Explore the latest scientific discoveries, science news, breakthroughs and developments from around the world.
A University of Cambridge–led analysis of maps made from satellite imagery covering over three decades and seven presidents shows how the winner of Brazil's national elections since 1990 directly affected the preservation of its globally vital ecosystems.
A joint research team fabricated a two-dimensional structure that exhibits properties of both the honeycomb and Kagome lattices using organic molecules. They discovered that edge states specific to topological materials (states that exist only at the edges and are distinct from those in the interior) appear in this structure. The team included researchers from NIMS, Toyota Kosen (National Institute of Technology, Toyota College), Saga University, Nara Women's University, Kiel University (Germany) and other institutions.
On Jan. 3, 1117, a strong earthquake shook northern Italy. A manuscript of the 12th century, kept today in the Vatican Library, recorded what came next: "The lakes also rose so much that very few of those living in the villages nearby escaped this danger."
Microgreens are nutritional powerhouses. A team of plant scientists at Penn State conducting research on multiple aspects of microgreens recently published three studies reporting progress on multiple fronts, including iron enrichment, productive indoor growth and a faux lightning technique that could improve microgreens' growth, yield and nutritional quality.
New research started with a special material that behaves unusually when it's extremely cold—135 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (minus 93 degrees Celsius), close to the most frigid temperature ever recorded in Antarctica—and showed that the unusual behavior could be extended to well above room temperature—up to about 135 F (57 degrees Celsius), close to the highest heat ever measured in Death Valley, California.
The 2026 election was the first parliamentary election in Sweden since AI chatbots became a serious part of everyday life—not least for young people and first-time voters. Today, it is possible to turn to a number of services, such as ChatGPT, to get information about politics, reason about political issues or get help polishing arguments. Discussions have also arisen in society about whether political values are expressed in AI-generated texts and, if so, which ones.
New research is shedding light on the diversity of deep-sea siphonophores. A team of scientists from MBARI, the University of Gdańsk, New York University and Yale University conducted a comprehensive examination of Bargmannia siphonophores using museum material, submersible observations and genomic sequencing. This work uncovered two previously unknown species: Bargmannia marlena and Bargmannia pyrosa. The team published their findings in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society last week.
Natural disasters. Hikes. Long, dark nights alone. For many people, dogs offer a sense of safety and comfort in challenging or uncertain times. Cancer researchers at a new lab at Purdue University are partnering with dogs to make cancer less frightening—and less deadly—to some of humanity's very best friends using a technique called tumor ablation.
The presence of non-native trees is often seen as an obstacle to the recovery of tropical forests regrowing in previously deforested areas. To better understand the behavior of these plants over time in both humid and dry forests, researchers from approximately 60 institutions analyzed data from over 1,500 areas of forest regeneration across the Americas. The results, published in the journal Nature Plants, indicate that the initial dominance of exotic species is temporary. They multiply easily during the first 10 to 20 years, taking advantage of abundant sunlight in open areas. However, they decline as native trees grow and shade the forest.
You've likely heard this assumption: When AI-enabled and autonomous machines arrive on the farm, jobs will disappear. But researchers at the University of California, Davis, who studied 16 fruit tree operations in California and Washington for three years, found that automation still takes human knowledge. What changes is how the work gets done. The study, drawing on 165 in-depth interviews with workers and growers, was published in the journal New Technology, Work and Employment.
An educational program intended to improve maternal and child health fundamentally altered the social fabric of the rural Honduran villages where it was implemented, a new Yale-led study finds. The findings, researchers say, have implications for interventions anywhere that seek to improve people's well-being by disseminating information or changing behaviors through social contagion.
More frequent spanking is linked to greater anxiety and aggression in children over time, according to international research that includes Filipino families presented by psychology professor Dr. Liane Peña Alampay of the Ateneo de Manila University. The findings challenge the familiar belief that "pamamalo" produces more disciplined children, pointing instead to the benefits of warm relationships in the home, clear expectations and nonviolent disciplining.