Imagine a material cracking—now imagine what happens if there are small inclusions in the material. Do they create an obstacle course for the crack to navigate, slowing it down? Or do they act as weak points, helping the crack spread faster?
When things vibrate, they make sounds. Molecules do too, but at frequencies far beyond human hearing. Chemical bonds stretch, bend, and twist at characteristic rates that fall in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Infrared spectroscopy, which measures how
When developing new drugs, one thing is particularly important: finding and producing the right molecules that can be used as active ingredients. The key elements of some drugs, such as penicillin, are small, tri- or quadripartite ring molecules. A team led by Prof Frank
A research team led by Professor Su-Il In of the Department of Energy Science and Engineering at DGIST has uncovered the principle that the products and reaction pathways of carbon dioxide (CO2) conversion to fuel via solar energy depend on the design of atomic-level
NASA's new boss blasted Boeing and the space agency Thursday for Starliner's botched flight that left two astronauts stuck for months at the International Space Station.
Producing clean hydrogen from water is often compared to storing renewable energy in chemical form, but improving the efficiency of that process remains a scientific challenge. Researchers at Tohoku University have now developed a catalyst design that helps hydrogen form more
People have only recently included Indigenous voices in the story The post The Missing Pieces of the Donner Party Narrative appeared first on Nautilus .
Forest loss does more than reduce tree cover. A new global study involving UBC Okanagan researchers shows it can fundamentally change how watersheds hold and release water. The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed data from 657
Researchers from the University of British Columbia argue that a widely used method to understand and predict flood risk has led scientists to miscalculate how forests can prevent major flooding. The paper, published in Ambio, synthesizes decades of research to explain why the
Applied physicists in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have discovered a new way to generate ultra-precise, evenly spaced "combs" of laser light on a photonic chip, a breakthrough that could miniaturize optical platforms like
More stock trading is moving away from traditional public stock exchanges and into places called "dark pools." These are private, electronic markets where investors buy and sell stocks without showing their orders to the public. Even as dark pools have grown increasingly
New research by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and the National Science Foundation's National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF-NCAR) has developed a new tool providing a first step toward the ability to forecast space weather weeks in advance, instead of just hours.
Researchers from the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the University of California, Davis, are helping beekeepers protect their colonies from destructive varroa mites. In a new study, the researchers investigate the effectiveness of combining a widely used
In nature, tiny crystals known as nanocrystals are formed slowly over many years. Rocks and minerals react with air, water, and carbon dioxide in a process called chemical weathering. These reactions happen gently, at room temperature and normal pressure, gradually producing
A new artificial intelligence framework developed at Cornell can accurately predict the performance of battery electrolytes while revealing the chemical principles that govern them, providing engineers with a new tool for designing better batteries.
During the 60 years since pay discrimination became illegal in the United States, gender pay equity has remained stubbornly elusive. The gap between women and men increased in 2024, with women earning 80.9 cents for every dollar men make for the same work, according to the
On World Wetlands Day, the recent report released by the Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory (MWO) warns that despite their vital importance for populations and biodiversity, Mediterranean wetlands remain fragile ecosystems, subject to multiple pressures (intensive agriculture,
Researchers have developed a unified theory of microcavity OLEDs, guiding the design of more efficient and sustainable devices. The work reveals a surprising trade-off: squeezing light too tightly inside OLEDs can actually reduce performance, and maximum efficiency is achieved
For the first time, researchers have succeeded in developing an artificial DNA base pair that is based on a different chemical force than natural genetic material. While the common natural DNA building blocks are held together by hydrogen bonds, the new base pair relies on
Newborn chicks connect sounds with shapes just like humans, suggesting deep evolutionary roots of the “bouba-kiki” effect
Ozempic has been making headlines for its remarkable success in treating obesity and diabetes. Yet it is just one in a rapidly growing class of drugs called peptide therapeutics that sits between small molecules (like aspirin) and biologics (like antibodies). A UC Santa Barbara
By applying voltage to electrically control a new "transistor" membrane, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) achieved real-time tuning of ion separations—a capability previously thought impossible. The recent work, which could make precision separation
Spinosaurs have sometimes been portrayed as swimmers or divers, but a new species of these dinosaurs bolsters the idea that they were more like gigantic herons
Growing up, you probably changed your style based on your social influences. It turns out, such pressures affect the appearance of young clownfish (anemonefish) too. A new study from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) has revealed the social influences and
Researchers have identified a "tipping point" about 2.7 million years ago when global climate conditions switched from being relatively warm and stable to cold and chaotic, as continental ice sheets expanded in the Northern Hemisphere. Following this transition, Earth's climate
Astronomers have long debated why so many icy objects in the outer solar system look like snowmen. Michigan State University researchers now have evidence of the surprisingly simple process that could be responsible for their creation.
A paper published in Science describes the discovery of Spinosaurus mirabilis, a new spinosaurid species found in Niger. A 20-person team led by Paul Sereno, Ph.D., Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago, unearthed the find at a remote locale
The search space for protein engineering grows exponentially with complexity. A protein of just 100 amino acids has 20100 possible variants—more combinations than atoms in the observable universe. Traditional engineering methods might test hundreds of variants but limit
A study published today helps explain how “planetesimals”—the building blocks of planets—came to be
Spinosaurus mirabilis was a force to be reckoned with
The framework predicts how proteins will function with several interacting mutations and finds combinations that work well together.
Ecologists detect promising, early signs of river recovery The post Is a Strictly Enforced Fishing Ban Saving the Yangtze? appeared first on Nautilus .
Researchers sequenced the genomes of tumors from almost 500 domestic cats and found remarkable parallels with human and dog cancers
This gravity-defying machine appears to work much like a ground-based wind turbine—but in the air
Scientists have long sought to understand why some plants are fragrant powerhouses while others remain subtle. Now, a research team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has cracked a genetic "bottleneck," using precision gene editing to boost the scent of flowers and the
NASA took another crack at fueling its giant moon rocket Thursday after leaks halted the initial dress rehearsal and delayed the first lunar trip by astronauts in more than half a century.
Centromeres play virtually the same central role across the entire tree of life: They ensure the faithful segregation of chromosomes during cell division. Yet the striking diversity in centromere architecture—from large, repeat-rich DNA arrays to the minimalistic "point"
For the first time, an international team of astronomers have mapped the vertical structure of Uranus's upper atmosphere, uncovering how temperature and charged particles vary with height across the planet. Using Webb's NIRSpec instrument, the team observed Uranus for nearly a
Strong social networking plays an important role in human relationships. New research on female red deer shows that those bonds are also crucial for their reproductive success and survival. The study, which looked at more than 40 years of data for free-ranging adult female red
That the universe is expanding has been known for almost a hundred years now, but how fast? The exact rate of that expansion remains hotly debated, even challenging the standard model of cosmology. A research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the Ludwig
Where’d you get that frog? The post The Dark Side of the Illicit Pet Frog Trade appeared first on Nautilus .
DNA is the blueprint of life. Genes encode proteins and serve as the body's basic components. However, building a functioning organism also requires precise instructions about when, where, and how much those components should be produced.
A research team at the IPK Leibniz Institute has developed a method that enables the detailed observation of female meiosis—the process by which germ cells are formed—in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. The FeM-ID (Female Meiotic cell IDentification) method overcomes a
Many physicists are searching for a triplet superconductor. Indeed, we could all do with one, although we may not know it yet—or understand why. Triplet superconductors could be the key to achieving the most energy-efficient technology in the future.
A new study provides a clearer timeline for one of the most significant prehistoric sites worldwide for the study of human evolution. By integrating three advanced dating techniques, researchers have determined that the site of 'Ubeidiya in the Jordan Valley likely dates back
Sediments from Scotland hint that ocean-atmosphere interactions continued more than 600 million years ago despite widespread ice.
Storms that recently ravaged Britain's coastline have revealed 2,000-year-old footprints on an Angus beach—one of only a handful of locations in the U.K. where markings of this kind have ever been discovered. The imprints of human and animal feet—made around the time of
W. Grey Walter’s early automatons sparked an ongoing fascination with artificial animals The post The Tortoises That Inspired Modern Robotics appeared first on Nautilus .
Each year, the world's leading climate scientists evaluate the most critical evidence on how our planet is changing. Their assessments draw heavily on data from Earth-observing satellites—and the latest report delivers a stark warning: the planet's energy balance is drifting
Species numbers alone do not fully capture how ecosystems are changing. In a global study, scientists analyzed long-term data from nearly 15,000 marine and freshwater fish communities. They found that fish food webs have changed substantially over recent decades, even in places
