A massive, centuries-long drought may have driven the extinction of the “hobbits” of Flores. Climate records preserved in cave formations show rainfall plummeted just as the small human species disappeared. At the same time, pygmy elephants they depended on declined sharply as
Scientists at the University of New Hampshire have unleashed artificial intelligence to dramatically speed up the hunt for next-generation magnetic materials. By building a massive, searchable database of 67,573 magnetic compounds — including 25 newly recognized materials that
A surprising breakthrough could help sodium-ion batteries rival lithium—and even turn seawater into drinking water. Scientists discovered that keeping water inside a key battery material, instead of removing it as traditionally done, dramatically boosts performance. The “wet”
Scientists have developed a powerful new way to forecast where some of the world’s most dangerous scorpions are likely to be found. By combining fieldwork in Africa with advanced computer modeling, the team discovered that soil type is the strongest factor shaping where many
A scientific review carried out by a team in the English and German Philology Department at the UCO explores the pedagogical dimension of bilingual university programs in Europe. The implementation of bilingual education is part of an educational trend committed to
An animatronic dire wolf looks around then tilts its head to greet you in the lobby. An animated megalodon shark circles its prey in a conference room made of floor-to-ceiling screens before striking and "breaking" the glass.
La Trobe University researchers have developed a new way to measure and report the environmental performance of farms in a move that could pave the way for future "sustainability ratings" on consumer food and fiber products. Published in Methods in Ecology and Evolution, the
As the effects of climate change intensify, it has become standard practice for major corporations to pledge their support for environmental sustainability. This is as it should be, because genuine corporate engagement is essential to the success of our collective response—and
How will a warming Arctic affect plant growth on Svalbard? Researchers encased plant plots in a thick layer of ice during the winter and used little greenhouses to heat up those plots in the summer. The surprise? The plants that got the harshest treatment did just fine.
When it comes to biodiversity, researchers and the public tend to focus on large-scale patterns. This overlooks a hidden but precious diversity: small, inconspicuous wasps, midges, flies, beetles and other insects that live in plants. These tiny creatures are actually very
Hundreds, and possibly thousands, of juvenile Chinook salmon were found dead in the lower Yuba River after a large water pipe burst at the New Colgate Powerhouse on Friday, according to a local conservation group.
Many personal transportation-related decisions—such as vehicle purchases—are influenced by life events, like the birth of a child or a change in employment. Modeling tools that reflect how life trajectories evolve over time enable researchers and planners to more effectively
The Lamat Institute at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is a cohort-based research program designed to advance astronomy and planetary sciences by mobilizing the talents of students from marginalized backgrounds through holistic mentoring, culturally responsive
The United States government is rolling back conservation policies in a way that demonstrably risks accelerating already at-risk coral reefs around its island territory, Guam, in the Pacific Ocean. Part of the issue is the way the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is defined.
Separated by an ocean and more than a decade, innovative experiments with 31 tin isotopes having either a surplus or shortage of neutrons show how neutrons influence nuclear stability and element formation. The experiments, conducted between 2002 and 2012 at Oak Ridge National
In 2024, 38 Australian women were murdered by a partner or ex-partner. Thankfully, new data show the number of women killed by intimate partners has reduced to 32 over the most recent reporting period. The annual rate to June 2025 was among the lowest on record.
The profession of journalism is facing dual challenges of lost trust and relevance. A research project among educators, students, journalists and communities in six states has found that pairing student journalists with communities through structured conversation can help to
The tiny shell protecting the HIV virus resembles a slightly rounded ice cream cone, but there is nothing sweet about it. More than 40 million people worldwide live with AIDS because of this virus, and treatments must continually evolve as HIV mutates. During the acute stage of
Why do some systems collapse suddenly after what seems like a minor disturbance? A single transmission line failure can cascade into widespread blackouts. A delayed shipment can ripple through a global supply chain, emptying store shelves far from the original disruption. A
Britain's landscape is highly fragmented by roads, with researchers from Cardiff University finding that more than 70% of the UK's roadless areas are smaller than 1 km2. The researchers say that more than 60% of roadless patches in the UK are smaller than the typical area many
A new study published in the Journal of Climate reveals how surface warming in Antarctica, particularly over the Antarctic Peninsula, is significantly altering the stability of the lowest layers of the atmosphere.
New research shows that maintaining and adopting proposed marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Southern Ocean could almost double the protection of genetic hotspots from 28% to about 54%. These actions would stave off an otherwise high likelihood of ecosystem collapse in the
An earthquake typically sets off ruptures that ripple out from its underground origins. But on rare occasions, seismologists have observed quakes that reverse course, further shaking up areas that they passed through only seconds before. These "boomerang" earthquakes often
A research team led by Professor Tae-Woo Lee has developed a technology to mass produce ultra-high color purity perovskite nanocrystals (PeNCs), the core material for next-generation displays, without the need for high temperature, vacuum, or specialized gas facilities. This
Due to climate change, extreme weather events such as flooding are expected to increase in Germany in the future. This poses hidden risks to the health care system that have hardly been the focus of resilience planning to date: restrictions on access to hospitals and the supply
Up to 30% of bird diversity hotspots, places where large numbers of different bird species occur, in the western United States face threats from high-severity wildfires in the future that could eliminate critical forest habitats, according to research published in the journal
Birds currently inhabiting many territories across Africa, Latin America and Asia are, on average, considerably smaller than those that predominated in 1940. This is the conclusion of an international study led by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the
In the everyday world, governed by classical physics, the concept of equilibrium reigns. If you put a drop of ink into water, it will eventually evenly mix. If you put a glass of ice water on the kitchen table, it will eventually melt and become room temperature. That concept
Researchers at the University of Oklahoma have developed new hybrid materials that challenge conventional thinking about how light-emitting compounds work and could advance the field of fast radiation detection. The research, published in the Journal of the American Chemical
University of Missouri researchers have released the world's largest collection of protein models with quality assessment—a groundbreaking new resource that could accelerate drug development for diseases such as Alzheimer's and cancer. The database, called PSBench, includes 1.4
Scientists have pinpointed crucial genetic resistance to a fungal disease that threatens the global banana supply in a wild subspecies of the fruit. In a valuable step forward for banana breeding programs, Dr. Andrew Chen and Professor Elizabeth Aitken from the University of
A research team led by the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR) has published a foundational inventory of emissions produced by structures destroyed by fires in the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Previously, researchers suspected
Record warmth followed by a huge snowfall led to the recent avalanche that killed at least eight skiers
An ecosystem is not a still life. Even where everything looks stable—a woodland, a lake, the soil—the internal "bookkeeping" keeps changing: how many individuals belong to which species, and for how long. Some populations expand, others crash. That dynamism is part of what we
In a paper published in the journal Small, a team of physicists from IISER Pune have developed tiny electronic devices from a special semiconductor material called bismuth oxyselenide (Bi2O2Se). This development has potential applications in future flexible smartphones,
By applying new methods of machine learning to quantum chemistry research, Heidelberg University scientists have made significant strides in computational chemistry. They have achieved a major breakthrough toward solving a decades-old dilemma in quantum chemistry: the precise
Despite rare earth elements' importance in manufacturing cell phones, magnets and a host of other consumer and commercial electronics, the lack of a sustainable, environmentally friendly approach to obtaining these metals has led to a global shortage, according to Amir Sheikhi,
Ion channels are narrow passageways that play a pivotal role in many biological processes. To model how ions move through these tight spaces, pores need to be fabricated at very small length scales. The narrowest regions of ion channels can be just a few angstroms wide, about
In a new study, published in Cell, researchers describe a newfound mechanism for creating proteins in a giant DNA virus, comparable to a mechanism in eukaryotic cells. The finding challenges the dogma that viruses lack protein synthesis machinery, and blurs the line between
For more than a century, Mendelian genetics has shaped how we think about inheritance: one gene, one trait. It is a model that still echoes through textbooks—and one that is increasingly reaching its limits. In a perspective article published in the journal Genetics, an
Violence and harassment in Canadian schools have reached such crisis levels that these public institutions should be categorized as hazardous workplaces, says a national report conducted by researchers in the School of Psychology and the Department of Criminology at the
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have discovered a way to breach one of cancer's most stubborn defenses: the impenetrable fortress that solid tumors build around themselves.
Corralling a wild rhinoceros into a small chute to give it eyedrops might seem like a crazy plan. But if it's crazy and it works, then it's not crazy.
Scientists in Berlin performed a battery of tests on a 3,400-year-old weapon The post Space Age Technology Reveals Secrets of Bronze Age Sword appeared first on Nautilus .
Quantum computer research is advancing at a rapid pace. Today's devices, however, still have significant limitations: For example, the length of a quantum computation is severely limited—that is, the number of possible interactions between quantum bits before a serious error
A novel method to manipulate the inner structure of cells connects several scientific fields and could represent a significant step in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Dr. Travis Craddock, a professor of biology at the
A Purdue University digital forestry team has created a computational tool to obtain and analyze urban tree inventories on public and private lands with record-breaking speed at an unprecedented scale. The team accomplished the feat by developing a novel AI-enhanced visual
The performance of rechargeable batteries is governed by processes deep within their components. A fundamental understanding of electrochemistry, structure–property–performance relationships and the effects of processing and operating conditions is essential for accelerating
In the vast tapestry of the universe, most galaxies shine brightly across cosmic time and space. Yet a rare class of galaxies remains nearly invisible—low-surface-brightness galaxies dominated by dark matter and containing only a sparse scattering of faint stars.
The recent Potomac River disaster follows centuries of pollution—but things are looking up The post The Long, Dirty History of Our Capitol’s Waters appeared first on Nautilus .