From satellite imagery to clandestine price reports, a new study draws on North Korea to explore economic activity in opaque regimes and information-scarce regions. North Korea is the blackest of economic black holes. Even a basic question like "is the economy shrinking or
Ever feel uncomfortable when a payment screen asks for a tip? We sure have. As tipping prompts become more widespread, more consumers are feeling uneasy or frustrated, but not always sure why.
Radar data from an agricultural area in South Africa, shown in a vivid color palette, reveal crop types and how they changed during the Southern Hemisphere's growing season.
Professional learning and student assessment in schools is set to be transformed, thanks to a first of its kind advance in education technology led by the University of Glasgow.
As General Dwight D. Eisenhower prepared for D-Day, he needed a forecast. The new movie Pressure shows the tense make-or-break weather prediction that led to the successful invasion of Europe that spelled the beginning of the end of World War II
Their lithium gave them away The post These Stars Swallowed Their Earth-like Planets appeared first on Nautilus .
Understanding the dynamics of how water moves is deceptively simple in concept and endlessly complex in practice. Real-world marine environments are anything but controlled: weather, seasons, and geography change constantly. Yet understanding water movement is a critical aspect
New research reveals a potential link between the gut microbes of a fish and global ocean processes, offering new insight into how marine ecosystems help regulate ocean chemistry and the marine carbon cycle. The study, titled "Symbiotic bacteria may support calcium carbonate
For nearly a century, there were two known kinds of magnets. Ferromagnets are the classic magnets that attract metal and keep pictures stuck to the refrigerator. Antiferromagnets hide their magnetism at the atomic scale but are increasingly prized for their technological
Bright colors in animals are beautiful but often considered risky because they are more obvious to predators. However, conspicuous colors can also serve defensively, signaling toxicity or even luring predators away from more vulnerable body parts.
When viruses invade a plant, you might expect an all-out immune war. But new research published in Science shows that, much like in humans, too strong an immune response can actually do more harm than good.
Gas streetlights might look quaint, but researchers at the University of Cincinnati say they are costly, wasteful and release toxic pollutants into the air. In two studies examining their use in Boston, Massachusetts, and Cincinnati, UC researchers found that each lamp releases
Researchers at the University of Toronto's Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, working with collaborators around the world, have demonstrated the effectiveness of a suite of low-cost, portable biotechnology tools designed to improve access to laboratory research and diagnostics in
Pretty tough to be a fish 70 million years ago The post Nightmarish Heron-like Dinosaur Unearthed in Patagonia appeared first on Nautilus .
The synthesis of materials can serve as a tool for developing smart, adaptive electrocatalysts. This rapidly evolving field of research involves in-situ analytics, data-driven discoveries and autonomous robotics. These new approaches could accelerate the discovery of
There's a conundrum that has perplexed biologists since Charles Darwin himself. Why do some exotic species take off as invasive pests while others don't?
A new study published in Physical Review Letters by the IceCube Collaboration reports evidence that the energy spectrum of astrophysical neutrinos is not a simple straight line.
Commercial marketing oriented toward sustainability is not compatible with degrowth, even when it promotes consuming less. That is the conclusion of a study by ICTA-UAB and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
University of Calgary researchers are a part of a group who just got one step closer to solving a mystery of the universe. Dr. Timothy Friesen, Ph.D., an associate professor of Physics and Astronomy in the Faculty of Science, and his team led a new measurement comparing the
For decades, ecologists have theorized that the extinction of one important species could set off a chain reaction of losses throughout an ecosystem. Now, new research offers some of the clearest real-world evidence that this idea of coextinction is not just theoretical.
The once-majestic oak tree is all but dead: battered by repeated heat waves, it has shut down vital functions to conserve water and is slowly dying in a French forest.
The red pipefish (Notiocampus ruber) is a rare relative of seahorses and seadragons found only in Australia.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is assessing damage to its launch pad after a rocket exploded during a test firing, creating a giant orange fireball seen and felt for miles around.
Sitting at the northwestern edge of North America, Alaska stretches across a vast Arctic land of wilderness, culture, and wealth beneath the surface. Among its resources is the Donlin Gold deposit, located in southwestern Alaska's Kuskokwim River basin. As one of the world's
It's tricky to make an exact copy of yourself. Or at least it is for cells undergoing mitosis, where cells replicate everything inside of them, including their neatly packaged DNA, then split in half. Rice University professor Peter Wolynes is interested in how the packaged
Diminutive wrens go big The post How a Tiny Bird Might Tell the Tale of Island Giants appeared first on Nautilus .
Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after spending nearly seven months in space, setting a record for the longest on-orbit stay by a Chinese crew.
Past research has indicated Mars's largest northern basin, Utopia Planitia, was once the location of a large body of water, but details surrounding when this body of water may have existed have not been resolved. Researchers have now identified a ring of minerals in the region
Which comes first, the galaxy or the black hole? We don't know, but scientists have long thought it could be the galaxy: Large stars within an existing galaxy consume their fuel and collapse to form black holes, which can gobble up surrounding material and merge over time to
The summer of 2021 was one for the record books as the now-infamous "heat dome" settled over the Pacific Northwest from late June through early July, resulting in triple-digit temperatures and hundreds of deaths.
According to a mathematical model of how people weigh up different outcomes, the optimal strategy is to be ambitious, but not overly so
Orangutans have one of the slowest life histories among mammals, and a new study now shows just how long orangutan mothers continue to breastfeed their offspring. An international team has demonstrated that wild orangutan juveniles keep consuming their mother's milk
As climate change intensifies drought conditions across the Southwest, researchers at The University of New Mexico are examining how agricultural water is used in one of New Mexico's most critical river systems.
A new international study published in Nature Geoscience reveals that dark brown carbon from wildfires exerts a powerful warming effect on the global climate—potentially matching or even exceeding that of black carbon in the visible spectrum.
Think about a census. You could photograph every house in the country and produce a beautiful map, but without knocking on doors and asking questions, you'd know almost nothing about the people living in them.
A mathematician found the most efficient way to fold paper into a doughnutlike shape.
New-generation GLP-1 drugs, such as retatrutide, are achieving higher rates of weight loss. How much weight is too much and too fast to lose?
Scientists at Stanford may have uncovered a hidden reason our brains decline with age. Studying the ultra-short-lived turquoise killifish, researchers discovered that the cellular machinery responsible for building proteins begins to jam and malfunction over time. Tiny
Over the past two decades, right-wing ideology has become associated with less trust in medicine—and poorer health The post How Right-Wing Politics Make You Physically Ill appeared first on Nautilus .
The latest flight of the New Glenn rocket was meant to prepare Blue Origin for a series of NASA-funded lunar voyages. Instead it ended before it began
A decades-old mystery about Saturn has finally been solved thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope. Scientists discovered that Saturn’s changing “rotation rate” was never caused by the planet speeding up or slowing down, but by powerful winds high in its atmosphere. Webb’s
Do we need quantum computers to fully understand complex chemical reactions? A new result, decades in the making, shows the surprising power of ordinary “classical” machines. The post Key Chemistry Question Answered, No Quantum Computer Required first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Using cannabis edibles and alcohol together may make drivers far more impaired than either substance alone, according to new research from Johns Hopkins. Even more concerning, common field sobriety tests often failed to detect the cannabis-related impairment.
Quantum Backrooms is a horror game in which the player explores eerie rooms. The twist is that the rooms have been generated by a quantum computer
Unseasonably hot weather in Europe has already claimed at least 18 lives. And history shows more are likely on the way
The debate could reopen in 2030 when NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft gets the closest view of the icy moon’s surface.
Scientists have discovered Labrujasuchus expectatus, a bizarre crocodile relative that looked more like an ostrich-like dinosaur than anything resembling a modern crocodile. It walked on two legs, had tiny arms, and sported a toothless beak—an unexpected combination for a
A newly discovered raptor-like dinosaur from Patagonia is changing how scientists think about ancient predators. Named Kank australis, the 70-million-year-old dinosaur appears to have hunted fish much like modern herons, using a long, flexible neck and specialized vertebrae
We're increasingly prioritising our own needs over those of the wider community, which may be causing us to love our partners less intensely
Bacteria created using mirror images of natural biomolecules would pose a grave threat to life on Earth, some researchers warn, but a new study suggests they would struggle to survive in the wild
