Picture a spacecraft returning to Earth after a long journey. The vehicle slams into the planet's atmosphere at roughly 17,000 miles per hour. A shockwave erupts. Molecules in the air are ripped apart, forming a plasma—a gas made of charged particles that can reach tens of
When snow blankets the landscape, it may seem like life slows down. But beneath the surface, an entire world of activity is unfolding.
New research reveals complex attitudes about prosocial lies The post When Liars Are Perceived as More Moral appeared first on Nautilus .
Plastic pollution is causing severe problems worldwide. However, negotiations at the United Nations in Geneva last August did not result in the expected global plastics treaty. On 7 February 2026, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution will
Mexican long-nosed bats have a taste for agave, their tongues designed to lap up the famous desert plant's nectar during nightly flights. It's not just a means of satisfying taste buds. It's a matter of fueling up for an arduous journey.
NASA said Tuesday its next crew rotation to the International Space Station could be delayed after SpaceX announced it was grounding flights of its Falcon 9 rocket to investigate an unspecified issue.
Imagine enjoying a tasty dinner alone at home—you may freely indulge without worrying about others. Now imagine sharing the same meal with friends or colleagues: depending on the social context, you may find yourself eating more carefully, adapting your food choices,
In late January, the gold price reached an all-time peak of around US $5,500 (£4,025). January 30 saw one of the largest one-day falls in prices, which sank by nearly 10% after hitting a record high only the day before.
Gigantic black holes lurk at the center of virtually every galaxy, including ours, but we've lacked a precise picture of what impact they have on their surroundings. However, a University of Chicago-led group of scientists has used data from a recently launched satellite to
Math anxiety is a significant challenge for students worldwide. While personalized support is widely recognized as the most effective way to address it, many teachers struggle to deliver this level of support at scale within busy classrooms. New research from Adelaide
Fish across Britain's seas face ever-smaller meals as warmer seas and commercial fishing squeeze ocean food webs, new research suggests. Research by the University of Essex and the UK Government's Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) found strains
Last autumn, a UK government report warned that climate-driven ecosystem collapse could lead to food shortages, mass migration, political extremism and even nuclear conflict. The report was never officially launched.
Restitution debates—the questions of whether a cultural object should be returned from a museum or other collection to a person or community—often begin with a deceptively simple question: Who owns an object?
To unleash your imagination, step out of the light The post Let There Be Dark appeared first on Nautilus .
A swarm of small earthquakes within the Karoo Basin in South Africa has revealed a critically stressed fault that could be perturbed by potential shale gas exploration in the area, according to a new report. The analysis by Benjamin Whitehead of the University of Cape Town and
“It’s like we have recreated a little bit of the universe in a bottle in our lab” The post Grad Student Homebrews Cosmic Dust in the Lab appeared first on Nautilus .
Where starlight doesn't reach, new things are born: For the first time, an international research team has directly measured the effect of cosmic radiation in a cold molecular cloud. The observation shows how charged high-energy particles influence the gas in these lightless
Before the opening bell ever rings on a company's initial public offerings, some of the executives may already be sitting on a quiet windfall.
An international research team led by the University of Bremen has detected chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in Earth's atmosphere for the first time in historical measurements from 1951—20 years earlier than previously known. This surprising glimpse into the past was made possible
UCLA researchers have developed a mineral sunscreen formulation that significantly reduces the white, chalky cast that keeps many people from wearing sun protection daily. For decades, dermatologists have urged people to apply sunscreen daily to protect against ultraviolet
For the first time, physicists in China have virtually eliminated the friction felt between two surfaces at scales visible to the naked eye. In demonstrating "structural superlubricity," the team, led by Quanshui Zheng at Tsinghua University, have resolved a long-standing
California's most devastating wildfire—the 2018 Camp Fire, which killed 85 and destroyed nearly 19,000 structures—forced nearly half of all residents living within designated fire perimeters to relocate within a year.
While pilots are flying in a VR simulation, their brainwave patterns can be fed into an AI model that assesses how challenging they are finding a task and adjusts the difficulty accordingly
Can a single particle have a temperature? It may seem impossible with our standard understanding of temperature, but columnist Jacklin Kwan finds that it’s not exactly ruled out in the quantum realm
These parasitic beetle larvae lure in bees with complex floral aromas before hitching a ride back to their nests and eating their eggs.
Experts have sounded the alarm over NASA’s decision to use a heat shield design for Artemis II that may be riskier than the space agency claims
Some mammals hibernate to survive in winter, but the Eurasian common shrew (Sorex araneus) employs Dehnel's phenomenon to get through it. This is a metabolic process that enables shrews to conserve energy by shrinking their brain and other energy-consuming organs. In the
For generations, farmers have spent backbreaking hours tearing down and rebuilding fences just to move livestock to fresh grazing fields. Now, thanks to a groundbreaking project at the University of Missouri's Center for Regenerative Agriculture, that chore is becoming a thing
Plants fix 258 billion tons of CO2 in their chloroplasts through photosynthesis every year. For these cell organelles to work properly, they require certain minerals—particularly ions of the metals iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn). Disruptions of ion
New research sheds light on the mysterious underwater structure The post How the “Atlantic Grand Canyon” Came to Exist appeared first on Nautilus .
Mantle plumes beneath volcanic hotspots, like Hawaii, Iceland, and the Galapagos, seem to be anchored into a large structure within the core-mantle boundary (CMB). A new study, published in Science Advances, takes a deeper dive into the structure under Hawaii using P- and
Physicists have long categorized every elementary particle in our three-dimensional universe as being either a boson or a fermion—the former category mostly capturing force carriers like photons, the latter including the building blocks of everyday matter like electrons,
In 2023, a subatomic particle called a neutrino crashed into Earth with such a high amount of energy that it should have been impossible. In fact, there are no known sources anywhere in the universe capable of producing such energy—100,000 times more than the highest-energy
Four astronauts preparing for an extended stay in space have started quarantine as they get ready for their next big mission.
Watching the Winter Olympics is an adrenaline rush as athletes fly down snow-covered ski slopes, luge tracks and over the ice at breakneck speeds and with grace.
Some dogs are seemingly more talented than others. So-called gifted word learners (GWL) are rare canines that can rapidly learn the names of toys, a skill that most dogs don't possess. To understand why this is so, researchers studied how these dogs played and discovered that
Studies from the Department of Communication and Learning in Science show that AI tools such as ChatGPT are not merely being used as support in students' studies. In fact, they may be reshaping how students perceive knowledge and learning—a perspective that is not always shared
Imagine a world where fresh vegetables and herbs sprout in the heart of our cities without the need for sprawling farms. Hydroponics—a method of growing plants without soil—uses a nutrient-rich water solution instead of earth and is useful in areas where soil quality is poor,
The fastest land animal in North America is the American pronghorn, and previously, researchers thought it evolved its speed because of pressure from the now-extinct American cheetah. But recently, that theory has come under fire. Now, a University of Michigan study examining
Millions of tires, old washing machines, barges, warships, covering the ocean floor with thousands of square kilometers of concrete—even giant, concrete spheres full of holes: these are all things used to build artificial reefs. Advocates of artificial reefs say they are needed
City council public comment periods may focus on local issues, such as housing and public services. But new research from the University of Michigan shows they also serve as powerful forums for expressing broader societal concerns, including democracy, equity and social
Scientists at the University of California, Irvine have discovered that climate change is causing nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting substance, to break down in the atmosphere more quickly than previously thought, introducing significant uncertainty into
The brutally frigid weather that has gripped most of America for the past 11 days is not unprecedented. It just feels that way.
NASA said Tuesday it is pushing back to March the launch of its first crewed flyby mission to the moon in more than half a century after encountering a fuel leak during a key test.
John Martinis has already revolutionised quantum computing twice. Now, he is working on another radical rethink of the technology that could deliver machines with unrivalled capabilities
The mushrooms spread out on the chopping board seemed normal enough. They were rich and dense, and had a strong earthy aroma. In the saucepan, they melted—along with the cheese—to form a creamy pasta sauce.
Kemp's ridley sea turtles are among the most endangered species of sea turtles in the world. They reside along the east and Gulf coasts of North America, alongside some of the world's most active shipping lanes. While the threats from fishing, pollution, and vessel collisions
Arctic sea ice has large effects on the global climate. By cooling the planet, Arctic ice impacts ocean circulation, atmospheric patterns, and extreme weather conditions, even outside the Arctic region. However, climate change has led to its rapid decline, and being able to
A new study finds that humans and AI spot different kinds of deepfakes — hinting at the need to team up to fight them.
As Valentine's Day approaches, finding the perfect words to express your feelings for that special someone can seem like a daunting task—so much so that you may feel tempted to ask ChatGPT for an assist.
