There are nearly 1 million pieces of debris larger than 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) in near-Earth orbit. As we continue launching spacecraft and telescopes to explore the universe, this debris poses a significant threat of high-speed impact damage. In the Journal of Applied Physics
For millions of Americans, Sept. 11, 2001, is a vivid memory. For younger generations, it's a history lesson.
For decades, physicists have worked to prove the strange predictions of quantum mechanics with real experiments. As quantum computers have grown more powerful, researchers have devised increasingly sophisticated ways to test whether these machines are truly harnessing quantum
The mountain section whose collapse triggered fatal floods in Nepal and China on Aug. 26 had experienced unprecedented heat for the time of year, meteorological data analyzed by a researcher show.
For more than a decade, children in Year 6—the final year of elementary school in England—have taken the grammar, punctuation and spelling test as part of their Key Stage 2 Standard Assessment Tests (SATs). This GPS test has shaped how grammar is taught in elementary schools.
New research shows that larval Antarctic krill could be carried far from their birthplace by drifting sea ice, linking distant ecosystems in ways conventional models may miss.
Astronauts who undergo long-duration spaceflight aboard the International Space Station often return with health problems that resemble some age-related conditions in people on Earth.
Marine heat waves are a consequence of climate change and are increasingly altering marine and coastal regions worldwide. An international study led by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon now shows that many coastal seas absorb more CO₂ from the atmosphere during these extreme events
Superfluid helium could offer a new way to tackle one of the biggest challenges in scaling up quantum computers, say researchers from the University of Surrey. The research team has introduced a conceptual design for a new type of qubit that could be much less vulnerable to
The first national map of Ireland's exposure to climate hazards, including rising sea levels and storm surges, has identified the stretches of coastline facing the greatest pressures, providing critical new evidence to support coastal management and climate adaptation.
AlphaGenome Atlas predicts the effect of any single change in the fundamental structure of DNA
AI safety monitoring can fail when an AI’s reasoning is the main clue that something has gone wrong, new research suggests.
Researchers discovered that combinations of toxin-blocking proteins naturally found in rattlesnake blood can powerfully neutralize venom from several dangerous snake species. In lab tests, the mixtures were about 10 times more potent than a current commercial antivenom,
More than 1,200 genetic variants have been linked to the Big Five personality traits, and many of the same variants are also associated with health, longevity, careers, income, and everyday habits. The findings reveal a surprisingly wide genetic connection between personality
Small mammals called plateau pikas are often treated as pests because they compete with livestock for food, but research from China shows they can improve the quality of vegetation for grazing yaks.
How did a photon survive a journey of more than 2 billion light-years when, according to known physics, it should have been absorbed long before reaching Earth? This is the question at the heart of a new study by Giorgio Galanti (INAF) and Marco Roncadelli (INFN), accepted for
The most comprehensive catalog of exploding white dwarf stars ever assembled has revealed new clues about dark energy, the mysterious force driving the universe's accelerating expansion. Researchers at The University of Queensland's School of Mathematics and Physics have led a
Dog walkers distracted by their phones, conversations or other demands can fail to notice their pets defecating, disturbing wildlife or approaching livestock, according to new research from the University of Surrey.
Packaged food usually sits in plastic-lined bags designed to keep air, moisture and contaminants out. That same protection can also increase the chances of chemicals from the packaging seeping into the food. When a chemical raises health concerns, industries often swap it for a
Not so long ago, we thought the ocean was an inexhaustible resource. There would always be plenty more fish in the sea.
Semaglutide, the drug behind Ozempic and Wegovy, may have benefits that extend well beyond weight loss and diabetes. In a large Swedish study of nearly 15,000 people with bipolar disorder, its use was linked to a 21% lower risk of psychiatric hospitalization. Researchers think
Scientists have identified a giant new dinosaur from Brazil that reached about 20 meters long and lived 120 million years ago. Its surprising evolutionary ties to a Spanish dinosaur suggest its ancestors crossed ancient land connections between Europe, Africa, and South America.
A new fluorescence microscopy technique that generates super-resolution images from a single camera exposure could help researchers study rapid movements within cells that are difficult to capture with existing methods.
I spent six days on a small fishing boat in the middle of the English Channel in July trying to catch a thresher shark. The weather was fickle, even at the height of summer. My colleague, ecologist Lucy Hawkes, and I were with two anglers who probably hold more experience of
Universities are increasingly introducing artificial intelligence (AI) teaching tools into classrooms.
Physicists have directly observed a long-predicted quantum effect of gravity, putting one of Einstein’s foundational ideas to a striking new test. Using ultracold atoms, researchers split an atom’s quantum wave so that one part was held in place while the other fell freely
Several chronic diseases—obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers—have been linked to lifestyles and diets high in calories, based on processed foods and lacking diversity and nutritional value.
A new study finds that two early-universe objects thought to be faint quasars are actually extraordinarily luminous galaxies powered by bursts of star formation. James Webb Space Telescope observations of the galaxies, seen when the universe was less than a billion years old,
Not every ant is a good samaritan The post Why Some Ants are Lazy Freeloaders appeared first on Nautilus .
A mathematician compared the feat to the history-making chess competition in which IBM’s Deep Blue computer beat Garry Kasparov in 1997
The extinct “American cheetah” was not really a cheetah at all, but a puma relative with an unexpectedly flexible lifestyle. Fossils from the Yukon suggest northern populations survived partly by eating fish, possibly including salmon, while southern cats hunted on land.
The federal government has introduced draft digital duty of care legislation designed to protect Australians from online harms.
A new study has found that expanding dog vaccination, rather than introducing routine pre-exposure vaccination for children, is the most effective and cost-effective way to eliminate rabies deaths in people in Kerala, India.
While most Australians assume the ivory trade ended decades ago, Adelaide University research has found an active collectors' market exists online, with most listings showing no proof that the items are legal.
Assisted by AI, companies have more options than ever to track employees, minute by minute, keystroke by keystroke. Does this have the desired effect?
Researchers have found a potential way to attack prostate cancers that evade treatment by changing their cellular identity. Combining two types of drugs reversed many of these changes and sharply slowed tumor growth in preclinical experiments, offering a possible new strategy
Flying leads to positive emotions and optimism in Galahs
Residents of Kauai were warned to watch for tornadoes late Monday as Hurricane Lowell edged toward the westernmost Hawaiian Islands in the U.S. Pacific island chain, the National Weather Service said.
Meltwater rivers flowing from Svalbard glaciers are carrying ancient methane from rocks beneath the ice into the open air, new research published in Nature Communications shows.
The human genome is about two meters (6.6 feet) long, yet it is folded inside a cell nucleus only about 10 micrometers in diameter. To fit into this tiny space, DNA is wrapped around histone proteins to form nucleosomes, which are further organized into chromatin. For decades,
Wildfires ravaging the Indonesian part of Borneo are choking communities as far away as Malaysia with putrid haze, testing the resources and resolve of those who must endure it.
A squishy worm that starts its life as something of a floating head in the Pacific Ocean is changing what scientists know about metamorphosis at the cellular level.
As an embryo develops from a small cluster of stem cells, those once "blank slate" cells begin to take on more specialized roles like brain, liver or muscle cells and organize themselves into three-dimensional structures such as tissues and organs.
What if the key to making stronger, more sustainable plastics isn't changing their ingredients, but rearranging their molecules? Virginia Tech researchers have put that idea to the test, creating degradable polymers with a new molecular architecture that combines properties
Starting statins soon after a type 2 diabetes diagnosis may do more than protect the heart. In a nationwide Danish study of more than 132,000 people, those who began statin treatment within a year of diagnosis had a 15% lower relative risk of developing dementia over 10 years
Most of the countryside around the Holnicote estate in Somerset has been dry and dusty for most of the summer. But one corner remains conspicuously green.
A critically endangered roloway monkey has given birth just months after surgeons performed an unusual operation that saved her foot from amputation. Her new daughter, Lagertha, is an important addition to a species believed to number fewer than 2,000 in the wild.
Nearly a century ago, a single colony of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) helped launch the antibiotic age. In 1928, Alexander Fleming returned to his London lab to find that a stray mold had wiped out the Staphylococcus growing on one of his plates. The accident gave the
We usually think of auroras as beautiful lights in the night sky. I see them as visible traces of a connection between the sun, Earth's magnetic field and the atmosphere. This led me to an origin-of-life question: Could the planetary structure that produces auroras also have
A surprising immune system signal may help explain why zebrafish can regenerate damaged spinal cords so effectively. Researchers found that certain neutrophils release Il-4, which calms harmful inflammation and allows injured nerve fibers to grow again. Without these cells,