In arid regions, the microbes that power threatened dryland soil ecosystems called biological soil crusts stay dormant over long periods, only "awakening" when they sense moisture from infrequent rainfall. Now, a team led by researchers at Penn State—driven by projections that
Plants are green because of a pigment that is key to photosynthesis: chlorophyll. In its production, the enzyme chlorophyll synthase plays an important role. As part of an international collaboration, researchers from Osnabrück University, the Center Algatech in Třeboň and the
A tiny biodegradable bubble can move away from a chemical on its own, without a motor. Living cells need complex molecular machinery to do this. This discovery by researchers led by chemist Daniela Wilson at Radboud University, together with colleagues at Durham University, is
Could extinction itself become a thing of the past? Advances in biotechnology, including ancient DNA sequencing, genome analysis and gene editing, have led some to believe that it may be possible to bring extinct species back to life.
In biomedicine, sorting cells accurately without damaging them remains a persistent problem. Current methods, like fluorescence-activated cell sorting, rely on labeling the cells extrinsically, which can stress the cells, alter their behavior and even interfere with the assay.
More than 2 billion people, or approximately one-quarter of the world's population, lack access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene, according to the United Nations Children's Fund. Today, 16 years after the U.N. General Assembly recognized this access as a fundamental human
Newly discovered artifacts are evidence of the earliest known example of a tradition of making clay figurines in the Middle East—and challenge long-held beliefs about when and how clay began to be used for symbolic purposes in the region, according to a study published in PLOS
In three species of monkey, the complex pattern of ridges on the feet and palms varies between individuals, similar to human fingerprints, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS One by Juliana Vieira Flores Sales at Universidade de Brasília and colleagues.
Even researchers and people with extensive training in statistics often find it difficult to interpret statistical results correctly. This is shown by a new systematic review carried out by Uppsala University and others, in which researchers have analyzed 55 studies involving
Iberian people continued using, and possibly building, massive necropolises well into the Bronze Age, according to a study published in PLOS One by Eduardo Vijande-Vila of the University of Cádiz, Spain, and colleagues.
It’s time to toss calorie restriction The post The What and When of Longevity Dieting appeared first on Nautilus .
Natufian hunter-gatherers may have shown their kids how to sculpt clay, sets of preserved fingerprints suggest.
Astronomers saw something strange in a distant star system—or rather what’s strange is what they didn’t see. Solving the mystery could reveal new astrophysics
The Okinawa rail (Hypotaenidia okinawae) is an endangered flightless bird endemic to the Yanbaru forest region of Okinawa Island in Japan. The bird has only recently begun recovering its numbers after introduced predators, such as the mongoose, and traffic accidents reduced its
The Sunday roast and the backyard barbecue have long been Australian rituals. The country is one of the world's biggest consumers of red meat. The average Australian ate about 22 kilograms (49 pounds) of beef in 2024.
The increasing use of content generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools in university humanities classrooms is challenging what we think of as traditional academic integrity, intellectual responsibility and the authority of teachers, according to research in the
Cyclopia is the most severe form of a rare birth condition in which the developing brain fails to divide into two separate halves. This can also affect facial development, sometimes leaving the baby with a single eye socket in the center of the forehead and severe facial
Photosynthesis is fundamental to life on Earth, allowing plants and microalgae to convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into organic compounds. However, this essential process is highly vulnerable to heat. As global temperatures rise and heat waves become more frequent, declining
Researchers from Adelaide University and Plant Synthetic Biology Australia have uncovered new insights into the molecular machinery controlling the dormancy-to-germination transition in barley, potentially paving the way for improved crop varieties and better outcomes for
A new study by researchers at the Indo-French Cell for Water Sciences (IFCWS), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), introduces a new framework for water budgeting in agricultural regions that includes farmers' social categories that are usually neglected. The work is published
Around 12 million light-years away, the supermassive black hole of the galaxy Centaurus A is hurling two enormous plasma jets into space at nearly the speed of light. These so-called jets are brighter at their edges than at their center. The reason for this was previously
Measurements of an argon isotope could help scientists understand whether the interiors of Uranus and Neptune, our solar system's so-called ice giants, are dominated by ice or rock. New research led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and published in The Planetary Science
If you ask anyone to name a dinosaur, there's a good chance they'll say Tyrannosaurus rex, that fearsome prehistoric predator with its enormous jaws and razor-sharp teeth. But what about a lesser-known dinosaur such as Iguanodon or Plateosaurus? Probably not.
NASA’s Swift telescope has burned up, months after a robot sent to save it failed The post Here’s Why It’s So Hard to Boost a Satellite appeared first on Nautilus .
Catenanes are molecules in which two or more rings are mechanically interlocked like the links of a chain, without any chemical bonds between them. Since Jean-Pierre Sauvage, who later shared the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, reported an efficient metal-templated synthesis in
The rate of sea-level rise is now more than 4 millimeters (0.16 inches) per year, having more than doubled since 1993–2002. Scientists estimate that this figure may go up to 10 millimeters (0.39 inches) per year in the near future. The inundation of coastlines and islands will
A new report suggests this year, carbon emissions may begin to trend downward for the first time. But it's important to take this with a grain of salt. While news reports have hailed this event, it will take years to confirm it wasn't just a blip caused by the U.S.–Iran war.
Plants continuously adapt to environmental changes, and temperature is a key signal for growth and flowering. How plant thermometers, or "thermosensors," work at the molecular level is not well understood.
A research team led by Kyushu University and the National Institute of Genetics has discovered that during the two-cell stage of mouse embryonic development, the embryo's nucleus softens and deforms. This nuclear softening is an integral part of major zygotic gene activation,
Findings from a study spanning the Americas show that climate change forecasts are underestimating threats to biodiversity—even to exceptionally resilient species—by not factoring in extreme weather events that become more likely in a warmer world.
A faint glow emitted by plants as they absorb sunlight could offer scientists a powerful new way to monitor photosynthesis across the planet. Fully realizing that potential, however, will require advances in both the general understanding of plant biology and the satellite
Researchers in Florida unearthed a “dark magic mushroom” that boasts a combination of hallucinogenic and poisonous traits.
Researchers have recently developed a gas sensor that can detect tiny amounts of dimethyl sulfide in human breath, even in the presence of interfering gases and high humidity. The study was carried out by researchers from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese
People living on the moon may seem like science fiction, but major U.S. labs and agencies are actively working toward building lunar habitats. Making those habitats livable will require solutions for extreme temperatures, limited resources and the handling of waste generated by
On May 12, 2023, the authorities ordered the evacuation of the village of Brienz/Brinzauls in the canton of Grisons, as a rapid slide of the slope above the village appeared imminent. However, it took its time. It was not until the night of June 15–16 that around 1.2 million
Long before pottery became commonplace in Southwest Asia, people living beside the Upper Tigris were experimenting with ways to turn clay into containers.
Energetic pathways that make and break complex molecules are critical to all life. It’s even possible that these self-sustaining cycles could have been key at life’s beginning. The post How a Metabolic Spark Could Have Jump-Started Life first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Something funny happened at work, and there is one person you really want to tell. You stare at their name in your contact list. You know that if you call, no one will answer. They're gone.
When it comes to colon health, the benefits of wheat and rye bran in whole-grain foods are well known. Now researchers in Sweden have shown how these fibers may have a therapeutic use, too. A new study published in the journal Biomacromolecules demonstrates the potential to use
With just a degree or two determining gator sex ratios The post The Temperamental Nature of Alligator Gender-Reveal Parties appeared first on Nautilus .
Smartwatches worn on millions of wrists today pack vastly more processing power than the computers that helped Apollo astronauts land on the moon. But the scientific drive to go tiny has come at a cost: It means heat, electricity and energy now have much less room to flow
Samples from the Bennu asteroid, which is currently more than 200 million miles (322 million kilometers) from Earth, and the Murchison meteorite, which fell to Earth in 1969, both contain molecules that build proteins necessary for life. New research has found that the
Researchers at the Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (XTIPC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have developed a core-shell confined iron-based single-atom catalyst that combines high Fenton-like catalytic activity with structural stability, enabling
The same metal can have many faces, and each tells a different chemical story. At the atomic scale, those different faces can push the same reaction along very different paths.
A new study published in Nature Materials reports that researchers have developed an aluminum gallium nitride device that combines light detection, memory and basic processing by controlling charge at polarization interfaces. The device can detect light at the
For more than 50 years, engineers have described light in optical fiber using a convenient shortcut, one that works so well it is rarely questioned. Engineers at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits University) in Johannesburg, South Africa, have now shown that this
In a study published in Optics Communications, a research group led by Yu Tao from the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed a new analytical phase readout algorithm for deep frequency modulation
A new study found that energy drinks and stimulant supplements were linked to disproportionately frequent reports of serious heart problems, including 11 times more reports of cardiac arrest and 4.5 times more reports of heart attacks. Young adults accounted for nearly half of
A new tool that uses detailed satellite images to help unlock Australia's mineral wealth has been unveiled.
The find indicates that flight may have evolved multiple times The post This 150-Million-Year-Old Bird Had a Body Built for the Land appeared first on Nautilus .
