You have probably performed a sandwich assay before, even if you didn't know it. Sandwich assays are the molecular sensing technology behind lateral flow tests like the at-home COVID test. After a sample is dripped onto the test strip, it combines with detector antibodies
Accurate fish-weight estimates can help aquaculture operators manage feeding, monitor growth and plan harvests. However, conventional underwater imaging methods often require substantial computing power and can struggle with reflections, bubbles and turbid water.
Exposure to toxic metals like cadmium has been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as miscarriage, preterm birth and low birth weight. Because these effects are difficult and ethically challenging to study directly in pregnant women, how such exposures affect
Doing more with less has become standard operating procedure for many in the current economic climate. And for some in the wake of France's 1998 workweek reduction, it was in response to a reform that's still being debated today.
High losses of honeybee colonies, which play a crucial role in global food production, have caused concern around the world. Many potential factors for the population declines have been cited, but a potentially significant threat to pollinator health—environmental antibiotic
In the first fraction of a second following the Big Bang, matter existed as a trillion-degree plasma of quarks and gluons—subatomic particles that zinged around at close to the speed of light. This roiling soup lasted for just a few microseconds before the particles coalesced
In an Amsterdam prison during the Nazi occupation, Sal Bramson drew his cell on pieces of cotton cloth. He added handwritten explanations and sent these messages to his mother, concealed inside a shirt collar among the prison laundry. The cloth could travel because it passed as
As offshore wind development expands along the U.S. Atlantic Coast, understanding its potential effects on marine ecosystems is increasingly important.
Iron Age people were on the move The post Ancient DNA May Reveal the Surprising Roots of English and Other Germanic Languages appeared first on Nautilus .
For devout leaf peepers, timing is everything. A new study led by researchers from Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment shows that leaf nutrient levels affect the onset of fall color. The findings, published in Nature Communications, could improve leaf drop
How we feel about taking a break from our screens could tell us something important about the way we behave online, according to new research from the University of Bath and Goethe University Frankfurt. Researchers have developed the first validated scale specifically designed
Around 450 million metric tons of plastics are produced worldwide each year. The major share of this sheer volume is used only once and then winds up in an incinerator or in landfills. This also applies to so-called polyolefins, which include polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene
Listening to someone recount their visit to an amusement park can feel like being on an emotional roller coaster yourself. Even if the listeners have never set foot in the park, they can still empathize with the other person's feelings: the deep disappointment when it turns out
People are often asked simple questions, such as the price of the cheapest flight to a particular destination. But the answers—and how they are perceived—can reveal far more than the cost of that trip itself. For example, whether a person believes that the response "It's $200"
Investigating a scientific question is often a complex process. As an astrophysicist studying some of the most energetic phenomena in the universe, I know that finding answers requires much more than reading scientific papers or understanding existing theories. Astrophysical
You can even make it at home The post Switching to This Healthier Version of Salt Could Save Around 3 Million Lives a Year appeared first on Nautilus .
Researchers at Tohoku University and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) have successfully controlled a unique quantum phenomenon—the quantum-geometric nonlinear Hall (QgNLH) state—using electric current for the first time. The breakthrough was achieved by revealing and
A new biomechanical study has uncovered how elite volleyball players control ball spin during jump serves, offering fresh scientific insight into one of the sport's most decisive offensive skills.
Detecting a single photon is a challenge in itself. But what if you also want to know exactly how many photons arrive at a particular point at the same time? Physicist Erik Baalbergen is working on light detectors that can do just that. They form a key building block for the
Climate change is affecting not only our weather but also the distribution of parasites and the diseases they can carry. One example is the growing presence of Hyalomma ticks in parts of Europe where they were previously uncommon. These ticks are of particular interest because
Antarctic blue whales appear to be creeping back from the brink of extinction after 50 years of protection. A new study estimates the total population at 4,018, up from 418 after the last reported whale catch in 1973.
Octopuses are extraordinarily versatile. From walking across the seabed on their eight arms to jetting through the water, manipulating tools and squeezing through unimaginably tight spaces, the flexibility of octopuses almost defies belief. "Octopuses can change their body
A conversation with comparative cognition researcher Edward Wasserman about learning and the “edge of chaos” The post The Evolutionary Arc From Pigeon Brains to Machine Consciousness appeared first on Nautilus .
In the lab, octopuses used specific moves to slip arms and a bulbous body through tiny holes. The finding could inspire new body plans for soft robots.
A group of genes may give some fire ants an advantage, increasing their chances of growing larger and potentially becoming queens, according to a new study from the University of Georgia.
If you want to see how private schools in the U.K. can reinforce segregation between children of different social classes, the London Borough of Southwark provides a good example.
An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus that nearly wiped out an Illinois farmer's backyard flock also spread to a domestic cat and wild rats on the farm, an analysis of the animals by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
A newly published study is changing our understanding of how the protein talin functions at sites where cells attach to their surroundings. The findings uncover a previously unknown mechanism by which mechanical force regulates talin, a key protein controlling cell adhesion and
The clocks have gone back, and suddenly getting dressed feels more difficult. The coat you wore constantly last winter is still hanging in the closet, but it no longer looks quite how you remember. The boots you loved in February don't seem to go with anything, while a sweater
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image provides a lesson in galactic history. The sparkling collection of stars is named Messier 30 (M30) after the French astronomer Charles Messier, who cataloged M30 and other diffuse objects that might be mistaken for comets in the early
How do cells respond to drugs? A new microscopy technique could provide more precise answers to this question in the future. Researchers from Bielefeld University and the University of Vienna have developed a method as part of the European CHEM-SCAN project that makes the
There is magic in the traditional songs of the Awajún, an Indigenous people of northern Peruvian Amazonia. Otago linguist Dr. Simon Overall has been visiting this area for over 20 years and explains what gives these songs their powers.
Research published in the journal Ecology analyzed 12 years of records from a population of degus in central Chile, revealing that these endemic rodents managed to withstand nearly a decade of megadrought but disappeared locally following the extreme drought of 2019.
Ancient Maya communities made extensive use of liquid mercury and a red, mercury-containing pigment called cinnabar to decorate buildings, pottery and burial sites. Unsurprisingly, as previous research has shown, this led to mercury contamination of soils and reservoirs at some
A research team led by Professor Yang Dong from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in collaboration with Dalian Jiaotong University, has developed a synergistic additive strategy for large-area slot-die coating of
New high-resolution speleothem records from China and India, together with isotope-enabled climate models, show that abrupt glacial ocean circulation recoveries took centuries, not decades—a finding with important implications for how we assess future Atlantic circulation
Hair dyes help people express style and cover gray hair but often contain skin-irritating chemicals.
Over the past 100,000 years, hooved mammals that migrate have experienced a higher rate of extinction compared to nonmigratory species, according to a study being published Nov. 5 in the journal PLOS Biology by Joel Abraham at Princeton University, U.S., and colleagues.
Cannabis is one of the most commonly used psychoactive plants today. However, it is difficult to determine archaeologically how cannabis was used in prehistoric times. Plant parts such as flowers, leaves and resins are perishable and therefore rarely survive. It is known that
Researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, Boston Children's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School (HMS) have developed FIND, a drug discovery platform that searches large libraries for molecules that modulate binding interactions between two proteins. FIND uses
With gravity's effects mitigated, atoms orbiting Earth on China’s space station reached about 10 trillionths of a kelvin.
Take a ride with the spectral cavalcade The post Oldest Evidence of Human Cannabis Use Has a Ghoulish Twist appeared first on Nautilus .
New findings from a Siberian tomb offer the earliest direct evidence for human marijuana use
A previously unrecognized weakness in the immune defenses against certain blood neoplasms could offer a promising target for future treatments. Researchers have discovered that natural killer cells, which normally help the body eliminate malignant cells, remain remarkably
Nanographenes with up to eight helicene units can now be selectively synthesized using a two-step process. Researchers from Science Tokyo have developed a strategy to synthesize multi-helical nanographenes containing up to eight helicene units with controlled handedness.
Researchers at the University of East London (UEL) have developed a new framework for assessing earthquake risks, using AI-assisted technology to examine how soil conditions, ground shaking and structural strength influence a building's ability to withstand seismic activity.
When did you last blink? Every few seconds, we briefly close our eyes, interrupting our view of the world. Most of the time, we do not notice. What is more, these brief interruptions hardly seem to interfere with our everyday activities.
The lining in traditional disposable coffee cups can release plastic particles and be difficult to recycle, but a new plant-based coating can eliminate these issues with your morning brew.
The PREMIER project, a public-private European consortium of research organizations (like Radboud University) and international pharmaceutical companies, has launched a new database to support the environmental risk assessment (ERA) of human pharmaceuticals. The data is
Researchers Dr. Shayma El-Atawneh and professor Amiram Goldblum at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a new computational framework that identified 92 promising candidates for future sugar substitutes from more than 50 million chemical compounds. The study,
