UK astronomers are a step closer to playing a leading role in NASA's search for alien life in the coming decades as they continue developing one of the core instruments of the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). The exciting mission—the U.S. space agency's next flagship space
Wildfires are becoming a feature of the UK's hotter, drier climate. In July 2026, major fires swept through parts of the UK in a matter of days—notably setting Arthur's Seat, the extinct volcano in the center of Edinburgh, alight. The Scottish Greens labeled wildfires a
Researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, found a way to optimize how cells bind to small packages they release called extracellular vesicles. By coating the vesicles with metal ions, they made cells and their corresponding vesicles stick together more strongly
A chat with aged avatars of future selves can guide people paralyzed by tough decisions. The question is what information to feed the bots.
The previously unpublished short story reveals the playful and erotic side of the father of modern computing The post A Forgotten Literary Window Into the Personal Life of Alan Turing appeared first on Nautilus .
Imagine you're driving down a winding road when you spot an injured possum. Your instincts might tell you to hit the brakes, check what's wrong and bundle it into your car. Research shows many of us want to help wild animals in distress. This may be out of empathy, obligation
When scientists want to create a protein that can potentially treat disease, one approach is to begin with a different protein and evolve it in the lab, selecting over many generations for versions with a new, desired function.
If you've been anywhere near the internet in recent days, you will likely have seen the viral footage of "Jimothy": an unusually round raccoon in Seattle that hops and skips along in a video filmed by local resident Kiana Hall.
All four main LHC experiments have found new signs that oxygen and neon collisions may create the extreme state of matter that existed during the first microseconds after the Big Bang.
Many people are familiar with fossilized wood as a decorative item from a museum shop. However, the fact that it can preserve the geological history of entire regions spanning millions of years is a new discovery. A research team led by geologist Dr. Steffen Trümper from the
As the planet warms, countries around the world are racing to meet their net-zero targets set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Birds can inhabit various environments with different climates and temperatures, ranging from cold polar regions to scorching hot deserts. To survive and thrive in these very different environments, they need to effectively regulate their body temperature.
Rejection can sometimes be so intense it feels like physical pain—a punch in the gut or a heart that aches. It often involves feeling left out and unwanted. And it can make us question our self-worth.
A research team led by SKKU professor Hosung Seo of the Department of Quantum Information Engineering and the SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology, working with the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Washington, has identified—for the first time—an
Humans are not the only animals that communicate. Birds sing to attract mates, dolphins use signature whistles that identify individuals, and many primates produce complex vocalizations that help them coordinate their social lives.
It's been said that a finely tuned ear knows the size and shape of a piano by merely listening to the instrument's notes. An international team of physicists has now devised an analogous approach to detect the universe's hidden particles at high energies—opening a potential
Children thrive when parents are warm and responsive to their needs while also providing clear guidance and setting limits. This is known as authoritative parenting. But most parents will tell you authoritative parenting is easier said than done, especially when children have
Scientists have identified four types of black holes, classified mostly by their masses. But these mysterious objects continue to challenge our understanding of the universe.
Stanford engineer Khalid Osman and collaborators are building modeling tools to help water system managers find the most cost-effective option for improving their community's drinking water.
Astronomers have discovered a remarkably tiny group of six young galaxies just 1.2 billion years after the Big Bang. This may be a rare glimpse of how some of the universe's largest galaxies formed. The paper outlining the findings was submitted to the arXiv preprint server on
A new scientific review has found that nutritionally sound vegan dog food, vegan cat food and vegetarian pet diets are generally well digested and broadly comparable to conventional meat-based diets.
The ocean giants deploy tiny solutions to counteract their own buoyancy The post How Do Sperm Whales Keep Their Massive, Wax-Filled Heads Beneath the Waves as They Sleep? appeared first on Nautilus .
The worlds of the solar system are exciting and, so far, mostly pristine places for planetary scientists to study. As space missions continue to travel to Mars, Europa, asteroids and other worlds, questions arise about keeping them safe for continued exploration and observation.
Warm weather often means more time outside with your pets, but higher temperatures also increase the risk of heat stress, which occurs when an animal's body cannot properly cool itself, causing its core temperature to rise.
Millions of people living on tropical islands could face a future of increasingly dangerous heat as climate change drives longer and more intense periods of humid conditions. While rising temperatures are often discussed as the main consequence of climate change, humidity plays
Joan Birman popularized the Burau representation problem decades ago. Now she and two colleagues have a proof that reveals brand new insights into the geometry of braids
Nearly a decade after the #MeToo movement reshaped public conversations about sexual harassment, a new study from the Newcomb Institute at Tulane University finds that Americans are reporting experiences of sexual harassment at far higher rates than they did before the movement.
Smell is one of the most complex and least understood senses
Using the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory, astronomers are beginning the largest and deepest survey of the sky. What will they see?
Could sunlight actually improve your health? New research suggests we may need to rethink total sun avoidance
Venus is an inhospitable place, with temperatures soaring to several hundred degrees Celsius (hundreds of degrees Fahrenheit) and no oceans like those on Earth. Planetary scientists long believed Venus was geologically dormant. However, recent research indicates that Venus
A major new digital mapping project could help safeguard some of the world's most important and well-known heritage sites from rising seas, flooding and coastal erosion. Researchers led by scientists from the University of East Anglia (UEA), Durham University and the University
Luggage-clad residents and tourists fled a French peninsula by boat, and the smell of smoke drifted into parts of Madrid on Friday as wildfires swept through parts of Western Europe, triggering states of emergency and calls for EU help.
Thousands of shipping containers vanish every year—what becomes of them?
A new collaborative research project between Murdoch University and Walailak University (WU) aims to restore seagrass meadows in Thailand using 3D-printed pods made from bioplastics.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in classroom practice in Hong Kong, following the Education Bureau's release of the Blueprint for Digital Education Development in Primary and Secondary Schools and its commitment to supporting innovative technology in
The number of chicks in the Coulman Island emperor penguin colony decreased by about 69% in 2025 compared with 2024, according to research published in Communications Earth & Environment. The authors suggest that a large iceberg, which grounded off the island between July 2025
The European Union adopted new legislation on plants obtained through certain new genomic techniques in June 2026. The new framework will apply after a two-year transition period. It distinguishes between two categories. Plants in Category 1 (NGT-1) have a limited number and
Puerto Ricans share deep skepticism toward elected officials and a widespread sense of limited self-governance, according to a new study from the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research and the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras.
Researchers at the University of Cologne have discovered a previously unknown mechanism that links two fundamental processes in mitochondria. The team, led by Julia Racho and Dylan Stobbe under the supervision of Professor Dr. Jan Riemer from the Institute of Biochemistry at
Chiral molecules can exist in left- and right-handed forms. Although these mirror-image forms may look almost identical, they can behave very differently in chemical reactions, biological systems and advanced materials. Preparing one mirror-image form in high purity is
Drug development is among the slowest, most failure-prone processes in modern science, with about 90% of drug candidates never reaching the market. Today, artificial intelligence methods have accelerated the first step—plucking promising molecules out of endless
Earlier toilet training and new recycling technologies are among expert-backed solutions to reduce the environmental impact of disposable diapers and other hygiene products, according to a new study led by UCL researchers.
Scuba diving is often presented as a success story for marine ecotourism.
For more than 20 years, about 4,000 autonomous profiling floats have been drifting through the ocean. They form part of the international Argo program (Argo—global array of profiling floats). At regular intervals, they descend to a depth of 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) and, as
In May 2026, OpenAI released a new math result that sent shock waves throughout the world of mathematical research. A major unsolved problem called the "unit distance conjecture" had just been resolved by generative AI.
A startling new study of a little-known, unpublished short story by Alan Turing challenges our understanding of the man who played a key role in cracking the Nazis' Enigma code, developed the theoretical underpinnings of the first computers and laid the groundwork for the
Astronomers searching for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence may have been missing alien signals in part of the radio spectrum that has not recently been explored.
In mammals, males are usually stronger and more competitive than females. Males also show greater inequality in reproductive success—the number of offspring they produce—than females. In spotted hyenas, the opposite is true: Reproductive inequality is greater among females than
Fusion at high temperatures powers the sun and, if harnessed, could provide a potential source of energy here on Earth. But controlling fusion reactions has other benefits. The process also generates subatomic particles called neutrons that are used in a range of applications
