The origin of the vertebrate skull is a topic of much debate among evolutionary biologists. Some believe that the vertebrate head has developed as a result of modification of the segmental elements of the trunk, such as the vertebrae and somites. On the other hand, others believe … | Continue reading
Did you know that, according to a recent study, there are more than 300 ways to work flexibly? The list of possible flexible work practices used by an increasingly diverse and aging workforce has grown significantly since many people were forced to work from home during COVID loc … | Continue reading
A multidisciplinary team of researchers from LMU, the University of Bath, and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have analyzed changes in the use of language on social media in Ukraine before and during the Russian war of aggression. | Continue reading
We tend to just think of viruses in terms of their damaging impacts on human health and lives. The 1918 flu pandemic killed around 50 million people. Smallpox claimed 30% of those who caught it, and survivors were often scarred and blinded. More recently, we're all too familiar w … | Continue reading
Climate scientists don't like surprises. It means our deep understanding of how the climate works isn't quite as complete as we need. But unfortunately, as climate change worsens, surprises and unprecedented events keep happening. | Continue reading
The ocean plays a crucial role in the storage of carbon dioxide (CO2). The so-called marine biological carbon pump is an important research topic in this context. However, according to Dr. Ivy Frenger, climate researcher at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in Kiel, … | Continue reading
The evolution of animal heads is a remarkable example of how various anatomical features co-evolved to adapt to different ecological niches, behaviors and functions. But the intricate details of why vertebrate head shapes vary so greatly have remained elusive. | Continue reading
Gray wolves were reintroduced to Colorado in December 2023, the latest attempt in a decades-long effort to build up wolf populations in the Rocky Mountain states. SciLine interviewed Joanna Lambert, professor of wildlife ecology and director of the American Canid Project at the U … | Continue reading
In China children are taught to steer clear of this plant. The plant, Thunder god vine (Chinese: 雷公藤), which in China has earned the nickname "Seven Steps to Death," is so poisonous that a person risks death only a few steps after consuming it. | Continue reading
Spring, summer, fall and winter—the seasons on Earth change every few months, around the same time every year. It's easy to take this cycle for granted here on Earth, but not every planet has a regular change in seasons. So why does Earth have regular seasons when other planets d … | Continue reading
The acidity of Antarctica's coastal waters could double by the end of the century, threatening whales, penguins and hundreds of other species that inhabit the Southern Ocean, according to new research from the Univeristy of Colorado Boulder. | Continue reading
A team of biologists, historians, and Earth and environmental scientists affiliated with multiple institutions in the U.S. has found evidence that contradicts historical accounts of the size and feeding habits of the now-extinct California grizzly bear. In their project, reported … | Continue reading
A team from the UPC and the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) has designed an efficient and stable photocatalyst capable of producing hydrogen directly using sunlight. The results are published in the journal Nature Communications. | Continue reading
Researchers led by Prof. Huang Qing from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with researchers from the Zhejiang Institute of Tianjin University and Linköping University, Sweden, have proposed a … | Continue reading
An 1867 flood in western Washington surpassed anything that the region has seen in the last century, new University of Oregon research shows, offering a foreboding look at what storms fueled by climate change could now produce. | Continue reading
One of the important breakthroughs that made it possible to program or reprogram cell fate more efficiently and with higher fidelity in a dish was discovering how to make use of a small set of molecular cowboys called pioneer transcription factors (TFs). | Continue reading
Fossils of a new group of animal predators have been located in the Early Cambrian Sirius Passet fossil locality in North Greenland. These large worms may be some of the earliest carnivorous animals to have colonized the water column more than 518 million years ago, revealing a p … | Continue reading
Damage to crops caused by birds costs millions of dollars each year. Now, researchers from the University of Florida and the University of Rhode Island in the US are investigating the effectiveness of laser scarecrows—a high-tech solution using light to deter birds. | Continue reading
A new study published today in the journal Nature offers an unprecedented view of previously unmapped industrial use of the ocean and how it is changing. | Continue reading
The avocado has soared to unprecedented heights of popularity, gracing the plates of toast enthusiasts and health-conscious individuals worldwide. But what are the overlooked consequences of our latest food obsession? | Continue reading
A biomedical Egyptologist from The University of Manchester has fulfilled the mission of an illustrious Manchester anatomist from 1910, having by chance found his unique anatomical record of how ancient Nubians lived—and died—in Southern Egypt. | Continue reading
Chlorophyll plays a pivotal role in photosynthesis, which is why plants have evolved to have high chlorophyll levels in their leaves. However, making this pigment is expensive because plants invest a significant portion of the available nitrogen in both chlorophyll and the specia … | Continue reading
Dogs are humans' best friends. Need to quickly locate a bomb? There's a dog for that. Can't see very well? There's a dog for that. Searching for a lost hiker in the mountains or survivors in an earthquake, diagnosing illness, comforting the bereft—there are dogs for every need. | Continue reading
As human densities increase around the world, wildlife species are becoming more nocturnal to compensate. These adaptations allow wildlife to live in human-altered habitats but may result in unseen costs. Researchers at the University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences c … | Continue reading
The abandoned fieldstone walls of New England are every bit as iconic to the region as lobster pots, town greens, sap buckets and fall foliage. They seem to be everywhere—a latticework of dry, lichen-crusted stone ridges separating a patchwork of otherwise moist soils. | Continue reading
Perovskite materials are still attracting a lot of interest in solar cell applications. Now, the nanostructures of perovskite materials are being considered as a new laser medium. Over the years, light amplification in perovskite quantum dots has been reported, but most of the wo … | Continue reading
As more states require employers to list compensation on job ads, a trending strategy to use very wide pay ranges could potentially harm recruitment, according to a Washington State University study. | Continue reading
We depend on catalysts to turn our milk into yogurt, to produce Post-It notes from paper pulp, and to unlock renewable energy sources like biofuels. Finding optimal catalyst materials for specific reactions requires laborious experiments and computationally intensive quantum chem … | Continue reading
In 2022, fertilizer prices reached record high levels due to the Russia-Ukraine war and supply chain disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. This has created a financial strain on farmers as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium—elements found in most synthetic fertilizers—are essen … | Continue reading
In 1950, during a lunchtime conversation with colleagues at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, famed physicist Enrico Fermi asked the question that launched a hundred (or more) proposed resolutions. "Where is Everybody?" | Continue reading
To limit global warming to 1.5°, the EU's Science Advisory Board on Climate Change recommends that Europe reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 90%–95% by 2040 compared to 1990. Fossil fuels should be phased out as quickly as possible. | Continue reading
Local newspapers are key to keeping residents informed about civic affairs, and the threat of negative media coverage keeps nonprofit leadership salaries in check, according to new University at Buffalo School of Management research. | Continue reading
As many of us were reminded last summer when forest fires in Canada turned New York City's air to the color orange, air pollution is transported by the wind. Fortunately, here in the United States, the Commerce Clause of the Constitution gives the federal government the authority … | Continue reading
The sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 4:55 p.m. EST, on Dec. 31, 2023. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured an image of the event. | Continue reading
As one of the top predators roaming Antarctica, the sizeable southern elephant seal has its fair selection of the menu. But it turns out they don't just want to eat anything and everything. | Continue reading
Like mail carriers who manage to deliver their parcels through snow, rain, heat and gloom, a critical group of mammalian proteins helps cells function properly even under less-than-ideal conditions. | Continue reading
On the first day of 2024, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck Japan, killing at least 57 people and destroying thousands of homes. | Continue reading
Scotland's climate is changing faster than scientists predicted, with increasing likelihood of more frequent and more extreme weather events, according to new analysis by The James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen. | Continue reading
Arenicola, or lugworms, make some of the most beautiful structures on the beach. Little piles of wet sand are cast in a swirl from their rear end as part of their feeding cycle. | Continue reading
The largest landfill in Chile, Loma Los Colorados, hosts the largest known aggregation of Andean condors (Vultur gryphus) at a single site. That's according to a new study published in the Journal of Raptor Research, which highlights several insights from their 17-year-long study … | Continue reading
Women from low socio-economic backgrounds consider themselves to be less talented than all other groups—even if they show the same performance levels. This misconception contributes to the pronounced disadvantage in domains such as STEM subjects, where talent is seen as an import … | Continue reading
Plastic litter is a growing problem around the world, and new research shows that the bottom of Lake Tahoe is no exception. In one of the first studies to utilize scuba divers to collect litter from a lakebed, 673 plastic items were counted from just a small fraction of the lake. | Continue reading
At long last, the final journey of the last space shuttle ever built, Endeavour, and its giant orange external tank are expected to begin this month—the capstone to a historic journey to an ambitious museum exhibit in Los Angeles. | Continue reading
Sweden on Wednesday recorded its coldest January night in 25 years, with a reading of minus 43.6 degrees Celsius in the far north as a cold snap hit the Nordics. | Continue reading
A University of Queensland-led study has found humans can tell if chickens are excited or displeased, just by the sound of their clucks. | Continue reading
California's statewide Sierra Nevada snowpack—the source of nearly one-third of the state's water supply—is at its lowest level in a decade, a major turnaround from last year when huge storms ended a three-year drought and buried ski resorts in massive amounts of snow. | Continue reading
A new study has found that evolution is not as unpredictable as previously thought, which could allow scientists to explore which genes could be useful to tackle real-world issues such as antibiotic resistance, disease, and climate change. | Continue reading
In Hawaiʻi and across much of Oceania, Pacific Islanders celebrate the connections between their islands and the ocean that surrounds them. | Continue reading