The thinking around exoplanet habitability is mostly concerned with a planet's distance from its star. Too close, and any surface water is boiled away into space. Too far, and surface water is frozen. Both are severe limits on the prospects for life. Habitability depends on an
What if some of the most important clues about marine biodiversity were already collected but never fully shared? That's the question that motivated a study, published in Biodiversity Data Journal. It brought together over 40 years of unpublished data on marine
Flashes of femtosecond laser light, lasting just a few trillionths of a second, have made it possible to observe new magnetic structures for the first time. By using light as a remote control, researchers were able to switch magnetism into previously unseen three-dimensional
Transposons, DNA sequences that can self-replicate and move (jump) throughout the genome, are widespread and can affect cell survival if left unchecked. Cells control these "jumping genes" by silencing them, but little was known about how cells recognize and defend themselves
Increasingly, the world's oceans are telling us our climate system may be changing faster and more dramatically than expected.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) separation is central to technologies ranging from natural gas purification to hydrogen production and carbon management. One widely used approach relies on thin filtering materials called membranes. However, these membranes face a major challenge:
A new Physical Review Letters study places constraints on the ER = EPR conjecture, showing that under the authors' assumptions, the conjecture would imply possible alterations to the hyperfine structure and effective charge of the hydrogen atom—effects that have never been
Across Europe, many landscapes show strong potential to move forward climate mitigation, climate adaptation, and biodiversity benefits, with low socioeconomic risk, according to an analysis using a new climate-smart rewilding framework published in One Earth.
Changes in land-use across Southeast Asia over the past 15 years are worsening air quality and contributing to thousands of excess deaths each year, according to a study led by researchers from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore).
New research led by a graduating Ph.D. student in The University of New Mexico Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has shown that randomization can improve quantum computer performance in the presence of noise.
During a staff meeting, we may look around to take account of who is present—an observation that could consider the race or gender of who is in the room. But would everyone notice a complete absence of women, colleagues of color, or even men, in these settings? Probably not,
Many solid materials "remember" their past. A piece of metal may respond differently after being stretched, heated, or cooled, and memory materials rely precisely on this kind of history-dependent behavior. This phenomenon, known as hysteresis, is central to technologies such
Almost all animal species—including humans—have blood cells, but between different species our blood tells different stories. The lineage and components of blood cells vary widely, and this variety is a testament to how animals have evolved to protect themselves from infectious
How can people continue to function as a team when they live together in isolation for months on end? A new study led by the University of Zurich shows that loneliness isn't the only challenge posed by extreme environments. Constant physical proximity can also amplify conflict,
The Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) has led the international team behind a new study published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences exploring the complex evolution of Neanderthals in Europe. Based on the analysis of fossil teeth
Temperatures hit record highs for May in the United Kingdom and France on Monday, as forecasters warned of a prolonged period of extreme heat across Europe throughout the week.
For two decades, physicists have predicted the existence of a remarkable family of exotic molecules: giant atoms bound to ordinary atoms, with an electron so distant from its nucleus that it sculpts the pair into bizarre and diverse shapes. Reported in Physical Review Letters,
Solar panels have become more efficient over the years, but even the best designs still lose a large fraction of the energy they absorb. Scientists around the world have been searching for ways to capture more energy from every ray of sunlight and unlock the true potential of
Researchers at University of Tsukuba used advanced techniques to visualize the water flow generated by flutter kicking during front-crawl swimming. They analyzed how this kicking motion generates propulsive force and contributes to body stabilization, demonstrating that the
More than half of Europe's soils are degraded. Researchers are showing that restoring soil through better farming makes both ecological and financial sense.
University of Cincinnati structural biologists are the first in the world to visualize a key cell protein as part of newly published research from the College of Medicine. The Seegar Lab has become the first to visualize the structure of a regulator protein, iRhom1, bound to
When the loss of a queen wasp triggers a power struggle and social turmoil, colonies can survive the upheaval thanks to helpful wasps that pick up the slack, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.
The high mountain ranges of Asia remain among the least biologically explored regions of the continent. Now, an international team of researchers has shown that one of their most elusive venomous snakes, long treated as a single species, is in fact a complex of five distinct
A rewrite of quantum mechanics that includes the force of gravity could finally achieve one of physicists’ biggest goals and reveal the ultimate fuzziness of time
Scientists may soon stop hunting for new materials—and start designing them to order. For the first time, Northwestern University scientists have demonstrated that megalibraries—tools that dramatically accelerate materials discovery—can do more than uncover promising new
Spring peepers are singing, and walleye harvesters are ready to go out on Mille Lacs Lake, as they have for hundreds of years. The walleye spawn is on.
A new international review has shed light on how offshore energy structures—from oil and gas platforms to wind turbines—shape marine ecosystems and the benefits they provide to society. The paper, "Understanding the role of offshore energy structures in ecosystem service
When a singer belts out a tune while a guitar player strums along, sound waves travel through the air, driving collective oscillations of the molecules within. Meanwhile, at the quantum level, something similar is going on. Atoms inside materials, everything from our bodies to
Over the past few decades, heat waves have become more common in several parts of the world as our planet warms. That's a huge problem for many animals, as it can lead to habitat loss and push their bodies to lethal thresholds. However, one penguin species appears to be
For animator and academic Dr. Jason Kennedy, palaeoart isn't just a hobby. Creating 3D images of prehistoric animals sits at the intersection of science and art, combining fossil analysis, comparisons with living species, and digital modeling to bring long-extinct creatures
Britain broke its record on Monday for the hottest day in May, according to the national weather agency, with the mercury rising to 33.5C near London as the country baked in a sweltering heat wave.
New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope have revealed fresh details about one of the most luminous known objects in the universe: the dust-shrouded quasar W2246−0526, seen just 1.2 billion years after the Big Bang. The paper outlining the results was published in
Baby boomers have broken many taboos and transformed social norms, particularly around sexuality. As this generation grows older, is society's view of older adults' sexuality changing? Research suggests it is, even if some taboos persist.
As conflict continues in Ukraine, Gaza, Iran and elsewhere, the cost is being recorded not only in deaths and displacement, but also in ruined libraries, mosques, churches, museums, archives and historic neighborhoods.
In a new open-access study that I published with my late colleague Kostya Trachenko from Queen Mary University of London, I propose a surprisingly simple nonlinear mathematical equation that unifies 12,000 years of human population growth and points to stark possible futures if
Decades of research in child development confirms that young children's play is linked to positive outcomes in mental health, cognitive and social development as well as fewer behavioral problems.
New NIH research reveals that semaglutide sparks different responses inside appetite-controlling brain cells, offering fresh insight into why GLP-1 weight-loss drugs don’t work the same for everyone. Scientists also found a possible way to extend the drugs’ effects, potentially
Scientists have peered inside the skull of a 380-million-year-old Antarctic fish that was closely related to the first animals to walk on land, revealing surprising clues about how life began its move out of the water. Using advanced neutron imaging, researchers discovered that
A material recently discovered and tested at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland could help astronauts pack lighter for future missions to the moon. NASA is researching ways explorers could "live off the land" by harnessing lunar resources, including melting moon rocks to
Planetary nebulae like the Crystal Ball Nebula (NGC 1514) are sort of like stellar obituaries. Though crystal balls supposedly reveal the future, the Crystal Ball Nebula tells us more about the past. It shows us how a binary pair of stars met their end. And since NGC 1514 is
Deep inside 100-million-year-old amber from Myanmar, scientists uncovered a bizarre ancient bug with clawed front legs that look more like a crab’s pincers than anything seen in modern insects. The discovery is so unusual that researchers say these crab-like “chelae” evolved
A massive international study could upend 40 years of heart attack treatment. Researchers found that beta blockers—routinely prescribed after uncomplicated heart attacks—offered no real benefit for patients whose heart function remained normal, despite being given to millions
We should reflect on what cruise ships stricken with diseases mean for the way we inhabit the world today The post Poop Cruises Are No Laughing Matter appeared first on Nautilus .
You're on the fourth human mission to Mars, and you've been tasked with establishing the first self-sustaining food crop on a Martian settlement. You're nervous because you're using a new type of fungi called beneficial fungi, which you're told will help enhance the Martian
British demand for everyday global commodities can be linked to more than 29,000 hectares of deforestation worldwide in a single year, with tens of thousands of hectares stripped directly from overseas ecosystems. The stark figure forms the centerpiece of an environmental
Generative AI is transforming the workplace faster than ever, but new research from the University of Vaasa suggests the biggest threat may not be AI itself — it’s falling behind in learning how to use it. Researcher Zhe Zhu found that employees who see tools like ChatGPT and
The removal of invasive rodents from Lord Howe Island has triggered a rebound of invertebrate life, with researchers from the University of Sydney and collaborators documenting sharp increases in the abundance of insects and other small animals that underpin the island's
Researchers using cutting-edge environmental DNA (eDNA) technology have uncovered far greater biodiversity in eastern Ontario waterways than traditional monitoring methods detected over more than a decade, demonstrating the transformative potential of DNA-based biomonitoring
A battle between “slimes” and “zoglins” could be the best way to calculate pi—at least for fans of this megahit game
Scientists have uncovered a surprising twist in how cells behave when division goes wrong. Sometimes a cell successfully copies its DNA but fails to split into two, leaving it with double the genetic material — a mistake linked to aging, cancer, and other major diseases.