Continental aquatic ecosystems, such as lakes and reservoirs, occupy a small proportion of Earth's surface but play a significant role in the global carbon cycle. It is estimated that more than 40% of global methane emissions originate from these ecosystems. However, the true
An expedition led by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society in partnership with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has obtained the first close-up images of the wreck of Quest, the last ship of famed Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, in the Labrador Sea. The images
Imagine living in a home that you could simply pick up and move when extreme weather strikes. Instead of bricks and mortar, it's made from materials sourced from the local environment and, if weather conditions change, you pack it up and rebuild it in a safer location. That's
Astronomer David Kipping discusses why claims of extraterrestrial life keep dissolving under scrutiny, why we need a more statistically grounded approach to searching for life beyond Earth, and why it’s rational to believe that we may be alone. The post Will We Ever Find Alien
What makes people change their minds or their behavior? Social scientists spend a lot of time thinking about this question, and experiments are one of the most powerful ways to answer it.
An international study by scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has identified a fundamental mechanism that regulates how the body uses stored fat to produce energy.
Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan have developed gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO) nanosheets that may enhance camera resolution in compact devices, including smartphones and medical endoscopes.
Understanding inflammation—and, above all, how to regulate it—is one of the great medical challenges of modern medicine. Its role as the first line of defense is crucial. It occurs when the presence of infectious agents triggers an inflammatory response. As well as hindering
Underpinning much of modern technology, from smartphones to scanning tunneling microscopes to particle colliders, is Fermi's Golden Rule. Named for 20th-century Italian American physicist Enrico Fermi (but actually discovered by British physicist Paul Dirac), the rule is a
Phylo-Plex, a new computational method, has been developed by Wellcome Sanger Institute scientists and their collaborators to allow cost-effective and scalable DNA sequencing of pathogens in laboratories with limited resources. Published today (July 9) in Nature Communications,
About half a million samples are collected from over-50s in Scotland each year in a highly successful NHS program that significantly boosts early cancer detection. But only a tiny amount of the sent-in poo—mixed with fluid—is needed to test for traces of blood, and the rest is
Two studies of Neandertal remains suggest their newborns were about the same size as those of modern humans but developed faster through infancy.
Advanced magnetic memory and spintronic devices rely on the ability to control magnetic states using electricity. Today, such technologies work by manipulating relatively simple magnetic structures found in ferromagnets, where all the magnetic moments point the same way.
As a heat dome drives dangerous temperatures across much of the United States and renews concerns about extreme heat, USC researchers have developed a new, freely available AI tool that could help cities better understand one of their best defenses against rising temperatures:
More than 20 years ago, the Chinese government instituted the Scientific Outlook on Development (SOD) program, tying local leaders' job performance evaluations to environmental quality improvements. More than 350 river monitoring stations measured their success.
Astronomers have uncovered 31 of the oldest known quasars, including the two earliest ever detected, shining from a time when the universe was only about 670 million years old. Powered by supermassive black holes billions of times the Sun’s mass, these incredibly bright objects
New research reveals the unusual shape, size and pattern of the dermal denticles that cover basking sharks—thought to be unique to this species. Researchers propose that the shape and arrangement of the skin's scales protect the skin while also allowing for the stretchiness
New research identifies five distinct sleep subtypes, revealing links between brain patterns, behavior and health
The hunt for ancient life on Mars just got an important test run. Scientists confirmed that the Rosalind Franklin rover's sophisticated instrument can detect subtle differences in two stable molecules that could preserve evidence of past life for billions of years. But the team
Fossils of Spriggina floundersi provide the earliest evidence of animals favouring one side of the body over the other – a feature of nervous systems that we see in our own right- and left-handedness
Barcelona registered a maximum temperature of 40.7°C (105.3°F) on Wednesday, its highest figure in 112 years of records, weather agencies said as another heat wave struck Spain.
Western Europe this year experienced its hottest June on record as a searing heat wave swept across a continent facing increasingly frequent and intense heat extremes, the European Union's climate monitor said Thursday.
Taiwan's weather forecaster warned on Thursday of "destructive" winds as the biggest typhoon in years swept toward the island after pounding U.S. Pacific territories.
Scientists have uncovered what may be the earliest evidence of "right-handedness" in the animal kingdom, dating back more than half a billion years. The discovery comes from the fossil record of Spriggina floundersi, an organism from the Ediacaran Period that lived about 550
Tiny, invisible swirls and twirls—not much bigger than a coin—deep below the ocean's surface are silently shaping some of the biggest forces shaping our climate: sea level rise, fisheries collapse, extreme flooding and how much carbon dioxide the ocean absorbs.
The Artemis II astronauts reunited with their capsule Wednesday three months after flying around the moon and traveling deeper into space than anyone in history.
The young planetary system of the 23-million-year-old star Beta Pictoris (short: Beta Pic) is regarded as an iconic circumstellar dust disk, which hosts at least three giant gas planets. Discovered in 2008 by direct imaging, Beta Pic b is the most massive of those planets,
Scientists have rewritten the story of gallium after discovering that its unusual atomic bonds re-form at high temperatures, contradicting decades of accepted theory. The finding changes how researchers explain why the metal melts so easily and behaves unlike almost any other
Oak trees keep absorbing carbon dioxide long after their annual growth has ended, revealing that photosynthesis and wood production are not as closely linked as scientists once believed. The finding could reshape forecasts of how much carbon forests will be able to store in a
A surprising discovery is reshaping scientists' understanding of how humans develop sharp central vision before birth. Instead of blue cone cells migrating away from the retina's center, the study found they transform into red and green cones under the influence of vitamin
Poison control calls involving semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy) soared after the drug was approved for weight management, with researchers linking the increase to accidental dosing mistakes rather than intentional misuse. Simple education about proper weekly dosing and gradual
A study by the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) has highlighted the impact Varroa mites will have on crop pollination in Tasmania if the parasitic mites become established in the state. The study was prompted by the spread of Varroa on mainland Australia, which is
Scientists have created a silicon chip that can write dozens of DNA sequences simultaneously using electricity and water-based enzymes, offering a cleaner alternative to conventional DNA manufacturing. The breakthrough could eventually support portable DNA-writing devices and
Since the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the first case of New World screwworm (NWS) in the United States on June 3, pet owners and shelters alike have expressed concern about what this might mean for their animals. Because the larvae of the parasitic fly infest
Tiny silica nanoparticles engineered to seek out prostate cancer caused tumor cells to self-destruct and supercharged the immune system in preclinical mouse studies. Combined with immunotherapy, the treatment produced complete remissions in multiple mice, raising hopes for a
Spanish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector that use robots are more productive, especially those that have fewer workers and are less innovative. However, automation alone does not translate into an increase in exports. Companies' presence in
Cells sitting side by side in the same tissues are not identical. Each cell carries its own subtly different chemical signature—a hidden individuality that can reveal how diseases take root and spread. Now, researchers from the University of Osaka have developed a technique
A new quantum theory bridges two rival models of how impurities behave inside many-particle systems, resolving a problem that has challenged physicists for decades. The findings could reshape experiments on ultracold atoms, semiconductors, and other exotic forms of quantum
The University of Barcelona participated in a study that uses an unexpected change of government in Spain—the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) defeated the PP, against the odds, in the March 2004 general election—to examine whether changes in economic expectations
If you're looking for hydrogen on the elemental chart, it won't take you long to find it. It is right there at the beginning, the lightest possible material. One electron, one proton—that's it. Simple, minimalistic, the Marie Kondo of the elemental chart, but with enormous
Farmers are getting more tools in their toolbox, thanks to new research from the University of Missouri that shows how they can tweak planting practices to make the most of every acre.
If a liquid is cooled slowly to its freezing point, it becomes a crystal in which the constituent particles are arranged in an ordered pattern. In contrast, when the liquid is cooled very quickly, the particles are unable to arrange themselves in an ordered fashion, and it
For the first time, researchers have filmed the elusive goblin shark alive in the deep ocean where it naturally lives. The remarkable sightings greatly expand the shark's known range and depth, showing that this 125-million-year-old "living fossil" still has plenty of secrets
When it comes to managing your personal finances, you may want to stick with your accountant before turning to artificial intelligence, according to a new study from the University of Georgia.
A new scientific review outlines how satellites and other remote sensing technologies are increasingly shaping how biodiversity and ecosystem health can be monitored at scale—offering new opportunities for countries reporting under international nature targets, while also
Water’s odd behavior becomes even more dramatic when it is supercooled, but scientists have struggled to compare the many different ways of describing its microscopic structure. Researchers at the University of Osaka used an AI model trained on computer simulations to evaluate
A slowing Atlantic Ocean current is projected to intensify powerful storms in California while reducing snowfall over Greenland, according to a recent University of California, Riverside study. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) works like a giant conveyor
Microbiologists from Stellenbosch University in South Africa have discovered a previously unknown bacterial genus within the phylum Acidobacteriota. It is the first genus from this phylum to be described from Southern Africa.
A new Southwest Research Institute-led study proposes a solution to a longstanding puzzle in planetary science: What caused the concentration, assembly, and preservation of millimeter-sized, spherical mineral grains within the parent bodies of the most common meteorites? The
The daily movements of brown howler monkeys (Alouatta guariba) in the forest are determined by an interplay of environmental, behavioral and social factors. This is one of the conclusions of a study conducted in Brazil and published in the International Journal of Primatology.
