New minuscule fossils of Purgatorius, the earliest-known relative of all primates—including humans—have been unearthed in a more southern region of North America than ever before, and the breakthrough is providing paleontologists with fresh clues about evolution. The work
Wildfires are among the most economically costly natural disasters and are becoming more severe and frequent due to global warming. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction estimates that global damage from wildfires was on average $106 billion per year between
To operate fusion systems safely and reliably, scientists need to monitor plasma fuel conditions and measure properties like temperature and density that can affect fusion reactions. Making these measurements requires specialized sensors known as diagnostics.
Chemists from St. Petersburg University has developed a new family of luminescent iridium complexes that, for the first time, realize a unique mechanism of photoactivated proton transfer. In the future, this discovery will potentially allow for the creation of a fundamentally
Currently, Australia is the only continent in the world still free from the highly contagious H5 bird flu. But that status faces an ongoing threat.
As digitalization drives banks to shutter more retail branches, the disappearance of these brick-and-mortar facilities has been found to be a significant factor behind the scourge of online scams and identity theft. The causal link, reported in a novel investigation by a trio
In the summer of 2023, something happened that engineers had talked about for decades but few genuinely expected to see in their lifetimes. SpaceX's Starship, a stainless steel tower taller than a 30-story building, lit its 33 engines simultaneously and lifted off from the
A newly published study from the University of Guam sheds light on a tiny but powerful ally in the soil and how it could help Guam farmers and growers protect their crops naturally. Published on Dec. 11, 2025, in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science, the study was conducted
Strange things happen to materials when you peel them down, layer by layer, from thick chunks all the way to sheets just an atom thick. Reporting in the journal Nature Materials, a team led by physicists at The University of Texas at Austin has experimentally demonstrated a
An international group of researchers have investigated the role of memory in quantum systems and dynamics. Their findings show that a quantum process can appear memoryless from one perspective while retaining memory from another. The discovery opens new research avenues into
A Florida State University chemist has developed a method to rapidly assemble significantly complex natural molecules with potential for biomedical applications, opening the door for novel drug therapies based on the molecule's structure. James Frederich, the Warner Herz
February 2026 has seen thousands of dead seabirds washing up along the coastlines of the UK, France, Spain and Portugal. There's evidence that these "wrecks" (where large numbers of seabirds are found along beaches) are becoming increasingly common because of climate change.
During their search for food, most insects head specifically for the flowers that promise the highest reward. But how do they know which ones to choose? Researchers from the University of Konstanz and the University of Würzburg have now studied how bumblebees process
Using future climate scenarios based on wildfire damages in North America, scientists estimate that up to 10,000 or more lives may be saved annually in the United States if society is able to mitigate climate change by keeping the global mean surface temperature (GMST) at 1.5
How do you keep a copper catalyst from losing its oomph? Just add a dusting of platinum, says a new study published in Nature Materials. A team of researchers, including scientists at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, investigated a class of metal
No "sticky ends"? No problem. A new study by NYU chemists finds that DNA tiles can assemble into 3D structures without the sticky cohesion of hydrogen bonding. This finding, published in Nature Communications, turns a fundamental paradigm in the field of DNA self-assembly on
In many countries, austerity is a hard sell. Loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) can provide economic stabilization and financial support for developing countries—with conditions. Recipients typically need to restructure their economies, moving away from public
In 2022, a Russian whale researcher made a remarkable discovery on Bering Island off Russia's Pacific coast: a severed killer whale fin marked with the teeth of another killer whale. In 2024, it happened again. The two finds were two kilometers apart.
Porpoises are entirely dependent on their hearing for survival. They navigate, hunt, and communicate by emitting rapid click sounds and listening to the returning echoes. However, with increasingly noisy oceans, it is getting harder for porpoises to "hear their way." Noise from
In their piece, published in Nature Human Behaviour, IIASA Distinguished Emeritus Research Scholar Wolfgang Lutz and IIASA Senior Researcher Guillaume Marois, who is also an associate professor at the Asian Demographic Research Institute of the Shanghai University, respond to
A research team led by a Keele scientist has shed new light on how a mysterious rock formation in Oman was created, which could reveal new details about Earth's ability to store carbon dioxide (CO2). The study, led by Dr. Elliot Carter in Keele's School of Life Sciences, in
The Florida Everglades is a complicated climate actor. The 1.5-million-acre wetland system remains a carbon sink, removing an average of 13.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year, but the system also releases methane. In a new study, Yale School
For the past two decades, scientists have wondered about a bright, distinct striped pattern seen in radio waves emanating from the Crab Pulsar, the remnant of a supernova observed by Chinese and Japanese astronomers in the year 1054.
Protected natural areas across Europe are changing. Climate change, with rising temperatures and heavy rainfall, is turbocharging the growth of shrubs and trees, choking the flowers and insects that need the light and heat of open spaces. Traditionally, this scenario prompts
Viruses such as human norovirus can travel in vesicles, small fluid-filled sacs that are like shipping containers for cells. Viruses hidden in these containers are often harder to detect and may be more infectious than free-floating viral material. In addition, their prevalence
A study examining fossil evidence shows that large land predators were already hunting big plant-eating animals more than 280 million years ago. University of Toronto Mississauga researchers Jordan M. Young, Tea Maho, and Robert Reisz studied bite marks on the skeletons of
Social media users consider it "normal" to encounter online hate speech on social media and see it as part of the online environment. In certain contexts, they find it more normal than in others; for example, when it concerns prominent figures such as policymakers and content
Atmospheric rivers carry unfathomable amounts of water across the sky, bringing moisture to drought-stricken regions like the Western U.S. But whether a particular incoming atmospheric river storm will result in disastrous flooding has long been difficult for researchers to
I have always been interested in how people make decisions under uncertainty—especially decisions about safety. But it was not until I began studying housing conditions and disaster risk that I realized how deeply our built environment shapes not just what we do, but what we
In a world where increasing demands for food security and energy strain existing resources, scientists are looking for new ways to maximize both. One potential option, agrivoltaics, integrates solar photovoltaics with crops. A study examines the agricultural and economic
Chinese researchers have developed a photocatalytic membrane reactor that dramatically improves the synthesis of imines—a class of compounds essential to the production of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and advanced synthetic materials. Characterized by their C=N bond, imines
Scientists have discovered a key biological safeguard that helps one of nature's most impressive regenerators, the planarian flatworm, correctly rebuild its organs. The new research, published in Nature Communications, illuminates how these animals prevent their powerful stem
In a study published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, researchers from National Taiwan University report that a seemingly solid, nonporous organic crystal can undergo dramatic structural and mechanical transformations when gently heated.
Scientists from The Australian National University (ANU) and the Taronga Conservation Society Australia have successfully restored the lost traditional song of one of Australia's most endangered birds, offering new hope for the survival of the critically endangered regent
These days, Gen Z appears to be pivoting toward skilled trades, perhaps driven by a desire for "AI-proof" job security. Many young workers now view blue-collar careers as more stable than office jobs in the face of rapid change.
Scientists have designed nanoagents that act like smart drug-delivery capsules—carrying an antibiotic deep into bacterial infection sites and releasing it only when activated by gentle ultrasound. Delivering antibiotics locally, directly to the site of an infection, is
Estimating a mass for a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) is perhaps the single most important thing to understand about it, after its trajectory. Actually doing so isn't easy though, as the mass for objects in the tens to hundreds of kilometers in size are too small to have
“People often overestimate how harshly others judge their minor social mistakes” The post Laughing Off Your Mistakes Makes You Seem More Competent appeared first on Nautilus .
Research recently published in the journal Information Systems Research finds that giving low-wage workers access to their earned wages before payday can significantly increase saving behavior, financial monitoring and long-term planning. The study found that On-demand Wage
A study from the Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA) has uncovered a theoretical mechanism showing how the electronic band structures of strongly correlated insulators can be reshaped by spin and charge perturbations, opening up new possibilities for
Air pollution causes millions of premature deaths worldwide each year, with fine particulate matter (PM2.5) identified as a major culprit. In response, countries from Ireland to China have promoted low-smoke or smokeless fuels as a clean alternative to traditional bituminous
For over 20 million years, the landscape of Europe has been a tree-rich mosaic of grasslands, scrubs and more or less open woodlands with an abundance of wildflowers. This is the conclusion of a new and comprehensive study of Europe's vegetation history—a study that suggests
Employees who are impressed by vague corporate-speak like "synergistic leadership," or "growth-hacking paradigms" may struggle with practical decision-making, a new Cornell study reveals. Published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, research by cognitive
Atomically thin semiconductors such as tungsten disulfide (WS2) are promising materials for future photonic technologies. Despite being only a single layer of atoms thick, they host tightly bound excitons—pairs of electrons and holes that interact strongly with light—and can
"Glass" has a unique and distinct meaning in physics—one that refers not just to the transparent material we associate with window glass. Instead, it refers to any system that looks solid but is not in true equilibrium and continues to change extremely slowly over time.
Bones broken in a skiing accident usually heal on their own. But if the break is too severe or a bone tumor needs to be removed, surgeons insert an implant that enables the bone to grow back together. Implants often consist of pieces of the patient's own bone, known as
Multiphoton microscopy is used in biomedical research to study cells and tissues. Today, so-called two-photon microscopy is used to study processes within cells, but the technique has limitations in terms of image resolution. Four-photon microscopy provides images with higher
Physicists and chemists at Heidelberg University have realized a photonic microchip that is driven by light just as easily as electronic components via a "plug." Their development could serve as the basis for fast and cost-effective production of photonic integrated systems
The newly described species went mislabeled for years The post New Jellyfish Species Gets Its Michelin Star Moment appeared first on Nautilus .
The earliest stage of drug discovery is governed by a simple constraint: there are far more possible drug-like molecules than any pharmaceutical laboratory could ever test. A new deep learning system, reported in the International Journal of Reasoning-based Intelligent Systems,
