The criteria for finding an Earth-like planet unofficially comes down to two things: water and the habitable zone. But a phenomenon known as atmospheric escape often "escapes" the minds of many astronomy fans, and it turns out that atmospheric escape is one of the key
The central premise of the blockbuster film "Project Hail Mary" is a long-shot mission with a familiar goal: Save humanity from extinction. While the details of the threat facing humanity are new to this story, moviegoers are used to binging on popcorn while watching a heroic
It is widely accepted that learning English is essential for many adult migrants who move to the UK. Yet in the last census, over 1 million residents in England and Wales reported not speaking English well or at all.
Chicks, just like pets, also benefit from gentle human touch, new research has revealed. Scientists at the University of Bristol have discovered that gentle human interactions do not only prevent fear in baby chicks but also trigger positive emotions. The findings offer new
Fielding frantic faculty emails and panicked texts was not how I had hoped my 2025 would begin. Little did I imagine that my role as a research dean at a medical school would be taken over by navigating chaotic grant terminations and delays of federal research funding, all
In recent years, the Prairies have seen bigger swings in climate conditions—very wet years followed by very dry ones. That makes an already unpredictable landscape even harder to forecast, with real consequences for flood preparedness and water quality.
Men who generally perceive women through a negative lens tend to be the most likely to positively view the #tradwife movement, says the findings of the world's first study into men's attitudes surrounding the increasingly popular social media trend.
An international team of researchers built a highly sensitive quantum microscope and used it to directly observe, for the first time at room temperature, how electrons subtly interact with each other in graphene—confirming a decades-old theoretical prediction with remarkable
The astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen are preparing to launch into space on a trajectory that will make them the first humans to travel to the moon in over half a century.
This image captured by U.S.-Indian Earth satellite NISAR on Nov. 10, 2025, shows Washington's Mount Rainier. The image is cropped from a much larger swath spanning the Pacific Northwest on a cloudy day; NISAR's L-band SAR instrument is able to peer through the clouds at the
Wild animals are not just inhabitants of the natural world. Many also act as natural landscape engineers, reshaping Earth's surface as they burrow, feed, and build shelters that move soil and sediment across ecosystems. From animals disturbing riverbeds to burrowing species
Body cameras, satellites and digital verification tools are generating more evidence of violence than ever before. But the institutions responsible for delivering justice still decide what counts as evidence—and what does not.
Biomolecular condensates are tiny, droplet-like structures made up of molecules that help organize key processes in living organisms. Because they are so small and constantly changing, it has been difficult for scientists to measure their physical properties or control how they
While immigration is often blamed for the rise of populism, it was cost of living and male job dissatisfaction that played a major role in the European surge in support for populist politics a decade ago, according to a University of Cambridge social scientist.
A selectively bred carp strain is boosting productivity and profits across polyculture ponds in Bangladesh, improving overall pond performance in smallholder systems. A completed study shows that the third generation (G3) rohu, developed by WorldFish, grows 32.6% faster than
The next U.S. trip to the moon isn't about planting a flag. It's about learning how to live and work there. NASA has just reset its Artemis program, marking a clear strategic shift: Space exploration is moving away from a race to achieve milestones and toward a system built on
In a new study, Northwestern University neurobiologists discovered that gut bacteria and the nose work together to shape social behavior in mice, including who fights and who backs down. Using a combination of genetic and behavioral experiments, the scientists found gut
A flesh-eating parasitic fly has spread north through Mexico to within a few hundred miles of the U.S. southern border. The New World screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax) lays its eggs in open wounds and in the orifices of live, warm-blooded animals—including, occasionally,
The practice of states revising standards for how their schools teach history is developing a storied and often contentious history of its own. A University of Kansas scholar has published new research arguing that history standards are prone to overt politicization, and that
In physics, some waves behave in a surprising way: instead of spreading out and fading, they hold their shape as they travel at constant speeds. These unusual waves, called solitons, have interested scientists since they were first observed in canals in the 19th century. Today,
Scientists have uncovered an unexpected microbial relationship that could help explain differences in the severity of a major disease affecting common beans. The discovery sheds light on how the pathogen evolves and may point to new strategies for breeding disease-resistant
A research team led by Professor Jiwoong Yang of the Department of Energy Science and Engineering at DGIST has developed next-generation optical sensor technology capable of precisely detecting not only the intensity and wavelength of light but also its rotational direction—the
Here's a thought experiment. Imagine looking at Earth from a distant star system, armed with a powerful telescope capable of capturing its reflected light. Could you tell the planet was alive? The answer, remarkably, might be yes and the clue would come from the color of the
That doesn’t mean microplastics aren’t a problem, though The post Ordinary Lab Gloves May Have Skewed Microplastic Data appeared first on Nautilus .
A research team led by Potsdam-based bioinformatician Prof. Dr. Zoran Nikoloski has developed a computational approach and an accompanying tool that enables the detailed analysis and reconstruction of actin filamentous structures in plant cells. The tool, called the Graph of
Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have, for the first time, deciphered key steps in the biosynthetic mechanism of the potential anti-cancer agent fostriecin. The team led by Prof. Dr. Frank Hahn has succeeded in producing all enzymes involved in the process in the
Lurking in the depths of the ocean are countless species that have never been seen by humans before. As part of a project to name 1,000 of these unknown animals by 2030, 24 new species of deep-sea crustaceans have been discovered.
Novel marine mammal health surveillance can now detect deadly diseases in whales and dolphins in oceans, beaches and remote locations, thanks to new research from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The portable unit delivers results in about an hour, leading to faster
The space agency is targeting Wednesday, April 1 to launch a crew of four astronauts on a potentially record-breaking journey around the moon and back
People's political persuasions can have a significant influence on their initial response to a global health crisis, according to new research. But while they do tend to respond to guidance issued or followed by their political leaders of choice, the study showed that people's
A team at Helmholtz Munich and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has developed a new microscopy technique that can distinguish lipid species in living cells—in particular cholesterol and sphingomyelin—and map them without the need for chemical labeling. By combining
Amid the climate crisis and the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, hydrogen has emerged as one of the most promising energy sources for the transition to a low-carbon economy. When produced from renewable sources, it can serve as a clean fuel, strategic industrial
Is your houseplant thirsty? Are crops getting enough water? Is a forest at high risk of wildfire? Leaf health can answer all these questions, and researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed new technology to measure hydration levels with greater accuracy and
Scientists in the Riccio College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of California Santa Barbara have demonstrated key laser and ion trap components necessary to help drastically shrink the size of quantum computers, an achievement
A research team led by Professor Dr. Niels Gehring from the Institute for Genetics has shown that the coordinated interaction of three proteins plays a central role in nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). NMD is a mechanism in cells that destroys faulty RNA. Together, the
When Bella Astrofsky, who's poised to graduate in May with a bachelor's degree in journalism, began digging through 19th-century newspapers, she did not expect to help inform how historians understand the end of Reconstruction in the United States. As co-author of a recently
Bacteria are a major cause of infections and death in hospital settings, due—in part—to the rising incidence of antibiotic resistance. In the United States, antibiotic-resistant bacteria are involved in more than 2 million infections and cause 23,000 deaths annually. There's a
In September 2022, humanity crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid—on purpose. The objective of NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was to see if we could intentionally modify the orbit of Dimorphos, the small moonlet orbiting the larger asteroid Didymos. According to
In chemical processes for producing pharmaceuticals, catalysts are a core technology that determines production speed and cost. However, until now, there has been a trade-off between "precise but disposable catalysts" and "reusable catalysts." A KAIST research team has
In a demonstration that could help pave the way for gene therapies with fewer side effects, several human cell types have been genetically modified with protein nanoparticles designed at University of Michigan Engineering and Michigan Medicine. Gene therapy has been enormously
Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University have uncovered a previously unknown system of internal "trade winds" that help cells rapidly move essential proteins to the front of the cell, reshaping how researchers understand cell migration, cancer spread and wound healing.
Farmers have long debated which practices do the most to keep their soil healthy. Now, after pulling data from 21 long-term field trials scattered across the United States, a multi-state research team has found cover crop use comes on top.
The integrity of DNA and RNA is essential for every cell. DNA contains the genetic information for proteins, while RNA serves as a working copy of individual genes and is required for the synthesis of proteins. Unlike DNA mutations, RNA damage is not heritable. However, it does
It was a slow burn followed by a big bang The post How Did Evolution Come Up With So Many Squids? appeared first on Nautilus .
New research is significantly revising a widely cited evolutionary model, the Inhibitory Cascade Mode (ICM). Benjamin Auerbach, professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Charles Roseman, associate professor in
Scientists led by Sergey Troyanovsky, Ph.D., professor of Dermatology and of Cell and Developmental Biology, have uncovered new intracellular mechanisms promoting cell-cell adhesion, a process disrupted in a variety of skin and inflammatory diseases, according to a recent study
Quantum physicists at ANU have observed atoms entangled in motion. "It's really weird for us to think that this is how the universe works," says Dr. Sean Hodgman from the ANU Research School of Physics. "You can read about it in a textbook, but it's really weird to think that a
The striped dog-like marsupial we know as the Tasmanian tiger has long been surrounded by mystery, and the subject of scientific curiosity. Now, newly discovered rock art depicting Tasmanian tigers and Tasmanian devils in northern Australia is providing fresh insights into
Using zebrafish, researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University (OMU) have identified the tegmentum region in the fish midbrain as the area where light input from both the fish's eyes and the pineal organ—the "third eye"—is integrated. Their findings, published in the journal
A new study has revealed that improving the landscapes surrounding forest remnants can dramatically increase their ability to retain bird species—even when the forest fragments themselves are small or isolated. For decades, traditional ecological theory has treated isolated
