Speech is a crowning achievement of human evolution, the skill that separates us from every other animal. So, it would stand to reason that evolving this capability required some enormous leap in brain complexity. A study published in Nature suggests otherwise.
Around two-thirds of the Amazon rainforest could shift into degraded forest or savanna-like ecosystems at 1.5–1.9°C of global warming if deforestation increases to roughly 22–28% of the Amazon, according to a new study from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Scientists have uncovered more than 1,700 new proteins that could have implications for human diseases, including cancer. Mostly very small, these proteins were found in what's called the "dark proteome," which covers gene products from previously overlooked sections of DNA.
A new kind of CRISPR that destroys cells rather than gene editing them has shown potential for killing sick cells while leaving healthy cells untouched. The technology has largely been tested in cells in a dish, but if it can be applied to organisms, it could be a powerful tool
In central Seoul, South Korea, a motorway once covered a buried urban stream. Today, that same stretch has been uncovered—a process known as daylighting—and this river is home to plants, fish and insects. This flowing water cools the city in summer and attracts tens of
Nigerian virologist Margaret Oluwatoyin Japhet has designed a rapid test that could diagnose rotavirus at a child’s bedside.
Too many white-tailed deer are damaging forests in the U.S. by eating young plants before they can grow, limiting forest regeneration and damaging biodiversity. To mitigate this challenge, the Pennsylvania Game Commission implemented an initiative called the Deer Management
In 2024, the Western Australian Museum received a donation. It was a koala skull collected from Moondyne Cave in Margaret River by Lindsay Hatcher, an avid caver. There was something a bit odd about this skull, and we were able to put our finger in it.
Who’s domesticating who? The post How Potatoes Shaped the Genes of the First People to Grow Them appeared first on Nautilus .
Across the UK, working-class boys are navigating an unprecedented convergence of pressures. There are entrenched gaps between working-class boys and their peers in their levels of attainment at every stage of education.
Near-constant activity continues on the volcano in Russia. Shivelyuch (also called Shiveluch), the most northerly active volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula, is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. On a near-daily basis, satellites detect new signs of activity within
From James Bond movies to water spirits in mythology, the tales of attractive, dangerous female forms that distract the hero from his path or lure men to their deaths have been around for quite some time. A recent study revisits the familiar motif of the femme fatale, the
Unsafe drinking water is not just a technical problem. It is a sign of deeper inequality, concludes a new investigation of the state of water quality in 138 countries by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU‑INWEH). The report, "Water
We've all been there: staring at a job description or a daunting new project and feeling a cold prickle of dread. You have the degree, maybe even the title, but looking at the task ahead, you feel like a total fraud. You're "underqualified"—and it feels like only a matter of
A new type of hologram technology has been developed that uses the motion of light as a key, revealing information only under specific conditions. This is gaining attention as a novel approach that can simultaneously overcome the limitations of existing optical communication
Researchers at the University of Toronto have identified a protein from the quagga mussel that can stick to surfaces underwater, even though it lacks a chemical feature long thought to be essential for this kind of adhesion. The protein, called Dbfp7, is the first freshwater
Finds at sites in Spain and France suggest that Neandertals used the teeth of ancient rhinos for heavy-duty fabrication.
This 2013 book by an Indigenous botanist is a quietly urgent act of healing that forces Western science to look at the world in a different way
Scientists have discovered the cause of a persistent glitch that continues to disrupt superconducting quantum computers, even when they have built-in defenses. For all their advanced hardware, superconducting quantum computers are vulnerable to errors caused by ionizing
By chance a tour boat avoided a deadly tsunami set off by the retreat of Alaska's coastal glaciers. Scientists are working to spot landslides like the one that caused the massive wave to warn people in harm's way
The UK-led OpenBind initiative has reached a major milestone with the release of its first publicly available dataset and predictive AI model, a groundbreaking step toward accelerating the discovery of new medicines using artificial intelligence.
Models giving dark matter more complex behavior could help solve multiple cosmic mysteries
Prize-winning young writer Hasset Kifle, 17, explores how the world of super-competitive running is being transformed by so-called “super shoes” – and what cost this will have on the sport
Journalist Evan Ratliff explores what happens when AI agents are given real autonomy to build and run a start‑up from scratch
As climate change intensifies, scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about how animals will cope with a more unpredictable world. One way to gain insight is by studying how animals have already responded to natural climate fluctuations. But for long-lived, social
Individual environmental laws, such as those related to the climate or nature conservation, are not sufficient on their own to resolve environmental crises. A new international study led by the University of Eastern Finland calls for decisive changes to the core structures of
In 2023 and 2024, Earth's average global surface temperature spiked nearly 0.3 degrees Celsius above what was already expected from climate change. Each year was declared the hottest on record and coincided with deadly wildfires, heat waves and historic numbers of
Penn researchers have developed a smarter AI method for solving notoriously difficult inverse equations, which help scientists uncover hidden causes behind observable effects. By introducing “mollifier layers” that smooth noisy data, they’ve made these calculations more stable
A review in Quantitative Biology demonstrates that scientists can now reliably build and combine very large pieces of DNA, making it much easier to redesign microbes such as yeast and bacteria to act as efficient "cell factories." With these advances, whole biological pathways,
Grasslands and associated wildlife in the Great Plains of North America have declined precipitously and are now experiencing an increase in large wildfire activity. In a Journal of Wildlife Management study evaluating habitat use by lesser prairie chickens—a prairie grouse of
Research published in The FEBS Journal may help overcome challenges to the treatment of malaria—a tropical disease caused by infection of red blood cells with Plasmodium parasites, which are transmitted through infected mosquito bites. The research is based on a strategy that
A forgotten fossil hidden inside a garden wall has turned out to be one of Australia’s most remarkable prehistoric discoveries. Scientists have now identified the 240-million-year-old amphibian, Arenaerpeton supinatus, revealing an almost perfectly preserved skeleton—complete
A short burst of immunotherapy before surgery is delivering surprisingly powerful results for a specific type of colorectal cancer. Patients in a UK-led trial who received just nine weeks of pembrolizumab prior to surgery have remained cancer-free nearly three years later—an
When solar storms strike Earth, they can disrupt power grids, rail systems, satellites, and even marine life. These effects arise because solar wind and geomagnetic activity disturb the magnetosphere–ionosphere system, generating electric and magnetic field variations that can
A major 10-year clinical trial is turning one of the world’s most common knee surgeries on its head. Researchers found that trimming a damaged meniscus—a procedure long believed to relieve pain—offers no real benefit over placebo surgery. Even more surprising, patients who had
Solar emissions exert 'drag' on space junk orbiting Earth. From historical measurements across a period of 36 years, researchers have now shown that space junk begins to fall down much faster once the sun's activity across the solar cycle reaches approximately 67% of its peak.
A new study links the sun's 11-year cycle to accelerated orbital loss, with debris falling faster once sunspot numbers near their cycle peak.
A chaotic sleep schedule in your 40s might be quietly setting the stage for heart trouble later. Researchers tracking thousands of people for over a decade found that those with highly inconsistent bedtimes—especially when they slept less than eight hours—faced about double the
Oak trees have a surprising trick to fight back against hungry caterpillars: they simply wait. When trees are heavily attacked one year, they delay leaf growth by just three days the next spring—long enough to leave newly hatched caterpillars with nothing to eat. This small
A scorching, airless world just 48 light-years away is offering scientists a rare glimpse into the geology of distant planets. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, researchers studied LHS 3844 b—a tidally locked “super-Earth” with a permanent dayside hot enough to melt
In modern social research, sociological questions are increasingly being answered with the help of experiments; for example, whether employers discriminate in personnel selection, whether immigrants are treated less well in social situations, or whether counseling programs help
Creating complex molecules usually requires years of experience and countless decisions, but a new AI system is changing that. Synthegy lets chemists guide synthesis and reaction planning using simple language, while powerful algorithms generate and evaluate possible solutions.
To ensure more food reaches communities in need, a team of researchers collaborated with VolunteerMatch and Feeding America to enhance their algorithms, making volunteer distribution more efficient and equitable.
Fossils reveal that there were at least two kinds of koala when humans first arrived in Australia, but one died out about 30,000 years ago when the west of the continent dried out
To better understand how young children experiencing trauma are supported in early learning settings, Adelaide University researchers examined the role of teacher self-efficacy—the confidence teachers have in their knowledge and abilities—in creating safe, responsive learning
A lone coyote stunned biologists and others when it paddled its way to remote Alcatraz Island earlier this year, a former federal prison in the San Francisco Bay surrounded by swift, choppy waters notorious for thwarting prisoners' escapes.
The new focus on manned missions to the moon and Mars presents countless pressing challenges, including keeping humans alive in hostile environments. What happens when an astronaut or space tourist has a cardiac emergency millions of miles from the nearest hospital?
A non-toxic coating developed by researchers at University of Toronto Engineering prevents proteins from sticking to surfaces—potentially offering a new tool in the fight against hospital-acquired infections.
Many scholars have studied the effects of colonial management on terrestrial resources, but what about the effect of colonialism on bodies of water? A new article in Isis: A Journal of the History of Science Society examines the ways in which fisheries science and colonial
Acid-filled pitchers complete with fangs. Labyrinthine chambers decorated with bristles. Leaves that snap shut in less than a second. Employing strategies like these, carnivorous plants have a reputation as fearsome predators, but a new study published in the journal Ecology
