How do biological cells join forces to form a structure? In her Ph.D. research, Daphne Nesenberend uses mathematics to show how forces and cooperation between cells create structure—and how simulations and experiments can reinforce each other.
Genes that play a key role in the formation of an infectious organ used by parasitic plants have been identified by plant scientists at RIKEN. This discovery fills a gap in our understanding of how parasitic plants infect their hosts. The research is published in the journal
During the hottest summer days in New Haven's Dwight neighborhood, the kids at Kensington Playground improvise a way to stay cool—wedging T-shirts along the splash pad drain to form a makeshift pool. As the water rises, they lie on their stomachs in a circle around the drain,
Due to climate change, agriculture is facing an unprecedented transformation. While Germany was hardly affected by massive crop failures for decades, the picture has changed drastically since 2015. Since then, heat waves and dry spells have been responsible for yield losses in
Biology textbooks explain that cells follow a universal rule when processing gene transcripts to make proteins. Non-coding snippets of RNA are bracketed by a guanine-thymine (GT) nucleotide sequence on one end and an adenine-guanine (AG) sequence on the other—unmistakable
All complex biological systems—like the DNA, RNA and proteins constantly being copied and built within our cells—are prone to errors. That means as life evolved to be more elaborate, it also had to evolve error-correcting strategies.
When Vasilis Rodovitis rips open his brown paper bag in a sunny persimmon orchard just outside Naousa, in Greece, I half expect groceries to spill out. Instead, a barely there gray cloud emerges. For half a week, the bag was home to some 4,000 Mediterranean fruit flies
To misquote a famous song, "Diamonds are industry's best friend." Cubic diamond is the hardest mineral on Earth and is used in everything from precision cutting tools to high-performance semiconductors as well as expensive jewelry. But there is a rare and potentially tougher
Anyone familiar with the search for alien life will have heard of the "Goldilocks Zone" around a star. This is defined as the orbital band where the temperature is just right for liquid water to pool on a rocky planet's surface—a good approximation for what we thought of as the
Astronomers have analyzed the images collected by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to investigate a galactic open cluster known as NGC 2158. Results of the study, published Feb. 25 on the arXiv pre-print server, provide essential insights into the population of binary stars in
At the height of her career, chemist and physicist Katharine Burr Blodgett faced challenges that not even her closest colleagues suspected
Chickpeas produced seeds in simulated lunar soil, offering clues for future space farming.
Much of our understanding of Earth's past is derived from stratigraphic records exposed in rock outcrops or recovered from drilled cores. These records span immense time intervals, from thousands to billions of years, and form the basis of geochronologies used to reconstruct
A research team led by Dr. Márton Rabi from the Biogeology Department of the University of Tübingen, together with Máté Szegszárdi and Professor Attila Ősi from the Hungarian Eötvös Loránd University, is challenging the hypothesis that Europe remained connected to Africa during
The opening of trade borders under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994 was accompanied by a significant increase in drug-related violence in Mexican regions that functioned as key corridors for drug trafficking. That is the result of a recent study by Erik
Fish that live in rivers, ditches, and streams are better able to withstand warming water than fish in the sea. This is the conclusion of research by ecologist Wilco Verberk of Radboud University. "It is important not to group freshwater and marine fish together when predicting
The coastline of South Australia has been affected for nearly a year by an unprecedented harmful algal bloom which has led to the deaths of millions of fish and sharks, impacted marine mammals and birds and affected the health of some people. The origins of this event remain
Japanese red elder plants safeguard their own survival when they drop fruits infested by Heterhelus beetle larvae, as well as the survival of these larvae. A Kobe University study changes the narrative on how a plant and its pollinator can keep benefits balanced.
Using a synchrotron powered CT scanner, the Antscan project created an open-source digital library cataloguing thousands of 3D ant specimens
When the densest objects in the universe collide and merge, the violence sets off ripples, in the form of gravitational waves, that reverberate across space and time, over hundreds of millions and even billions of years. By the time they pass through Earth, such cosmic ripples
On April 8, 2024, people across the world witnessed a solar eclipse, a relatively rare event in which the moon occults (blocks out) light from the sun. To capture this event, volunteers at 143 observatories across the U.S. trained their equipment on it as part of NASA's Eclipse
In the face of climate change, permafrost peatland wildfires could play more of a role in the destructive cycle of global warming, University of Alberta research suggests.
Urban greenery—like trees and other green spaces in what are otherwise concrete jungles—can help cool down cities, clean the air and encourage foot traffic, which might have the added benefit of reducing vehicle traffic. In this way, greening our cities is an important tool in
A new study finds that the greater the amount of populist rhetoric in a nation, the less likely entrepreneurs are to register their businesses—dodging both taxes and government regulations. "Populist rhetoric refers to political language that focuses on the 'will of the people'
Physicists in China have uncovered new evidence that chiral phonons and magnons can interact strongly inside magnetic crystals. Using neutron spectroscopy, a team led by Song Bao at Nanjing University mapped magnetic signatures linked to chiral phonons in a ferrimagnetic
As the U.S. plans to return to the moon with the upcoming Artemis II mission, a question endures: What will future lunar explorers eat? According to new research from The University of Texas at Austin, the answer might be chickpeas.
Researchers from the University of Bologna and the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) along with other institutes have proposed a new way to address the Hubble tension by comparing estimates of the universe's age rather than its expansion rate. Using precise
The bubonic plague, which swept across Europe between 1347 and 1353, is estimated to have killed up to one half of the continent's population. The sudden loss of life led to the abandonment of farms, villages and fields, creating what researchers describe as a massive
Healable spacecraft structures could soon be possible thanks to cutting-edge composite technology. Swiss companies CompPair and CSEM with Belgian company Com&Sens have partnered with the European Space Agency (ESA) to modify their self-healing carbon fiber product for use in
Indigenous people in Papua, Indonesia, have helped scientists track down two animals that were thought to have gone extinct thousands of years ago: a relative of Australia’s greater glider and a palm-sized possum with a bizarre, elongated finger
When most people think of a supernova, they're thinking of a Type II core-collapse supernova. These are massive stars that have reached the end of their time on the main sequence. They've used up their supply of hydrogen and continue fusing heavier elements until the star can't
As clocks spring forward, light and movement are cues for daytime wakefulness that can improve sleep and overall health
Populations of suburban deer have been on the rise across the U.S. for the last 50 years. Suburban landscapes are like buffet tables with their plentiful lawns, shrubs, and gardens that tempt the animals into human territory. But in many places—like Tennessee, Ohio, Maryland,
The Alzheimer’s field is being turned on its head as mounting evidence points to the disease beginning outside the brain many years before symptoms start. This may mean we have to totally rethink how we approach preventing and treating the condition
Recent University of Toronto Ph.D. graduate Gabrielle Migliato Marega (CivMin) has developed an improved tool for estimating how much water from heavy rains ends up in sanitary sewers. The tool is particularly useful in areas where accurate data about sewer flow rates is
Public health chaos and research funding cuts are inspiring nationwide pro-science protests against the Trump administration
To address persistent concerns about harassment, boundary violation and user safety in digital dating spaces, a research team led by the University of Waterloo has launched an interactive Safety Map to coincide with International Women's Day.
For more than a decade, Evan Economo's lab has been using micro-CT machines to scan insect specimens. The resulting X-ray images help researchers study the form and structure of insects—a subfield of entomology known as morphology—but the process is costly and time-consuming.
What happens when a solar superstorm hits Mars? Thanks to the European Space Agency's Mars orbiters, we now know: glitching spacecraft and a supercharged upper atmosphere.
Electrons can be "kicked across" solar materials at almost the fastest speed nature allows, scientists have discovered, challenging long-held theories about how solar energy systems work. The finding could help researchers design more efficient ways of harvesting sunlight and
Catalysts are essential to modern industry, accelerating reactions used to produce everything from fertilizers and fuels to medicines and hydrogen energy. But until now, scientists could not directly observe how reactions unfold across real catalyst surfaces.
A Japanese startup's third attempt to put a satellite in orbit failed on Thursday after its rocket spiraled back to Earth shortly after takeoff.
Many older adults improve their physical and cognitive health over time, overturning the idea that aging equates to a decline
Punch the baby orphan macaque is outgrowing the orangutan plushie that comforted him through early rejection from his mother and other monkeys.
Protein activity can be precisely regulated via subtle changes in temperature using heat-sensitive switches. Underlying this capability is a novel modular design strategy developed by researchers at the Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology of Heidelberg University.
Scientists have used a laser technique to analyze Charles Darwin’s original Galápagos specimens without opening their nearly 200-year-old jars. By shining light through the glass, the method reveals the chemical makeup of the preservation fluids inside. Researchers successfully
A sweeping new study of more than 2,000 insect species reveals a troubling reality: many insects may be far less capable of coping with rising temperatures than scientists once hoped. Researchers found that while some species living at higher altitudes can temporarily boost
Scientists have uncovered a crucial weakness in the malaria parasite that could open the door to new treatments. Researchers identified a protein called Aurora-related kinase 1 (ARK1) that acts like a traffic controller during the parasite’s unusual cell division process,
A new ultrathin photodetector from Duke University can sense light across the entire electromagnetic spectrum and generate a signal in just 125 picoseconds, making it the fastest pyroelectric detector ever built. The breakthrough could power next-generation multispectral
With desert cities like Phoenix and Tucson bracing for their allotments of Colorado River water to be slashed dramatically, San Diego County's water agency could for the first time sell some of its water to other states by drawing on its ample supplies from the nation's largest
