Breakthrough laser technique holds quantum matter in stable packets
For the first time, physicists have generated and observed stable bright matter-wave solitons with attractive interactions within a grid of laser light.
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South African San rock art reveals trance dances and initiation ceremonies
In a study published in Telestes, Dr. Joshua Kumbani and Dr. Margarita Díaz-Andreu categorized the various dance scenes depicted in South African rock art, drawing on ethnographic sources, published studies, and the comprehensive SARADA database to identify dance scenes, thus
A new study of lunar rocks suggests Earth's water might not have come from meteorites
For a long time, scientists assumed that Earth's water was delivered by asteroids and comets billions of years ago. This coincided with the Late Heavy Bombardment (ca. 4.1 to 3.8 billion years ago), a period when planets and bodies in the solar system experienced a much higher
Bacteria use wrapping flagella to tunnel through microscopic passages, research reveals
Researchers have discovered how bacteria break through spaces barely larger than themselves, by wrapping their flagella around their bodies and moving forward. Using a microfluidic device that mimics insect gut channels, the team revealed a remarkable "flagellar wrapping"
A new dataset exposes biodiversity loss hidden in global staple food trade
Global food trade is essential for food security, but its ecological consequences often remain unseen. A new data paper published in One Ecosystem introduces a global long-term dataset, quantifying biodiversity loss embodied in the international trade of staple food crops. As
Superconducting nanowire memory array achieves significantly lower error rate
Quantum computers, systems that process information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, will require faster and energy-efficient memory components, which will allow them to perform well on complex tasks. Superconducting memories are promising memory devices that are made
Yes, feral cats and foxes really have driven many Australian mammals to extinction
Millions of years of isolation have shaped Australia's extraordinary mammal fauna into species unlike anywhere else in the world, from platypus to koalas and wombats. Tragically, Australia is the world leader in mammal extinctions.
New DNA analysis rewrites the story of the Beachy Head Woman
A Roman-era skeleton discovered in southern England has finally given up her secrets after more than a decade of debate. Known as the Beachy Head Woman, she was once thought to have roots in sub-Saharan Africa or the Mediterranean—an idea that sparked global attention. But new,
Novel biosensor enables real-time tracking of iron (II) in living cells
Iron is an essential trace element in biological cells. The concentration of the element and its so-called redox state—it can exist either in a doubly ionized state as iron (II) (Fe2+) or a triply ionized state as iron (III) (Fe3+)—play a key role in metabolic processes such as
Researchers tested AI against 100,000 humans on creativity
A massive new study comparing more than 100,000 people with today’s most advanced AI systems delivers a surprising result: generative AI can now beat the average human on certain creativity tests. Models like GPT-4 showed strong performance on tasks designed to measure original
A new look at trends in human deaths due to climate extremes
A new study of climate extremes since 1988 finds that many regions have seen increases in deaths due to floods, storms and extreme temperatures. In human terms, the harm comes not just from deaths, but also from lost labor and property damage. (And this doesn't consider damage
Ancient people carried a wild potato across the American Southwest
Long before farming took hold, ancient Indigenous peoples of the American Southwest were already shaping the future of a wild potato. New evidence shows that this small, hardy plant was deliberately carried across the Four Corners region more than 10,000 years ago, helping it
Scientists twist tiny crystals to control electricity
Researchers have developed a technique that allows them to carve complex three dimensional nanodevices directly from single crystals. To demonstrate its power, they sculpted microscopic helices from a magnetic material and found that the structures behave like switchable
Forty years of forest data reveal a changing Amazon
After analyzing 40 years of tree records across the Andes and Amazon, researchers found that climate change is reshaping tropical forests in uneven ways. Some regions are steadily losing tree species, especially where conditions are hotter and drier, while others are seeing
The Mount Maunganui tragedy reminds us landslides are NZ's deadliest natural hazard
The tragic events in the Bay of Plenty this week are a stark reminder that landslides remain the deadliest of the many natural hazards New Zealand faces. A large landslide swept through the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park at the base of Mauao, triggering a major rescue
Babies who attend daycare share 'good' germs, too
Socializing at a young age helps to develop greater diversity in children’s microbiomes, according to an analysis of baby-to-baby transmission of gut bacteria
Quantum physicists just supersized Schrödinger’s cat
A record-breaking experiment shows that a cluster of thousands of atoms can act like a wave as well as a particle
Want to live longer? The tiniest of lifestyle changes can dramatically boost longevity
New research suggests that getting even just a few more minutes of sleep and exercise and eating an extra cup of vegetables every day can significantly boost longevity
Researchers develop high-performance fluoroborate crystals for deep-ultraviolet lasers
Deep-ultraviolet (DUV, λ < 200 nm) all-solid-state lasers, essential to modern scientific research and industrial manufacturing, are widely applied in fields from material analysis to lithography. Their commercialization depends heavily on high-performance nonlinear optical
Teaching horses to 'speak up' with symbols: Project aims to boost animal welfare
In recent years, revelations of unethical horse handling at elite levels of horsesport have drawn attention to an uncomfortable question: Do we really understand how our horses are feeling? According to Norwegian and Swedish researchers in the project HorseVoice, the answer is
Scientists call for urgent action as dangerous amoebas spread globally
Scientists are warning that a little-known group of microbes called free-living amoebae may pose a growing global health threat. Found in soil and water, some species can survive extreme heat, chlorine, and even modern water systems—conditions that kill most germs. One infamous
A natural aging molecule may help restore memory in Alzheimer’s
Researchers have found that a natural aging-related molecule can repair key memory processes affected by Alzheimer’s disease. The compound improves communication between brain cells and restores early memory abilities that typically fade first. Because it already exists in the
NASA is set to send astronauts around the Moon again
NASA is moving into a new phase of space exploration, with major progress across human spaceflight, science missions, and advanced technology. In just one year, the agency has launched multiple crewed and science missions, test-flown new aircraft, and pushed forward plans for
Cleaner air is (inadvertently) harming the Great Barrier Reef
Air pollution is now recognized as one of the greatest threats to human health, contributing to an estimated 4.2 million premature deaths in 2019, according to the World Health Organization.
Earthquake sensors can hear space junk falling to Earth
Falling space junk is becoming a real-world hazard, and scientists have found a clever new way to track it using instruments already listening to the Earth itself. By tapping into networks of earthquake sensors, researchers can follow the sonic booms created when space debris
“Stars like the Sun don’t just stop shining,” but this one did
A distant Sun-like star suddenly went dark for months, stunning astronomers who quickly realized something massive was passing in front of it. Observations revealed a gigantic disk of gas and dust filled with vaporized metals, swirling around an unseen companion object. For the
Mining genomes for cyst nematode resistance could enable better soybean harvests
Soybean farmers around the world face a persistent and costly enemy hidden beneath the soil: soybean cyst nematode (SCN), a microscopic roundworm that attacks plant roots and drains yields. SCN is one of the most damaging pests affecting soybean production globally, resulting
Edison's 1879 bulb experiments may have unintentionally produced graphene
What do Thomas Edison and 2010 Nobel Prize in physics winners Konstantin Novoselov and Andre Geim have in common? According to a recent publication from the lab of Rice University's James Tour in ACS Nano, it could be graphene—an answer that might have confused Edison, who died
Why do onions and chips keep washing up on England's south coast? Here's the science
Over Christmas, vegetables, bananas and insulation foam washed up on beaches along England's southeast coast. They were from 16 containers spilled by the cargo ship Baltic Klipper in rough seas. In the new year, a further 24 containers fell from two vessels during Storm
General ad campaign for climate action receives more public engagement than tailored approach, study finds
Researchers investigating the effectiveness of outdoor ads promoting climate change awareness and action found that a general message of climate emergency awareness received more QR code scans compared to a more-specific campaign focusing on sustainable fashion, according to a
Why some messages are more convincing than others
What kinds of marketing messages are effective—and what makes people believe certain political slogans more than others? New research from the University of California San Diego Rady School of Management explores how people constantly evaluate whether messages are true or false
New nanoparticle technology offers hope for hard-to-treat diseases
A newly published Perspective article in Nature Nanotechnology details groundbreaking nanoparticle technology to eliminate harmful, disease-causing proteins in the body. The technology marks a transformative leap in the potential to drug "undruggable" proteins, to treat
