What we learned this week: Left-handed people may have a psychological edge in competition. Humanoid robots can now do creepy parkour through the uncanny valley. And if you've ever cared for an elderly cat, a new study highlights a biological quirk that could explain why
Advances in organ and computer models are raising the prospect that some animal experiments could be eliminated. But there are still huge hurdles to overcome
Every time we feel a gentle tap on the skin, specialized nerve cells convert that physical force into an electrical signal the brain can interpret as touch. While scientists have long known that a protein called PIEZO2 acts as a key sensor for touch, it remained unclear why
Millions of birds invisibly migrate through the night sky each autumn, most flying in near silence toward their wintering grounds. Now, scientists have developed a way to see and identify many of those birds for the first time.
Four years ago, NASA purposely smashed a spacecraft into a small asteroid to see if they could deflect it—a test to prove humanity could protect Earth from threatening space rocks.
Choosing a Tinder profile picture may feel like a free, personal and creative act. But how true is that? A new study from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) shows that, far from being unique, most users follow one of a small number of visual strategies. The research, led
You might have a love-hate relationship with daylight saving time, but research shows that urban wildlife may stand to benefit
Mainstream chatbots presented varying levels of resistance to deliberate requests for fabrication, study finds
Mayo Clinic researchers have identified a rare mutation in the MET gene that can directly cause metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. The mutation disrupts the liver’s ability to process fat, leading to inflammation, scarring, and potentially cirrhosis. The
Researchers in Sweden have engineered a cell-free cartilage scaffold that can guide the body to rebuild damaged bone. By removing the cells but preserving the structure and natural growth signals, the material acts as a blueprint for the body’s own repair process. In animal
A newly identified protein may hold the key to preventing diabetic blindness. Researchers discovered that LRG1 triggers the earliest damage in diabetic retinopathy by constricting tiny retinal blood vessels and reducing oxygen supply. In mice, shutting down this protein stopped
A mysterious form of plague that spread across Eurasia thousands of years before the Black Death has finally revealed a crucial clue. Scientists analyzing ancient DNA discovered the bacterium Yersinia pestis in a 4,000-year-old domesticated sheep from a Bronze Age settlement in
Chris Maddison was just an intern when he started working on the Go-playing AI that would eventually become AlphaGo. A decade later, he talks about that match against Lee Sedol and what came next
It's been 10 years since Go champion Lee Sedol lost to DeepMind's AlphaGo. Has the technology lived up to its potential?
Gravity may seem constant, but it actually varies across the planet—and one of the strangest places is Antarctica, where gravity is slightly weaker than expected. Scientists have traced this “gravity hole” to slow, deep movements of rock inside Earth that unfolded over tens of
A team of physicists has experimentally confirmed a long-predicted sequence of exotic magnetic phases in an atomically thin material. When cooled, the material forms tiny magnetic vortices before transitioning into a second ordered magnetic state—exactly as predicted by a
A tiny piece of moss helped expose a cemetery scandal in Illinois, where workers allegedly dug up graves and resold burial plots. By identifying the moss and analyzing its chlorophyll to estimate its age, scientists proved the remains had been moved recently—evidence that
Researchers have discovered a new way to increase a key brain protein damaged in Rett syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects thousands of children worldwide. Early studies in mice and patient-derived cells show the approach can restore normal brain cell function,
Most of our daily actions may happen without much thought. Researchers found that around 65% of everyday behaviors are triggered automatically by habit rather than conscious decisions. Many of these habits actually support our personal goals, helping us follow through on things
A clean energy future hinges on minerals such as copper, cobalt, lithium, and rare earth elements. But the race to secure them puts pressure on the places where they are mined. With some supply and processing concentrated in just a few countries, these critical raw materials
Koalas suffered a massive population decline that left them with dangerously low genetic diversity. However, new genomic research suggests their rapid rebound may be helping reverse some of that genetic damage. As koala numbers rise, recombination is mixing their remaining DNA
Scientists have discovered a newly identified marine fungus that can infect and kill toxic algae responsible for harmful blooms. The microscopic parasite, named Algophthora mediterranea, attacks algae such as Ostreopsis cf. ovata, which produces toxins that can irritate the
In storytelling, even small visual details can become unforgettable. In the globally popular anime "Demon Slayer," one such detail is the short bamboo muzzle worn by a central character. It looks simple and believable, just a piece of green bamboo tied across the mouth. But a
It’s all coming back to me now The post Some Memories Live in the Brain Even If We Can’t Recall Them appeared first on Nautilus .
Temporary overshoot of global temperature targets—particularly the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement—is no longer just a modeling concept. New research, published in Nature Climate Change and led by the Euro-Mediterranean Center for Climate Change (CMCC) in collaboration with
Coan says practicing kindness, be it big or small, is a one-two punch for your health and for those around you. That includes "weak ties," the casual, micro-relationships people form. "People often deride small talk as shallow," he said. "Well, it's not. Small talk and weak
Our planet plunged into one of the most dramatic climate states in its long history, approximately 720–635 million years ago. During a period geologists call Snowball Earth, ice sheets crept from the poles all the way to the tropics, covering the oceans and continents in a
They flexibly adjust their decision-making to circumstances—just like us The post Bumblebees Make Decisions as Efficiently as Humans appeared first on Nautilus .
Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan have conducted the most detailed simulation of the interior of stars and disproved a theory scientists have believed for 45 years: that stars switch their rotation patterns as they age, with poles rotating faster than the equator in
CBD and CBG, two non-intoxicating cannabis compounds, may help combat fatty liver disease by boosting liver energy reserves and restoring cellular cleanup systems. In the study, both compounds improved blood sugar control and reduced harmful lipids linked to fatty liver
The Central American nation never fully recovered from the loss of its megafauna The post Restoring Panama to When Prehistoric Beasts Roamed the Jungle appeared first on Nautilus .
A Stanford Law report reveals California's inadequate monitoring of dairies and feedlots, highlighting the need for stronger regulatory enforcement to protect groundwater quality and community health.
Cocaine addiction isn’t simply a failure of willpower — it’s the result of lasting biological changes in the brain. Researchers at Michigan State University discovered that repeated cocaine use rewires communication between the brain’s reward system and the hippocampus, the
In a study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, researchers Dr. Giovanna M. X. Paixão and her colleagues analyzed the fossilized remains of three Upper Cretaceous egg clutches. One of these clutches, totaling 47 eggs, is the largest known Mesozoic crocodyliform
Neutron stars harbor some of the most extreme environments in the universe: their densities soar to several times those of atomic nuclei, and they possess some of the strongest gravitational fields of any known objects, surpassed only by black holes. First observed in the
Swapping out one AI model on a classified network for another takes minutes. Retraining the people who’ve learned to rely on it will take much longer
Smashing a spacecraft into a binary asteroid system has managed to alter its path around the sun, a new analysis reveals
When it comes to research on habitats for pollinating insects, villages have so far received relatively little attention. The project Summende Dörfer (Buzzing Villages), based at the Chair of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology (Zoology III) at the
Magnetic materials in a quantum spin liquid phase are of great interest in the pursuit of exotic state of matter and quantum computation. But in the quantum realm, things are not always what they seem. A study, published in Science Advances and co-led by Rice University's
When scientists employ generative AI tools like ChatGPT to help with tasks such as editing and translation for their academic writing, many journals now ask them to disclose this assistance. The rules are intended to maintain transparency in scientific publishing. But many
How to tackle a common kitchen problem with fluid dynamics The post Physicists Uncover How Long It Takes to Get the Last Drop of Syrup appeared first on Nautilus .
A 2022 NASA mission changed the orbit of the asteroid Dimorphos around its companion. New data shows their joint orbit around the sun also changed.
NASA’s DART mission slammed into the small asteroid Dimorphos in 2022, and the impact slowed its orbit around the larger Didymos – and also the pair’s path around the sun
Researchers from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have found a new way to produce X-rays with wavelengths in what is called the "water window." This new method holds promise in making bioimaging X-ray machines smaller and more flexible to use.
U.S. lawmakers are moving to delay the International Space Station’s retirement, giving more time for commercial replacements to be built
A continental collision trapped oil within what is today Iran. The same collision explains why that oil is trapped behind the Strait of Hormuz now
Scientists at the University of Manchester have discovered that placing magnetic films on atomically thin molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) fundamentally changes how they lose energy, a finding that could bring 2D‑material spintronics a step closer to real devices. The team found
Trust in others and prior experience with feral hogs were significant factors in whether landowners would commit effort and dollars to controlling the destructive animals, two studies have found.
Looking for molecular evidence of life on other worlds is tricky, but a test based on the reactivity of carbon compounds could be a useful indicator
The origin of many diseases begins at the cellular level and involves multiple molecular interactions. However, previous methods have struggled to accurately observe changes in individual cells. Analyzing average values across thousands of cells made it challenging to detect
