Researchers at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the U.S. Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have measured the shortest high-energy X-ray pulses ever recorded at an X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL). The pulses had photon energies of about 9
New research suggests the same personality traits associated with toxic corporate leaders today may have been present at the very birth of global capitalism 400 years ago.
A team of researchers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has developed a new instrument designed to eliminate blind spots between lines of lidar data on Earth's surface. Built with support from NASA's Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO), the Concurrent
Researchers at Keele University have discovered that migratory butterflies may use different navigation systems to find their way during migrations, highlighting the importance of understanding how different species may respond to environmental changes.
Bacteria and the viruses that infect them—known as phages—coexist in soils, oceans and living organisms. Scientists have long thought this coexistence reflects a microscopic version of an evolutionary arms race: As parasites and hosts continually adapt to one another, both
Keeping to warm climates throughout their 250-million-year history may have helped crocodiles and their relatives survive the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, finds a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers.
Compulsive use of social media may be associated with a strong desire for reassurance among people who are afraid to rely on others and engage in face-to-face interactions, according to a study published Oct. 21, 2026, in the journal PLOS One by Chris Bjornsen and Allen
A pilot study tested an electronic nose, called NOS.E, alongside human-remains detection dogs to see whether it could detect buried remains and help confirm dogs' signals.
Researchers led by Carina Hahn at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S., have found that forensic specialists in facial identification need only one or two features, such as eyes or ears, to identify a face when looking for a match. Published in PLOS
Adults are more objectively creative than preschoolers but are inhibited by anxiety and low self-confidence, according to a study published Oct. 21, 2026, in the journal PLOS One by Janika Saretzki from the University of Graz, Austria, and colleagues.
Whenever a cell divides, it has to split its chromosomes perfectly between two daughter cells, and even a single mistake can be disastrous. Now, researchers from Japan have found that one of the key structures that makes this possible takes a surprising shape: a hollow sphere.
Vultures were long thought to make few and fairly simple sounds. Yet no one had investigated in detail how the birds use sound to communicate. For his master's thesis in Jorg Massen's Vulture Cognition Lab, Connor Proudfoot studied the critically endangered Rüppell's vulture.
But there’s a catch The post Drinking Tea May Reduce Vascular Disease Risk appeared first on Nautilus .
An international team led by Alexander Vorbrugg analyzed (online) media reporting on war-related land changes in Ukraine. The study asked: How is damage to land represented? What knowledge do these representations draw on? How does the war affect the symbolic meaning of land
Despite being known for more mundane uses such as sticking notes to refrigerators or keeping bags shut, magnetization is one of the most fundamental and useful properties of a material. Indeed, it forms the physical basis for storing most of our digital information, encoding
A study of 500 Thai retailers has found that businesses with stronger big data analytics capabilities tend to be better at identifying market needs, innovating and executing effective marketing strategies. Moreover, large retailers report higher capability levels than smaller
The old saying that one bad apple spoils the barrel suggests that an individual behaving badly can have a negative influence on the entire group. The idea now has some fresh scientific backing.
Natural gas leaks are a significant source of methane emissions in cities, but it can be hard to pinpoint exactly where and why they happen. And methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is the main chemical component of natural gas, has been historically undercounted or omitted in
An international team of researchers, including members from the University of Michigan, has revealed surprising results that could rewrite our understanding of a key transition in the early universe.
More than 1 in 4 Detroiters cannot easily produce up-to-date documentation of their U.S. citizenship that matches their current name, according to a new survey from the University of Michigan's Detroit Metro Area Communities Study, in partnership with Outlier Media.
Less favorable ocean conditions mean marbled murrelet chicks take longer to leave the nest, making them more vulnerable to predation, according to a new study of the Pacific Northwest seabird by Oregon State University scientists.
The trauma of war has long-lasting reverberations, influencing business decisions made decades later, argue Eun Hye Jo and Jenny Jung-Wha Lee, accounting professors at Costello College of Business based at George Mason University Korea.
Viruses are sneaky intruders, hijacking the internal machinery of host cells and replicating out of sight. Understanding these dynamics is the first step to developing effective antiviral strategies that could stop infections, but scientists have largely been left in the dark
Something is amiss in Antarctica The post The World’s Largest Penguin Colony Suffers Catastrophic Loss appeared first on Nautilus .
An AI ‘virtual author’ can help scientists use a paper’s methods on new data. But it’s not going to match a human author’s expertise.
Climate change and changes in the way land is used are the two biggest threats to wildlife because they change the environment in which animals survive and thrive. Knowing how species respond to these pressures is central to planning conservation actions.
Reindeer grazing changes the vegetation of northern pine forests below ground as well as above it. In a recent study in Finland, trees and understory vegetation in grazed forests had nearly 30% less shallow-root biomass than those in ungrazed areas. Root structure also changed,
Earthquakes and the seismic waves they generate provide some of the best clues to Earth's interior. To extend that success to other worlds, scientists placed seismometers on the Apollo missions to the moon and on the Viking Mars landers, which reached Mars in 1976. Though the
The cyclone’s winds hit 185 miles per hour—the strongest windspeed of any storm this year
Climate change can look very different at the scale of a forest, field or hillside. A new review shows how changes in vegetation and atmospheric conditions can cause local microclimates to warm at very different rates from the regional climate—and why this matters for
Migrating birds that breed in the Arctic are spreading avian influenza to polar bears in eastern Greenland, according to a new study that found evidence of infections in bear blood samples acquired from Greenland Inuit subsistence hunters.
Scientists have proposed what they believe is the first method for detecting "mirror life"—a hypothetical form of life made from molecular building blocks that are the mirror image of those found naturally on Earth. Researchers at the University of Strathclyde and the
A shark that has become a viral sensation in South Korea was coaxed out of a canal in which it was stuck, authorities said on Wednesday, as falling temperatures raised concerns for its survival.
It couldn’t hurt, and it might help The post Be Nice to Your Chatbot appeared first on Nautilus .
Just like gloves, molecules can have left- and right-handed—or mirror-image—forms. Because the left- and right-handed molecules are still very similar, scientists have had trouble separating them from each other. But a team of researchers in Japan might have found a solution.
Scientists from RMIT University and Riga Technical University in Latvia have shown that static charge left on surfaces can be controlled, which may have big benefits for companies needing to avoid the little zap in production of common household goods. The discovery could even
Sitting in his narrow dugout canoe, Jean-Romeo Senguemboli frowned at the meager catch in his nets on the Central African Republic's Mbali River, where experts say deforestation is devastating the fish population.
A possible reason for the overdose deaths drop is more use of naloxone, which reverses opioid overdoses. But while still a key tool, its use fell too.
Besides building crewed outposts at the lunar south pole, where else should astronauts go on the moon? An authoritative new report has suggestions
Losing more ground in the fight against climate change, humanity is heading for a hotter world than experts projected last year—and the United States is a big reason for that, a new United Nations report says.
Many structures in biology are bounded by membranes, but not all of them. Droplets of a liquid called a coacervate, which form when oppositely charged molecules come together in water, have attracted attention as models for membraneless compartments inside cells and for
An international study led by the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE, CSIC-UPF) in Barcelona, the Natural Sciences Museum of Barcelona, Harvard University and the University of the Basque Country (EHU) has reconstructed the genetic history of the Iberian Peninsula between
Moderately cold temperatures have proven to effectively extend lifespan and delay age-related decline in animals. However, how cold temperatures trigger these beneficial effects at the molecular level has remained largely unclear.
Earlier this year, an outbreak of Andes hantavirus on a cruise ship, which killed three passengers and sickened 13, highlighted the lack of approved vaccines or treatments for the virus. In a study published in Nature, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and
For the first time, Northwestern University physicists have coaxed a single positron—the antimatter counterpart of an electron—into an exquisitely controlled quantum state.
There are an estimated 10 quintillion insects alive on Earth at any given time. That's 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 individual insects. But how many species are there, why do we need them, and what would happen if their numbers continued to fall? Dr. Alex Dittrich, a zoologist at
For the first time, scientists can make quantum measurements on a positron particle
She’s still the only feline to have the honor The post 63 Years Ago This Week, Félicette Became the First Cat in Space appeared first on Nautilus .
New research led by the University of Michigan provides utilities and policymakers with forecasts that can help them better prepare for future extremes in peak energy demand in the United States.
Marine heat waves are usually seen as destructive events that can disrupt entire ocean ecosystems and trigger massive environmental damage. In 2018 and 2019, an extreme heat wave hit the Bering Sea, causing spring sea ice levels to plummet.
