Stay informed about scientific discoveries, research developments and new findings from around the world.
A material thinner than a human hair may foster faster computing devices that demand less energy and store more data, according to a multi-institutional team led by researchers in the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.
Scientists have developed a model showing that gut bacteria play a surprisingly important role in how many calories we absorb, meaning food labels may not tell the full story. In a controlled study, people eating a high-fiber diet absorbed about 116 fewer calories per day than those eating a typical Western diet, without feeling hungrier.
Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS), in collaboration with scientists from institutions in Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Germany, have demonstrated a way to introduce magnetism into an otherwise nonmagnetic two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor and subsequently control its magnetic properties using an electrical voltage. The findings, published in Science Advances, establish a new platform for investigating electrically controllable magnetism in atomically thin materials, with potential implications for future spintronic technologies.
An analytical method could help high-level cricket franchises make more informed decisions about player recruitment, retention and team selection, according to research published in the International Journal of Services and Operations Management. The approach uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to compare efficiency using multiple inputs and outputs. In the world of cricket, this means assessing players against their peers rather than relying on individual statistics.
A northern gannet scans the sea for fish from 100 feet (30 meters) in the air. Upon seeing a school, it pitches its body into a nosedive, somehow breaking the surface at 70 miles per hour (113 kilometers per hour) without breaking its neck. This daring maneuver seems to defy the laws of nature, but it's standard hunting behavior for plunge-diving seabirds.
Scientists may have solved a 2.3-billion-year-old mystery about how Earth maintained enough oxygen to support life. Ancient rocks reveal that phosphorus recycling in the oceans created a self-sustaining cycle that helped keep oxygen levels high, even as the planet underwent dramatic environmental changes. The discovery challenges assumptions about Earth's early atmosphere and raises new questions about why complex life took so long to emerge.
A global study has revealed a striking divergence in how urban and rural vegetation respond to climate stress. The study was led by Jin Wu from the School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, and professor Yuyu Zhou from the Department of Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), with Dr. Zhengfei Guo as the first author.
Predicting the unpredictable starts with understanding how extreme wildfires develop and under what conditions. This knowledge is essential to better anticipate and respond to them. To achieve this, firefighter and researcher Marc Castellnou and the GRAF/Bombers Catalonia team measure the atmosphere both inside and outside wildfire plumes.
Nucleic acid therapeutics, such as antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), have emerged as promising platforms for treating a variety of previously hard-to-treat diseases, including neurological diseases.
Researchers at National Taiwan University (NTU), working across the College of Engineering, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), have developed a new method for producing aerogels, introducing what they describe as the world's first purely gaseous-born aerogel fabrication platform. The study is published in Nature Communications.
The remarkable intelligence of octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish may trace back to an ancient reshuffling of their DNA that created new connections between genes. Scientists discovered that these changes in the genome's 3D structure may have helped drive the evolution of their unusually complex nervous systems.
Land subsidence is the gradual sinking of the ground, which can damage buildings, foundations, and drainage and sewage systems, and may increase flood risks. However, information on land subsidence dynamics remains limited, which makes it difficult for policymakers to identify where risks are intensifying and where urgent intervention may be needed. Previous assessments have often used different methods or time periods, or focused only on small numbers of cities, which has made global comparisons difficult.
From a rigid molecular pair to flexible assemblies with moving domains, the enzymes that build sugar chains display strikingly different behaviors.
Hurricane Simon lashed Mexico's Pacific coast with severe winds and heavy rain on Monday as it threatened to make landfall this week, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
A research team from the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen and Leiden University in the Netherlands has examined a tooth from the Schöningen archaeological site in Lower Saxony. The study was published in Quaternary Environments and Humans.
A new study led by researchers at the University of Limerick (UL) has identified a new battery material from a renewable wood industry byproduct that could help reduce reliance on scarce and expensive materials.
Researchers at the University of St Andrews have identified the first examples of a new class of advanced organic semiconductor materials that could one day be used as bioimaging agents, opening up new possibilities for deep-tissue imaging. The study, published in Nature Communications, was led by the Zysman-Colman group in the School of Chemistry at the University of St Andrews in collaboration with the Pal group at Durham University.
A rare assemblage of micro- and macro-fossils found in a roadside outcrop in South China, featuring thin ribbons, branching shapes and a tiny balloon on a stalk, offers a glimpse of marine life after one of Earth's most extreme ice ages.
Audit firms rely on partners to oversee audits and client relationships; managers to supervise teams and projects; and staff to perform much of the day-to-day work. The more audit partners and managers are involved in supervising and reviewing audit engagements, the better the audits tend to be, according to new research from the University at Buffalo School of Management.
Though strong El Niños have occurred only four times in as many decades, 2024's intense El Niño is already getting a sequel. New UCLA research shows that 2024 broke the record for extreme rainfall, with 40% of that increase tied to global warming—and conditions are ripe for a repeat.
In the early moments of the big bang, two elements were forged: hydrogen and helium. Technically, the tiniest traces of light elements such as lithium were produced as well, but nothing of consequence. The early universe was about three parts hydrogen to one part helium. All the heavier elements, from the oxygen in your lungs to the iron in your blood, were created through astrophysical processes—fused in stars, formed in supernovae or scattered by the collisions of neutron stars. Even in the present cosmos, heavier elements are so cosmically rare that astronomers group them all as metals.
The buzzer goes off. Three occupational therapy students are convinced they have worked out what should happen to their patient next. They are wrong.
Elephants shape the African savanna. They consume huge amounts of forage, dig for water, topple trees and affect all the animals around them. So, what happens to their outsized presence after these iconic animals pass away?
Australian scientists have used high-speed video to uncover the unique mechanism that allows a honey bee's stinger to continue to pump venom into its target even after it has separated from the bee's body.