Science News
Why do politicians often want to change the school curriculum?
Both sides of Australian politics are saying the school curriculum needs to change.
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Latest science news, discoveries and scientific developments.
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Quantum device simulates matter popping into existence
A research team led by faculty at the Duke Quantum Center (DQC) has observed string-breaking dynamics related to particle-antiparticle formation on a quantum simulator, among the first such observations in quantum physics.
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Could negative mass exist and be observed?
Unlike electric charge, as far as we know all mass is positive, and positive masses attract one another. Could negative mass exist, and if so, what would be the ramifications?
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Arts and culture key to inclusive climate action
The arts, cultural and creative sectors can act as powerful catalysts for climate action, changing how people understand, engage with and act on climate change, new research from University College Cork (UCC) has found.
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Rare pregnancy infections may triple the risk of autism
A major Swedish study of 3.7 million people has found that rare TORCH infections passed from a pregnant woman to the fetus are linked to much higher risks of autism and intellectual disability later in life. Children with a congenital TORCH infection were about three times more likely to be diagnosed with autism, more than seven times more likely to have an intellectual disability, and up to 30 times more likely to have severe to profound intellectual disability.
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Q&A: Dynamic side of language development in toddlers
Overhearable speech (speech that may occur when caregivers are talking to each other in a child's presence) constitutes more than half of children's language exposure, but its role in language development remains underexplored. Researchers from the University of Chicago, The New School for Social Research and Princeton University examined when and how English-learning children growing up in the United States understand words they overheard from their parents' conversations at home.
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Currents in an Arctic sea accelerate the sinking of carbon-carrying phytoplankton
Tiny plantlike organisms called phytoplankton that form the base of marine food webs topped by orcas, whales and sharks usually get eaten or slowly sink to the seafloor, carrying carbon as they go. Across most of the ocean, the descent from sunlit surface layers takes weeks. But in the Arctic's Chukchi Sea, scientists have found that a convergence of currents pushes phytoplankton from under the ice to the seafloor at four times the usual speed.
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First series of adult T. rex footprints hints at its walking speed
The steps were poorly preserved, but still hint at an ambling pace of 1.6 meters per second, roughly equivalent to a quick walking speed for a human.
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3,000-year-old burial of ancient Egyptian horse found — and a nearby stone carving depicts a captured prisoner
Archaeologists have unearthed a 3,000-year-old burial of a horse, likely used for military purposes, inside an ancient fort on the western Nile Delta in Egypt.The horse was a young male of medium size that may have pulled a chariot or worked in other military activities. Archaeologists also found remains of the chariot horse's harness fittings nearby. Given these discoveries, it's likely that this was a ceremonial burial, according to a translated statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Some of the hieroglyphic tablets found inside the fortress along with a tablet depicting a captured Libyan prisoner. (Image credit: Courtesy of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and An...
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New model identifies expert consensus to keep complex decision rankings stable
A new decision-making tool developed by Queensland University of Technology researchers could help governments, businesses and organizations make more reliable decisions for such projects as major infrastructure and public policy development. Developed by Ph.D. researchers Omid Motamedisedeh and Faranak Zagia from the QUT School of Architecture and Built Environment, the model addresses a major challenge in group decision-making: Small differences in expert judgments can sometimes lead to dramatically different outcomes.
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Breakthrough drug reverses skin aging and dramatically speeds healing
A topical drug that removes aging, damaged cells helped older mice heal skin wounds significantly faster. The treatment appeared to reactivate repair pathways involved in inflammation, collagen production, and new blood vessel growth.
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When everyday sounds trigger big feelings: Inside misophonia research
Misophonia causes strong emotions in response to everyday sounds like chewing or sniffing. The condition often involves feelings of immediate distress or anger. This can be confusing and upsetting for children, adults and their families or friends.
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These tropical trees breathe at night to survive drought
Some tropical trees have evolved a clever way to survive drought by taking in carbon dioxide at night, allowing them to keep their pores closed during the hot daytime and conserve water. By comparing three Clusia species, researchers discovered that this water-saving form of photosynthesis, known as CAM, did not arise through a single evolutionary change. Instead, ancient genome duplications followed by millions of years of genetic reshuffling produced strikingly different strategies, from strong CAM to stress-triggered and hybrid forms.
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Canadian musicians facing multi-front squeeze from AI, streaming and venue closures
New research shows Canadian musicians are feeling increasingly hostile toward the tech industry and advances like generative AI, which they say are devaluing art and making it harder to gain listeners and earn money from music.
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Earth's crust is 'unzipping' beneath Italy — and that could explain most of the earthquakes in the region
The crust under Italy is "unzipping" and falling away into the mantle, new research finds. This process is the driver of much of the seismic activity in the Apennine Mountains, the long chain of peaks that runs like a spine down the Italian peninsula. This area provides a unique look into the swan song of subduction, or the movement of a slab of oceanic crust under a neighboring chunk of continental crust, said study lead author Stefano Tavani, a geoscientist at the University of Florence. "We are experiencing the very, very late-stage to the subduction, and the tectonics is driven by a different engine, which is this unzipping," Tavani told Live Science. The Mediterranean region, between Af...
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Blood test falls short in quest to detect gastric ulcer pain in horses
A new study led by Australian veterinarians has exposed the challenge of identifying pain in horses with gastric ulcers and highlights an urgent need to better detect when horses are suffering.
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The Arctic sea ice melt season grew longer for decades, but something strange happened around 2010
The Arctic sea ice melt season is roughly 40 days longer than it was in 1979, yet its rapid expansion unexpectedly leveled off around 2010. Scientists say changing clouds and increasingly thin ice may explain the pause, but continued Arctic warming could eventually trigger another period of rapid change.
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First stellar stream beyond the Milky Way could reveal dark matter
Astronomers have discovered the first globular cluster stellar stream beyond the Milky Way, opening a new way to study dark matter in distant galaxies. These faint trails of stars trace a galaxy’s gravitational structure and could eventually help scientists map invisible matter across the universe.
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Reading the leaves: Decoding the secret cellular language of plants
There's more to growing a plant than just adding enough water and providing adequate sunlight.
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Researchers find convenience, drinking water access and advertising drive global bottled water consumption
Over 1 million plastic water bottles are bought globally every minute. That translates into more than 1.3 billion every day and more than 500 billion every year. That's a lot of plastic, and much of it winds up in human bodies and landfills. The long-term health implications are still unknown, but preliminary research shows risks to human health, with nano- and microplastics accumulating in our livers, kidneys and intestines.