Universities and biodiversity institutes have hidden treasures: their collections of pressed plant specimens. These plants have been flattened, dried and mounted on special cardboard sheets. Some were collected centuries ago. They hold information about where species occur and
Spreading finely crushed basalt across farmland has been promoted as a relatively simple way to remove large quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But a new study led by Cornell researchers suggests the real-world potential of this method, known as enhanced
Cooperation is a double-edged sword The post How We Decide Who Deserves Our Help appeared first on Nautilus .
Researchers have discovered a thermal asymmetry deep beneath the surface across Mars' southern hemisphere. Based on gravitational measurements that provide clues to the Red Planet's interior structure, Mars' southern interior is around 200 to 400 degrees Celsius warmer than the
Florida gets a lot of attention for its sinkholes, especially when they swallow cars and entire houses. But its sinkhole risk has nothing on Alaska's.
Researchers affiliated with UTHealth Houston, competing under the team name Novamab AI, placed among the top five teams in the international AIntibody Challenge, a blinded, prospective benchmark published in Nature Biotechnology.
Water stored in dams and reservoirs for humans to use often evaporates, especially in hot regions like southern Africa. Rising temperatures speed up evaporation, leaving less water for people, farming and industry. Daniel Kwasi Kpeglo has just completed a Ph.D. in physics. He
An international study led by researchers at the George Washington University indicates clear global evidence that permafrost is thawing across much of the planet. Using more than two decades of field observations from 156 monitoring sites across the Arctic, Antarctic and
Artificial intelligence could help evaluate climate protection projects more effectively and channel funding more precisely to where it is needed. Nevertheless, banks and insurance companies in Ghana have so far made very little use of the technology. A new study conducted at
The majority of plant seeds have the special ability to almost completely dry out and yet remain viable. While most living cells die with a 90% loss of water, cells in seeds enter a biological state of dormancy. With a moisture content of less than 10%—similar to a raisin
Restless nights may be the new normal as the globe cooks The post How the Heat is Messing with Your Sleep appeared first on Nautilus .
The use of fossil fuels alters both the concentration and the carbon isotope composition of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Since surface water exchanges carbon dioxide with the atmosphere, this also alters the isotopic composition of the carbon dissolved in the ocean. In a
As climate change makes extreme weather more frequent and intense, floods, heat waves, droughts, wildfires and storms are increasingly disrupting roads, railways, airports and waterways. Roads have been closed in Germany during this summer's heat waves, for example, while
When it comes to invading healthy cells, Legionella bacteria rely on blending in rather than breaking in. New research from Van Andel Institute scientists demonstrates how a protein produced by Legionella mimics the behavior of the host cell's own proteins. This mechanism
The reality of sexual violence against older women is an issue that remains significantly underreported and misrepresented in Australia. Almost 50 sexual assaults occur every week in aged care. Sexual assault against older women is commonly perpetrated by intimate partners or
The Roman Space Telescope is designed to directly image exoplanets using complex optomechanical systems developed by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Since we cannot look into the interiors of stars and planets, we rely on lab experiments to replicate the physical processes that occur there. Led by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), an international research team has produced the first experimental
Can DNA traces in just two liters (0.5 gallons) of water reveal how a river's biodiversity changes over the course of a year? A study by the University of Duisburg-Essen using the River Lippe as an example shows how biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems can be monitored
Anyone traveling by train across Europe spends a surprisingly large portion of the trip not on a moving train. Today, about 25% of travel time is spent on transfers and layovers at train stations because of poorly coordinated timetables.
Efficiently controlling heat generation has become a major challenge as the semiconductors used in smartphones, computers and similar devices have become higher-performing and more miniaturized. The way heat is transmitted is determined by the vibration of the atoms that
Capuchin monkeys hunt prey when fruits and vegetables become scarce, potentially mirroring the habits of human ancestors, according to a study published in PLOS One by Susana Carvalho (Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique), Noemi Spagnoletti (Sapienza University of Rome, Italy)
New research by Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) shows that globally, up to 560 million children ages 0–9 (43% of all children in this age group) experience at least one additional month (30 or more days) of heat stress per year because of human-induced climate change. This
Are organizations ready for plant-based food at work? A new study from the University of Copenhagen explores this question and shows that only a small proportion of workplaces in Denmark are ready for this change—despite its potential to reduce the climate footprint of
Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have shown that making extremely small changes to the structure of a material can dramatically improve its ability to respond to electrical signals. Published recently in Science Advances, the breakthrough could help create a new
They live in some of the most inaccessible waters on Earth, where ocean temperatures hover around freezing. Because they move through areas that humans rarely reach, they have been able to help researchers with a special task.
Capuchins hunt and eat small vertebrates more often as plant foods wane. The behavior may help us learn more about humans’ early dietary evolution.
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have identified a potential new target to prevent the spread of Chagas disease. The parasitic infection is transmitted through the bite of the kissing bug in Central and South America and, more recently, in the United States.
Soil is the foundation of our food supply. It stores water, carbon and nutrients and is home to a large share of the world's biodiversity. More than half of global biodiversity is estimated to live below ground. Yet biodiversity, and with it soil health, is declining worldwide,
The singer/songwriter leaves a scientific legacy more should aspire to The post Dolly Parton: Science Icon appeared first on Nautilus .
Saturn's moon Enceladus sports a thick shell of ice surrounding a liquid water ocean. As though scraped by an enormous claw, four parallel cracks slash across its south pole. Each about 500 meters (1,600 feet) deep, 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) across and 130 kilometers (81 miles)
Microplastics are turning up almost everywhere—from oceans and rivers to soils and sediments—yet far less is known about what happens when they enter freshwater wetlands. Often overlooked in favor of marine and coastal environments, wetlands can act as both pathways and traps
It might not yet be the phenomenon that is Wordle, but for hundreds of thousands of players, Digit Party has scratched the itch of a casual brain teaser to break up their day.
In the Lac Télé Community Reserve, a vast tropical peatland in Africa's Congo Basin that is home to about 20,000 people, the forces of climate change and globalization are hitting residents hard. The seasonal floods upon which village communities have long relied are arriving
As of August 2026, the world is bracing for what forecasters describe as one of the strongest El Niño events on record. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center has put the chance of a very strong event this fall and winter
Historian Jill Lepore explains what tech leaders miss in their favorite stories—and why the fight over AI data centers may be where the machine stops
The sights and sounds of the Jurassic era are long gone, and we will never know for sure what that ancient world looked and sounded like. Fossils can offer clues, and reconstructions can give us a sense of the noises some animals might have made. Now scientists have turned
When you look at someone, you usually look at their face. It serves as one of the most important sources of social information in primates, so the evolution of face perception has attracted considerable scientific attention. While an abundance of this research has centered on
New research from the University of Nottingham has found that gambling brands were visible in 32% of Premier League soccer highlight footage, compared with less than 2% of FIFA World Cup highlights, raising questions about viewers' exposure to gambling marketing.
Lakes play an important role in capturing and storing carbon, which accumulates in their sediments. But the amounts they can absorb have varied considerably over time. Jean-François Lapierre, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Université de Montréal, is
A research team from Tel Aviv University and the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (IPF), led by Ayala Lampel and Carsten Werner, has developed a peptide-glycosaminoglycan hydrogel system that creates a programmable niche for hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells
Scientists have developed a new acoustic levitation technique using an ultrasonic beam capable of levitating and moving small objects in midair over distances of up to 40 cm (16 inches), six times farther than previously achieved using conventional methods. The study, carried
UBC researchers and municipal partners have developed a modeling tool to help cities adapt to rising temperatures by mapping where new trees offer the greatest cooling impact.
Pancreatic cancer is considered one of the hardest to treat and most serious forms of cancer
When cities, counties or states provide corporations with big tax breaks to lure factories, corporate headquarters and other facilities, the economic benefits may go beyond the new jobs and investments the companies bring to their regions.
Stanford researchers have offered an explanation for why some sizzling, lava-covered worlds nestled tightly around their stars can retain their atmospheres. At such close quarters, intense stellar radiation should strip away a planet's air.
A new study by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researchers shows that nearly 23% of short-finned pilot whales that stranded over 13 years in the main Hawaiian Islands ingested several pounds of plastic ropes, netting, fishing gear and plastic bags discarded in the ocean.
Working from home and digital technology may be making it easier for employees to work while ill and blurring the boundaries between work and home, according to a new study.
New research shows that water becomes electrified as it slides down smooth surfaces, leading to corrosion
The adult human brain has limited capacity to repair or regenerate neurons lost to Alzheimer's disease, the most common type of dementia. Existing treatments can slow disease progression but do not reverse cognitive decline. In a study published in the journal Cell Biomaterials
For decades, light has been used to understand the molecular structures of matter. A sample is irradiated with light, and measurements determine the wavelengths at which it is absorbed. Since each molecule absorbs light at very specific wavelengths that depend on its structure,
