When 200 natural accessions of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana grown in a nitrate-enriched medium were compared, one observation stood out: some accessions formed significantly longer lateral roots than others. Genetic analysis revealed a difference in a gene called MEKK14.
Human beings are social animals; they need places to relax, connect with others, and feel a sense of belonging beyond the demands of home and work. Traditionally, these "third places" are thought to be limited to cafes, clubs, gardens, and other neighborhood community spots.
Green hydrogen production technology, which utilizes renewable energy to produce eco-friendly hydrogen without carbon emissions, is gaining attention as a core technology for addressing global warming. Green hydrogen is produced through electrolysis, a process that separates
Preschool-age children are most engaged in pretend play 10–15 minutes after playing begins. In addition, girls exhibit higher organizational skills, according to a study conducted by researchers from SWPS University and Istanbul University. The paper "The Dynamics of Pretend
Every year, billions of birds undertake extraordinary migrations, crossing vast deserts and open seas with no place to stop, feed, or rest. A new international study published in iScience by a consortium of researchers from Tour du Valat, CEFE/CNRS, Muséum national d'Histoire
Messages intended to suppress votes can be precisely delivered to particularly vulnerable and consequential groups of people via social media and keep millions of them from casting ballots, according to a new study that is the first to quantify the effect of this kind of
Scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have identified the true source of a magnetic effect seen in the material ruthenium dioxide (RuO₂), helping resolve an active debate in the rapidly growing field of altermagnetism. The study is published in the journal ACS
Researchers have long been puzzled by the observed cooling of the eastern tropical Pacific and the Southern Ocean accompanying global warming. Existing climate models have failed to capture this pattern. At the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, researchers have come a
A protein called neurofilament light chain (NfL)—studied in humans in the context of neurodegenerative diseases and aging—is also detectable in the blood of numerous animals, and NfL levels increase with age in mice, cats, dogs and horses. Experts from the DZNE and the Hertie
Acinetobacter baumannii is a bacteria which can become a virulent killer in health-care settings among severely ill patients. The germ has rapidly developed drug resistance to even last-line carbapenem drugs. Now a group of Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and
NASA aims to send astronauts to the moon in March after acing the latest rocket fueling test.
Millions in North America kicked off 2026 with bitterly cold temperatures, with many saying it's been years since they've experienced such frigid winter weather.
Many insects rely on heritable bacterial endosymbionts for essential nutrients that they cannot get through their diet. A new study, published in Nature Communications, indicates that the genomes of these symbiotic bacteria often shrink over time. Some of these bacteria, which
The quick removal of Jimmy Carter’s futuristic solar panels echoes more recent feuds over renewables The post How Energy Politics Played Out on the White House Roof appeared first on Nautilus .
Lunar dust remains one of the biggest challenges for a long-term human presence on the moon. Its jagged, clingy nature makes it naturally stick to everything from solar panels to the inside of human lungs. And while we have some methods of dealing with it, there is still plenty
Volcanic eruptions are significant geologic hazards. Underwater volcanoes are challenging to study, yet they play an integral role in marine geology and may cause destructive tsunamis that can threaten coastal communities.
When the economy grows or shrinks, we often focus on how long the phase lasts or how deep it goes. A new paper asks a sharper question: How does actual growth compare with steady, quarter-by-quarter growth over the same period? The authors, Viv Hall (Victoria University of
EU researchers are developing AI-guided robot fleets to take over the dangerous, dirty work of finding and removing marine litter from the sea floor. A ship with a crane floats in the Mediterranean sun at a marina in Marseille, France. The crane whirs as it hauls waste from the
A study in mice and people with osteoarthritis suggests semaglutide can bulk up cartilage between bones, though bigger trials are needed to confirm.
It’s an idea we create over time that gets imprinted in the brain The post Home Really Is Where the Heart Is appeared first on Nautilus .
Like many scientists, theoretical physicist Andrew Strominger was unimpressed with early attempts at probing ChatGPT, receiving clever-sounding answers that didn't stand up to scrutiny. So he was skeptical when a talented former graduate student paused a promising academic
An evolutionary "arms race" for light and space led to the early domestication of wheat, according to new research that could offer fresh insights into crop design. The study led by Dr. Yixiang Shan and Professor Colin Osborne, in collaboration with the Autonomous University of
Actinides are a group of heavy, radioactive elements that include uranium, plutonium, americium, curium, berkelium and californium. Understanding how these elements bond with other atoms (known as coordination chemistry), how they behave in water and how they can be separated
Traditional chemistry textbooks present a tidy picture: Atoms in molecules occupy fixed positions, connected by rigid rods. A molecule such as formic acid (methanoic acid, HCOOH) is imagined as two-dimensional—flat as a sheet of paper. But quantum physics tells a different
Four of five Norwegians use digital maps when they are in the outdoors. In just a few years, our mobile phones have gone from being a practical navigation aid to a virtual compass in your backpack. The more we rely on digital navigational tools, the more important it is that
Neanderthals disappeared from the fossil record approximately 40,000 years ago. Their extinction was a gradual process over thousands of years, and theories as to why include competition with modern humans and rapid climate change. However, there may have been other
Exercise may sharpen the mind by repairing the brain’s protective shield. Researchers found that physical activity prompts the liver to release an enzyme that removes a harmful protein causing the blood-brain barrier to become leaky with age. In older mice, dialing down this
Disasters arise from the convergence of natural and social forces. Earthquakes, cyclones, floods, droughts, and other catastrophic events disproportionately affect the most vulnerable people, whether the poor in wealthy countries or the inhabitants of less developed countries.
Atom-thick layers of molybdenum disulfide are ideally suited for radiation-resistant spacecraft electronics, researchers in China have confirmed. In a study published in Nature, Peng Zhou and colleagues at Fudan University put a communications system composed of the material
The dramatic find sheds new light on the diversity of spinosaurs The post “Hell Heron”: New Dinosaur Species with A Head-mounted Sword Discovered in Africa appeared first on Nautilus .
The planet is getting hotter, but one factor in particular makes it hard to tell just how hot it will get. Physicists and computer scientists are racing to solve the problem of clouds. The post Climate Physicists Face the Ghosts in Their Machines: Clouds first appeared on
By completing a second ‘wet dress rehearsal’ of its upcoming moon mission, NASA may be on track for a March launch date
Human language may seem messy and inefficient compared to the ultra-compact strings of ones and zeros used by computers—but our brains actually prefer it that way. New research reveals that while digital-style encoding could theoretically compress information more tightly, it
Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan have discovered a previously undiscovered behavior in cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus). When presented with a mirror, the tiny fish not only recognized themselves, but experimented with the mirror themselves,
Qubits, the heart of quantum computers, can change performance in fractions of a second — but until now, scientists couldn’t see it happening. Researchers at NBI have built a real-time monitoring system that tracks these rapid fluctuations about 100 times faster than previous
Colliding galaxies can create a beam of focused microwave radiation known as a maser, and astronomers have discovered the brightest one ever seen
Acoustic frequency combs organize sound or mechanical vibrations into a series of evenly spaced frequencies, much like the teeth on a comb. They are the acoustic counterparts of optical frequency combs, which consist of equally spaced spectral lines and act as extraordinarily
We can take some clues from hibernation and cryogenics, but humans aren't yet built for that kind of deep sleep.
Spanish astronomers have conducted a near-infrared study of an ultra-high energy gamma-ray source designated LHAASO J2108+5157. The new study, published February 11 on the arXiv preprint server, tries to unravel the mysterious nature of this source.
Wildfires and power outages caused by vegetation near powerlines have contributed to some of the state's most destructive fires.
Scientists at Stanford have unveiled the first-ever global map of rare earthquakes that rumble deep within Earth’s mantle rather than its crust. Long debated and notoriously difficult to confirm, these elusive quakes turn out to cluster in regions like the Himalayas and near
New insights into the causes of migraine are prompting a fresh look at a drug target that was sidelined 25 years ago
To capture higher-definition and sharper images of cosmological objects, astronomers sometimes combine the data collected by several telescopes. This approach, known as long-baseline interferometry, entails comparing the light signals originating from distant objects and picked
Neutron stars are ultra-dense remnants of massive stars that collapsed after supernova explosions and are made up mostly of subatomic particles with no electric charge (i.e., neutrons). When two neutron stars collide, they are predicted to produce gravitational waves, ripples
A new study of bonobos shows that they grin during vigorous socio-sexual interactions The post Grinning During Sex Isn’t Contagious, But It Does Require Tempo appeared first on Nautilus .
Researchers have rediscovered a 77-year-old recording of a haunting song that now has been determined to have come from a humpback whale
How big would a telescope need to be to see Earth’s dinosaurs from 66 million light-years away? Think big—and then think bigger
NASA is set to begin fueling 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellant on the Space Launch System rocket at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday as it moves ahead with a test countdown of the Artemis II mission.
A total lunar eclipse will cross the skies over the contiguous United States on Tuesday, March 3, turning the moon a deep reddish color in what's commonly called a "blood moon."
The reason we slip and slide on ice—a phenomenon central to figure skating, curling and other Winter Olympic events—is a centuries-old physics mystery that may have finally been cracked