Water-bombing aircraft and farmers' tractors joined forces Sunday to help firefighters tame Belgium's largest modern-day wildfire, which has scorched vast swaths of a hard-to-reach nature reserve near the German border.
Japanese scientists are readying a mission to Mars' moons to retrieve samples that may unlock the origins of the solar system and life on Earth, although a rival Chinese mission aims to make it back first.
Researchers at Rice University have found that gently squeezing a crystal of iron sulfide can change two of its unusual properties at the same time: its tiny magnetic signal and the way electricity moves through it. The result gives scientists a clearer picture of how a newly
Humans love dogs, but petting them can leave some people sneezing and wheezing. About 15% of the world's population lives with a dog allergy, which can increase the risk of hay fever and asthma. The main culprit is Can f 1, a protein found mainly in dog saliva. Right now,
A new study from Murdoch University has found that the introduced plant disease Phytophthora dieback is indirectly hindering quendas in Western Australia's jarrah forests by reducing their habitat quality and consequently decreasing their digging activity. The paper, "Exotic
Time-reversal symmetry is an exotic behavior found in systems whose internal physics looks different when running forward versus backward in time. For some time, physicists have searched for this behavior in systems with almost no overall magnetization. Such phases are highly
A Chinese container vessel has set sail for Europe through the Arctic as part of a new weekly service on a route that cuts shipment times in half but that environmental groups warn could speed up the melting of polar ice.
Firefighters battled for a second day Sunday to contain a forest fire on the Greek Aegean island of Skyros, as the local mayor voiced hope it could soon be brought under control.
Prolonged dry spells or droughts can sometimes reduce aquatic diseases, many of which affect people. Yet other times, water scarcity can counterintuitively lead to an uptick in diseases that depend on water.
Astronomers have linked an X-ray flash discovered by the Einstein Probe to a known type of supernova with unusual features that point to the birth of an ultra-dense, rapidly spinning magnetar. The paper outlining this finding was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Take it easy on the croaking, boys The post Female Treefrogs Get Overwhelmed by Too Many Noisy Male Suitors appeared first on Nautilus .
The strongest glasses have an Achilles' heel that causes them to fail catastrophically when pushed past their limit. They do not bend or stretch, as all damage concentrates into a single plane and the material fails in an instant. This brittleness has long capped the usefulness
A centuries-old heart drug costing less than ten cents a day could help keep heart-failure patients out of the hospital. New research suggests low-dose digoxin can reduce heart-failure hospitalizations by about 25%, potentially paving the way for its return as a major treatment.
Employers are increasingly investing in training to prepare their employees for artificial intelligence (AI). Training budgets are growing, and "upskilling" has become a common response to rapid technological change.
Exercise and healthy blood sugar levels in midlife may help slow cognitive decline decades later. Physical activity appeared especially beneficial for Mexican American adults, suggesting that some brain-protective factors may differ across populations.
Theoretical physicists have long predicted the existence of millicharged particles (mCPs), hypothetical particles that carry a very small electric charge. These particles are expected to interact very weakly with ordinary matter and electromagnetic fields; hence, they would be
Aging gradually wears down the cartilage and fluid that protect our joints, but avoiding movement may actually make matters worse. Exercise helps nourish cartilage, strengthens the muscles that protect joints, and can reduce osteoarthritis pain. Low-impact activities such as
Astronomers at MIT and elsewhere have spotted an extremely bright red spot in the early universe. The object resembles an enormous star, roughly the size of our solar system. But it also is putting out 100 billion times more energy than any known star can physically produce. In
The U.S. is spending millions to try and control feral hogs, but are those efforts in vain?
Physicists may have uncovered a hidden feature inside protons that helps preserve one of matter’s most fundamental properties. RHIC collision data suggest baryon number is carried not simply by three quarks, but by a Y-shaped junction of the gluons connecting them. The finding
As we age, the body appears to sacrifice walking efficiency in exchange for stability. Older adults stiffen the ankle more with each step, which may help prevent falls but also forces the muscles to work harder while producing less forward motion. This leads to shorter strides,
Scientists have discovered a new extinct amphibian species hiding in the fossil collections of Los Angeles’ La Brea Tar Pits. Named Spea labreae, the Ice Age spadefoot toad is an exceptionally rare find—only one other extinct Pleistocene amphibian has ever been identified in
Astronomers have witnessed a black hole violently shredding a massive star, creating one of the most energetic stellar explosions ever observed. The event, nicknamed “the Whippet,” briefly released about 400 billion times the Sun’s energy and sent a shock wave racing outward at
COVID-19 can reactivate dormant viruses hiding in the body, including Epstein-Barr, cytomegalovirus, and several herpes viruses. One poorly understood viral family was strongly associated with long COVID and lasting disability, offering a potentially important clue to why some
Tiny viruses that infect bacteria could one day help us tackle infections that antibiotics can no longer treat. But first, scientists need to understand how these viruses work, and artificial intelligence could provide them with a powerful way to do that.
When a dairy cow miscarries, a farmer loses far more than an unborn calf. Feed has been grown, land and water have been used, and greenhouse gases have been released during the cow's pregnancy, but milk production, a future animal and income are lost.
Many fascinating phases in quantum materials emerge when electrons, atoms and other microscopic components begin to act collectively. But these phases do not necessarily appear out of nowhere when a material crosses a transition temperature. Before long-range order develops,
