Soils are home to some of the most diverse animal communities on Earth. These animals—including nematodes, springtails, mites, earthworms, spiders and other arthropods—drive decomposition, regulate microbial communities and contribute to nutrient cycling. However, little is
A new study shows that a single radioactive cloud was responsible for a large share of the nuclear fallout during the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on 11 March 2011. The work is published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials.
The signatories, including more than 35 Nobel laureates, decry the “alarming attack on the ability of the US to engage in basic and applied research” The post Thousands of Scientists Sign Letter to Combat Science Board’s Firing appeared first on Nautilus .
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover recently took a self-portrait against a sweeping backdrop of ancient Martian terrain at a location the science team calls Lac de Charmes. Assembled from 61 individual images, the selfie shows Perseverance training its mast on a rocky outcrop on
Oil and natural gas are vital constituents of our energy ecosystem that need to be transported across long distances. Although steel pipelines are the infrastructure used for this purpose, thereby serving as the lifeline for crucial energy distribution, they introduce the added
Human childbirth is commonly viewed as uniquely difficult and dangerous. The reason: The combination of bipedalism and large brains creates a tight fit between the baby and the birth canal. Research at the University of Vienna has now shown that many other mammals—from domestic
Proteins do most of the work in our body's cells. But when a protein is too active or does not function properly, it can lead to disease or other health problems. Researchers from the University of Toronto have discovered a molecule, CLEO4-88, that acts as a "molecular glue,"
Many creams and serums contain artificial ingredients that are harmful to the environment. Natural plant oils would be more sustainable but are difficult to process. ETH researcher Svitlana Mykolenko has developed a way of turning plant oils into stable gels without synthetic
What if fog isn't just misty air, but a living ecosystem? This question hung over cloud researcher Thi Thuong Thuong Cao. As a Ph.D. student at Arizona State University, her curiosity led her from knocking on the doors of microbiologists and chemists, to sampling fog before
Cornell astronomers are deploying a new instrument that grants them, for the first time, a better view of the universe's earliest galaxies, which can't be observed individually with traditional ground- or space-based telescopes.
Educators should teach students how to use AI tools but with an emphasis on the ethics, social impact, and potential biases of the tech, experts said Thursday during a conversation sponsored by Harvard Education Press.
Life leaves a pattern, not just a trace The post A Powerful New Tool to Find Alien Life appeared first on Nautilus .
The widespread hypothesis that climate warming will result in unprecedented agricultural pest populations and cause food insecurity worldwide is oversimplified, according to a new study by a team led by Mia Lippey, an entomologist at the University of California, Davis. But the
Australia is the driest inhabited continent on Earth. Somehow, it feels like it's getting hotter and drier every day.
Although about half of primate species play as adults with other adults, a team of international researchers has just unlocked a key factor in the reason why some don't. The answer lies in the type of society in which the animals live.
Simulating the nonlinear optical physics that underlies ultrafast laser systems is computationally demanding—a practical bottleneck in settings that require rapid feedback. A study by researchers at Stanford University, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and SLAC
During takeoff and landing, planes emit ultrafine aerosol particles. Some particles also contain lubricating oil, as shown by measurements made by researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI in the environs of the Zurich Airport. Low-sulfur fuels could be the solution.
The galaxy cluster Abell 2029 is sometimes described as "the most relaxed cluster in the universe." This moniker does not arise from some sort of mellow vibe, but rather because of how calm and undisturbed the superheated gas that pervades the cluster appears to be.
The kingfisher's brilliant blue feathers were once used like paint to create works of art. The technique, known as tian-tsui, was popular during China's Qing Dynasty. And because tian-tsui uses delicate feathers, previous scientists struggled to study them using traditional
A research team led by Hainan University, together with, among others, the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), investigated a total of 102 reef sites in the waters around Hainan Island over a period of 20 years (2000
Every year, millions of gallons of wine are pressed, leaving behind a mountain of pulpy residue—grape skins, seeds, stems and peels—that wineries struggle to dispose of. Now, researchers say this overlooked byproduct could find a new life on the farm, as a replacement for the
There is no cure for the hantavirus that has so far sickened at least nine people and killed three of them on a cruise ship outbreak, but several therapies have shown promise in animal studies
The "Asian Water Towers" (AWTs), a high-altitude region with a mean elevation exceeding 4,000 meters, serve as the primary freshwater source for nearly 2 billion people. While the Indian summer monsoon is well known for shaping seasonal rainfall patterns that help feed the
Dark matter is thought to make up most of the matter in the universe, but the only way it interacts with its surroundings is through gravity. If two colliding black holes spiral through a dense region of dark matter and merge, gravitational waves rippling across space and time
Scientists have uncovered evidence supporting a mechanism in which transposable elements (TEs), once considered "non-functional" DNA, may have contributed to the evolution and expansion of gene regulation during neural development. Such insights into the mechanisms regulating
Researchers at The University of Osaka, in collaboration with Ritsumeikan University, have demonstrated that growing europium-doped gallium nitride (Eu-doped GaN) on a semipolar crystal plane dramatically improves red light emission. The team found that this approach
To what extent can self-activating catalysts enhance hydrogen production in electrolyzers? Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have investigated this question, and their findings were published in Advanced Energy Materials.
In 2018, an artificial intelligence (AI) program called AlphaFold achieved a major breakthrough by placing first in the critical assessment of structure prediction, a competition for predicting the three-dimensional structures of proteins. It scored close to 90 on a 100-point
Imagine trying to build a house without a blueprint, find a shortcut through an unfamiliar city without a map, or govern a large organization with no leaders and no meetings.
A conversation with a pediatrician about the first study to track paternal mortality The post New Fathers Are Dying, and We Don’t Know Why appeared first on Nautilus .
Living by the sea in the tropics means being exposed to some of nature's most powerful forces. Hurricanes can bring storm surges, flooding and destructive waves that threaten homes, infrastructure and livelihoods.
Until now, it has been technically nearly impossible to rotate highly sensitive samples in all directions under a microscope without making contact. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a new laser-based technique that allows microscopic
Innovators who are working on ways to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to fight climate change are having a tough time lately.
Researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a high-throughput method to identify gold nanoparticles capable of delivering therapies directly to mitochondria (the energy centers inside cancer cells). By tagging nanoparticles with unique DNA
There is no hard evidence that ivermectin can treat cancer, but that hasn’t stopped people from trying it
Throughout history, most of the world's genomic research has relied on DNA data from people of European ancestry.
Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have discovered that cancer cells do not simply push through surrounding tissues to spread, but instead actively grip onto protective tissue barriers and pull them apart, revealing a fundamentally new mechanism of
Makary, a face of Trump’s Make America Healthy Again agenda, oversaw the embattled agency as it dealt with vaping, abortion and other issues
The beauty of the blue ice belies a fragility exposed by human activity The post Stare Into the Heart of an Ancient Iceberg appeared first on Nautilus .
Probability theory and the Saint Petersburg paradox can help you determine whether the stakes of a game are too great
The Indonesian seas are a biodiversity hotspot, harboring the highest coral diversity in the tropics and home to an extraordinary variety of marine life. Yet these unique ecosystems have been under growing pressure for years, particularly from increasing heat waves in the
Scientific discoveries rarely happen alone. Modern research often involves teams spanning institutions and even countries. Yet when research is published in academic journals, credit is reduced to a list of names—a list that can shape careers.
Plant roots are far more than simple absorption organs: they can adjust their structure to better cope with water stress. Scientists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with the University of Lausanne (UNIL), studied 284 natural varieties of Arabidopsis
What do you see when you imagine a conservation area? Perhaps a remote rainforest, a towering mountain range or a coral reef teeming with life. But do you expect to see any people?
Researchers have found our emotions toward politics not only play on our minds, but shape how our bodies respond to political experiences, even driving political participation higher. The new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that
A large study of London's tap water has revealed that trace amounts of PFAS "forever chemicals" are present, but their levels are within U.K. and EU safety limits. The analysis, led by researchers at Imperial College London in 2024, is the largest study of its kind to look at
Matter behaves strangely under extreme conditions, and often, remnants of these behaviors are left behind even when conditions return to normal. The Trinity nuclear test in 1945 left behind such remnants, and now, 80 years after the explosion, researchers have identified
Every summer, beach closures disrupt families, harm local businesses, and raise public health alarms. Most of the time, the warning comes after it is already too late.
Quantum computers could someday solve pressing problems that are too convoluted for classical computers, such as modeling complex molecular interactions to streamline drug discovery and materials development.
Experiences in the first days and weeks of life can have a profound impact on humans—and birds. A new study led by Sage Madden, a graduate student in evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis, shows how weather conditions and family dynamics affect the growth
