From ancient fertilizer methods in Zimbabwe to new greenhouse technology in Somalia, farmers across the heavily agriculture-reliant African continent are looking to the past and future to respond to climate change. ⌘ Read more
From ancient fertilizer methods in Zimbabwe to new greenhouse technology in Somalia, farmers across the heavily agriculture-reliant African continent are looking to the past and future to respond to climate change. ⌘ Read more
Scientists detected the first long-predicted gravitational wave in 2015, and since then, researchers have been hungering for better detectors. But the Earth is warm and seismically noisy, and that will always limit the effectiveness of Earth-based detectors. ⌘ Read more
An international team of archaeologists and archaeogenetics specialists, working with the Hungarian National Museum, has discovered a network of Avar pedigrees and community social practices after conducting a DNA study of the remains of people who once lived in what is now a part of Hungary. ⌘ Read more
That the job market in Phoenix can affect a child's education in Mexico may strain credulity, but it's nevertheless true, according to a recent paper co-authored by Brian Cadena, a University of Colorado Boulder associate professor of economics. ⌘ Read more
A groundbreaking study, led by Dr. Mark Wong of The University of Western Australia, has provided the first global picture of insect activity patterns across the fundamental day–night cycle. ⌘ Read more
It's not just another ride for a pair of veteran NASA astronauts who arrived to the Space Coast ahead of their flight onboard Boeing's CST-100 Starliner. ⌘ Read more
In his presentation "How to use CRISPR-Cas to combat AMR" at the ESCMID Global Congress, Assistant Prof. Ibrahim Bitar, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital in Plzen, Charles University in Prague, Plzen, Czech Republic, will give an overview of the molecular biology of CRISPR technology in explaining how it can used to tackle antimicrobial resistance. ⌘ Read more
Herds of endangered hippos stuck in the mud of dried-up ponds are in danger of dying in drought-struck Botswana, conservation authorities told AFP Friday. ⌘ Read more
The Canadian government recently proposed earmarking $325 million in the 2024 federal budget to upgrade federal immigration detention centers to hold more people. The budget also proposes to amend the law to allow federal prisons to be used to detain "high-risk" immigrants. ⌘ Read more
To work in nature conservation is to battle a headwind of bad news. When the overwhelming picture indicates the natural world is in decline, is there any room for optimism? Well, our new global study has some good news: we provide the strongest evidence to date that nature conservation efforts are not only effective, but that when they do work, they often really work. ⌘ Read more
A centuries-old settlement submerged by the construction of a dam in the northern Philippines in the 1970s has reappeared as water levels drop due to a drought affecting swathes of the country. ⌘ Read more
Due to the changing climate, young herring arrive in the Wadden Sea earlier and earlier in spring. That is shown in a new publication by NIOZ ecologists Mark Rademaker, Myron Peck, and Anieke van Leeuwen in Global Change Biology. ⌘ Read more
In the ongoing quest to track the progression of climate change, scientists frequently examine the state of our planet's vegetation—forests, grasslands, agricultural lands, and beyond. ⌘ Read more
From July to August, Paris will host the 2024 Olympic games. However, once the athletes and spectators have packed up and left, the Games will leave behind a lasting social impact on the run-down neighborhoods on the outskirts of the French capital. ⌘ Read more
When I first wrote about geoengineering in 2012 , it was considered far-fetched at best, and crazy by most. But 12 years later, while there is still controversy and considerable resistance to deploying it, respectable scientists and institutions are pushing for more research into geoengineering—the deliberate and large-scale intervention in our climate system to moderate global warming. ⌘ Read more
President Joe Biden's government on Thursday finalized sweeping plans to curb planet-warming emissions from the nation's fossil fuel plants as part of the United States' efforts to confront the climate crisis. ⌘ Read more
The river Seine, the centerpiece of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony in July, starts with a few drops of water in a mossy grotto deep in the woods of central France. ⌘ Read more
Thailand issued fresh warnings about scorching hot weather on Thursday as the government said heatstroke has already killed at least 30 people this year. ⌘ Read more
Using an ultrasensitive photonic crystal, TU/e researchers were able to detect single particles down to 50 nanometers in diameter. The new research has just been published in the journal Optica. ⌘ Read more
The single-celled organism Naegleria fowleri ranks among the deadliest human parasites. Researchers around Matthias Horn and Patrick Arthofer from the Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science at the University of Vienna, in an international collaboration, have discovered viruses that infect this harmful microbe. ⌘ Read more
The moon's steadfast illumination of our night sky has been a source of wonder and inspiration for millennia. Since the first satellite images of its surface were taken in the 1960s, our understanding of Earth's companion through time has developed immeasurably. A complex interplay of cosmic interactions and planetary systems, the moon's surface displays a plethora of landforms evidencing its history. ⌘ Read more
Nature-based climate solutions can help mitigate climate change, especially in forested regions capable of storing and sequestering vast amounts of carbon. New research published in Global Change Biology indicates that a single hurricane in New England, one of the most heavily forested regions in the United States, can down 4.6–9.4% of the total above-ground forest carbon, an amount much greater ... ⌘ Read more
In a comparison of differently sized poultry farms, researchers at North Carolina State University found that rates of Salmonella in fecal and environmental samples were more prevalent on larger commercial farms than on smaller backyard farms. ⌘ Read more
To properly protect forests and evaluate the state of natural resources, conservation practices and environmental policies, it is important to have accurate information on an area's forest extent. ⌘ Read more
In a new study published in Nature Chemistry, UNC-Chapel Hill researcher Ronit Freeman and her colleagues describe the steps they took to manipulate DNA and proteins—essential building blocks of life—to create cells that look and act like cells from the body. This accomplishment, a first in the field, has implications for efforts in regenerative medicine, drug delivery systems, and diagnostic tools. ⌘ Read more
NASA recently announced that it is seeking new ways to complete the return to Earth of rock cores drilled by the Perseverance Rover in the Jezero Crater on Mars. This has led to some anxiety among space scientists, who view the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission as a cornerstone of plans to explore the solar system. ⌘ Read more
Researchers at Tohoku University and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency have developed fundamental experiments and theories to manipulate the geometry of the "electron universe," which describes the structure of electronic quantum states in a manner mathematically similar to the actual universe, within a magnetic material under ambient conditions. ⌘ Read more
An intricate simulation performed by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers using one of the world's most powerful supercomputers sheds new light on how proteins called SNAREs cause biological membranes to fuse. ⌘ Read more
Researchers who study Earth's biosphere tend to operate from one of three scientific cultures, each with distinct ways of conducting science, and which have been operating mostly independently from one another, find the authors of a Perspective published in PNAS on April 19, 2024. SFI Professors Christopher Kempes and Geoffrey West, together with External Professor Brian Enquist (University of Arizona) ... ⌘ Read more
The quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) has unique advantages in topotronic applications, but realizing the QAHE with tunable magnetic and topological properties for building functional devices is still a key scientific challenge. Through first-principles calculations, researchers have predicted a candidate material that meets these requirements. ⌘ Read more
Understanding the relationship between mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and animal growth could provide valuable information for selective breeding in aquaculture. However, the complex interactions between genetics and environmental factors often hinders progress in this field. To that end, a recent study published in Reproduction and Breeding investigated the cross-sectional diameter of skeletal muscle fibers ... ⌘ Read more
In the 1930s, the United States government introduced redlining, a discriminatory practice that categorized neighborhoods based on people's race or ethnicity and denied financial services to residents in certain areas—redlining disproportionately affected marginalized communities. While redlining was officially outlawed in 1968, new research from Boston Children's Hospital suggests a relationship between historic red ... ⌘ Read more
In the relentless battle against airborne viruses, researchers have developed a new spray coating to improve the antiviral efficacy of personal protective equipment, notably face masks. The study is published in the journal ACS Applied Nano Materials. ⌘ Read more
Yale researchers have uncovered new details on how bacteria like E. coli build their protective barriers, which will inform new antibiotic development. ⌘ Read more
The recent discovery of a potential new class of distant and mysterious "free-floating" planets has intrigued astronomers since stunning new images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope were shared late last year. ⌘ Read more
Biologists on a trail in the Ecuadoran Amazon hold their breath as they distribute a foul-smelling delicacy to lure butterflies, critical pollinators increasingly threatened by climate change. ⌘ Read more
Letters written by the famous mountaineer George Mallory have been made available to a global audience for the first time, in the centenary year of his fatal attempt to scale Everest. ⌘ Read more
Arabica coffee is the most economically important coffee globally and accounts for 60% of coffee products worldwide. But the plants it hails from are vulnerable to a disease that, in the 1800s, devastated Sri Lanka's coffee empire. ⌘ Read more
Last year's wildfire season marked B.C.'s most destructive on record: 2.8 million hectares burned, more than double any previous year. UBC researchers Dr. Lori Daniels and Dr. Mathieu Bourbonnais actively work on projects enhancing wildfire resilience, collaborating with community, government, private-sector and academic partners, and First Nations. ⌘ Read more
In Mali's capital Bamako, Aboubacar Pamateck runs a scarf under a trickle of water and wraps it around his head to cope with the West African nation's soaring heat. ⌘ Read more
A ancient giant snake in India might have been longer than a school bus and weighed a ton, researchers reported Thursday. ⌘ Read more
Astronomers identified the largest stellar black hole yet discovered in the Milky Way, with a mass 33 times that of the Sun, according to a study published on Tuesday. ⌘ Read more
More than 2,100 people living near an erupting volcano on Indonesia's Sulawesi Island were evacuated Friday due to the dangers of spreading ash, falling rocks, hot volcanic clouds and the possibility of a tsunami. ⌘ Read more
Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? ⌘ Read more
A remote Indonesian volcano sent a tower of ash spewing into the sky Friday, after nearly half a dozen eruptions earlier this week forced thousands to evacuate when molten rocks rained down on their villages. ⌘ Read more
Indonesian authorities were on alert Friday for more eruptions from a remote island volcano that forced thousands to evacuate this week, as nearby residents began clearing debris after molten rocks rained down on their villages. ⌘ Read more
Researchers have revealed the regulatory mechanism of a specific protein that plays a key role in balancing the immune response triggered by viral infections in mammal cells. These findings could help drive the development of antiviral therapies and nucleic acid medicines to treat genetic disorders. The research is published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research. ⌘ Read more
If you look from above, you can see thousands of stone structures dotting the landscape of the Arabian peninsula. On the ground, you can find a bounty of stone tools and ancient fireplaces scattered along the edges of ancient lakes, as well as rock art depicting hunting and herding scenes in the surrounding mountains. ⌘ Read more
Once, while teaching a class of environmental science students in China's Hebei University of Science and Technology, I asked who knew what a laughing kookaburra was. There were many blank faces. Then I tilted my head, much like a kookaburra does, and opened my mouth: "kok-kak-KAK-KAK-KAK-KOK-KAK-KOK-kook-kook-kok, kok, kok." I became the "bushman's alarm clock". ⌘ Read more
Scientists are normally happy to find regularities and correlations in their data—but only if they can explain them. Otherwise, they worry that those patterns might just be revealing some flaw in the data itself, so-called experimental artifacts. ⌘ Read more
SpaceX launched Wednesday evening the first of a pair of Space Coast rockets in two days, both carrying batches of the company's Starlink satellites. ⌘ Read more
Indonesian authorities closed an airport and residents left homes near an erupting volcano Thursday due to the dangers of spreading ash, falling rocks, hot volcanic clouds and the possibility of a tsunami. ⌘ Read more
With cloud seeding, it may rain, but it doesn't really pour or flood—at least nothing like what drenched the United Arab Emirates and paralyzed Dubai, meteorologists said. ⌘ Read more
Humans, Homo sapiens, have unique features compared with other closely related hominin species and primates, including the shape of the base of the skull. The evolutionary changes underlying these features were significant in allowing the evolution of our increased brain size. ⌘ Read more
Lost your keys? Can't remember where you parked the car? If only you had the memory of a mountain chickadee. ⌘ Read more
There is growing concern about people's unwillingness to get to know their neighbors. This concern is significant enough to have spurred research into what has been termed the "emerging asocial society"—one of the challenge areas of an initiative called Imagining Canada's Future. ⌘ Read more
Using the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), astronomers have performed high-resolution observations of a recently detected extreme helium star designated EC 19529–4430. It turned out that EC 19529–4430 is the most metal deficient among the population of known extreme helium stars. The finding was reported in a research paper published April 5 on the pre-print server arXiv. ⌘ Read more
Researchers at ICIQ in Tarragona have developed a simple technique to produce microscopic crystals that activate in the presence of light, releasing silver ions with antimicrobial activity. ⌘ Read more
In this image from Feb. 12, 2024, engineers lift a mast into place on NASA's VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) robotic moon rover. VIPER's mast and the suite of instruments affixed to it look a lot like the rover's "neck" and "head." The mast instruments are designed to help the team of rover drivers and real-time scientists send commands and receive data while the rover navigates around hazardous crater slopes, boulders, and places that ... ⌘ Read more
As of 2007, most humans live in cities. Though this is a relatively recent trend, many of our settlements contain street, block, and building patterns that have developed over centuries. These patterns—which collectively make up what we call "urban form"—are far from a neutral backdrop: they influence who lives where, what businesses find footholds in which locations, and what makes some areas ... ⌘ Read more
On April 22, 2024, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could radically change how cities respond to the growing problem of homelessness. It also could significantly worsen the nation's racial justice gap. ⌘ Read more
Extremely short pulses of laser light with a peak power of 6 terawatts (6 trillion watts)—roughly equivalent to the power produced by 6,000 nuclear power plants—have been realized by two RIKEN physicists. This achievement will help further develop attosecond lasers, for which three researchers were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2023. The work is published in the journal Nature Photonics. ⌘ Read more
According to a research team led by paleontologists from the University of Vienna, the net-like leaf veining typical for today's flowering plants developed much earlier than previously thought, but died out again several times. Using new methods, the fossilized plant Furcula granulifer was identified as an early forerunner. The leaves of this seed fern species already exhibited the net-like veining in the ... ⌘ Read more
Astronomers have identified the most massive stellar black hole yet discovered in the Milky Way galaxy. This black hole was spotted in data from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission because it imposes an odd 'wobbling' motion on the companion star orbiting it. Data from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) and other ground-based observatories were used to verify the mass of the black hole, putting it at an impres ... ⌘ Read more
Intensive new nano-analysis of the Winchcombe meteorite has revealed how it was affected by water and repeatedly smashed apart and reassembled on the journey it took through space before landing in an English sheep field in 2021. ⌘ Read more
In 1848, the British government decided to draw up a precisely measured map of London. Imperial expansion had seen the city develop quickly, particularly around the docks and the City of London. ⌘ Read more
For Nelly Vaquera-Boggs, the plastic tarps that cover strawberry fields in Monterey County, California, when they are being fumigated with toxic chemicals offer little comfort—especially when those fields are close to schools. ⌘ Read more
Modern Eurasian sheep predominantly belong to only two so-called genetic matrilineages inherited through the ewes, so previous research has assumed that genetic diversity must already have decreased rapidly in the early stages of domestication of wild sheep. A study of a series of complete mitogenomes from the early domestication site Asıklı Höyük in central Anatolia, which was inha ... ⌘ Read more
Production of ethylene is one of the most important chemical processes used today, with about 300 million metric tons of the tiny chemical produced each year. Ethylene gas is used to create everyday items like shopping bags and plastic film packaging. ⌘ Read more
A team of archaeologists at the Institute of Archaeology, HUN-REN Research Center for the Humanities, in Hungary, working with a colleague from Stockholm University, has revisited a mystery: a Roman era lynx skeleton buried in a pit with four dog skeletons, all layered above it. ⌘ Read more
In a study published in Science Advances, scientists have used new lithium isotope (δ7Li) data to show that continental clay export promoted organic carbon burial and thus atmospheric oxygenation during the Cambrian period. ⌘ Read more
Temperatures in Japan's northern city of Sapporo—famous for skiing—on Monday passed 25 degrees Celsius at the earliest point of any year on record, a weather agency official said. ⌘ Read more
Paleontologists from Flinders University have described three unusual new species of giant fossil kangaroo from Australia and New Guinea, finding them more diverse in shape, range and hopping method than previously thought. ⌘ Read more
Coastal communities need to prepare for simultaneous extreme weather events as heat waves increasingly overlap with surges in sea levels due to climate change, a study published on Thursday warned. ⌘ Read more
One of Brazil's top scientists, Eneas Salati, once said, "The best thing you could do for the Amazon rainforest is to blow up all the roads." He wasn't joking. And he had a point. ⌘ Read more
From a modern, scientific perspective, the wine Romans drank is often seen as an inconsistent, poorly made and thoroughly unpleasant beverage. It is alleged that Roman winemakers had to mask their products' flaws by adding spices, herbs and other ingredients to the freshly pressed grape juice, which is known as "must." ⌘ Read more
Dangerous concentrations of long-lingering "forever chemicals" have been found in surface and groundwater worldwide, according to a study released Tuesday that showed Australia, the United States and Europe as hotspots. ⌘ Read more
The first nationally representative figures on the prevalence of sexual harassment across childhood reveal females and those who are gender or sexuality diverse are most at risk. ⌘ Read more
Many advances in structural science since the 1970s were made by probing materials with synchrotron radiation: that is, high energy X-rays generated through accelerating high-energy electrons. The latest generation of such sources, X-ray free electron lasers (XFEL), are far more powerful than their predecessors but are only accessible to international consortia and a few rich countries because of their high cost. ⌘ Read more
The science fiction television series 3 Body Problem, the latest from the creators of HBO's Game of Thrones, has become the most watched show on Netflix since its debut last month. Based on the bestselling book trilogy Remembrance of Earth's Past by Chinese computer engineer and author Cixin Liu, 3 Body Problem introduces viewers to advanced concepts in physics in service to a suspenseful story involving i ... ⌘ Read more
When Alice Volpitta watched the video of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, and the trucks tumbling into the Patapsco River in the darkness, she thought first for the people who had fallen. ⌘ Read more
A study by The University of Western Australia has unearthed a new species of subterranean ant that shares some traits with a well-known Harry Potter villain. ⌘ Read more
The U.S. set aside 23 million acres of Alaska's North Slope to serve as an emergency oil supply a century ago. Now, President Joe Biden is moving to block oil and gas development across roughly half of it. ⌘ Read more
Almost two decades ago, the inaugural State of Black California report was the first to provide a comprehensive look at how the material conditions and socioeconomic outcomes for Black Californians fared compared to other racial and ethnic groups. ⌘ Read more
Get ready. Billions of trillions of singing, winged insects with big red eyes are about to emerge from more than a decade of sleep underground. ⌘ Read more
The global food crisis is increasing due to rapid population growth and declining food productivity from climate change. Moreover, today's food production and supply system emits a huge amount of carbon dioxide, reaching 30% of the total amount emitted by humanity, further aggravating climate change. Sustainable and nutritious microbial food is attracting attention as a key to overcoming this impasse. ⌘ Read more
US space scientists on Thursday unveiled the interplanetary probe NASA plans to send to one of Jupiter's icy moons as part of humanity's hunt for extra-terrestrial life. ⌘ Read more
Since its introduction in 1951, the UN refugee convention has been the basis for the global refugee system. It defines who a refugee is and outlines the rights they are entitled to. ⌘ Read more
Scientists at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute have discovered the molecular mechanisms responsible for opening up the human genome and expressing new genes. ⌘ Read more
The full power of next-generation quantum computing could soon be harnessed by millions of individuals and companies, thanks to a breakthrough by scientists at Oxford University Physics guaranteeing security and privacy. This advance promises to unlock the transformative potential of cloud-based quantum computing and is detailed in a new study published in Physical Review Letters. The paper is titled "Verifiable blind quantum computing with trapped ions and ... ⌘ Read more
Researchers mapping tropical forests have found many more roads than declared by official sources, which is raising fears of a huge increase in environmental degradation as the pace of road building increases. ⌘ Read more
A team of archaeologists affiliated with several institutions in France and one in Germany has found that ritualized human sacrifice was common across Europe during the Neolithic. ⌘ Read more
South Florida researchers trying to prevent predatory fish from devouring laboratory-grown coral are grasping at biodegradable straws in an effort to restore what some call the rainforest of the sea. ⌘ Read more
If you pay any attention to politics and polling, you have likely heard that your friends and neighbors are not very happy with the direction of the country. You might not be, either. ⌘ Read more
Currently, membrane materials play an important role in tissue repair, especially polysaccharide-based membranes, attracting much attention due to their excellent biological properties. However, poor mechanical properties of polysaccharide-based membranes under wet conditions severely limit their in vivo applications. The fabrication of polysaccharide-based membranes with both robust wet mechanical proper ... ⌘ Read more
The Himalayas stand as Earth's highest mountain range, possibly the highest ever. How did it form? Why is it so tall? ⌘ Read more
A survey of orchid bees in the Brazilian Amazon state of Rondônia, carried out in the 1990s, is shedding new light on the impact of deforestation on the scent-collecting pollinators, which some view as bellwethers of biodiversity in the neotropics. ⌘ Read more
Mouhamed Sall stepped to the chalkboard with a glance and quick question in sign language to an assistant. Then he solved the exercise to the silent approval of his classmates, who waved their hands in a display of appreciation. ⌘ Read more
Engineered bacteria can produce a plastic modifier that makes renewably sourced plastic more processable, more fracture-resistant and highly biodegradable even in seawater. The Kobe University development provides a platform for the industrial-scale, tunable production of a material that holds great potential for turning the plastic industry green. ⌘ Read more
An analysis of glacial data spanning four decades has provided valuable insights into the changes taking place in the glaciers of the Pir Panjal range within the Kashmir basin in India. The research, published in the International Journal of Hydrology Science and Technology, analyzed data for the period 1980 to 2020. ⌘ Read more