In 2017, a new global treaty was meant to bring mercury pollution under control. But three decades of data from UK harbor porpoises show mercury is still increasing, and is linked to a higher risk of dying from infectious disease.
Over the last two decades, homemade diets have seen a rise in popularity among dog owners. However, new research from the Dog Aging Project (DAP) reveals that most homemade diets are missing important nutrients that dogs need to lead healthy lives.
Let's get one thing out of the way: All hummingbirds fight. Most species fight for food, using their tiny bodies and sharp bills to force competitors away from flowers. But the green hermit hummingbird, which lives primarily in mountain forests of Central and South America,
Ancient Mars boasted abundant water, but the cold and dry conditions of today make liquid water on the Red Planet seem far less probable. However, the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) detected strong radar reflections from a 20-kilometer-wide
Cornell researchers have found that a new DNA sequencing technology can be used to study how transposons move within and bind to the genome. Transposons play critical roles in immune response, neurological function and genetic evolution, and implications of the finding include
A research team from Prof. Benjamin List's department at the Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung has solved a long-elusive riddle of chemistry: the synthesis of stable, open-chain amines that carry their chirality on nitrogen. This marks the first achievement of its kind,
The use of virtual reality (VR) is expanding across industries, but its large-scale application in educational settings has remained largely unexplored. As the technical capabilities and affordability of VR tools continue to improve, Waterloo researcher Dr. Ville Mäkelä is
Whether you're a home gardener or an industrial farmer, you might be familiar with mulching films—plastic sheets laid over the soil to protect seedlings and promote crop growth. But like many other plastic materials, these films can release damaging microplastics and don't have
Biomedical researchers at Texas A&M University may have discovered a way to stop or even reverse the decline of cellular energy production—a finding that could have revolutionary effects across medicine.
A new pilot study led by researchers from King's College London, the Lambeth Services Users Council and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine reveals that people experiencing homelessness in South London face stigma and discrimination across multiple public and
Who owns the rainforest—and who has the right to use it—might seem like a simple question.
Researchers at Clarkson University have discovered a new way to destroy "forever chemicals," known as PFAS, using only stainless steel ball milling equipment. The method does not need added chemicals, heat, or solvents.
Around the world, girls are challenging gender norms in creative, courageous and often overlooked ways—but the risks are high, a report says.
When Old Town High School Math Teacher Kristen Thompson uses TriO—a virtual reality environment developed by researchers at the University of Maine—she envisions a scenario that every teacher dreams about for their students: constant collaboration.
These five early- and mid-career researchers are shaking up what we know about the Arctic, black holes and beyond.
Satellite mega-constellations are quickly becoming the backbone of a number of industries. Cellular communication, GPS, weather monitoring and more are now, at least in part, reliant on the networks of thousands of satellites cruising by in low Earth orbit. But, as these
Scientists at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University, have discovered how a gene-regulating protein forms tiny liquid-like droplets inside the cell nucleus (the compartment that stores and manages DNA) to guard against cancer. Their study, published
A new study, called the MENCALLHELP2 project, has explored the content, nature and characteristics of call data received by the Men's Aid Ireland national helpline service over one calendar year (2022)
When environmental policymakers are invited to imagine the future together, they don't just think differently, they feel differently, too.
UNC researchers discovered how a key step in cell signaling works by showing exactly how G proteins detach from receptors that many common medicines target.
A Washington State University research team is working to create an artificial cartilage that is similar to natural cartilage with a recipe that can be corrected along the way.
Researchers have uncovered how successful chromosome segregation during sexual reproduction is achieved in plants. The discovery, by scientists led by the University of Leicester, could be beneficial for both plant breeding and understanding human fertility.
Although existing CRISPR-Cas-based imaging methods can target endogenous genomic sequences, their applications are limited by system complexity and sensitivity, particularly when imaging non-repetitive loci, performing multi-locus visualization, or working with primary cells.
Higher yields, greater resilience to climatic changes or diseases—the demands on crop plants are constantly growing. To address these challenges, researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) are developing new methods in genetic engineering.
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have achieved a breakthrough in quantum noise characterization in quantum systems—a key step toward reliably managing errors in quantum computing.
Dancing loggerhead hatchlings reveal a secret of their impressive navigational skills The post Feeling Magnetism Helps These Little Sea Turtles Find Food appeared first on Nautilus .
In nature, it is not usual for animals to be deceptive, as evolution has typically favored communication that benefits both the sender and receiver by conveying reliable information. But, there are exceptions, particularly when the "lie" leads to beneficial mating or survival.
With a spotlight on the Brazilian Amazon, where agriculture drives a significant chunk of deforestation and planet-warming emissions, many of the activists, scientists and government leaders at United Nations climate talks have a beef. They want more to be done to transform the
Expectations of continued success for American science were shaken this year when the Trump administration cut billions of dollars in funding and fired thousands of scientists.
NASA's Europa Clipper captured this image of a starfield—and the planet Uranus—on Nov. 5, 2025, while experimenting with one of its two stellar reference units. These star-tracking cameras are used for maintaining spacecraft orientation. Within the camera's field of
The reed leafhopper (Pentastiridius leporinus) was originally a specialist, limited exclusively to reed grass as a food source. Within a few years, however, it developed into a dangerous pest that attacks not only reed grass but also sugar beets, potatoes, carrots, and onions.
A German-French team of physicists from TU Dortmund University, University of Würzburg, and Le Mans Université has succeeded in launching shear hypersound pulses with exceptionally large amplitudes in metal halide perovskites using pulsed optical excitation.
The distant universe might be littered with supermassive stars between 1000 and 10,000 times the mass of the sun, which could solve a cosmic mystery about the origins of extremely large black holes
EU researchers are exploring how Europe's film industry is taking a different path from Hollywood, focusing on cultural diversity, collaboration and storytelling to boost global competitiveness and cultural influence.
Descriptive set theorists study the niche mathematics of infinity. Now, they’ve shown that their problems can be rewritten in the concrete language of algorithms. The post A New Bridge Links the Strange Math of Infinity to Computer Science first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Some people may worry about being bitten by a snake or spider, but have you ever considered what would happen if a small black hole tried to pass through your body?
The American Museum of Natural History’s “Impact: The End of the Age of the Dinosaurs” examines how an asteroid impact shaped life as we know it.
Why do some earthquakes release more energy than others? A research team led by Prof. Dr. Armin Dielforder from the University of Greifswald has managed to demonstrate a clear physical connection between the energy released during earthquakes and the strength of rocks deep in
A new count of Vermont's bee species has identified nine species not previously reported in the Green Mountain State, bringing the total number of species in Vermont to 352, more than any northern New England state.
When conditions get too dry, Madagascar hissing cockroaches like to "cuddle." Under certain conditions, the large insects gather in groups, with many participants in physical contact with one another. According to recent research from Binghamton University's Biological Sciences
There are few technologies more fundamental to modern life than the ability to control light with precision. From fiber-optic communications to quantum sensors, the manipulation of photons underpins much of our digital infrastructure. Yet one capability has remained
As a result of climate change, rising sea levels are threatening low-lying coastal areas around the world, such as the Wadden Sea in the North Sea. Tidal basins form a natural protective barrier there. They connect the mainland with the offshore islands. They fill with seawater
For experimental physicists, the latest measurement of the muon is the best of times. For theorists there's still work to do.
Spinning vortices of water trapped under the Thwaites glacier ice shelf account for 20 per cent of the ice melt. They’re expected to get worse as the world warms
Skin is a barrier meant to keep small invaders out. Products making their way across it should boost that mission.
Around 1000 markings on a slab of rock that was once a seafloor during the Cretaceous period may have been made by sea turtle flippers and swiftly buried by an earthquake
The explosiveness of a volcanic eruption depends on how many gas bubbles form in the magma—and when. Until now, it was thought that gas bubbles were formed primarily when the ambient pressure dropped while the magma was rising.
In 1882, the French Naturalist Camille Viguier was among the first to propose the existence of a magnetic sense. His speculation proved correct. Many animals—from bats, to migratory birds and sea turtles use the Earth's magnetic field to navigate.
Islamophobia in Western Europe is driven far more by anti-immigrant nativism and authoritarian attitudes than by religious belief, new research from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) shows.
Solve the math puzzle from our December 2025 issue, in which a holiday gift exchange occurs.
