condition that impacts 6.8 million Americans and carries a high lifetime risk, with 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. expected to develop the condition
Climate change is threatening modern life in ways we are still finding, from food security to the economy to everyday living. It has been labeled a "threat multiplier" for its potential to complicate geopolitical relationships. Our efforts to adapt as a global society face
Pre-workout supplements promising extra energy for workouts may come with a hidden cost: severely reduced sleep. A study of people aged 16–30 found users were more than twice as likely to sleep five hours or less per night. Many of these products pack huge doses of caffeine and
For years, a protein inside our cells has quietly powered billions of dollars' worth of cancer drugs. Now a team of researchers have discovered that this workhorse protein, called cereblon, in addition to its known functions, can also fine-tune which proteins live and which are
AI has designed candidate drugs for antibiotic-resistant infections and genetic diseases. But efforts to incorporate AI into the design of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), the revolutionary delivery vehicles behind mRNA therapies like the COVID-19 vaccines, have been much more
Deep-sea waters are warming due to heat waves and climate change, and it could spell trouble for the oceans' delicate chemical and biological balance. However, a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences demonstrates that the microbe Nitrosopumilus
When Sandia scientists Ryan Davis and Nathan Bays set out to find a better way to absorb and degrade PFAS in water sources, they kept running into the same issue: Detecting the chemicals in samples took too long. So, they came up with their own solution. They've developed a
