A QUT-led study has found how increasing aridity and habitat variation and the subsequent emergence of grasslands shaped the evolution of modern kangaroos and wallabies. The study, published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, resolves long-standing questions about when,
By combining two fundamentally different microscopy techniques, researchers can now measure the optical properties of a sample with pinpoint accuracy. The original goal was to investigate biological samples on a molecular scale—but this soon led to stubborn technical problems.
Mid- and far-infrared birefringent crystals are key functional materials for polarization control, laser technologies, and infrared photonics. However, existing materials generally suffer from limited infrared transparency, an intrinsic trade-off between large birefringence and
In December 2025, the Trump administration accelerated the process of reclassifying marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act—a shift that would reduce restrictions and penalties associated with the drug.
When a crowd gets something right, like guessing how many beans are in a jar, forecasting an election, or solving a difficult scientific problem, it's tempting to credit the sharpest individual in the room. But new research suggests focusing on the "expert" can lead groups
Once a seed germinates, it is committed to one location. Plants are sessile—stuck where they started out—forced to cope with whatever conditions arrive next. The only way out of trouble is to rebuild themselves in place.
Another blast of Arctic air was set to spread across much of the United States from Thursday night, even as local authorities struggled to dig out from mounds of snow and ice days after a giant storm passed.
Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a "capping-and-coupling" strategy to transform naturally occurring (native) sugars directly into compounds known as C-heteroaryl glycosides. This makes it easier to produce such molecules that are
Researchers have just published a study demonstrating that the flying gurnard (Dactylopterus volitans) emits sounds while simultaneously performing movements to communicate—a discovery that enriches our knowledge about the "symphony" of the ocean. Since the 1970s, scientists
Research published today shows a bigger impact of genetics on aging than previously thought The post Your Lifespan May Depend Much More on Genes Than Previously Thought appeared first on Nautilus .
Termites are among the most successful animals on Earth, forming vast societies that can number in the millions. But how did such complex social systems evolve from solitary ancestors that looked much like today's cockroaches?
Whether gathering berries, hunting, or fishing, humans searching for food make decisions not only based on personal experience but also by observing others. In a large-scale field study, an international team of researchers investigated how social information influences
Artificial intelligence allows tracing the evolution of genetic control elements in the developing mammalian cerebellum. An international research team led by biologists from Heidelberg University as well as the Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie and KU Leuven (Belgium) has
New research challenges the view that human life span depends mostly on lifestyle. Genes may account for half the factors that determine longevity.
A new study led by climatologists at the University at Albany has found that extreme heat waves across the Caribbean are becoming significantly more frequent, longer and severe. This study examined extreme summer heat waves in the Caribbean over the last five decades, focusing
In a bold shift from traditional economics teaching, a group of researchers is calling on universities to bring happiness into the classroom.
The structural and functional characteristics of mitochondria shape their role as signaling organelles, with far-reaching effects regarding immune responses, inflammatory processes, and diseases. A research team led by Professor Konstanze F. Winklhofer at the Institute of
Forecasting volcanic eruptions in time to alert authorities and populations remains a major global challenge. In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers and engineers from the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP) and the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for
The story of a woman whose discoveries in materials science quietly shape our everyday world but whose legacy was long eclipsed by the famous scientist she worked with at the General Electric Company
Megha Majumdar’s acclaimed novel A Guardian and a Thief explores a near-future where scarcity forces hard choices The post Can Morality Survive Climate Collapse? appeared first on Nautilus .
For quantum computers to function, they must be kept at extremely low temperatures. However, today's cooling systems also generate noise that interferes with the fragile quantum information they are meant to protect. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in
Harmful algal blooms continue to threaten coastal ecosystems and seafood safety worldwide. Among the organisms involved, the benthic dinoflagellate Prorocentrum lima is a known producer of diarrhetic shellfish poisoning toxins such as okadaic acid and dinophysistoxin 1. While
Old trees are learning new tricks with the advent of composite materials. A "green composite" made from biodegradable polymers and the waste bark of the Yakushima Jisugi tree was developed by a research team at Tohoku University. When assessing the material, they found that
Early in development, many animals pick a team—male or female—based on their genetics, and, with time, acquire the characteristics to match. New research from the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) explores how one species of frog evolved its own distinctive genetic system for
For decades, families in communities around Johannesburg have been living close to huge gold mining waste dumps. For many residents, the dust that is released there is just part of everyday life—but it can contain natural uranium compounds that come to the surface with the
People living on the low-lying shores of the Bristol Channel and Severn estuary began their day like any other on January 30, 1607. The weather was calm. The sky was bright.
Imagine a city that thrived for thousands of years, its streets alive with workshops, markets and the laughter of children, yet that is remembered for a single night of fire. That city is Troy.
The age of humans is increasingly an age of sameness. Across the planet, distinctive plants and animals are disappearing, replaced by species that are lucky enough to thrive alongside humans and travel with us easily. Some scientists have a word for this reshuffling of life:
When I worked for the Environmental Protection Agency in the 2010s as an Obama administration appointee, I helped write and review dozens of regulations under the Clean Air Act. They included some groundbreaking rules, such as setting national air quality standards for ozone
For those who watch gravitational waves roll in from the universe, GW250114 is a big one. It's the clearest gravitational wave signal from a binary black hole merger to date, and it gives researchers an opportunity to test Albert Einstein's theory of gravity, known as general
In the first days of 2026, the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (ABIOVE), which represents the largest soybean traders in Brazil, announced its withdrawal from the Amazon soy moratorium.
English pubs will receive a 15% discount on their business rates from April this year. The government deal, which also applies to music venues, follows a backlash from landlords who were facing a steep increase in their tax bills.
The King's Trough Complex is a several-hundred-kilometer-long, canyon-like system of trenches on the North Atlantic seafloor. Its formation was long thought to be the result of simple stretching of the oceanic crust. An international research team led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz
Biologists have uncovered a new mode of communication inside cells that helps bacterial pathogens learn how to evade drugs. Their findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, describe how these mechanisms drive antimicrobial resistance in Listeria monocytogenes,
Physical systems become inherently more complicated and difficult to produce in a lab as the number of dimensions they exist in increases—even more so in quantum systems. While discrete time crystals (DTCs) had been previously demonstrated in one dimension, two-dimensional DTCs
Climate change is not only disrupting supply chains and asset values, it is also quietly reshaping companies' choice of business partners. New research based on nearly two decades of data from thousands of US-listed firms shows that companies exposed to higher climate change
To reduce air pollution associated with ocean transport, the International Maritime Organization tightened restrictions on sulfur content in ship fuel, resulting in an 80% reduction in emissions by 2020. That shift created an inadvertent real-world experiment in how man-made
At least one of Colorado's collared wolves roamed widely across southwestern Colorado in the last month, a new map of wolf locations released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife shows. One of the state's 19 collared wolves traveled quickly through a number of watersheds in that
The sky is getting crowded. In the last few years, the number of satellite launches has increased by an order of magnitude as mega-constellations of internet-powering hardware crowd into low Earth orbit. The pace of both launching and retiring these units is creating new kinds
Just weeks after the premiere of popular gay hockey romance series "Heated Rivalry," star Hudson Williams' extensive skincare routine has gone viral. In a now-viral video for The Cut, the 24-year-old walks viewers through his "five-step Korean beauty routine."
Time feels like the most basic feature of reality. Seconds tick, days pass and everything from planetary motion to human memory seems to unfold along a single, irreversible direction. We are born and we die, in exactly that order. We plan our lives around time, measure it
Whether it's digging up weathered bones from a paleontological site or reexamining forgotten trays in museum and university collections, the study of dinosaurs still throws up something new.
A team of scientists from EPFL and Alaska Pacific University has developed an AI program that can recognize individual bears in the wild, despite the substantial changes that occur in their appearance over the summer season. This breakthrough holds significant promise for
As the operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement have intensified over the past year, politicians and journalists alike have begun referring to ICE as a "paramilitary force."
As controversy over Australia's new hate laws continues, last weekend's so-called March for Australia rallies were the latest in a string of events that have raised the temperature of public debate.
When most of us look out at the ocean, we see a mostly flat blue surface stretching to the horizon. It's easy to imagine the sea beneath as calm and largely static—a massive, still abyss far removed from everyday experience.
After the tragic death of Canadian backpacker Piper James on K'gari (Fraser Island) on January 19, a coroner found the 19-year-old had been bitten by dingoes while she was still alive, but the most likely cause of death was drowning.
These polar bears appear to be maintaining their physical health despite the loss of sea ice—their preferred hunting grounds
Shrinking sea ice has made life harder for polar bears in many parts of the Arctic, but the population in Svalbard seems to be thriving
The body conditions of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) populations around the Norwegian island of Svalbard have improved despite sea ice losses, according to new findings. The findings differ from previously published observations of polar bear population declines coinciding with
