A new study published in Nature Astronomy indicates that the dense, star- and dark-matter–rich environments around supermassive black hole binaries pack on the order of a million solar masses into each cubic parsec. The team used gravitational-wave data from pulsar timing
EPFL researchers have developed a light-based method that can produce proteins that switch states, respond to signals, and even compute, using light and the cell cycle.
A new book from Rebecca Solnit, promising to bring us hope in these “difficult times”, is among our pick of popular science titles out this month – along with a guide on how to talk to AI, and a look at modern warfare
What if there were a way to create accurate replicas of ancient and historical instruments that could be played and heard?In late 2024, senior MIT postdoc Benjamin Sabatini wrote MIT Professor Eran Egozy to ask just that, and about a collaborative research project between the
A new study reports signs that nerve cells in the brain keep dividing over the decades. It’s not so simple.
Models show that as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation gets weaker, the Gulf Stream will drift northwards. There are signs that this is already happening, and a more abrupt shift could warn of more severe climate impacts
The tall black-and-white residents of Antarctica, who waddle around its icy landscape, are in peril thanks to the rapidly warming global climate. Emperor penguins go through an annual transformation called catastrophic molting, during which they replace all of their feathers
The unofficial soundtrack of every basketball, squash or hard-court tennis match is the constant high-pitched squeak or shriek of the players' shoes. But can this squeak be designed out of them while retaining the grip?
Mammals are not especially diverse. Roughly 6,800 mammal species are known to exist, compared with about 8,800 species of amphibian, 11,000 species of bird and 12,500 of reptile. Yet when most people picture biodiversity, they often think of charismatic mammals first: pandas,
Here's one less thing to worry about—or to look forward to: NASA has ruled out any chance that an asteroid called 2024 YR4 will hit the moon in 2032. Last year, the uncertainty surrounding the space rock's orbital path held out a slight chance of impact, but fresh observations
To avoid the worst effects of climate change, many billions of metric tons of industrially generated carbon dioxide will have to be captured and stored away by the end of this century. One place to store such an enormous amount of greenhouse gas is in Earth itself. If carbon
Earth is not infinite. Pollution beyond certain levels threatens the climate and ecosystems. To prevent this, scientists have proposed planetary boundaries, defining the safe operating limits of the Earth system. A KAIST research team recalculated climate change and nitrogen
Since 2014, the planet has been warming by about 0.36°C per decade, according to an analysis of five temperature datasets, raising fears that climate tipping points could be crossed earlier than expected
Global warming has accelerated since 2015, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). After accounting for known natural influences on global temperature, the research team detected a statistically significant acceleration of the
A robotic hand with fingernail-like tips lets robots peel fruit, open lids and pick up thin, flat objects with more precise, human-like dexterity.
Rydberg atoms are atoms with one or more outer electrons excited to very high energy levels, which interact very strongly with each other. These atoms are widely used to run quantum simulations and develop quantum technologies, as they can give rise to exotic and rare phases of
Yes, but most likely viewing them as “other” The post Are Killer Whales Also Cannibals? appeared first on Nautilus .
If you follow media coverage of koalas, you could be forgiven for feeling confused. Recent stories describe a "koala paradox": endangered in the north of Australia, abundant in the south; genetically diverse in some regions, genetically depleted in others.
The world's first lab-based tick feeding system for bush ticks, developed by researchers at the University of Melbourne, has transformed the study of ticks and how they transmit disease. The novel, host-free technology reduces the need for animal experiments in tick studies,
When people understand the system and process behind AI art, its moral implications become harder to accept
Satellites are wonders of modern technology that have improved all of our lives. But having more than a million of them in orbit could destroy our view of the heavens and seriously damage our planet
What do a 20th-century physicist, an 18th-century statistician and an ancient Greek philosopher have in common? They all knew how to extrapolate with incredible accuracy. Columnist Jacob Aron explains how to combine their methods to improve your ability to guess
Michael Pollan tells Scientific American why the science of consciousness may ultimately be too subject to our own conscious minds to crack
Michael Pollan dives into the scientific and philosophical puzzles of consciousness, from brain biology to AI and beyond
Thousands of birds, including beloved purple martins, died in "The Great Texas Freeze" of 2021. A study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution led by biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, reveals not only the extent of the die-off—up to 27% of the birds'
It infects nearly one-third of the global population, yet its microscopic size makes the parasite difficult for scientists to study. That parasite is Toxoplasma gondii, a widespread organism that infects humans and animals. To better understand how it functions, infectious
Everyone knows Yuri Gagarin as the first person to go to space. But was he? Physicist Vladimir Brljak tells the tale of the intrepid balloonists who first flew beyond the blue terrestrial sky, challenging the definition of where our world begins to end
For decades, astronomers wondered why most nearby galaxies are speeding away from the Milky Way instead of being pulled in by its gravity. New simulations reveal the answer: our galaxy sits in a gigantic, flat sheet of matter surrounded by huge empty voids. This hidden
Electrons in solar materials can be launched across molecules almost as fast as nature allows, thanks to tiny atomic vibrations acting like a “molecular catapult.” In experiments lasting just 18 femtoseconds, researchers at the University of Cambridge observed electrons
Researchers created an AI-driven liquid biopsy that scans patterns in fragments of DNA circulating in the blood. The system detected early liver fibrosis and cirrhosis—conditions that often go unnoticed until serious damage occurs. By analyzing genome-wide DNA fragmentation
Scientists have uncovered new genetic rules that determine whether the immune system’s “killer” T cells remain powerful long-term defenders or become worn out and ineffective. By building a detailed genetic atlas of CD8 T cell states, researchers identified key molecular
Solar water splitting is one of the most direct ways to produce green hydrogen using sunlight. However, most photocatalysts and photoelectrodes absorb only a limited portion of solar radiation, mainly ultraviolet and part of the visible spectrum. A large share of solar energy,
The ESA’s Juice is the latest spacecraft to analyze it The post Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Gets the Celebrity Treatment appeared first on Nautilus .
Wild animal species respond very differently to human development, and as a result, they use ecological corridors in agricultural and urban areas in distinct ways. This emerges from research in Botswana by ecologist Marlee Tucker of Radboud University published in Integrative
A new study shows that as humpback whale populations recover from past whaling, older males are gaining a major advantage in reproduction. Early in the recovery, breeding groups were dominated by younger whales. But as more mature males returned, they increasingly fathered more
Earthlings aren't the only ones safe from a city-wrecking-size asteroid. Future lunar inhabitants won't have to worry about a strike in 2032 either
Prepare for Daylight Saving Time by taking a tour of your internal timekeeping machinery The post Your Biological Clock is More Complex Than You Think appeared first on Nautilus .
Researchers at Cornell University have developed a powerful imaging technique that reveals atomic scale defects inside computer chips for the first time. Using an advanced electron microscopy method, the team mapped the exact positions of atoms inside tiny transistor structures
Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is among the most damaging pests affecting soybean crops around the world, with current management strategies relying primarily on a very narrow set of resistant soybean varieties, along with crop rotation and chemical nematicides. Now, researchers
Certain species of wasps and frogs share a pain and inflammation peptide similar to one found in vertebrates to help defend against predators—a discovery that contributes to a shifting view of how evolution works, say researchers. Their paper is published in the journal Science.
The debate between lumpers and splitters rages on The post Fanged Frog of Borneo Shows Speciation is Messy appeared first on Nautilus .
After decades of intense research, surprises in the realm of semiconductors—materials used in microchips to control electrical currents—are few and far between. But with a pair of published papers, materials engineers at Stanford University debut a promising approach to using a
Between 2023 and 2025, more than 30 million hectares burned in Canada due to wildfires. The threat from increasingly frequent and intense wildfires goes beyond fire and smoke—the heat can also transform naturally occurring metals in soil into more toxic forms that could pose a
A new report from the University of East Anglia (UEA) warns that the potential reputational damage of charities using AI-generated images in their campaigns is more complex than many organizations realize. It comes as humanitarian budgets tighten and production pressures
Can the bend of a banana give us insight into cancer? What does the shape of a rice grain have to do with infertility? The proteins that give plants their shape and structure are also involved in human disease. A team led by researchers at the University of California, Davis,
An analysis found that, following Trump’s claim that acetaminophen was linked to autism, orders for the drug for pregnant patients in emergency rooms dropped, while the number of children prescribed an unproven autism treatment increased
A team of researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has introduced a novel framework for monitoring structural vibrations using diffractive optical processors. This new technology uses artificial intelligence to co-optimize a passive diffractive layer and
New alvarezsaur fossil offers a Cretaceous missing link The post The Dainty Dinosaur That’s Rewriting Evolutionary History appeared first on Nautilus .
A sweeping new ALMA image has peeled back the veil on the Milky Way’s core, exposing a dense network of cold gas filaments near the central black hole. Stretching across 650 light-years, the survey maps the hidden fuel for star formation in remarkable detail and reveals a
Growing neurons rely on chemical cues to find their targets, but new research shows that the brain’s physical properties help shape those signals. Scientists discovered that tissue stiffness can trigger the production of guidance molecules through a force-sensing protein called