It all began with a perfectly ordinary chat over coffee between four researchers. How many films featuring geologists can we think of? Quite quickly, the colleagues were able to come up with about 10 films. But then the scientific mind of one of them sprang into action.
Two RIKEN physicists have established new theoretical limits for experimentally measurable quantities by viewing solids through a lens of quantum geometry. Their results shed light both on the physics of solids and on quantum mechanics.
Sitting in a restaurant, you reach for the ketchup bottle, eyeing the basket of fries in front of you. You give the bottle a shake, then a tap. For a moment, nothing happens—the ketchup clings stubbornly to the glass. Then, all at once, it lets go and rushes out, sometimes in a
It’s the most detailed map of our universe’s architecture ever created The post Astronomers Capture Cosmic Web in Staggering Detail appeared first on Nautilus .
A new Washington University in St. Louis' study takes on the Herculean task of studying the linguistic choices of more than 800 political parties from 87 democracies around the world, including the United States.
Nasa is developing ways to use nuclear power to send spacecraft to their destinations. Nuclear propulsion could greatly reduce the journey time to Mars, perhaps cutting a voyage of more than six months to three or four months.
Researchers have recently found a new way to summon useful structures in magnetic materials using light, heat, and electric fields. This new method, described in a new study published in Physical Review Letters, may lead to more energy-efficient and flexible technologies for
As married research professors at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Dustin Gilbert and Anne Murray often discuss their work once they get home each night. Their fields of study rarely crossover. That changed six years ago, however, and it was insects that sparked the
Atmospheric methane levels have surged to record highs in recent years and are projected to increase by as much as 13% by 2030, according to a report from the Climate & Clean Air Coalition. As scientists work to better understand what is driving this rise, a new collaborative
In our research in the British Library's medieval collections, we have identified a previously unnoticed document that provides fresh insights into the survivors of the outbreak of plague known as the Black Death (1346–53).
Do you know what the Apple logo looks like? Chances are, you think you do. It's ubiquitous and iconic. How could you not know it? But when tested, it turns out very few people can remember all the features of the logo. One study of 85 people found that only about half could
Bottom trawlers extract one-quarter of the world's fisheries catches by weight and raise significant ecological, economic and social concerns. Given that, you'd think there would be an answer to basic questions in fisheries: how many fish species are being caught, and what are
When physicists fire beams of fast electrons at materials, they often need to know exactly how much energy those electrons will lose as they travel through. Through new research published in Physical Review Letters, a team led by Ke Jiang at Shenzhen Technology University in
Tenets of quantum mechanics and special relativity, among other theoretical ideas, lead inexorably to string theory.
Flock shape, speed and structure are key in deciphering whether radar readouts are birds, bats, insects or weather
Alaska's Cook Inlet was home to nearly 1,300 beluga whales in the late 1970s, but today the population hovers around 300. Despite almost two decades of recovery work, the whales aren't bouncing back. The Cook Inlet belugas are likely struggling under multiple pressures,
Digital distractions can undermine our focus, but research suggests that our inherent capacity to pay attention hasn’t diminished
When you hear the word "epoxide," what do you think? If anything, likely "glue." But epoxides are quite common in our everyday lives. You might be sitting on a foam seat cushion made from epoxides. There is a good chance the synthetic textiles in your clothing involve epoxides
Big corporations are not just influenced by governments anymore—they are being increasingly influenced by the military, according to a new study from the University of Surrey. The research, published in the Journal of World Business, shows many multinational firms now build
Seasonal influenza can spread rapidly, and timely information on rising cases is essential for public health decisions and health care resource planning. However, conventional surveillance based on reported patients can lag behind real-world infection trends because it depends
You're an anaerobic microbe sunbathing on a Martian beach billions of years ago listening to the small waves hit the shoreline as you take in the perchlorates in the Martian regolith. This is because while Mars is warm and wet, it still lacks sufficient oxygen, so anaerobic
In the spring of 2025, baseball fans were treated to a surprise when the New York Yankees began the season with a unique style of bat. Termed "torpedo bats," these new designs tapered slightly toward the end, so the widest points of the bats were closer to the "sweet spot"—the
Seen just 800 million years after the big bang, an object called LAP1-B is a galactic building block that seems to hold some of the first stars to ever shine
New research shows how climate change is reshaping protected area management, though more funding and scientific knowledge are needed to facilitate the process. The Natura 2000 network, the world's largest network of protected areas, aims at protecting important species and
Researchers at the University of Bristol have developed a new method which could help scientists perform large-scale climate simulations at a fraction of the cost and time needed compared to traditional climate models. The team, led by Dr. Charles Williams, Senior Lecturer in
In Olympic weightlifting, a single kilogram plate can be the difference between gold and silver. As much as possible, elite athletes must use everything they can to their advantage.
Every year in the West Pacific, as summer ends and September rolls around, typhoons are not far behind. Typhoons are the most impactful extreme weather events affecting Japan and East Asia, and due to climate change, extremely strong typhoons are becoming more frequent. In
A research team led by Hee-jung Lee, senior researcher at Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), in collaboration with Professor Sunghwan Park of Kyungpook National University and Professor Mingyu Kim of Yeungnam University, has developed a technology that enhances CO₂
In 2012, a wildfire ripped through 42 square kilometers of alpine moorland in Africa's Rwenzori Mountains, a range of glaciated peaks on the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The blaze, which occurred at an elevation of over 13,000 feet, was shocking to
How do fish survive relentless sunlight in the open waters without getting burned? They make their own natural sunscreen—and now, humans could be one step closer to using it too.
Our personal identity is composed of many dimensions, such as age, gender, ethnic background, or socioeconomic status. A research team led by Fariba Karimi from the Institute of Human-Centered Computing at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) and Samuel Martin-Gutierrez from
It's a tough world for microbes. When resources grow limited and environments worsen, microbes have figured out ways to hunker down and go dormant until conditions improve.
A Dartmouth study shows that annual rainfall in much of the world has consolidated over the past four decades into heavier storms with longer dry periods in between.
It's been 37 years since scientists first demonstrated the ability to move single atoms, suggesting the possibility of designing materials atom by atom to customize their properties. Today there are several techniques that allow researchers to move individual atoms in order to
Scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have uncovered new information suggesting a potential connection between Homo erectus and modern humans, while also developing new, less invasive
Mapping their starting point like bees do helps autonomous drones find their way
It’s evolved far beyond a rotten apple The post The Genetic Secrets of the Fruit Fly That Hunts Its Prey appeared first on Nautilus .
Many drug and antibody discovery pathways focus on intricately folded cell membrane proteins. When molecules of a drug candidate bind to these proteins, like a key going into a lock, they trigger chemical cascades that alter cellular behavior. Understanding how proteins fold
In many primate species, males are much larger than their female counterparts, which is generally attributed to male competition for mates (sexual selection). But bigger bodies may not just be about alpha males defeating rivals. They could also come about because of competition
A huge long-term study found that drinking two to three cups of coffee a day was linked to a much lower risk of dementia, especially before age 75. Researchers say caffeine may help keep brain cells active while reducing inflammation and harmful plaque buildup associated with
The impacts were severe: Within a very short time, tropical storm Doksuri intensified into a super typhoon in July 2023. Exceptionally strong winds tore roofs from houses along the coasts of China and the Philippines, trees were uprooted, and torrential rain flooded streets and
The bird retina is one of the most energetically expensive tissues in the animal kingdom, yet it doesn’t use the energy advantage of oxygen. New research finally explains how this is possible. The post How the Bird Eye Was Pushed to an Evolutionary Extreme first appeared on
When you think of outer space, you're likely picturing stars, planets and moons. But much of space is filled with clouds of gas, plasma and stardust—known as interstellar clouds.
As debate intensifies over data center construction and how to regulate artificial intelligence (AI), a new nationally representative survey finds that Americans are broadly pessimistic about the impact of AI and want more government action to regulate the technology.
Africa’s Turkana Rift Zone, a hotbed of hominin fossils, is caught in the act of “necking," a critical transition toward continental breakup.
Last night, Labor unveiled a budget designed to tackle intergenerational equity in Australia through bold tax reform. It comes at a time when politics is consumed with the international shocks created by US President Donald Trump, whether through chaotic tariff announcements or
For nearly 100 years, reinforced rubber has powered everything from car tires to airplanes, yet scientists never fully understood why adding tiny particles of carbon black made rubber so incredibly strong. Now, researchers at the University of South Florida have finally cracked
Researchers at the Technion have discovered how changes in genetic regulatory sequences can lead to alterations in the form and structure of animals—even when genetic regulatory systems are stable and resistant to change. The study, published in Science Advances, was led by Dr.
When third-year veterinary students at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University step into the operating room to undertake their inaugural surgery, the energy in the room is palpable: there's excitement, but also nerves.
As modern technologies shrink to the nanoscale, surfaces increasingly dictate how materials deform, yield, and fail. Yet probing this regime has long been hindered by the challenge of preparing and controlling surfaces with true atomic precision, particularly at the outermost
