There is high global demand for critical metals, and many countries want to try extracting these sought-after metals from the seabed. An international study, which has discovered large numbers of new species at a depth of 4,000 meters, shows that such mining has less of a
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) such as ChatGPT has arrived in classrooms and sparked an intense debate about its role in education. These technologies raise the fundamental question of which human skills will still matter in the future.
Stars form in massive clouds of gas called molecular clouds. As they form, they accrete gas from these clouds, and as the stars rotate, gas and dust accumulates in a rotating disk around the star called a protoplanetary disk. As the name makes clear, this is where planets form
The microbe Pyrodictium abyssi is an archaeon—a member of what's known as the third domain of life—and an extremophile. It lives in deep-sea thermal vents, at temperatures above the boiling point of water, without light or oxygen, withstanding the enormous pressure at ocean
Inspired by the Japanese art of kirigami, a team of scientists from the University of Amsterdam have developed a material that can reflect different colors of light, depending on how it is stretched. The results were recently published in the journal ACS Photonics.
Though some might see video games as a distraction, a recent study from the University of Georgia suggests they can actually serve as a place to practice key science skills—with the help of some adorable cats, of course.
When ice melts into water, it happens quickly, with the transition from solid to liquid being immediate. However, very thin materials do not adhere to these rules. Instead, an unusual state between solid and liquid arises: the hexatic phase. Researchers at the University of
Tiny cameras threaded inside a Neandertal skull provide evidence that their big noses were not an adaptation to cold climates.
A new study by researchers at the University of Amsterdam shows how gravitational waves from black holes can be used to reveal the presence of dark matter and help determine its properties. The key is a new model, based on Einstein's theory of general relativity, that tracks in
While synchrotron radiation is often thought of as "stable," the electromagnetic field exhibits pronounced randomly fluctuating distributions both temporally and spatially. These fluctuations encode spatial information about the electron beam that produces the X-rays.
Researchers from the School of Physics at Wits University, working with collaborators from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, have demonstrated how quantum light can be engineered in space and time to create high-dimensional and multidimensional quantum states. Their work
A research team at Sejong University's Plant Immunity Laboratory, led by Professor Nam-Soo Jwa, has uncovered an important regulatory component of rice immunity.
Methanol is an ideal feedstock for bio-manufacturing. Converting it into lactate, a monomer for biodegradable plastic, offers a promising strategy for addressing the challenge of white pollution. However, it remains difficult to engineer microbes to produce lactate from
A curious seagull strolled nonchalantly through the penguin enclosure at a zoo in Paris.
A research team from the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has directly measured the masses of two highly unstable atomic nuclei, phosphorus-26 and sulfur-27. These precise measurements provide crucial information for determining the
Neutron stars are ultra-dense star remnants made up primarily of nucleons (i.e., protons and neutrons). Over the course of millions of years, these stars progressively cool down, radiating heat into space.
The fossil called "Medusa" could be a dinosaur mummy—the remains of an Edmontosaurus about 66 million years old that researchers believe contains a significant amount of skin and tendon tissue.
A partially successful test of China’s Zhuque-3 rocket shows that other countries are rapidly catching up with the U.S in the race for reusable rocketry
A next-generation drug tested in yeast was found to extend lifespan and slow aging by influencing a major growth-control pathway. Researchers also uncovered an unexpected role for agmatinases, enzymes that help keep this pathway in balance. Diet and gut microbes may affect
Is language core to thought, or a separate process? For 15 years, the neuroscientist Ev Fedorenko has gathered evidence of a language network in the human brain — and has found some parallels to LLMs. The post The Polyglot Neuroscientist Resolving How the Brain Parses Language
Regular consumption of polyphenol-rich foods like tea, coffee, berries, nuts, and whole grains may significantly support long-term heart health. A decade-long study of more than 3,100 adults found that those who consistently ate polyphenol-packed diets had healthier blood
A fossil only tells part of the story. When an animal's body is preserved as a fossil, there are often pieces missing, and even a perfectly preserved body doesn't tell the whole story of how that animal behaved, how it lived, and how it ultimately died.
By studying the genes responsible for the seahorse’s brood pouch, researchers uncovered a new route to “motherhood.”
Eldest sons step up financially, while eldest daughters take care of their parents: A new study from the University of Copenhagen shows how Korean siblings divide the responsibility of caring for their parents through the stages of widowhood.
The shift from warm summer to cool fall conditions can be stressful for many animals. Surviving each season requires a multitude of different physiological and behavioral traits that scientists are still working to understand.
A research team led by Professor Luo Shujin from the School of Life Sciences has uncovered a surprising chapter in the history of cats in China. Through ancient DNA sequencing of feline remains spanning more than 5,000 years, the team discovered that the animals living
Using NASA's Swift and Fermi space telescopes, Indian astronomers have conducted a long-term multiwavelength study of a nearby blazar designated TXS 0518+211. Results of the study, published Nov. 26 on the arXiv pre-print server, reveal the complex nature of this object.
RFK Jr’s vaccine advisory panel will be discussing the inclusion of adjuvants in childhood vaccinations today. Here’s what’s at stake
A researcher from the University of Tokyo and a U.S.-based structural engineer developed a new computational form-finding method that could change how architects and engineers design lightweight and free-form structures covering large spaces. The technique specifically helps
From legal challenges to lesser-known apps, the teenagers of Australia are already preparing to push back against a law that will see under 16s banned from social media
Encouraging a growth mindset and being more subtle about the pursuit of power and dominance are among the ways women might rise through the ranks in the workplace, according to a new model that maps women's pathways to influence.
You might think of Australia's arid center as a dry desert landscape devoid of aquatic life. But it's actually dotted with thousands of rock holes—natural rainwater reservoirs that act as little oases for tiny freshwater animals and plants when they hold water.
When people are feeling happy, they're more likely to see other people as happy. If they're feeling down, they tend to view other people as sad. But when dealing with dogs, this well-established psychological effect ceases to work as expected.
Fiber optics that connect the world can detect its earthquakes, too
There are many things people have love-hate relationships with in Britain and Ireland, from Brussels sprouts to cricket or sea swimming. Another item can now be added to this list: the reintroduction of lynx and wolves to the countryside.
In our topsy-turvy universe, sometimes the farther away an object is, the bigger it seems to be
A new study from University of Florida food economists has found that building dollar stores may create food deserts in specific city environments, while having no impact on grocery access when they enter other areas.
Journalist Marla Broadfoot discusses zuranolone, a drug that may help people whose postpartum depression hasn’t responded to traditional antidepressants.
Stanford researchers have become the first to demonstrate that machine-learning control can safely guide a robot aboard the ISS, laying the groundwork for more autonomous space missions.
A large study found that people with impaired kidneys tend to have higher Alzheimer’s biomarkers, yet they don’t face a higher overall risk of dementia. For those who already have elevated biomarkers, kidney problems may speed up when symptoms appear. The findings show that
Social justice must be at the heart of global restoration initiatives—and not "superficial" or "tokenistic"—if ecosystem degradation is to be addressed effectively, according to new research.
Income inequality is one of the most important measures of economic health, social justice and quality of life. More reliably trackable than wealth inequality, which was recently given a gloomy report card by the G20, income inequality is particularly relevant to immediate
Cedars-Sinai scientists have created a new experimental drug called TY1 that helps the body repair damaged DNA and restore injured tissue. The discovery came from studying tiny molecular messages released by heart cells that naturally support healing after injury. By
The relationship between emotions and the economy is real, especially for Latinx college graduates who carry upward of $25,000 in college loan debt.
The regulatory bodies charged with managing and conserving fisheries across two-thirds of the world's oceans are threatening marine ecosystems by significantly underperforming, according to an analysis published in Environmental Research Letters.
The Mediterranean's first sanctuary for dolphins that have lived in captivity will open off Italy next year, as demand for re-homing rises with the closure of marine parks across Europe.
The spots gave it away. Just like a human fingerprint, the rosette pattern on each jaguar is unique so researchers knew they had a new animal on their hands after reviewing images captured by a remote camera in southern Arizona.
On a jagged coastline in Central California, brown pelicans gather on rock promontories, packed in like edgy commuters as they take flight to feed on a vast school of fish just offshore. The water churns in whitecaps as the big-billed birds plunge beneath the surface in search
Kyushu University scientists have achieved a major leap in fuel cell technology by enabling efficient proton transport at just 300°C. Their scandium-doped oxide materials create a wide, soft pathway that lets protons move rapidly without clogging the crystal lattice. This
Researchers engineered a strained germanium layer on silicon that allows charge to move faster than in any silicon-compatible material to date. This record mobility could lead to chips that run cooler, faster, and with dramatically lower energy consumption. The discovery also