A Roman-era skeleton discovered in southern England has finally given up her secrets after more than a decade of debate. Known as the Beachy Head Woman, she was once thought to have roots in sub-Saharan Africa or the Mediterranean—an idea that sparked global attention. But new,
Iron is an essential trace element in biological cells. The concentration of the element and its so-called redox state—it can exist either in a doubly ionized state as iron (II) (Fe2+) or a triply ionized state as iron (III) (Fe3+)—play a key role in metabolic processes such as
A massive new study comparing more than 100,000 people with today’s most advanced AI systems delivers a surprising result: generative AI can now beat the average human on certain creativity tests. Models like GPT-4 showed strong performance on tasks designed to measure original
A new study of climate extremes since 1988 finds that many regions have seen increases in deaths due to floods, storms and extreme temperatures. In human terms, the harm comes not just from deaths, but also from lost labor and property damage. (And this doesn't consider damage
Long before farming took hold, ancient Indigenous peoples of the American Southwest were already shaping the future of a wild potato. New evidence shows that this small, hardy plant was deliberately carried across the Four Corners region more than 10,000 years ago, helping it
Researchers have developed a technique that allows them to carve complex three dimensional nanodevices directly from single crystals. To demonstrate its power, they sculpted microscopic helices from a magnetic material and found that the structures behave like switchable
After analyzing 40 years of tree records across the Andes and Amazon, researchers found that climate change is reshaping tropical forests in uneven ways. Some regions are steadily losing tree species, especially where conditions are hotter and drier, while others are seeing
The tragic events in the Bay of Plenty this week are a stark reminder that landslides remain the deadliest of the many natural hazards New Zealand faces. A large landslide swept through the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park at the base of Mauao, triggering a major rescue
Socializing at a young age helps to develop greater diversity in children’s microbiomes, according to an analysis of baby-to-baby transmission of gut bacteria
A record-breaking experiment shows that a cluster of thousands of atoms can act like a wave as well as a particle
New research suggests that getting even just a few more minutes of sleep and exercise and eating an extra cup of vegetables every day can significantly boost longevity
Deep-ultraviolet (DUV, λ < 200 nm) all-solid-state lasers, essential to modern scientific research and industrial manufacturing, are widely applied in fields from material analysis to lithography. Their commercialization depends heavily on high-performance nonlinear optical
In recent years, revelations of unethical horse handling at elite levels of horsesport have drawn attention to an uncomfortable question: Do we really understand how our horses are feeling? According to Norwegian and Swedish researchers in the project HorseVoice, the answer is
Scientists are warning that a little-known group of microbes called free-living amoebae may pose a growing global health threat. Found in soil and water, some species can survive extreme heat, chlorine, and even modern water systems—conditions that kill most germs. One infamous
Researchers have found that a natural aging-related molecule can repair key memory processes affected by Alzheimer’s disease. The compound improves communication between brain cells and restores early memory abilities that typically fade first. Because it already exists in the
NASA is moving into a new phase of space exploration, with major progress across human spaceflight, science missions, and advanced technology. In just one year, the agency has launched multiple crewed and science missions, test-flown new aircraft, and pushed forward plans for
Air pollution is now recognized as one of the greatest threats to human health, contributing to an estimated 4.2 million premature deaths in 2019, according to the World Health Organization.
Falling space junk is becoming a real-world hazard, and scientists have found a clever new way to track it using instruments already listening to the Earth itself. By tapping into networks of earthquake sensors, researchers can follow the sonic booms created when space debris
A distant Sun-like star suddenly went dark for months, stunning astronomers who quickly realized something massive was passing in front of it. Observations revealed a gigantic disk of gas and dust filled with vaporized metals, swirling around an unseen companion object. For the
Soybean farmers around the world face a persistent and costly enemy hidden beneath the soil: soybean cyst nematode (SCN), a microscopic roundworm that attacks plant roots and drains yields. SCN is one of the most damaging pests affecting soybean production globally, resulting
What do Thomas Edison and 2010 Nobel Prize in physics winners Konstantin Novoselov and Andre Geim have in common? According to a recent publication from the lab of Rice University's James Tour in ACS Nano, it could be graphene—an answer that might have confused Edison, who died
Over Christmas, vegetables, bananas and insulation foam washed up on beaches along England's southeast coast. They were from 16 containers spilled by the cargo ship Baltic Klipper in rough seas. In the new year, a further 24 containers fell from two vessels during Storm
Researchers investigating the effectiveness of outdoor ads promoting climate change awareness and action found that a general message of climate emergency awareness received more QR code scans compared to a more-specific campaign focusing on sustainable fashion, according to a
What kinds of marketing messages are effective—and what makes people believe certain political slogans more than others? New research from the University of California San Diego Rady School of Management explores how people constantly evaluate whether messages are true or false
A newly published Perspective article in Nature Nanotechnology details groundbreaking nanoparticle technology to eliminate harmful, disease-causing proteins in the body. The technology marks a transformative leap in the potential to drug "undruggable" proteins, to treat
Life in the ocean runs on light. It fuels photosynthesis, shapes food webs and determines where many marine species can live.
The atmosphere is an important transport medium that carries microplastics to even the most remote parts of the world. These microplastics can be inhaled and pose a health risk to humans and animals. They can also settle out of the atmosphere and contaminate oceans and soils
A study by CUNY SPH researchers suggests that U.S. high school students who are bullied at school have substantially higher odds of attempting suicide than peers who are not bullied, with bullied girls facing the greatest risk.
Plastic pollution is one of those problems everyone can see, yet few know how to tackle it effectively. I grew up walking the beaches around Tramore in County Waterford, Ireland, where plastic debris has always been part of the coastline, including bottles, fragments of fishing
When we think of the world's oldest art, Europe usually comes to mind, with famous cave paintings in France and Spain often seen as evidence this was the birthplace of symbolic human culture. But new evidence from Indonesia dramatically reshapes this picture.
Information that we select for ourselves, such as things we click online, has a stronger impact than passively acquired information on our perception of truth and falsehood.
In the modern workplace, flexible arrangements can be as important as salary for some. For many employees, flexibility is no longer a nice-to-have luxury. It has become a fundamental requirement for staying in the workforce, especially after COVID.
A unique study exploring popular ways to "self‑gift" has found that ordering a takeout meal is a preferred treat regardless of whether people have had a good or a bad day at work.
Chronic inflammation may be quietly reshaping the colon and making it more vulnerable to early-onset colorectal cancer. Scientists found that colon tissue in younger patients was stiffer, even in areas that appeared healthy, suggesting these changes may happen before cancer
Aging immune cells may be sabotaging the body from within. Researchers found that macrophages produce a protein that locks them into a chronic inflammatory state, making infections like sepsis more deadly in older adults. Turning off this signal reduced inflammation and