Top Science News
May 14, 2024
May 14, 2024 — Astronomers discovered three of the oldest stars in the universe, and they live in our own galactic neighborhood. The stars are in the Milky Way's 'halo' -- the cloud of stars that envelopes the ...
May 14, 2024 — Researchers have found that 2023 was the hottest summer in the Northern Hemisphere in the past two thousand years, almost four degrees warmer than the coldest summer during the same ...
May 9, 2024 — Researchers have created the largest synaptic-resolution, 3D reconstruction of a piece of human brain to date, showing in vivid detail each cell and its web of neural connections in a piece of human temporal cortex about half the size of a rice ...
May 8, 2024 — Researchers may have detected atmospheric gases surrounding 55 Cancri e, a hot rocky exoplanet 41 light-years from Earth. This is the best evidence to date for the existence of any rocky planet atmosphere outside our solar ...
Latest Top Headlines
updated 3:02pm EDT
May 14, 2024 — Survey reveals nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults support using emerging technology to screen embryos during IVF for risk of developing certain health conditions or traits that arise from more than one gene. Only about one-third of respondents approved of using the technology to predict traits unrelated to disease. Nearly all expressed concerns about potential negative outcomes for individuals ...
May 13, 2024 — The human brain filters through a flood of experiences to create specific memories. Why do some of the experiences in this deluge of sensory information become 'memorable,' while most are discarded by the brain? A computational model and behavioral study developed by Yale scientists suggests a new clue to this age-old question, they report in the journal Nature Human ...
May 13, 2024 — An experimental treatment made from a plant virus is effective at protecting against a broad range of metastatic cancers in mice, shows a new study. The treatment, composed of nanoparticles fashioned from the cowpea mosaic virus -- a virus that infects black-eyed pea plants -- showed remarkable success in improving survival rates and suppressing the growth of metastatic tumors across various ...
May 10, 2024 — Many neurons exhibit 'mixed selectivity,' meaning they can integrate multiple inputs and participate in multiple computations. Mechanisms such as oscillations and neuromodulators recruit their participation and tune them to focus on the relevant ...
May 14, 2024 — Cinematography techniques can significantly increase user engagement with virtual environments and, in particular, the aesthetic appeal of what users see in virtual ...
May 9, 2024 — A new machine-learning technique can train and control a reconfigurable soft robot that can dynamically change its shape to complete a task. The researchers also built a simulator that can evaluate control algorithms for shape-shifting soft ...
May 10, 2024 — Astronomers have proposed a new theory to explain the origin of phosphorus, one of the elements important for life on Earth. The theory suggests a type of stellar explosion known as ONe novae as a major source of ...
May 10, 2024 — Many artificial intelligence (AI) systems have already learned how to deceive humans, even systems that have been trained to be helpful and honest. Researchers describe the risks of deception by AI systems and call for governments to develop strong regulations to address this issue as soon as ...
May 13, 2024 — Today's rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide increase is 10 times faster than at any other point in the past 50,000 years, researchers have found through a detailed chemical analysis of ancient Antarctic ...
May 13, 2024 — Scientists have established a system to generate clonal sex cells in tomato plants and used them to design the genomes of offspring. The fertilization of a clonal egg from one parent by a clonal sperm from another parent led to plants containing the complete genetic information of both ...
May 9, 2024 — Scientists have discovered a new partnership between a marine diatom and a bacterium that can account for a large share of nitrogen fixation in vast regions of the ocean. The newly-discovered bacterial symbiont is closely related to the nitrogen-fixing Rhizobia which live in partnership with many crop plants and may open up new avenues to engineer nitrogen-fixing ...
May 9, 2024 — The division between liberals and conservatives on both climate-change beliefs and related policy support is long-standing. However, the results of a newly released global experiment show that despite these differences, the two camps actually align when it comes to taking certain actions to combat climate ...
Health News
May 14, 2024
May 6, 2024 — About 79% of clinical trial participants experienced measurable improvement after receiving experimental, CRISPR-based gene editing that is designed to fix a rare form of blindness, according to a new ...
May 1, 2024 — The health benefits of exercise are well known but new research shows that the body's response to exercise is more complex and far-reaching than previously thought. In a study on rats, a team of scientists has found that physical activity causes ...
May 1, 2024 — With recent studies having established the presence of nano and microplastic particles in the respiratory systems of both human and bird populations, new research has modeled what happens when people ...
Apr. 24, 2024 — New research has highlighted the profound link between dietary choices and brain ...
Latest Health Headlines
updated 3:02pm EDT
May 14, 2024 — Researchers have discovered a distinct, secondary population of platelets that appears with aging and have hyperreactive behavior and unique molecular properties, which could make them easier to target with ...
May 14, 2024 — New research could revolutionize the way Alzheimer's and other brain-related diseases are diagnosed and treated -- by building tiny brains in a petri ...
May 13, 2024 — A research team has unveiled a breakthrough in understanding how specific genetic sequences, known as pseudogenes, ...
May 13, 2024 — Suddenly they appear and -- like the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus -- can trigger major epidemics: Viruses that nobody had on their radar. They are not really new, but they have changed genetically. In particular, the exchange of genetic material between different virus species can lead to the sudden emergence of threatening pathogens with significantly altered ...
May 13, 2024 — Sometimes it seems like an AI is helping, but the benefit is actually a placebo effect -- people performing better simply because they expect to be doing so -- according to new research. The study also shows how difficult it is to shake people's trust in the capabilities of AI ...
May 13, 2024 — Would you trust a robot to look after your cat? New research suggests it takes more than a carefully designed robot to care for your cat, the environment in which they operate is also vital, as well as human ...
May 13, 2024 — A new article highlights how artificial intelligence stands on the threshold of making monumental contributions to the field of sleep medicine. Through a strategic analysis, researchers examined advancements in AI within sleep medicine and spotlighted its potential in revolutionizing care in three critical areas: clinical applications, lifestyle ...
May 13, 2024 — Analysis of 1,392 patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) found that some patients for whom life support was withdrawn may have survived and recovered some level of independence a few months after injury. Families are often asked to make decision to withdraw life support within 72 hours of a brain injury, and the new study suggests delaying ...
May 13, 2024 — A computer scientist has shown the power of language to predict harm -- this time to the nation's ...
May 9, 2024 — Discrimination may speed up the biological processes of aging, according to a new ...
May 8, 2024 — Researchers lay out the need for design safety protocols that prevent the emerging 'digital afterlife industry' causing social and psychological ...
May 9, 2024 — Aging clocks can measure the biological age of humans with high precision. Biological age can be influenced by environmental factors such as smoking or diet, thus deviating from the chronological age that is calculated using the date of birth. The precision of these aging clocks suggests that the aging process follows a program. Scientists have now discovered that aging clocks actually measure ...
Physical/Tech News
May 14, 2024
May 6, 2024 — Engineers created a catapillar-shaped robot that splits into segments and reassembles, hauls cargo, and crawls through twisting ...
May 6, 2024 — Billions of years ago, Venus may have harbored as much water as Earth. Today, almost all of it has disappeared. A new study may help to explain ...
May 1, 2024 — A research team using the ChemCam instrument onboard NASA's Curiosity rover discovered higher-than-usual amounts of manganese in lakebed rocks within Gale Crater on Mars, which indicates that the sediments were formed in a river, delta, or near the ...
Apr. 30, 2024 — Researchers have successfully used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to map the weather on the hot gas-giant exoplanet WASP-43 ...
Latest Physical/Tech Headlines
updated 3:02pm EDT
May 13, 2024 — A research team has demonstrated that a simple stack of thermoelectric and magnetic material layers can exhibit a substantially larger transverse thermoelectric effect -- energy conversion between electric and heat currents that flow orthogonally to each other within it -- than existing magnetic materials capable of exhibiting the anomalous Nernst ...
May 13, 2024 — Physicists and computer scientists have recently expanded the modern theory of the thermodynamics of computation. By combining approaches from statistical physics and computer science, the researchers introduce mathematical equations that reveal the minimum and maximum predicted energy cost of computational processes that depend on randomness, which is a powerful tool in modern ...
May 10, 2024 — Researchers have taken a key step toward closing the silver nanoparticles knowledge gap with a study that indicates the particles' shape and surface chemistry play key roles in how they affect aquatic ...
May 13, 2024 — Collaborative efforts decode the mechanism behind stabilizing cathode doping in electric vehicle ...
May 8, 2024 — In the quest for life beyond our solar system, a new study delves into the atmospheric dynamics of planet Proxima Centauri b, illuminating ozone's pivotal role in shaping planetary climates. This research signifies a significant leap forward in our understanding of habitable ...
May 9, 2024 — Astrophysicists discovered that an exoplanet is covered with so many active volcanoes that seen from a distance it would take on a fiery, glowing-red ...
May 9, 2024 — A recent study has discovered a novel method for detecting the first-generations stars, known as Population III (Pop III) stars, which have never been directly detected. These potential discoveries about Pop III stars hold the promise of unlocking the secrets of the universe's origin and providing a deeper understanding of the remarkable journey from the primordial cosmos to the world we inhabit ...
May 8, 2024 — After starting science operations in February, Japan-led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) studied the monster black hole at the center of galaxy NGC ...
May 10, 2024 — A new approach to transport ticketing offers a step towards an integrated, transparent system that works efficiently for both ticket providers and passengers across all modes of ...
May 10, 2024 — Employers are significantly more likely to offer job interviews and higher salaries to graduates with experience of artificial intelligence, according to new ...
May 9, 2024 — What if your earbuds could do everything your smartphone can, but better? A new class of synthetic materials could allow for smaller devices that use less ...
May 9, 2024 — Systems controlled by next-generation computing algorithms could give rise to better and more efficient machine learning products, a new study ...
Environment News
May 14, 2024
May 2, 2024 — A wild orangutan was observed applying a plant with known medicinal properties to a wound, a first for a wild ...
Apr. 29, 2024 — It has long been thought that meat played an important role in the diet of hunter-gatherers before the Neolithic transition. However, due to the scarcity of well-preserved human remains from Paleolithic sites, little information exists about the ...
Apr. 29, 2024 — Dinosaurs were likely as smart as reptiles but not as intelligent as ...
Apr. 25, 2024 — Mice lacking an olfactory system have had their sense of smell restored with neurons from rats, the first time scientists have successfully integrated the sensory apparatus of one species into ...
Latest Environment Headlines
updated 3:02pm EDT
May 13, 2024 — The Giant Hummingbird of western South America is not one species but two, according to an international group of researchers. The northern population stays in the high Andes year-round while the southern population migrates from sea level up to 14,000 feet for the nonbreeding ...
May 13, 2024 — The researchers found that birds were more evolutionarily similar on smaller, more isolated islands than on larger, less remote places. The team had expected to find that forested areas had more numerous and more varied species of birds compared to farmland areas. But they were surprised to find that the opposite was true: Areas with farms and human settlements had more species of birds and ...
May 13, 2024 — Nature gave ticks, mosquitoes and leaches a quick-acting way to keep blood from clotting while they extract their meal from a host. Now the key to that method has been harnessed by a team of researchers as a potential anti-clotting agent that could be used as an alternative to heparin during angioplasty, dialysis care, surgeries and other ...
May 13, 2024 — Researchers have made a surprising new discovery in the structure of the centromere, a structure that is involved in ensuring that chromosomes are segregated properly when a cell divides. Mistakes in chromosome segregation can lead to cell death and cancer development. The researchers discovered that the centromere consists of two subdomains. This ...
May 13, 2024 — Coal phase-out is necessary to solve climate change, but can have negative impacts on workers and local communities dependent on coal for their livelihoods. Researchers have studied government plans for coal phase-out around the world and discovered that more than half of such plans include monetary compensation to affected parties. This planned compensation globally amounts to USD 200 billion, ...
May 9, 2024 — New research reveals what countries think will be their most difficult to decarbonize sectors when they reach net zero, with agriculture expected to be responsible for the largest remaining ...
May 10, 2024 — New research into molten rock 20km below the Earth's surface could help save lives by improving the prediction of volcanic ...
May 9, 2024 — A new model for predicting the effects of climate change on malaria transmission in Africa could lead to more targeted interventions to control the disease according to a new study. Previous methods have used rainfall totals to indicate the presence of surface water suitable for breeding mosquitoes, but the new research used several climatic and hydrological models to include real-world processes ...
May 8, 2024 — Pore pressure diffusion generated by carbon dioxide injected underground at a carbon storage site in the Illinois Basin is the likely cause of hundreds of microearthquakes that took place at the site between 2011 and 2012, according to a new ...
May 8, 2024 — New research shows human activity is significantly altering the ways in which marine organisms are preserved, with lasting effects that can both improve and impair the fossil ...
May 8, 2024 — Ancient, expansive tracts of continental crust called cratons have helped keep Earth's continents stable for billions of years, even as landmasses shift, mountains rise and oceans form. A new mechanism may explain how the cratons formed some 3 billion years ago, an enduring question in the study of Earth's ...
May 7, 2024 — Tipping points in the climate system can be the result of a slow but linear development. However, they can also be accompanied by a 'flickering', with two stable climatic states that alternate before a final transition occurs -- and the climate tips ...
Society/Education News
May 14, 2024
Apr. 18, 2024 — Land subsidence is overlooked as a hazard in cities, according to new research. Scientists used satellite data that accurately and consistently maps land movement across ...
Apr. 17, 2024 — Even if CO2 emissions were to be drastically cut down starting today, the world economy is already committed to an income reduction of 19% until 2050 due to climate change, a new study finds. These ...
Mar. 6, 2024 — A new study provides a new comprehensive look at the potential for flooding in a combined 32 cities along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts. It predicts as many as 500,000 people will be affected by flooding alongside 1 in 35 privately owned ...
Feb. 5, 2024 — For more than 50 years, the National Hurricane Center has used the Saffir-Simpson Windscale to communicate the risk of property damage; it labels a hurricane on a scale from Category 1 (wind speeds between 74 -- 95 mph) to Category 5 (wind speeds of ...
Latest Society/Education Headlines
updated 3:02pm EDT
May 9, 2024 — Researchers report a new method that reduces the amount of iridium needed to produce hydrogen from water by 95%, without altering the rate of hydrogen production. This breakthrough could revolutionize our ability to produce ecologically friendly hydrogen and help usher in a carbon-neutral hydrogen ...
May 9, 2024 — The global chemical industry is a major fossil fuel consumer and climate change contributor; however, new research has identified how the sector could clean up its green credentials by getting ...
May 9, 2024 — Despite its benefits and recognition as a keystone practice of ocean stewardship and conservation, adoption of ecosystem-based management has been slow to take hold. To support this change in ocean management, a group of researchers and practitioners investigated the global progress of marine EBM ...
May 9, 2024 — An international collaboration says the world's largest marine protected areas aren't collectively delivering the biodiversity benefits they could be because of slow implementation of management strategies and a failure to restrict the most impactful human ...
May 9, 2024 — A 'crazy idea' hatched during a walk in the woods and first tested by a high school student is now an innovative research tool used by scientists worldwide to predict neurotransmitters in fruit fly ...
May 6, 2024 — Cybersecurity programs vary dramatically across the country, a review has found. The authors argue that program leaders should work with professional societies to make sure graduates are well trained to meet industry needs in a fast-changing field. A research team found a shortage of research in evaluating the instructional approaches being used to teach cybersecurity. The authors also contend ...
May 6, 2024 — A new study among ninth-graders attending lower secondary school in Swedish-speaking areas of Finland identified four perfectionistic profiles with varying associations with students' psychological ...
May 3, 2024 — A new study sheds light on the role that new and traditional media play in promoting and affecting character development, emotions, prosocial behavior and well-being (aka happiness) in ...
Apr. 24, 2024 — Countries with limited potential for renewables could save up to 20 percent of costs for green steel and up to 40 percent for green chemicals from green hydrogen if they relocated their energy-intensive production and would import from countries where renewable energy is ...
Apr. 23, 2024 — Sure, ChatGPT can write a poem about your pet in the style of T.S Eliot, but generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots have a potentially more useful role to play in idea generation according to a new ...
Apr. 22, 2024 — A sensing technology that can assess the quality of components in fields such as aerospace could transform UK ...
Apr. 18, 2024 — The EU wants to ensure greater sustainability in agricultural trade with the Global South -- with the aim of minimizing the environmental and climate-damaging effects of importing crops such as soya, palm oil, coffee, and cocoa. However, this aspiration is often not fulfilled in practice. Researchers have developed a new approach to identifying options for the sustainable trade of agricultural ...