The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines play a pivotal role in some of the federal government's most consequential drug policy decisions. Two recurring themes have been the balancing—or lack of balancing—between drug weight and the defendant's role in the drug distribution enterprise,
Researchers at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin have developed a new method for trapping and controlling atoms near an ultrathin glass fiber. This has significantly improved the atoms' ability to store quantum information—an important step forward for future quantum technologies.
Today’s T. rex auction could be cause for concern The post How Dinosaur Skeletons Became So Expensive appeared first on Nautilus .
New research involving Queen Mary University of London reveals that amphibians can change what they eat to cope with rising temperatures, but that this natural survival strategy has limits.
In the heart of the Congo Basin's Cuvette Centrale, a large depression that hosts the world's largest tropical wetland complex, lie two vast, shallow blackwater lakes, Lake Tumba and Lake Mai Ndombe. Together, they are roughly the size of 420,000 football fields.
The age-old question asks, "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" While philosophers and scientists alike have pondered this question for centuries, the more relevant question for today's recreation and wildlife managers is: Does it
When grizzly bears clamber onto the talus slopes high in Glacier National Park, they're searching for an abundant, fatty meal: army cutworm moths. The inch-long (2.5-centimeter-long) moths hatch on the Great Plains and fly en masse to escape the heat in the stony upper reaches
There's growing interest in alternatives to traditional burials and in making the process more environmentally friendly in many countries. For many people, it's about the environmental impact of the funeral industry globally.
Honey bee larvae lack the sophisticated olfactory capabilities of adult honey bees, a new study finds. Scientists point to this temporary loss of function as a side effect of the nurse bees' heroic level of brood care, calling it a consequence of social evolution. The new
A new tool that allows researchers to create realistic full-body animations of monkeys has provided the first evidence that nonhuman primates experience the "uncanny valley" phenomenon for body avatars, according to a study by Lucas Maximilian Martini at the University Clinic
The heat waves of late May and June killed an estimated 2,700 people in England and Wales, according to a recent analysis—around 550 in May, when west London hit 35.1°C (95°F), and 2,200 in June, as East Anglia reached 37°C (99°F).
Inside the brain and aesthetic experience The post The Nautilus Guide to the Best Books on the Science of Art appeared first on Nautilus .
Smoke from northern Minnesota wildfires may drift over the Great Lakes and Northeast this week, bringing hazardous levels of air pollution to major cities
A U.S.-Russian space crew blasted off successfully Tuesday on a mission to the International Space Station.
A record-smashing heat wave was spreading Tuesday from the West toward the East Coast, placing nearly 100 million Americans under heat alerts.
Faster and more effective ways to treat Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the most life-threatening pathogens, could be possible thanks to a first-of-its-kind 3D computer model developed by the University of Surrey.
Lab-grown meat, gene editing and extreme fire: researchers' predictions for life in the 2100s
Evidence of the slowing of Charon's spin period (despinning) is recorded in tectonic features on the surface of Pluto's icy moon, according to a modeling study published in Nature Communications. The findings offer insights into the early thermal evolution of Charon and other
Astronomers have made a series of landmark observations of one of the universe's most violent events. Using the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array (NSF VLA) radio telescope, which is operated by the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy
This massive dinosaur skeleton sold for more than $50.1 million on Tuesday
Microorganisms are increasingly being engineered to manufacture valuable compounds ranging from medicines and food ingredients to biofuels and industrial chemicals. However, turning microbes into efficient production platforms requires extensive strain optimization. Finding the
Plants do not wait hours to respond to intense sunlight—they react within minutes. Researchers at Bielefeld University and the Australian National University have discovered a new signaling pathway that enables plants to directly adjust their protein production before genes in
Two types of carbohydrates are important to plants—structural carbohydrates (which form cell walls) and nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs). The latter group represents plants' stored energy reserves, which can be used to survive cold or drought; regrow after damage; recover
A research team led by Seil Kim of the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS) Energy & Environmental Materials Research Division has developed an Ag–PTFE composite plating technology that produces silver coatings with greater hardness and wear resistance than conventional
Climate change is transforming livestock farming—and at a faster rate than many anticipate. More frequent and intense heat waves place a heavy physiological strain on dairy cows.
Researchers have demonstrated a novel AI model that can predict which DNA molecules bind with other DNA molecules. A more thorough understanding of these hypercomplex binding relationships has utility in applications ranging from biomedical diagnostic tools to DNA computing.
Female farm managers are hidden in plain sight in ancient Roman texts, mentioned in laws, literature and grave inscriptions across five centuries. Modern historians have generally assumed they were housekeepers, in charge of domestic tasks and household meals, and segregated
Women who identify as involuntary celibates have high levels of sexual anxiety and depression, a new study suggests. The term "incel"—for involuntarily celibate—is most often associated with men, but some women describe a similar experience in online forums, where they use
The population of the 27-nation European Union will peak in 2029 before falling in the coming decades, according to a report published Tuesday that spotlights the major challenges the bloc faces from an aging population.
Choosing friends may involve more than clicking with others who share our interests or outlooks. According to new research, people may select friends based on traits that made them valuable survival partners in our evolutionary past.
A Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton nicknamed "Gus" sold Tuesday for $50.1 million at Sotheby's in New York, making it the most valuable dinosaur fossil bought at auction after a 10-minute battle between seven bidders.
Researchers at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have developed the world's first achromatic lens for neutron imaging. The lens overcomes a longstanding obstacle in the field: focusing neutrons of different wavelengths well enough to form a sharp, magnified image. With the lens,
An international team of researchers has announced the discovery of a new species of harvester ant, officially named Messor odrysarum. The discovery was made by researchers Albena Lapeva-Gjonova of Sofia University in Bulgaria and Lech Borowiec of the University of Wrocław in
The interactions between microscopic algal cells and bacteria in the oceans play a pivotal role in the global carbon cycle. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now taken an important step toward deciphering the chemical language that brokers these interactions.
There are parts of the universe that are extremely hard to see, even for our most advanced telescopes. Gas and dust don't emit light and are visible only by the light they block from stars and galaxies. Magnetic fields are even harder to detect because ordinary light typically
A technique for judging whether a common mineral formed through biological activity could aid the search for ancient life on Earth and Mars. Apatite is a ubiquitous phosphate mineral found in terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments. It is a major component of teeth and
Researchers at RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau have achieved a key experimental breakthrough: For the first time, the spontaneous macroscopic coherence of magnons—the quantized excitations of magnetic materials—has been directly observed. These experiments confirm a
In what's been hailed as a "massive breakthrough," a chlamydia vaccine implant has been administered to a wild koala for the first time. This is the only koala chlamydia vaccine that uses two doses. Now, thanks to the implant, it can be applied in one examination.
Mathematics has always been at the core of securing information. From online banking to government communications, modern society relies on cryptography, in which complex mathematical algorithms transform readable information into an unreadable form to keep it secure. But as
Who hasn't dreamed of flying like a bird? But do birds actually enjoy flying as much as we imagine? A new study by researchers at Utrecht University shows that galahs, Australian cockatoos, almost always choose to fly when given the opportunity. And after several days of
Astronomers are closer to solving the mystery of how supermassive black holes feed themselves thanks to new images from the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST. The images provide the clearest view ever seen of gaseous filaments connecting a galaxy's hot atmosphere to the
When playing the classic game "20 Questions," one may begin with the common opener: "Animal, vegetable, or mineral?"
New research from Adelaide University has found customers can be an overlooked source of workplace discrimination, leaving gay and bisexual men feeling they must choose between being authentic or protecting themselves from prejudice.
Are giant sinkholes in China's karst mountains havens or traps for the rare plants that inhabit them? A new study finds they are both—offering refuge from heat and drought while gradually eroding the evolutionary potential of an endangered tree.
The SpudCell certainly resembles a living cell, but a key structure inside the cell falls short of the real thing
Atmospheric rivers bring heavy rain and floods, but if they don’t come around, it could mean drought. A new global map reveals little-known pathways.
Future quantum computing will require correlations between distant modules—a feature known as distributed entanglement. Traditionally, such entanglement has relied on active control and repeated measurements. Now, physicists at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria
A new study led by our Psychology Department has revealed that children play a much bigger role in shaping human culture than previously thought. The research, published in the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences, shows that children are not just learning from adults but also
Many parts of Western Europe are currently wilting under a heat wave. These blistering spells can last for a week or more, and although they are common in most summers, it is difficult to predict how long they will last.
Tissue engineers are finding ways to grow living organs and tissues from cells, with the aim of replacing diseased and damaged counterparts in the body. Scientists have successfully grown artificial muscles, livers, kidneys, skin and other tissues. But there's been no reliable
