How do we know when an animal virus might pose a risk to humans? Canada confirmed a human case of H5N1 avian influenza (often called "bird flu") in 2024, the first known to have been acquired in Canada. The patient, a 13-year-old from British Columbia, suffered severe symptoms,
Three much-loved glaciers in British Columbia are set to disappear completely within a few decades, according to a Simon Fraser University study.
Like many parasites, nematomorphs are known to manipulate their hosts' behavior to complete their life cycles. Also known as horsehair worms, among other names, these creatures develop in their hosts' body cavities and lure their terrestrial arthropod victims into the water,
A false sense of security can be dangerous. The "Safe Development Paradox" is a phenomenon in which flood-control infrastructure makes people feel safe, so communities subconsciously start building closer and closer to historically vulnerable lowlands.
NASA announced Monday that it is planning new missions using Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, the first since a troubled test flight left two astronauts stranded at the International Space Station for months.
Climate patterns in the tropics help determine how much snow falls from year to year in Antarctica, one of the coldest, windiest and driest places on Earth. New research from the University of Utah shows that tropical conditions and the oceans also influence the continent's
There's a new cat in town, but this one won't curl up on your hamper, knead your sweaters or squeeze in front of your screen during a Zoom meeting.
The Nautilus monthly reading list The post The Sleep Cycle of Ideas, Seeded Dream Poems, and the Queen of Dinosaurs: 8 Books We’re Excited to Read This October appeared first on Nautilus .
The 10th century treatment called Bald’s eyesalve attacks microbes in multiple ways. Molecule mixtures from it may inspire modern medicine.
Using solar energy is good for the environment, but look down, and the grass isn't always greener. Solar farms can generate massive amounts of renewable energy, but when they're built in natural areas, they change the growing conditions underneath the panels. That can make it
An international team of physicists has developed a new method for determining the precise color of laser light using an image that rotates as the laser's frequency shifts.
Scientists have confirmed the existence of a predicted room temperature superconductor, while explaining the microscopic mechanism that distinguishes it from a similar one discovered several years ago. The work, published in the journal Physical Review B, offers "a theoretical
Tokyo has logged 34 straight days of rain, the longest streak on record, Japan's weather agency said Tuesday.
AI tools are increasingly replacing human judgments in some settings. For instance, resume-screening algorithms are often used in hiring, where they may improve efficiency and consistency in decision-making.
New research from the Integral Ecology Research Center (IERC) offers some of the clearest evidence yet that California's efforts to restrict dangerous rodenticides are paying off in the wild, while also flagging a new contaminant that deserves close attention.
Under a blazing sun, workers crouch on a shrinking island off India's southern coast, threading bright green seagrass shoots onto wooden frames before anchoring them to the ocean floor.
Chiral metal clusters that emit circularly polarized light often face a trade-off between photoluminescence efficiency and luminescence dissymmetry. A study published in the journal Advanced Optical Materials tested whether highly luminescent racemic carbon-centered
Plants of the same species can differ considerably in their chemical composition, affecting their smell, taste and even toxicity. A new study shows that the term "chemotype" has not been used consistently.
A research team at the University of Vienna, led by pharmaceutical chemist Johannes Kirchmair, has developed a statistical method to identify hidden anomalies in scientific datasets. The method can be applied automatically to large datasets, making it easier for researchers to
Hurricane Polo made landfall on Mexico's Baja California peninsula on Tuesday, cutting power and causing flooding as the sea breached coastal defenses.
NASA is throwing extra support and money behind Boeing's troubled astronaut capsule to get it fixed and flying again as soon as possible.
The transition from tadpole to juvenile frog is never easy—legs sprout, tails shrink and lungs develop for a life on land, all while being hunted by fish and other predators. Talk about growing pains.
New research finds that people are far more likely to report suicidal ideation when they perceive their lives as getting worse relative to their recent past, rather than because of their income, age or health status alone.
A pair of exceptionally rare Cretaceous bird bones found at separate sites near Richmond, Queensland, reveal a previously unknown species—the second formally named Cretaceous bird from Australia. Cretaceous bird fossils are extremely scarce in Australia, with fewer than a dozen
Juice is on its way to study Jupiter’s moons, with a little assist from Earth’s gravity
TMEM63B, a mechanosensitive lipid scramblase, has an autoinhibitory domain in its C-terminal tail that helps keep it inactive under resting conditions, researchers from the Institute of Science Tokyo report. Changes to this regulatory region, particularly the Leu776 residue,
Instead of capturing a memory with an iPhone camera, Carnegie Mellon University's Nivedita Shyamsundar used hers to make a scientific discovery. A senior in the Department of Chemistry, Shyamsundar studies tiny particles that could help medicines and vaccines travel more
Elusive, satellite-stalking spacecraft could unleash space war—or help keep orbital peace
Data from more than 4,000 adults across Scotland showed that fuel, food and financial insecurity are widespread, and more than 1 in 10 adults experience all three simultaneously.
The South Asian summer monsoon has long been known to shape the Mediterranean climate thousands of kilometers away as part of a phenomenon known as the "monsoon–desert" mechanism. Through this mechanism, intense monsoon convection during the summer releases large amounts of
Two new studies are giving planetary scientists hope The post One of Saturn’s Moons Could Support Life—And It Might Be Easy to Find appeared first on Nautilus .
Extending some 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) along the length of Italy, the Apennine Mountains present a challenging puzzle for geologists. In some places, the mountains are steadily being stretched apart, while in regions just tens of kilometers away, they are squeezing together.
Look up at the night sky with the naked eye and it may seem like it rarely changes. Yet the universe is in constant flux. Stars drift through space, orbiting the center of the Milky Way as planets orbit them. They rotate, showing spots on their surfaces and sometimes producing
A popular narrative across Instagram Reels, business podcasts and magazine covers is that people who are smart and serious about growth read nonfiction. Nonfiction directly provides factual information and real-world knowledge, whereas fiction, like novels and poetry, is
Galaxies are like snowflakes: No two are exactly alike, even the spirals. The Hubble Space Telescope took a close look at the distant spiral NGC 4693 and found intriguing hints about its past. For one thing, this member of the Virgo Cluster seems to have a central region that's
University of Massachusetts Amherst's Jeff Podos and his former graduate student João C.T. Menezes have identified two contenders for the title of world's loudest bird: the bare-throated bellbird and the red-legged seriema. Their findings also help explain why some birds are so
University of Melbourne researchers have found that planting native gardens on suburban nature strips can boost urban biodiversity, with insect numbers increasing sevenfold and the number of species approximately doubling.
Gaps in early warning systems and community preparedness contributed to the high death toll from Nepal’s debris flow.
Flinders University researchers have examined the role social media plays in expanding social movements and found that perceptions of online activists' motives can significantly affect others' willingness to participate. The study is published in the journal New Media & Society.
Nanoparticles could someday provide a new way to help soldiers fight back against deadly nerve agents on the front lines. In a new study, Northwestern University scientists developed a nanoparticle-based compound that, when mixed into clothing dyes, could limit the impact of
A new study highlights the promising early impact of Sneakers to Scrubs (S2S), a medical pathways program founded by Black medical students and former athletes to address the severe underrepresentation of Black men in medicine.
Lakes may cover only a small fraction of Earth's surface, but new research suggests they play a bigger role in regulating the planet's climate than previously recognized. By reflecting sunlight back into space when covered in snow and ice, lakes in the Northern Hemisphere have
A new open-access catalog of whale calls will help researchers and orca enthusiasts identify distinct killer whale populations, clans and family groups by their vocalizations alone.
There are weather patterns locked in those swirls The post How Snail Shells Could Be Used to Map Prehistoric Cyclones appeared first on Nautilus .
While talks on an international plastics treaty remain deadlocked, California is starting a process that could lead to microplastics regulation. On Oct. 1, the state will add microplastics to a list of substances that evidence suggests may be harmful to people or the
A new study found that rates of intentional substance exposures at school reported to U.S. poison centers increased substantially among elementary- and middle-school-aged children from 2000 through 2024, while high-school-aged adolescents continued to experience the highest
Wildlife researchers have found that both recreation and roads affect wolverine populations in Canada's Rocky Mountains and Columbia Mountains.
Season 2 follows people losing their ability to speak — and the AI and brain implants helping them find their voices again.
A new system sends faint electrical pulses through tissue instead of over Bluetooth. In rats, it made the animals flex one of their hind legs on cue when one of their front paws moved
Landing on a moving target is a challenge for all flying animals. For bumblebees, a flower swaying in the wind creates an erratic landing pad. Reaching it means matching its sideways motion while continuing to face it. When the bee turns in flight, its view of the flower
