NASA has completed its final inspection of the primary mirror on the Roman Space Telescope, which measures 2.4 meters (7.9 feet) in diameter and contains a layer of silver hundreds of times thinner than a human hair, at 400 nanometers.
When it comes to understanding Earth and our changing environment, space is the place. Not only does it give us an overall holistic view of the planet below, but satellite-based imagery can transcend national boundaries and give us an understanding of key changes that often go
The "soil" blanketing the moon's surface isn't actually soil. It's a fine, lethal, abrasive powder of shattered rock and jagged glass that shreds gaskets, chews through seals, and hangs in an airless environment blasted by unfiltered radiation and temperature swings that can
Textile wastewater treatment practices inadvertently produce toxic byproducts—including chloroform and bromoform—at alarming levels that pose a clear occupational health hazard and lead to unknown environmental effects downstream, University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers
Climate change and sea level rise are altering the chemistry of Biscayne Bay in ways that could threaten South Florida's coastal ecosystems, water resources, fisheries, and recreation, according to a study led by scientists from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of
By using clearcutting, industrial forestry has caused a large-scale decline of hair lichens in Sweden's forests. In a large-scale field-experiment, researchers from Umeå University, University of Northern British Columbia, Canada, and Norwegian University of Life Sciences have
The Langobards are frequently depicted as fierce warrior-like people, with all known archaeological evidence of violence restricted to men. However, nearly 1,400 years ago, a Langobard woman took two severe injuries to the head, one a clean slice made by a blade, the other a
An ancient makeup bottle turns up far from its Egyptian home The post Did a Roman Legionnaire Wear Eyeliner? appeared first on Nautilus .
Conical intersections are crucial molecular switching points in light-driven reactions, but accurately predicting them usually requires computations. A researcher from Shibaura Institute of Technology has developed a new low-cost quantum chemistry method that can simultaneously
New research from the University of Oxford provides the first quantitative evidence that drought exposure over the last 12 months is associated with an increased risk of sexual, emotional and physical violence among adolescents in Southern Africa. This risk rises substantially
Mid-latitude Asian drylands, stretching from Central Asia to northern China, are among the largest dryland systems in the world. Home to extensive agricultural activities and fragile ecosystems, the region is highly vulnerable to climate change and water scarcity.
How does nature build one of the most sophisticated catalytic metal centers found in biology? An international team of researchers has now resolved a long-standing debate surrounding the assembly of the active site of [FeFe]-hydrogenases—enzymes that rank among nature's most
A research team from the School of Biomedical Sciences at the LKS Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), has achieved a significant advance in biotechnology that could revolutionize treatment strategies for neurodegenerative diseases. The team has developed
As another heavy sargassum season unfolds, many beachgoers are asking the same question: Is it safe to be near it? A recent University of Miami study offers an evidence-based answer, particularly for children. Overall risks are low, but not zero. The research, published in
The ringed planet stuns in old photos The post See Saturn Like You’ve Never Seen it Before appeared first on Nautilus .
Cell function is determined by how DNA is expressed into proteins. That process includes two main steps—transcription, when messenger RNA (mRNA) makes copies of active genes; and translation, when mRNA guides protein assembly.
Scientists from six Asian countries have launched an ambitious 10-year effort to build synthetic cells from non-living molecules, marking the region's first coordinated push to create an artificial single-celled biological system. The roadmap, published on May 26 in Nature
Chemical reactions are the backbone to nearly all biological processes, including those used to make new medicines. However, these reactions can often take considerable time and require harsh conditions or materials—potentially inhibiting the timely development of life-changing
The humble Y chromosome may be the smallest chromosome in the mammalian genome (and getting even smaller), but it is mighty: Genes on the Y chromosome are critical for fertility in males. In a new study in the journal Current Biology, researchers at the University of Michigan
Laser systems operating in the 2-micrometer wavelength range open diverse opportunities in medical technology, agriculture, and plastics processing. In the Eurostars project DECOMP, Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) has developed novel fiber optic components that overcome
Our capacity for innovation, rather than being the work of random variation, is based on an intrinsic understanding of how the world works, claim Karolinska Institutet and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam researchers in a new study published in the Proceedings of the National
The ocean is full of invisible workers. Trillions of microbes quietly break down carbon-containing organic matter, which helps to regulate Earth's climate. But scientists have long struggled to understand how different microbes contribute to the process.
In 2018, Caitlin Caspi started a five-year research project looking at how raising the minimum wage could impact nutrition-related health outcomes. Caspi is an associate professor of allied health sciences in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR),
Our current achievement economy may deserve the blame The post How the “Perfectionism Pandemic” Is Crushing Young People appeared first on Nautilus .
Nylon is a representative plastic material used throughout our daily lives, from clothing to automobiles. However, most of its raw materials have been produced through petrochemical processes, resulting in large carbon emissions. KAIST researchers have developed a technology
Cells are typically studied outside the body under controlled laboratory conditions. However, conventional flat cell culture methods do not fully reproduce the complex three-dimensional environments that cells experience in living tissues. Tiny hydrogel capsules offer one way
Quantum entanglement is a state in which particles are entwined with each other. In this entwined state, the properties of one particle influence the other, even when they aren't physically close to each other. This phenomenon has often been observed in small quantum systems
Researchers at iC3 have found a way to improve records of past high latitude ocean change using tiny plankton shells called foraminifera. By growing these foraminifera under controlled cold-water conditions, the team has extended a key temperature tool into the range most
Life on Earth wasn’t always mobile The post What Happened When the First Animals Started to Move appeared first on Nautilus .
The evolution of sex remains one of biology's greatest puzzles. While sexual reproduction dominates across the animal kingdom, scientists still debate why it persists despite its high costs. Even more mysterious is the loss of sex in favor of asexual reproduction whereby
The period between 2018 and 2022, sometimes referred to as "the rainbow wave," featured an unprecedented increase in LGBTQ candidates elected to office. Pete Buttigieg's rise from mayor of South Bend, Indiana, to U.S. secretary of transportation with a 2020 bid for president in
Applying an external magnetic field during the synthesis of CoFe2O4 electrocatalysts triples the ammonia yield during electrocatalytic conversion. The magnetic field alters the surface states of the spinel oxide thin films, making catalytically active sites more accessible. In
The latest production from the "molecular movie" imaging technology developed at Oregon State University is a new, inexpensive way of dealing with a common environmental pollutant. Based on short-pulse lasers, the imaging technology allows chemical and biological actions to be
4.5 billion years ago was an interesting time for Earth. The atmosphere was thick and what we would now think of as toxic. The moon, which was freshly formed, looks much more massive than it does today and faintly glows with the residual heat from its own creation. And the
Turns out getting rid of large swaths of humanity benefits nature The post After the Black Death, Italy’s Oak Trees Came Back appeared first on Nautilus .
What if a process we associate with aging actually helps the body heal? A study led by Mikolaj Ogrodnik, LBI Trauma, published in Nature Cell Biology, shows that cells enter a state of senescence within minutes to hours after an injury—and that this rapid response not only
The use of digital tools and better coordination between different organizations can help the U.K. significantly optimize its first line of defense against ecological degradation, new research shows. Unified and local efforts can support a thriving environment and improve
Physicist Richard Feynman turned a lunch dilemma into a math problem. Researchers finally cracked his notes and found people approximate his solution on their own.
A new study examining harbor and gray seal pups undergoing rehabilitation in the U.S. has identified important steps that could improve animal welfare during their recovery. Researchers from the University of Chester and Manchester Metropolitan University monitored 25 seal pups
The Indian monsoon has shifted over the past quarter century. Northwest India now receives substantially more rain than it once did, while a lack of rain sends the Indo-Gangetic Plain toward drought.
For the past three decades, a team of archaeologists have been uncovering some of the field's most recent monumental discoveries, relying on gut instinct, persistent hard work, and cutting-edge methods and technologies.
A new advance in animal husbandry involving a popular aquarium fish should speed the pace of discovery in laboratory studies of host-microbe interactions, researchers report. The new findings by researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are detailed in the
Some clinics are touting pressurized oxygen chambers as a treatment for long COVID, but the evidence is mixed
People with advanced pancreatic cancer taking an experimental daily pill lived nearly twice as long as those receiving chemotherapy infusions
The rise of remote work since the pandemic has made businesses more reluctant to hire young, inexperienced workers and is the key driver of higher unemployment rates for recent college graduates, a study released Monday has found.
Many people are reluctant to ask others for advice—for fear of being a burden or taking up unnecessary time. A new study led by Professor Dr. Anne Burmeister at the ECONtribute Cluster of Excellence shows how this reluctance can be lowered: When people seeking advice learn that
New research from a team of scientists led by Cornell is transforming how researchers understand one of the atmosphere's most abundant and least understood constituents: mineral dust.
Decades of reliance on the antibiotic rifampicin have fueled the rise of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). But as the bacterium mutates to protect itself from the drug, it also creates new weak points that other therapies could exploit. Now, a new study published
Dinosaurs are estimated to have roamed Earth for over 165 million years, gradually evolving over time to survive in changing environments. Among the many fascinating groups of dinosaurs known to have lived on our planet are alvarezsauroids.
Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University have developed a method for creating realistic virtual tomato farms that automatically generate data for training agricultural AI systems. Their approach offers a way to overcome one of the most labor-intensive tasks in farming:
