How and where did the first forms of life arise? These are the main questions driving research at the Institute of Molecular Evolution at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU). In a new publication in Science Advances, an international team led by Düsseldorf biologists
Inspired by naturally occurring mats and balls of seaweed, researchers have created highly porous, superadhesive meshes capable of capturing both large and small microplastic particles—a longstanding challenge in the field. The mesh can clean microplastics from both saltwater
One-fourth of people who undergo an extraordinary experience report immediate discomfort, but more than half say the experience caused positive long-term effects, according to a study published Aug. 5, 2026, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Ronald Fischer of Instituto
A research team led by Professor Hitoshi Yamamoto of Rissho University analyzed five years of longitudinal panel survey data collected between 2020 and 2024 and examined how vaccine-related conspiracy beliefs were associated with media skepticism during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Watersheds that are flatter, drier and warmer are generally more vulnerable to increases in flooding after trees are harvested. Those with greater variation in elevation spread runoff out over time, reducing flood peaks.
Newborn German cockroaches use pheromones in cockroach feces to identify members of their own colony and form a kind of social bond, a discovery that could be used to improve pest control efforts.
As trees disappear from urban neighborhoods, lives may be lost with them. In a new study, Northwestern University scientists tracked death rates and fluctuations in tree canopy cover across an 11-year period in Chicago. They found that areas experiencing greater losses in tree
Babies start out life helpless and stay that way for a long time. They cannot walk, feed themselves or survive without an adult's continued care. Our dependency timeline has no clear parallel elsewhere in the animal kingdom.
Disarticulated bones found scattered across a luxurious Roman villa on England's Isle of Wight may be evidence of a massacre carried out during a brutal political purge in the fourth century, a new study in Britannia suggests.
You might think of rockets as powerful vehicles that blast astronaut crews and robotic missions into space. But what if they could be used to send cargo from one side of Earth to the other in a fraction of the time it would take a plane? The company SpaceX recently announced a
Severe storms, heat waves and wildfires can shut down the social life of a community, flooding out festivals, canceling community events and keeping people indoors.
Researchers at the University of Bayreuth, together with colleagues from Freie Universität Berlin and the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, have developed a synthetic fiber system inspired by the cellular cytoskeleton that protects itself through controlled
Cells can switch off genes by tightly packaging DNA around proteins called histones. However, scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered that under certain conditions, this packaging acts more like molasses than a solid, allowing a specially designed
In South Africa, it's been legal for several years for people to grow hemp (a type of Cannabis sativa with very low levels of the psychoactive compound THC) for personal use following changes to the law. There's also been a growing interest in its medicinal and industrial
New research from Rutgers University–Newark psychologist Kent Harber reveals a strong connection between conspiracy theories, antisemitic attitudes and hostility toward Israel.
As climate change causes water scarcity and temperatures to rise, crops around the world are feeling the heat. How can we prevent severe crop losses in these relentlessly sweltering conditions? An international research team led by Tohoku University has identified a new class
Astronomy meets 19th-century art The post This Image from the Dark Energy Camera Is a Bit Van Gogh, No? appeared first on Nautilus .
New research is helping biologists understand how an overlooked aspect of coral physiology may affect their fate under climate change. The post Corals Spin Tiny Vortices to Get Oxygen, but Not if It’s Too Hot first appeared on Quanta Magazine
New University of Georgia research suggests that social media could influence people's travel plans. The paper is published in the journal Current Issues in Tourism.
A piece of a SpaceX rocket weighing four tonnes (4.4 tons) was believed to have unintentionally crashed into the moon on Wednesday, a collision that posed no danger to Earth but is expected to leave behind a lunar crater.
Matt Walker couldn't pet a dog without sneezing—until he and other scientists used a gene editing technique to produce a hypoallergenic beagle named Bailey.
Most of the world’s population carries at least a little Neanderthal DNA
One in 7,000 people carry this gene mutation
Fires in the Arctic are not solely a regional issue, as shown by the hazy skies in Switzerland last summer despite otherwise sunny weather. Smoke from major fires in northern Canada crossed the Atlantic and reached Europe. Until now, large-scale studies of Arctic tundra fires
Can a crack be supersonic? Can the fracture that triggers an avalanche propagate faster than the limiting velocity predicted by classical fracture mechanics? The question remains the subject of debate within the scientific community. While some numerical and experimental
Living among large predatory carnivores could actually make you safer. A study published in the journal Current Biology found that pumas—wild cats also known as mountain lions, cougars or panthers—change deer behavior, leading to fewer collisions with cars on roadways. In areas
Virginia Tech chemist and chemical engineer Guoliang "Greg" Liu and his lab have developed a process that converts the plastic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into polyalphaolefin, a key component in lubricants such as engine oil. Published Aug. 5 in the journal Nature, the research
Researchers from the U.S. National Science Foundation National Solar Observatory (NSF NSO), the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany, and the High Altitude Observatory (HAO) in the U.S. have made a discovery in solar physics. New images of the sun's
Scientists have finally seen a long-predicted motion on the sun, and it may help explain explosive solar activity.
Strange whirlpools of plasma seen in the sharpest images ever captured of our star help explain the deep origins of Earth-threatening space weather and more
Are you regular swole? Or neanderthal swole? The post People With This Neanderthal Hormone Receptor Have More Muscle Mass appeared first on Nautilus .
Mountain lions (also known as cougars or pumas) make roads safer by scaring deer and elk that can cause collisions with cars into more remote areas
A new white paper released by experts at the UTS Business School highlights the risks businesses face if they ignore growing scientific evidence and consumer awareness of the dangers posed by microplastics.
From routine surgeries to cancer treatment, modern medicine depends on drugs that can fight infections caused by microbes such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. But some microbes are becoming resistant to the drugs used to treat them, which has wide-reaching
A rare fossil discovered near South America's largest known meteorite crater has been named a new species. Initially mistaken for a frog by locals, Leolepis matogrossensis is actually a species of ancient ray-finned fish—the group that includes 96% of all bony fishes living
Ultrasound is a powerful way to drive chemical reactions. When high-frequency sound waves pass through a liquid, tiny bubbles form and then violently collapse in a process called acoustic cavitation. During this collapse, gas particles are forced together, creating temperatures
Soilless farming—a method of growing plants in a nutrient-rich solution rather than traditional soil—accounts for a significant share of vegetable production, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), with more than half of tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce grown
Dinosaurs are famous for being big, from the towering Tyrannosaurus rex to the colossal Apatosaurus. But a new study published today in the journal Evolution by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History and Princeton University suggests that one of the greatest
There are plenty of teensy animals—just not dinosaurs The post Here’s Why There Aren’t Any Tiny Dinosaurs appeared first on Nautilus .
Researchers from Skoltech, SberUniversity, the M.N. Mikheev Institute of Metal Physics of UB RAS and Ural Federal University have published a review of a novel approach to interpreting chemical bonding in solids. The method not only describes crystals in terms of precise
The effects of climate change extend far beyond rising temperatures. As forests and other vegetation respond to a warming world, they also change the amount of biogenic emissions released into the atmosphere, influencing the formation of ozone (O3) and fine particulate
A new study suggests the sounds around us have a significant impact on how we feel about physical spaces, with natural sounds—such as birdsong—associated with a greater sense of attachment to a given place. The study draws on data from a large-scale participatory science
Researchers injected mice with a protein derived from frogs to save them from the same kind of shellfish poisoning that affects people.
The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has now spread from migratory birds to infect resident Australian birds. Clusters of dead birds have been found in several locations. The virus will inevitably infect other wildlife, most notably mammals.
A simple change in posture may subtly affect how people feel and make decisions. Participants who sat upright reported greater feelings of pride and took more successful risks in a virtual balloon game than those who hunched over. Most did not realize researchers had influenced
Australia is now confronting an outbreak of a deadly bird flu strain. As of Monday, the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus had been detected in 78 wild birds across mainland Australia. Until now, there had been no evidence of a large-scale outbreak.
A group of brain cells called orexin neurons appears to help us keep working when reaching a reward becomes increasingly difficult. Blocking their activity weakened motivation in rats, pointing to a possible new target for understanding why people sometimes struggle to sustain
Venus may be overwhelmingly inhospitable today, but many planetary scientists believe that it wasn't always this way. Billions of years ago, some observational evidence suggested that our planetary neighbor may have looked far more like Earth, complete with oceans potentially
Imagine spotting a butterfly species in your garden that you have never seen before. You might take a photo and upload it to a citizen science app or tell a local nature group about your new encounter. It feels like a small moment of joy.
A paleontological leap thanks to the unusual fossilization in crude oil The post A New Toad Species Emerges from the La Brea Tar Pits appeared first on Nautilus .
