Headlines

Music and traffic noise make our imagination more vivid

Have you ever been stuck in a traffic jam with music blasting through the radio, and found your mind drifting off in a daydream? There might be a reason. A new study from Murdoch University, in collaboration with The Sydney Music, Mind, and Body Lab, at the Sydney

Sperm whale clicks follow similar rules to human speech

Sperm whales produce powerful clicks to communicate. To our ears, they sound nothing more than a series of repetitive, mechanical taps. But we could be a step closer to understanding some of their complex communication, as scientists have discovered that the large marine

Scientists develop 'light switch' for the love hormone

Researchers have developed a molecular "light switch" for the so-called love hormone oxytocin, offering new insights into how social behavior, partnership bonding, emotions, and mental health are wired in the brain. Professor Markus Muttenthaler from UQ's Institute for

Nature might have a universal rhythm

Animal communication can look wildly different—flashing lights, chirping calls, croaking songs and elaborate dances. But new research from Northwestern University suggests many of these signals share a surprising feature: They repeat at nearly the same tempo.

Drought takes a heavy toll on bumblebees

Drought significantly reduces the reproductive success of bumblebee colonies, according to a new study conducted by a research team at the University of Würzburg and published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. This also has consequences for plant

New technique maps cancer drug uptake inside living cells

A new analytical method could improve how cancer treatments are designed—by allowing scientists to track, for the first time, exactly where inside a living cell a drug accumulates. Researchers from the University of Surrey and King's College London developed the method, which

Scientists think alien life might be hiding in patterns

A new study proposes detecting life in space by spotting patterns across many planets instead of focusing on one at a time. If life spreads and changes planetary environments, it could leave behind statistical clues linking planets together. These patterns may reveal life even

Bottled lightning makes a cleaner fuel

Northwestern University chemists have discovered a new way to turn natural gas into liquid fuel—and it's lightning in a bottle. By harnessing tiny bursts of plasma—or mini "lightning bolts"—in glass tubes submerged in water, the team has successfully converted methane directly

Graphene just defied a fundamental law of physics

In a major breakthrough, scientists have observed electrons in graphene flowing like a nearly frictionless liquid, defying a core law of physics. This exotic quantum state not only reveals new fundamental behavior but could also unlock powerful future technologies.

Subaru telescope captures comet 3I/ATLAS composition change

The Subaru Telescope observed the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on January 7, 2026, after it made its closest approach to the sun. By observing colors in the coma around the comet, astronomers could estimate the ratio of carbon dioxide to water. This ratio is much lower than that

This simple change stops robot swarms from getting stuck

In crowded environments, more robots don’t always mean faster results—in fact, too many can bring everything to a standstill. Harvard researchers discovered a surprising fix: adding a bit of randomness to how robots move can actually prevent gridlock and boost efficiency. By

Copper's 'gatekeeper' could unlock cleaner energy future

A common mineral hiding in plain sight could hold the key to making copper production cleaner, faster and more efficient, just as global demand for the metal surges to power the energy transition. In an article published in Nature Geoscience, researchers from Monash