Our sun is a loner. It lacks a stellar companion hurtling through interstellar space with it. But we've known for a long time that that's actually relatively rare—most stars have at least one gravitationally bound partner. Understanding how exactly those stars are related to
Internal changes due to the sun's "active biorhythm" have become increasingly "skin-deep" over the past four solar activity cycles, according to a new study.
A decade ago, Bradley Markle, an assistant professor at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado Boulder, noticed an odd pattern while sifting through temperature records from the end of the last ice age in Antarctica. The records seemed to defy
Johanna Harvey, an assistant professor of wildlife disease ecology at the University of Rhode Island, has described bird flu in public presentations as a quiet virus with loud consequences. Now, she's published a new paper in Wildlife Monographs, describing how circulating
Persistent methane emissions from sectors such as agriculture and growing debates over the credibility of carbon offsets are creating new challenges for governments and companies pursuing net-zero commitments. New research suggests that temporary carbon storage may have a
When a team of researchers recorded a low thundering underneath the surface of the Hudson River, they thought they were hearing the muffled rumble of trains. A closer look and listen led to a much more interesting discovery: The thunder came from Atlantic sturgeon—an iconic and
The old "monkey see, monkey do" adage may rest on some neuroscientific evidence, finds a new Yale study. To examine how the primate brain facilitates cooperative behavior among individuals during social interaction, a team of researchers trained pairs of marmoset monkeys to
Scientists at William & Mary's Batten School & VIMS, FlowWest and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science recently announced that the Chesapeake Bay's annual "dead zone" is expected to be relatively mild this summer.
Researchers at Cornell University have developed a safer and more precise way to study how genes function in living tissues by refining a recently developed CRISPR-based genetic technique in fruit flies, enabling researchers to better study how genes contribute to development
Researchers at TU/e have demonstrated that energy transfer without loss via light or heat can occur over much greater distances than previously thought possible thanks to vibrations in microscopic gold rods. They succeeded in making energy jump from one particle to another over
Centuries before we started debating the transformative effect of AI on science, a new light in the sky shone the way The post The Supernova That Sparked the Original Scientific Revolution appeared first on Nautilus .
Heat behaves in predictable ways: a hot cup of coffee cools, a laptop warms your hands, the sun heats Earth. But at scales thousands of times smaller than a human hair, those rules begin to break down, and scientists are learning how to take advantage of that.
Astrophysicists think that black hole masses are hierarchical. The largest are supermassive black holes (SMBH) like the one at the center of the Milky Way and other galaxies. Stellar mass black holes are born of collapsing stars, and are smaller. The smallest of all are the
People are exposed to thousands of chemicals every day—through the products they use, the food they eat and the environments they live in—but only a fraction of those chemicals have been fully tested for safety.
Early childhood educators speak differently to boys compared to girls in toddler classrooms, University of Queensland research has found.
The world's urban population increased by 785 million people between 2000 and 2020, but that tells only part of the story. Now, a research team including an expert from the University of Michigan has dug into the demographics of more than 10,000 individual cities to obtain
An international team of scientists has demonstrated how powerful thunderstorm complexes over the U.S. Corn Belt are fueled by moisture rising from the region's fertile fields or just beneath them. The findings can lead to better and longer-term weather forecasts for this
Ads generated by artificial intelligence are nearly indistinguishable from human-made ones, but new research shows they consistently underperform compared to human-made work when it comes to predicting short-term sales impact.
A study in mice suggests loss of estrogen between brain cells as a possible cause The post Why Do More Women Than Men Develop Alzheimer’s? appeared first on Nautilus .
The St. George's mushroom (Calocybe gambosa) is a popular edible mushroom, usually picked in May. Unfortunately, however, it also carries a risk as it can easily be confused with the young deadly fiber cap, which can potentially lead to fatal poisoning. The reason for this is
Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have uncovered key principles that govern how DNA "origami" structures fold, findings that could make nanoscale materials faster and easier to manufacture. DNA origami is a technique that uses strands of DNA to self-assemble into
Ascidians, also known as sea squirts, are the evolutionary link between vertebrates and invertebrates, making them valuable subjects of biological studies. For the first time, researchers at Ruhr University Bochum have detected pronounced autofluorescence in Halocynthia
A Brazilian study published in the journal Ecography indicates that the biodiversity of anuran amphibians (toads and frogs) on islands is determined by factors encompassed in two previously opposing theories.
What scientists are learning about immortality from a humble marine creature The post Can Cells from a Sea Cucumber Live Forever? appeared first on Nautilus .
Bats are the only mammals that can actively fly, enabling many species to perform seasonal migrations. In migratory birds, remaining airborne for many hours is supported by burning fatty acids, something most mammals are incapable of.
Researchers at VIB, Ghent University, and VUB have uncovered how two proteins essential for immune cell development work together at the molecular level. The findings provide important insights into a critical mechanism that mediates the integration of molecular signals
Academic success depends largely on social background—this has long been known. A recent international study led by researchers at Leuphana University of Lüneburg now shows that young people's attitudes toward environmental protection are also strongly influenced by their
Many medically important drugs originate from natural sources. Microorganisms produce these compounds using highly sophisticated and remarkably precise enzymatic assembly lines. Many natural microbial products belong to a class known as nonribosomal peptides—short chains of
Quantum computers have the potential to transform science, accelerating breakthroughs in drug development, cosmology, materials science, nuclear physics, and more.
Gutweed could become a future crop in the Baltic Sea. This is shown in a new study from the University of Gothenburg, where researchers have, for the first time, successfully cultivated the seaweed through its entire life cycle in brackish water.
Waves of higher, warmer water move eastward across the Pacific Ocean a few months before an El Niño emerges. Several have shown up in 2026 satellite data.
Generating and confirming the randomness of qubits could lead to breakthroughs in computer data encryption
A study covering 76 countries has found that people who are more trusting, patient, altruistic and cooperative tend to report higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction, suggesting that well-being depends on more than material prosperity alone. The work was published in
Creating perfect randomness is surprisingly difficult. Even modern random number generators never generate completely ideal random numbers: small systematic errors can result in some numbers appearing slightly more frequently than others. For many applications, this does not
Well-preserved archaeological bone samples have different microbial communities than heavily degraded bone samples, providing a new understanding of how microbes contribute to bone degradation, according to a study published in PLOS One by Damla Kaptan from the University of
From the revived corpse of Frankenstein's monster to the disembodied hand, "Thing," in the Addams Family, reanimated tissue is one of the most enduring images in science fiction. It turns out, that image has some basis in nature, according to the recent discovery of a
This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image features the dwarf irregular galaxy ESO 490-017, roughly 12,000 light-years in diameter and some 23 million light-years away in the constellation Canis Major. The galaxy's low surface brightness makes it appear as a faint, starry swarm
It may reduce suicidal intent for up to a month or more The post Can a New Drug Combo Prevent Death by Suicide? appeared first on Nautilus .
Researchers have developed a novel virtual model for simulating how astronauts in future moon base operations might interact with each other and with their environment, with preliminary simulations revealing potential opportunities to boost the chances of a successful mission.
Birds have all kinds of fancy decorations for attracting mates—male peacocks have a fan of feathers accented with shimmering blue eye-spots, birds of paradise do courtship dances that highlight their fluffy plumes, and female mallard ducks pick males with shiny green heads and
During animal cell division, a highly synchronized and tightly regulated dance of chromosomes takes place, ensuring the chromosomes split correctly into the two cells. Spindle fibers—complex machinery responsible for choreographing this dance—form from each end of the cell and
The discarded fragments of this creature apparently refuse to die, leading researchers to claim immortality
A core challenge in biology is understanding how processes in the body, such as cellular development and regeneration, unfold over long stretches of time, making them notoriously difficult to view at the molecular level. Now, a team led by researchers at Caltech has shown that
A good manager can be just as important to a company's performance as the combined productive capacity of its employees. This is shown in a new international study, published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics. The study also shows that those who are most eager to become
Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation from the sun's surface, which can wreak havoc on Earth's power grids, damage orbiting satellites, and pose serious radiation risks to astronauts. Yet despite decades of study, the processes that trigger these eruptions remain poorly
A team of Georgia State University researchers is calling for digital platforms to implement stronger safety measures in response to a new study that highlights widespread online child sexual abuse.
Municipalities and federal agencies monitor U.S. waters for microcystins, a toxin produced by harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie, but a University of Michigan study shows that the blooms produce a greater range of potentially toxic compounds than previously known.
Fermentation is one of the oldest methods of preserving food. Long before refrigerators existed, people relied on microorganisms to keep food—including meat—safe to eat. Ph.D. research by VUB researcher Ana Sosa Fajardo (VUB Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food
Go vegan, ditch the car, avoid air travel. Or forget all that—because it's corporations and governments that are really to blame. This argument can feel quite paralyzing, but what if this is the wrong debate to have?
The South Pacific blast may have consumed its own methane — but using this idea against the greenhouse gas is controversial.
