A new study led by the University of Oxford has found evidence that kissing evolved in the common ancestor of humans and other large apes around 21 million years ago, and that Neanderthals likely engaged in kissing too. The findings are published in Evolution and Human Behavior.
A low-fat vegan diet is associated with a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) and cumulative energy demand (CED) compared to the Standard American Diet, according to research by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine published in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers gain a hi-def view of galactic activity with an assist from a deep-learning surrogate The post New AI Model Captures the Milky Way in Stunning Detail appeared first on Nautilus .
Chronic wasting disease, a prion protein disease that is fatal in elk, deer, and other cervids, has spread rapidly across the United States since it was first identified in 1967. CWD has now reached Idaho near the Oregon border, causing concern for the Columbian white-tailed
Out on his farm in Dundee Township, Cliff McConville sees geese landing in the fields where his turkeys and chickens graze. It's a sight that often unnerves poultry producers, as migratory waterfowl carry and spread a highly infectious strain of bird flu that has been resurging
Anchorage-dependent cells are cells that require physical attachment to a solid surface, such as a culture dish, to survive, grow, and reproduce. In the biomedical industry, and others, having the ability to culture these cells is crucial, but current techniques used to
For decades, scientists have been baffled by two enormous, enigmatic structures buried deep inside Earth with features so vast and unusual that they defy conventional models of planetary evolution.
The international LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration has completed the fourth observation campaign (called O4) of the international network of gravitational wave detectors. Launched in May 2023, the campaign ends after a period of coordinated observations lasting over two years,
Human influence across centuries continues to define biodiversity and carbon storage in the world's largest rainforest, according to a new international study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences led by the University of Amsterdam and Florida Tech.
A slender glass fiber no thicker than a human hair placed across a particle beam could improve accelerator monitoring. A team is testing the use of hollow-core optical fibers to measure the profile and position of the beams extracted from the Super Proton Synchrotron, CERN's
Water levels are creeping upward on shorelines across the world, and decision-making systems are not keeping up. One barrier to including sea level rise projections in adaptation plans is limited information on the full range of possible outcomes.
But a lab-grown sauce can help The post Kale Isn’t the Superfood You Thought appeared first on Nautilus .
Seawalls and other unyielding structures meant to keep rising waters at bay and to protect against storm surges can cause other significant harm to the coast, often by disrupting natural processes and accelerating erosion. The gap between protection and preservation might be
About 5,000 years ago, people living in what is now Iran began extracting copper from rock by processing ore, an activity known as smelting. This monumental shift gave them a powerful new technology and may have marked the birth of metallurgy. Soon after, people in different
Simple items like hay feeders, giant rubber activity balls and shatter-proof mirrors can improve the health and welfare of stabled animals while also reducing frustration behaviors, according to University of California, Davis, research published in the journal Animals.
Researchers from the Plant Genetics team of the Regional Service for Agri-Food Research and Development of the Principality of Asturias (Serida) have just published the first version of the genome of the Faba Granja Asturiana variety. This advance is key for the genetic
For Jude Kastens, who grew up on a farm in northwest Kansas, rainfall was always serious business. Although flooding wasn't as big a problem in his hometown as in central and eastern Kansas, it was "always memorable" when heavy rain caused local streams to swell from their
In natural environments, bacteria rarely live as free-swimming cells but are attached to surfaces as biofilms in medical devices, mobile phones or human tissue. The bacterial behavior, how they attach and grow, group together or excrete compounds that glue the biofilm, is
If you enjoyed Beth Gardiner’s feature about big oil’s bet on plastics, here are more books curated by Scientific American
PFAS—short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—are currently the subject of numerous discussions and legislative proposals. Many of these so-called "forever chemicals" are harmful to human health and the environment. Since they can potentially remain in the environment for
Physicists from Swansea University have played the leading role in a scientific breakthrough at CERN, developing an innovative technique that increases the antihydrogen trapping rate by a factor of ten.
When current flows through a wire, it doesn't always have a perfect path. Tiny defects within the wire mean current must travel a more circuitous route, a problem for engineers and manufacturers seeking reliable equipment.
Scientists have delivered the most detailed assessment yet of a set of disputed lead books known as the Jordan codices. With debate centered on whether they could date back to the early Christian period, a study led by the University of Surrey's Ion Beam Center has now shed new
A 12,000-year-old depiction of a woman and a goose offers intriguing hints into the culture of early human settlements The post This Historic Figurine Unearths New Insights Into Ancient Spirituality appeared first on Nautilus .
All around us are elements forged in stars, from the nickel and copper in coins to the gold and silver in jewelry. Scientists have a good understanding of how these elements form: In many cases, a nucleus heavier than iron captures neutrons until one decays, turning it into a
Traveling on Africa's roads comes with many challenges. The biggest is arriving at your destination safely. The continent is one of the hotspots of global road trauma. Its traffic deaths account for about one-quarter of the global number of victims, despite having less than 4%
A long-standing debate in paleontology about whether the distinctive Neanderthal nose evolved purely for the cold weather may have finally been solved, and it's all thanks to an ancient, exceptionally preserved nasal cavity.
Teenagers all over the world use social media and messaging apps as part of their daily lives. This is accompanied by growing concerns about negative effects of social media on youth mental health—and ongoing debates around limiting screen time and access to digital devices.
Our search for exoplanets is focused on Milky Way stars. It's been successful, with more than 6,000 detected so far. Scientists are even beginning to move beyond mere detections, and working on characterizing other characteristics of these planets, especially their atmospheres.
All motion is relative. That simple fact makes tracking the motion of distant objects outside our galaxy particularly challenging. For example, there has been a debate among astronomers for decades about the path that one of our nearest neighbors, the Large Magellanic Cloud
In 2025, the Trump administration froze or ended about 5,300 NIH and NSF research grants totaling over $5 billion in unspent funds, a decision that reshaped many fields of science.
Everyday life on the internet is insecure. Hackers can break into bank accounts or steal digital identities. Driven by AI, attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Quantum cryptography promises more effective protection. It makes communication secure against
About 400 years ago, a cross between cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc gave birth to cabernet sauvignon. Today, cabernet sauvignon is the world's most-planted wine grape, dominating vineyards from Napa to Bordeaux. New research from the University of California, Davis, reveals
Nearly 36% of forcibly displaced adolescent girls and young women living in urban informal settlements in Kampala, Uganda, reported that their first sexual experience was nonconsensual—which, for many, marked the beginning of a cycle of sexual and physical violence perpetrated
Black student unions have been a vital part of many Black college students' lives for more than 60 years. But since 2024, Black student unions have lost their institutional support, campus space and funding with the rise of anti-diversity, equity and inclusion laws in Utah and
Since President Donald Trump took office for the second time, many researchers across academic disciplines have had their funding cut because of their purported ideological bias. These funding cuts were further exacerbated by the extensive 2025 government shutdown.
Rising energy costs consume a bigger and bigger chunk of family budgets in the United States. Our research has found that for many African American families, those costs take an extra big bite out of their incomes. This bite, the percentage of a household's income used to pay
A team led by Cleveland Clinic's Kenneth Merz, Ph.D., and IBM's Antonio Mezzacapo, Ph.D., is developing quantum computing methods to simulate and study supramolecular processes that guide how entire molecules interact with each other.
Northeastern University researchers used an original machine learning tool to predict how genetic mutations cause a rare metabolic disease known as OTC deficiency, uncovering some underlying biochemical mechanisms at play and laying the groundwork for future treatments.
A comprehensive UN report has found that cities and towns are home to 81 per cent of the world’s population, much more than previously thought
In recent weeks, at least 23 infants in the U.S. have been infected with botulism in an outbreak linked to ByHeart powdered infant formula
In most developing tissues, signals called morphogens act like lighthouses, guiding nearby cells toward their fate and telling them what to become. Each cell relies on such signals for organized structures like organs and limbs to form. But as Jean-Paul Vincent explains, "for
Vibrio bacteria are major pathogens in the aquaculture industry, triggering vibriosis—a disease that can cause mortality rates of up to 90% within two days. This not only results in billions of dollars in economic losses globally but also poses a threat to food safety through
We know—and love—the Turtle Rescue Team here at The Abstract. But their work isn't just limited to our shelled friends: snakes are sometimes visitors to the TRT as well. In a recent study published in the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, Greg Lewbart, professor of aquatic,
A new paper by evolutionary anthropologists Colin Shaw (University of Zurich) and Daniel Longman (Loughborough University) argues that modern life has outpaced human evolution. The study suggests that chronic stress and many modern health issues are the result of an
Optical quantum computers are gaining attention as a next-generation computing technology with high speed and scalability. However, accurately characterizing complex optical processes, where multiple optical modes interact to generate quantum entanglement, has been considered
A new paper by University of Rhode Island post-doctoral researchers Emily Sperou and Renato Borras-Chavez published in the journal Polar Biology discusses a unique phenomenon observed in a reclusive Antarctic animal: postmortem attentive behavior, or PAB, in the solitary
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, schools around the globe had to switch from regular, in-person classes to online learning overnight. This introduced numerous operational challenges, particularly in equipping students with quantitative skills essential for the labor
Determining the least expensive path for a new subway line underneath a metropolis like New York City is a colossal planning challenge—involving thousands of potential routes through hundreds of city blocks, each with uncertain construction costs. Conventional wisdom suggests
Metabolic engineering has enabled the construction of efficient microbial cell factories, but cellular aging and the accumulation of toxic metabolites during prolonged fed-batch fermentation induce metabolic stress, which ultimately reduces cell productivity. Extending cellular
