A joint research team has developed a highly efficient photocatalyst that can convert carbon dioxide into the high-value-added fuel, methane, using sunlight, while explaining its operating principles. The work is published in the journal ACS Catalysis.
An international research team has identified a human protein, ANKLE1, as the first DNA-cutting enzyme (nuclease) in mammals capable of detecting and responding to physical tension in DNA. This "tension-sensing" mechanism plays a vital role in maintaining genetic integrity
Tiny cavities in energy storage devices form small vortices that help with charging, according to a research team led by TU Darmstadt. This previously unknown phenomenon could advance the development of faster storage devices.
An international research team led by Professor Philip C.Y. Chow at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has unveiled a new catalyst that overcomes a major challenge in producing green hydrogen at scale. This innovation makes the process of producing oxygen efficiently and
If natural history museums can be said to have a problem, it's that they have too many specimens for any one person to see and not nearly enough exhibit space to show them off. The Florida Museum of Natural History, for example, is home to more than 40 million specimens and
A research team led by Prof. Sun Chaomin from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS) has unveiled the crucial role of viruses in deep-sea carbon cycling and microbial community structure. Their findings are published in Nature Communications.
Sarah Dalessi, a fifth-year student in the College of Science at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System, is the lead author of a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal detailing the discovery of the fastest gamma-ray
The Colorado River Basin, like much of the southwestern U.S., is experiencing a drought so historic—it began in 1999—that it's been called a megadrought. In the basin, whose river provides water to seven states and Mexico, that drought is the product of warming temperatures and
Male bonobos can decipher females' unreliable fertility signals, allowing them to focus their efforts on matings with the highest chance of conception, according to a study by Heungjin Ryu at Kyoto University, Japan, and colleagues published in PLOS Biology.
Some parts of Africa lack megaherbivores—salt scarcity in the environment could explain why The post The Table Condiment That Powers Plant-Eating Giants appeared first on Nautilus .
As humanity prepares to take its first steps on Mars, a comprehensive report released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and steered by scientists at Penn State lays out a detailed science strategy to guide the initial human missions to the red
For decades, Arieh Warshel, USC Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and a 2013 Nobel laureate, has used computer simulations to understand how enzymes—fundamental to nearly every biological process in living organisms—carry out the essential work of life.
About 400 storks have been found dead along a river near Madrid, officials said Tuesday, raising concerns that a highly infectious strain of bird flu may be circulating.
It's time for one of the strongest meteor showers of the year.
In 2023, Canada's worst wildfire season on record produced so much smoke that it spilled across national borders into the United States. At times, a thick haze enveloped much of the U.S. East Coast and triggered "Code Purple" and "Code Maroon" alerts—the most hazardous air
Chemists have long been fascinated and frustrated by saxitoxin: a molecule that causes temporary paralysis by blocking the electrical signals that nerve cells (neurons) use to activate muscle, and which accumulates in shellfish like clams, oysters and scallops.
Dragline silk or major ampullate (MA) silk, the part of a spider's web that forms the main frame and spokes, is one of the toughest materials known to science. That is, it can absorb massive amounts of energy from a sudden impact without breaking, outperforming most other
For roughly 2 billion years of Earth's early history, the atmosphere contained no oxygen, the essential ingredient required for complex life. Oxygen began building up during the period known as the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), but when and how it first entered the oceans has
Frequently framed as a crisis, the aging of the U.S. population also provides an opportunity to build more livable communities.
In an interesting turn of botanical events, University of Houston engineers report that while melatonin keeps us asleep, it wakes up plants, helping them grow.
After a yearslong series of setbacks, NASA's Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, or ESCAPADE, mission has finally begun its roundabout journey to Mars.
From an incredible series of revelations about the ancient humans called Denisovans to surprising discoveries about tool making, this year has given us a clearer picture of how and why humans evolved to be so different from other primates
Most people care about fairness at work and want to support colleagues who face marginalization—for example, people of color, women and people with disabilities. Our research has found that 76% of employees want to be allies to co-workers who face additional challenges, and 84%
The notion of the divine feminine is a recurring motif in American pop culture, playing with the assumptions people make when referring to God—often the deity described in the Bible—as "He."
It's December, the weather's turning, and the holidays are fast approaching. You've got to find the perfect gift for your partner, parents or that weird relative you only see once a year. At work, there's the secret Santa for a colleague you barely know, and the office party
The increasing teacher shortage is a concerning global crisis. It will reach a shortfall of 44,000,000 teachers by 2030, according to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Hydrogen fuel could be an important part of the clean energy revolution. But it faces some challenges. Most hydrogen today is made from natural gas using a process called steam methane reforming, which produces lots of carbon dioxide.
Diamond is famous in material science for being the best natural heat conductor on Earth—but new research reveals that, at the atomic scale, it can briefly trap heat in unexpected ways. The findings could influence how scientists design diamond-based quantum technologies,
Research led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst is giving conservationists a precise picture of which habitats to target in their efforts to ensure that Southeast Asia's big cats—Bengal tigers, Indochinese leopards and Mainland clouded leopards—are saved from extinction.
More than half a million people, the vast majority being children under the age of 5, die annually due to malaria, with Sub-Saharan Africa as the most highly burdened region. Mosquitoes belonging to the genus Anopheles carry Plasmodium parasites and infect humans, occasionally
A new study led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) links quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) in solar flares to dynamic oscillations in magnetic reconnection, a phenomenon that can drive space weather and affect technology on Earth. This research could help refine traditional
Classic economic theory assumes low-income people would stop working if governments gave them money as a strategy to reduce poverty.
A collaborative study, which includes contributions from NDORMS researchers Adam Crowther and supervisor Dario Carugo, explores new ways to model bladder biology.
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, a team of international researchers have discovered chemical fingerprints of gigantic primordial stars that were among the first to form after the Big Bang.
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, Colorado, have for the first time succeeded in using existing laser technology to continuously vary the magnetic properties of
A “superhuman” alphabet for the hands The post What Robots Can Learn from Classical Indian Dance appeared first on Nautilus .
An evolutionary "trap" has haunted crested and marbled newts for 25 million years: Leiden researchers have uncovered a mysterious DNA error that should not be able to arise—yet persists all the same. How is that possible? Ph.D. candidate James France found new clues.
A researcher at the Department of Physics at Tohoku University has uncovered a surprising quantum phenomenon hidden inside ordinary crystals: the strength of interactions between electrons and lattice vibrations—known as phonons—is not continuous, but quantized. Even more
A Rutgers astrophysicist is helping to solve a cosmic puzzle that has astronomers scratching their heads. The mystery centers on a powerful explosion in space that lasted far longer than anything they have seen before.
Researchers are now investigating a Viking Age grave with preserved skeletal remains and jewelry. The grave was found at Val in Bjugn, in Trøndelag County. A discovery by a metal detectorist alerted researchers to the find.
Scientists were amazed to discover a 507-year-old clam that was already 100 in Shakespeare’s day, but why did it live so long and what can we learn from it?
Excavations of a workshop that was buried in Pompeii almost 2000 years ago have given archaeologists unique insights into Roman construction techniques and the longevity of the empire’s concrete
Concrete was the foundation of the ancient Roman empire. It enabled Rome's storied architectural revolution as well as the construction of buildings, bridges, and aqueducts, many of which are still used some 2,000 years after their creation.
The ocean is saturated with microplastics. While we know the location of the great garbage patches, where plastic particles may accumulate below the ocean surface remains unknown. The vastness of the ocean means particle sampling data are sparse, but modeling how particles
A peer-reviewed paper about Chinese startup DeepSeek's models explains their training approach but not how they work through intermediate steps.
Scientists discovered a small protein region that determines whether plants reject or welcome nitrogen-fixing bacteria. By tweaking only two amino acids, they converted a defensive receptor into one that supports symbiosis. Early success in barley hints that cereals may
Supramolecular chemistry involves the study of self-assembly of discrete molecules that are used to build large functional structures. Often, these molecules are allowed to self-assemble into one-dimensional polymeric structures (supramolecular polymers or SPs) in a suitable
Perched on a plastic chair overlooking a colony of Nazca boobies in the Galápagos Islands, researcher David Anderson carefully studied the seabirds.
On our 2025 Best Nonfiction of the Year list, Karen Hao’s investigation of artificial intelligence reveals how the AI future is still in our hands
La Trobe University academics have developed a noninvasive way to monitor hormones in frogs in an important step toward protecting the vulnerable animals from extinction.
