Most offices have that one worker who has problems controlling their indoor voice. Either too loud or too soft, it can be distracting to colleagues—especially as workplaces become increasingly open concept, with fewer closed offices to ensure privacy and quiet.
Hops are an essential ingredient in beer brewing and an important economic crop. The female flowers of hops are covered in tiny glandular trichomes that synthesize and store a variety of specialized metabolites, collectively defining the flavor and quality of beer. Terpenes
As the world approaches critical tipping points, a comprehensive global scientific report shows that resilience—the ability to live and develop with change and crises—must now be placed at the heart of global decision-making.
Cockroach infestations don’t just bring creepy crawlers, they fill homes with allergens and bacterial toxins that can trigger asthma and allergies. NC State researchers found that larger infestations meant higher toxin levels, especially from female roaches. When extermination
Researchers have, for the first time, estimated how quickly E. coli bacteria can spread between people — and one strain moves as fast as swine flu. Using genomic data from the UK and Norway, scientists modeled bacterial transmission rates and discovered key differences between
Scientists at Mizzou have identified two small molecules, agmatine and thiamine, that could both reveal and fight glaucoma. Their research shows these compounds are lower in glaucoma patients, suggesting they may serve as early warning markers. Even better, they might help
In our modern society, aging tends to be something we ignore, and then try to avoid. Mainstream culture is geared toward the young, using the young to gauge trends and styles, and targeting their spending power. Meanwhile, the anti-aging industry is booming, with billions of
New study fills in the gaps in our understanding of marine life The post Fish Forensics Yield Surprising Results appeared first on Nautilus .
Biodiversity startups, which are tackling challenges ranging from disappearing pollinators to vanishing coral reefs, raise less capital than other startups but attract a broader coalition of investors, according to a new analysis that used machine learning to sift through
Once considered geologically impossible, earthquakes in stable regions like Utah and Groningen can actually occur due to long-inactive faults that slowly “heal” and strengthen over millions of years. When reactivated—often by human activities—these faults release all that
A decade-long study recently published in the journal Northeastern Naturalist found that 352 wild bee species call Vermont home, with 60% of those species likely in need of conservation action.
Even with futuristic geoengineering methods like Stratospheric Aerosol Injection, the fate of wine, coffee, and cacao crops remains uncertain. Scientists found that while this intervention could slightly cool the planet, it cannot stabilize the erratic rainfall and humidity
Even though we can explore the universe with great precision, there is still a lot we don't know, according to Ulf Danielsson, professor of theoretical physics at Uppsala University. Besides doing research, he is keen to explain science more broadly—most recently in the book
When it comes to finding baby, still-forming planets around young stars, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observatory is astronomers' most adept tool. ALMA has delivered many images of the protoplanetary disks around young stars, with gaps and rings
The global community is facing a number of urgent challenges, such as emerging diseases, epidemics, antimicrobial resistance, food safety, water scarcity, environmental contamination, and severe changes in biodiversity. All of them are intensified by the widespread impact of
What a mathematical model can tell us about self-censorship The post When Do People Speak Out Against Tyranny? appeared first on Nautilus .
A new study has shed light on how international charities and non-governmental organizations can better serve some of the most marginalized people in the world—by learning to truly listen to them.
With the rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence, teachers and school leaders are looking for answers to complicated questions about successfully integrating technology into lessons, while also ensuring students actually learn what they're trying to teach.
Math and physics explain the anguish of a golf ball that zings around the rim of the hole instead of falling in.
Picture this: It's the 18th hole and the game's on the line. You line up your putt, take a breath, and roll the ball toward the hole. The pace is firm, the line looks good—until the ball dips in, then cruelly pops back out onto the green. New research led by the University of
The golden oyster mushroom, with bright yellow pillowy caps, are a popular buy that are sold in grow-your-own kits as well as standard grocery stores, farmer and gourmet markets. A University of Florida researcher warns it is quietly invading forests and is now spotted in the
Getting covid-19 for the first time slightly increased the risk of heart inflammation, blood clots and bleeding disorders among children, whereas being vaccinated against the virus was much safer and sometimes protective
Voting behavior in elections is strongly linked to the future risk of death, and is likely a stronger determinant of health than education—considered a key influence on health—suggests research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
Just over a century ago today, British archaeologists discovered the entrance to the Ancient Egyptian monarch’s tomb … eventually scattering its treasures far and wide The post Have We Learned King Tut’s Lessons? appeared first on Nautilus .
Although heart cells and skin cells contain identical instructions for creating proteins encoded in their DNA, they're able to fill such disparate niches because molecular machinery can cut out and stitch together different segments of those instructions to create endlessly
Barley is a widely grown cereal crop that is used chiefly for livestock feed, food, and malting to produce alcoholic beverages such as beer and whiskey. Unfortunately, both the yield and quality of the crop can be lowered by various fungal diseases.
A theoretical framework predicts the emergence of non-reciprocal interactions that effectively violate Newton's third law in solids using light, report researchers from Japan. They demonstrate that by irradiating light of a carefully tuned frequency onto a magnetic metal, one
A dinosaur fossil discovery by a researcher from The University of Texas at El Paso may expand the known range of a species that roamed Earth approximately 115 million years ago.
Water anoles are remarkable creatures. Perched along the banks of steep waterfalls in the forests of Panama and Costa Rica, they're often seen bending and peering down at rushing streams below as if daring themselves to jump. They could, if they wanted to. With a natural
A new study has unexpectedly discovered that a common parasite of modern oysters actually started infecting bivalves hundreds of millions of years before the dinosaurs went extinct.
A new study has revealed that firework displays cause significant distress to urban birds, prompting calls for greater awareness of wildlife welfare ahead of Bonfire Night.
Point Nemo, the most remote location on the planet, is serving as humanity’s cosmic junkyard The post Are We Trashing Earth’s Loneliest Spot? appeared first on Nautilus .
A Peking University research team led by Wang Heyuan and Wang Kai at the Institute for Carbon Neutrality (ICN) used AI models to determine that the global land carbon sink has drastically shrunk due to an abrupt and extreme jump in global temperature. Their study, "AI-tracked
Scientists at the FMI and the University of California-Santa Cruz have found that similar molecular machineries control daily circadian rhythms and developmental timing. Their study with worms shows that core timing systems can be repurposed through evolution to coordinate both
Forest ecosystems play a vital role in the global carbon cycle. While the significance of tree mycorrhizal fungi in this process is well-documented, the manner in which different types of tree mycorrhizae influence forest carbon storage, particularly in species-rich subtropical
Rice University researchers studying a class of atom-thin semiconductors known as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have discovered that light can trigger a physical shift in their atomic lattice, creating a tunable way to adjust the materials' behavior and properties.
Researchers have developed an AI-powered 'scientific assistant' designed to accelerate the scientific process by helping them identify new research questions, analyze and interpret data, and produce scientific documents.
New evidence that rationality is wider than humanity The post Chimps Can Change Their Minds. Why Can’t We? appeared first on Nautilus .
A research team led by Professor Zhang Qinghong and Li Rumeng from the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at Peking University (PKU) School of Physics, has found that hailstorms in China have surged since the Industrial Revolution, likely due to human-driven climate
The California tiger salamander relies on seasonal ponds to breed. But for decades, the species has been under pressure from non-native salamanders introduced in the 1950s and 1960s for use as fishing bait.
We've feasted on them, built economies around them and in some places nearly erased them from our coasts. Today, 85% of the world's oyster reefs are gone. Many fisheries are collapsing, and those in Florida are no exception: Many estuaries in the state have lost up to 90% of
Distance learning far precedes the digital age. Before online courses, people relied on print materials (and later radio and other technologies) to support formal education when the teacher and learner were physically separated.
In a kind of addition-by-subtraction, chemists at the University of Florida have developed a technique to create highly porous materials from the ubiquitous building blocks of everyday plastics, and the end result could have applications in electronics, separations and battery
Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes (GM-APDs) are highly sensitive light detectors, capable of detecting single photons. Photons of certain wavelengths, when absorbed by photodiodes, generate electron-hole pairs in a process called impact ionization which can result in a
When pathogens enter our cells as part of an infection, our body will trigger a programmed cell death known as "pyroptosis" as part of an antimicrobial response. This response also plays a role in processes which are not directly linked to infection, such as chronic
On Nov. 11 each year, a curious holiday takes over China. What began among Nanjing University students in the 1990s as a tongue-in-cheek counter to Valentine's Day has exploded into the world's largest shopping event: Singles' Day.
Oklahoma has become a testing ground for reshaping public school curriculum to reflect conservative viewpoints, Make America Great Again priorities and a push for Christian nationalism in the classroom.
Small mountain ponds high in the tropical Andes may be playing an outsized role in global climate change, according to new research led by scientists at the University of North Carolina.
A new study led by Prof. Chen Hongsong from the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has revealed that calcium-rich bedrock can reshape the latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) within karst forests. These findings provide empirical evidence
A new study introduces an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven remote sensing framework designed to map the potential for forage cultivation across northern China's drylands, with a particular focus on the middle reaches of the Yellow River. The study, recently published in
