Most predators slow down when ocean temperatures shift. Great hammerhead sharks don't—not significantly anyway. These ocean predators are masters of the "thermal hustle," maintaining peak hunting performance across a surprisingly wide range of ocean temperatures between winter
In the medieval European imagination, racial difference was often highly polarized. Black people were perceived either as exotic status symbols—including saints and wealthy rulers such as the Queen of Sheba—or as subjugated figures, considered inferior to white Christians.
A Université de Montréal study has found a previously unknown mechanism in bacterial reproduction that could be attacked by future antibiotics. Bacteria reproduce by dividing into two: they form a wall, or septum, between the two future cells while remodeling the old cell walls
A new, miniature laser source developed by applied physicists in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Technical University of Vienna (TU Wien) could soon pack the power of a laboratory-based spectrometer—an important workhorse
Identifying weeds, checking out the pollen map, or discovering new plant life-forms are among the promising wealth of data available to users of PlantNet—a "Shazam!" for plants. Pierre Bonnet and computer scientist Alexis Joly introduced us to the digitally enhanced plant
A Southwest Research Institute-led study found that protons and heavy ions react differently to solar magnetic reconnection events, revealing a more complex magnetic engine powering the solar wind. Magnetic reconnection converts magnetic energy into explosive kinetic energy,
In a first for the field, materials scientists from The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have interfaced two materials to artificially generate a highly conductive ferroelectric charged domain wall. Led by associate professor of
Anna spends most of her workday typing on her laptop. After a few hours, she starts rubbing her wrists as her pain sets in. A glance at her desk reveals the painkillers that she uses to ease her discomfort. And for John, his neck pain sets in every time he listens to the news
Light can carry angular momentum in two distinct ways. One comes from polarization, which describes how the electric field rotates. The other comes from the shape of the wavefront itself, which can twist like a corkscrew as it travels. This second form, known as orbital angular
Many people have likely found themselves watching oddly satisfying videos of random objects being squashed by a powerful hydraulic press, but rarely do people consider why things squash the way they do. One object that caught the eye of researchers at The University of
A prehistoric butcher bonanza uncovered on an ancient German lakeshore The post The Big-Game Elephants Neanderthals Hunted for Food appeared first on Nautilus .
An individual's position in the income hierarchy is a stronger predictor of well-being than either how much they earn or how large the income gap is between them and others, finds new research from the University of Leeds, the University of Oxford and the University of Warwick.
While I was leading a tour of the National Air and Space Museum in January 2026, a visitor posed this insightful question: "Why has it taken so long to return to the moon?"
Communities worldwide rely on reservoirs for drinking water, hydroelectric power, irrigation, and more. These critical freshwater resources are affected by seasonal and long-term changes; water levels in reservoirs can dip during hot summer months or due to prolonged drought,
Often diagnosed when surgery is no longer an option, pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to treat and has one of the lowest rates of survival among major malignancies. Like many solid tumors, the most common type of pancreatic cancer, pancreatic ductal
Many emerging medical technologies rely on seamless integration between biological systems and electronics. This requires materials that are soft, electrically conductive, and biologically active—properties that have been difficult to combine in a single system. Research teams
A Mississippi State physicist has produced a direct laboratory measurement of a key nuclear reaction believed to occur during explosive bursts on neutron stars. These bursts forge heavier elements—the building blocks of planets and life on Earth. The findings appear in The
Recent advancements in nanophotonics are moving beyond isotropic noble metals to achieve dynamic and directional control over plasmons. Conventional localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR) are limited by their isotropic permittivity and geometry-dependent resonance tuning.
Introducing forest soil on an entryway doormat shifted the indoor microbiome of Finnish homes closer to bacterial profiles found outdoors, with less contribution from human-associated bacteria, a new study shows. In the future, such interventions rebalancing the home microbiome
Cars on the road today are 99% cleaner than they were in 1970. Air quality in the United States is much, much better as a result. In Los Angeles, where I live, lead levels in the air were 50 times higher in the 1970s than today, and the amount of lead in kids' blood has
The stockpile of German ammunition left in Norway in 1945 could have been cleared and dismantled by the Germans. Norway declined the offer and began dumping it in Lake Mjøsa and other lakes instead.
New Minnesota Carlson research debunks the idea that introverts are better listeners than extroverts. In fact, extroverts may have a slight perceived advantage as listeners. The study authors suggest moving past personality-based assumptions to develop listening as a skill.
There is a closing 20-year window in which decisions on climate and land use will determine the fate of dozens of native birds, butterflies and plants across Great Britain, which is already one of the most nature-depleted countries globally. That is the warning in a new study
Climate change is a threat to countries' macroeconomic and fiscal stability. Extreme weather events exacerbated by global warming alone are costing the world $143 billion every year. However, measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change can also pose a risk to fiscal
We are what we eat. And in the ocean, most life-forms source their food from phytoplankton. These microscopic, plant-like algae are the primary food source for krill, sea snails, some small fish, and jellyfish, which in turn feed larger marine animals that are prey for the
Politics are rife with emotions. But new research from the University of Georgia suggests emotions alone may not determine whether people are satisfied with democracy.
The past, present, and future of academic deception The post A Very Unscientific History of Scientific Hoaxes appeared first on Nautilus .
The discovery of a 2,400-year-old metalworking workshop in Senegal provides new insights into the history of iron production in Africa. Despite decades of archaeological research, the origins of iron metallurgy in sub-Saharan Africa remain largely unclear. Yet this
Students across education levels have a blind spot for identifying situations that might bring their academic integrity into questionable territory, a study finds. When navigating questions on citation, collaboration, and data collection, students in higher education struggle
These guidelines reinforce the importance of whole grains and fruit and vegetables but clash with the government’s latest nutrition advice on red meat
Deep below the surface of Murujuga, soil expands and contracts from the passage of water. Each wetting cycle is like a sodden breath from lungs holding fragments of stone and shell. Stone artifacts from millennia of Aboriginal life are pushed up slowly, maybe only a few
Communities dependent on Canada's blue economy will face growing challenges to their livelihoods as climate change fundamentally alters the country's marine environment, according to new Simon Fraser University research. The four-year study published in Regional Studies in
Meteor impacts may have helped spark life on Earth, creating hot, chemical-rich environments where the first living cells could take shape, according to research integrated by a recent Rutgers University graduate. Shea Cinquemani, who earned her bachelor's degree from the
In a new study of viral abundance over a short time frame in the Sargasso Sea, researchers found that almost all viruses with cyclical changes in abundance were most active at night—somewhat surprising when the team expected microbial behavior to pick up pace when light was
Photosynthetic bacteria do not release oxygen during photosynthesis but can convert solar energy into chemical energy with remarkably high efficiency. They also utilize near-infrared light—wavelengths unused by plants—and thrive in diverse environments, including freshwater,
Conservative pronatalists want a return to the traditional nuclear family. But that family structure is at odds with how humans evolved.
One in 10 (11%) members of Gen Z have reported emotional abuse and 3% have experienced violence from a partner in the past year. The new UCL research finds unwanted sexual approaches and sexual assault are more common among Gen Z at age 23 than during their late teens,
Lil Miquela has 2.5 million Instagram followers, a high-fashion wardrobe, and a clear political voice. She has advocated for Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQI+ community, fronted major brand campaigns, and built a devoted global fanbase. She also has no pulse.
Asparagus is one of the most labor-intensive crops on the market. Harvesting demands extreme precision—the terrain is uneven, and the stalks are thin and of varying length. These challenges inhibit automation, leading to currently available harvesting robots being too slow and
The brain? It has a flexible social perception. In interactions with people from different ethnic groups, it tends to respond more inclusively when a shared national identity is made salient. A study, by the University of Trento, Italy, and Nanyang Technological University,
As the UK entered COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020, security services and counterterrorism officials warned of a new threat forming in young people's bedrooms. Superintendent Matthew Davison, head of Prevent North-East, cautioned that extremists were deliberately targeting
We are continually in an evolutionary arms race with bacteria. As we develop new antibiotics, they develop resistance, and so it goes on until some of our treatments no longer work. Superbugs and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are a huge global health problem. So what do you do
An interview with a neuroscientist who spent the last decade tearing down the class, race, and language barriers that keep people like him out of research The post Who Gets to Do Science? appeared first on Nautilus .
Simpson’s paradox demonstrates how counterintuitive statistics can be
Charles H. Bennett and Gilles Brassard, winners of this year’s Turing Award, spent their lives touting the advantages of the quantum world
Researchers at The University of Manchester have created a physics‑informed machine‑learning model that can run molecular simulations for unprecedented lengths of time, even at temperatures as high as 1,000 Kelvin. The study, published in Communications Chemistry, explores the
In the air people breathe, the water on Earth, the stars in the sky and more, atoms are the building blocks that make up the universe. Understanding the structure of the atomic nucleus is crucial for research with implications for astrophysics and in applications such as
The rise of generative AI in higher education is reshaping how feedback is delivered, but meaningful learning could be undermined if its use is not carefully guided by principles of care, trust and connection, according to new research led by the University of Surrey. Published
A major solar storm during the Artemis II mission could harm astronauts. Here’s how NASA is protecting them
Taxonomic endemism and phylogenetic endemism are both important measures of biodiversity. The former describes the number of distinct species found nowhere else, whereas the latter shows the amount of evolutionary branch length unique to a particular area. A comprehensive
