During the all-out invasion of Ukraine, Russia has deliberately chosen civilian targets, such as apartment buildings, presumably with the goal of deterring Ukrainian resistance. But does such terror deter or, in contrast, motivate resistance among ordinary Ukrainians? | Continue reading
Shane Palacat-Nelsen's voice drops to a reverent tone as he tells the story of the snow goddess Poliahu who Native Hawaiians believe inhabits the summit of Mauna Kea, the highest point in Hawaii. | Continue reading
Recently, a research group led by Prof. Xie Pinhua from Hefei lnstitutes of Physical Science (HFIPS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), revealed the source and transport mechanisms behind an episode of ozone pollution observed in Hefei, a city located in the Yangtze River Delta … | Continue reading
Thousands of salmon on the West Coast of North America are finding their way into new streams left behind as glaciers retreat. But a new study suggests mining companies are too keen on the newly exposed mineral deposits beneath the shrinking glaciers—and few policies are in place … | Continue reading
People depend on nature in a multitude of ways. Crop pollination, pest management, storm buffering, and carbon capturing are all part of nature's contributions to people (NCP). But these contributions are subject to change—species that make vital contributions may migrate or even … | Continue reading
Some of the same properties of light and optics that make the sky blue and cause rainbows can also help scientists unlock mysteries about cloud formation and the effects of tiny particles in our air. | Continue reading
For the first time, researchers have shown that 3D-printed polymer-based micro-optics can withstand the heat and power levels that occur inside a laser. The advance enables inexpensive, compact, and stable laser sources that would be useful in a variety of applications, including … | Continue reading
Brown dwarfs are sometimes called failed stars, since they form like stars through gravitational collapse, but never gain enough mass to ignite nuclear fusion. The smallest brown dwarfs can overlap in mass with giant planets. In a quest to find the smallest brown dwarf, astronome … | Continue reading
This holiday season brings surprising news about your Christmas tree. Scientists just discovered that globally, trees growing in wetter regions are more sensitive to drought. That means if your tree hails from a more humid clime, it's likely been spoiled for generations. | Continue reading
Beavers are influential animals in ecosystems. These dam-building, tree-chewing rodents change streamflow with their wooden barriers and create rich wetland habitats by diverting water into soils near rivers. They help conserve water and improve biodiversity. | Continue reading
Three in four people in Australia support an income boost for people on the lowest incomes, while less than a quarter think it's possible to live on the current JobSeeker rate, new research by ACOSS and UNSW Sydney shows. | Continue reading
University of Pittsburgh researchers have developed a new embryo-like model derived from adult cells that replicates key features of early human development, including the generation of blood cells. | Continue reading
Engineers are working to resolve an issue with one of Voyager 1's three onboard computers, called the flight data system (FDS). The spacecraft is receiving and executing commands sent from Earth; however, the FDS is not communicating properly with one of the probe's subsystems, c … | Continue reading
Some people look forward to the holidays all year—the decorations, the food, the get-togethers. Others find that stressful, and still others may not feel up to the festivities at all. Maybe you've felt all those emotions at times this season. | Continue reading
An appointed devil's advocate could be one of the many strategies to encourage people to share ideas in meetings, according to new research from the University of Sydney Business School and Lund University. | Continue reading
A new study by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign advances fundamental knowledge about the role of solvation in ion binding and presents a new pathway for electrochemically controlling ion selectivity. The study was published in JACS Au. | Continue reading
Scientists have revealed a never-before-seen phenomenon in a protein: Alone, the enzyme processes DNA and RNA but, when bound to another protein as part of a defense system, interacts with a completely different type of compound to help bacteria commit suicide. | Continue reading
Peat bogs in the tropics store vast amounts of carbon, but logging, plantations, road building, and other activities have destroyed large swaths of these ecosystems in places like Indonesia and Malaysia. Peat formations are essentially permanently flooded forestlands, where dead … | Continue reading
The year's best meteor shower, the Geminids, peaks this week. Skygazers may see as many as one or even two a minute streaking across dark skies. | Continue reading
Liquid crystal is a state of matter that exhibits properties of both liquid and solid. It can flow like a liquid, while its constituent molecules are aligned as in a solid. Liquid crystal is widely used nowadays, for example, as a core element of LCD devices. | Continue reading
Manatees are endangered species volatile to the environment. Because of their voracious appetites, they often spend up to eight hours a day grazing for food within shallow waters, making them vulnerable to environmental changes and other risks. | Continue reading
A protein that helps generate the force needed for single cells to move works differently in cells moving in groups, a new study shows. | Continue reading
A NASA study expands the search for life beyond our solar system by indicating that 17 exoplanets (worlds outside our solar system) could have oceans of liquid water, an essential ingredient for life, beneath icy shells. Water from these oceans could occasionally erupt through th … | Continue reading
Imagine being the most qualified person for a job and not getting a call-back or not being selected for an interview. | Continue reading
Scientists have solved a decades-long puzzle and unveiled a near unbreakable substance that could rival diamond as the hardest material on Earth. The research is published in the journal Advanced Materials. | Continue reading
Did you know that when a group of robots or bacteria moves in a space where there are several free objects, they deflect these objects so they can pass? An international research team managed to show that the trail left by this movement contributes to the formation of groups, fun … | Continue reading
A multidisciplinary team of researchers from Skoltech has discovered the resonance frequencies of diatom frustules. These intricately structured silicon dioxide shells of single-celled microalgae provide a promising model for nature-inspired electronic and optical devices, such a … | Continue reading
We know that war is bad for the environment, with toxic chemicals left polluting the soil and water for decades after fighting ceases. Much less obvious are the carbon emissions from armed conflicts and their long-term impacts on the climate. | Continue reading
China currently faces daunting challenges in its domestic economy. But weakness in the real estate market and consumer spending at home is unlikely to stem its rising influence abroad. | Continue reading
Perilously situated between rising sea levels and pressures from upstream lie coastal river deltas and their roughly half a billion inhabitants. These regions have played an important role in societal development since the last ice age, offering flat, fertile lands with abundant … | Continue reading
A new Rice University study of the remains of prehistoric and modern African antelopes found that AI technology accurately identified animals more than 90% of the time compared to humans, who had much lower accuracy rates depending on the expert. | Continue reading
Groundwater is the world's largest unfrozen freshwater reserve. Australia's Great Artesian Basin alone holds enough water to fill Sydney Harbour 130,000 times. Worldwide, groundwater provides drinking water for half the world's population. Countries like Denmark and Austria rely … | Continue reading
Photolithography involves manipulating light to precisely etch features onto a surface, and is commonly used to fabricate computer chips and optical devices like lenses. But tiny deviations during the manufacturing process often cause these devices to fall short of their designer … | Continue reading
When it rains, stormwater runs down surfaces like streets and parking lots and into drains. Most of the time, we see it as a problem because it can cause floods. Recent storms across eastern Australia created huge amounts of stormwater and flooding. | Continue reading
With a severe shortage of affordable housing in the United States, renters living along the East and Gulf coasts are uniquely vulnerable to hurricane disasters. Two new studies based on data from 2009 to 2018 show that renters living along the East and Gulf coasts of the United S … | Continue reading
Various molecular systems have been developed by researchers for photoinduced (i.e., light-driven) electron transfer, including supramolecules, hybrid materials, and organic polymeric systems. While these systems fulfill the distance criterion required by the electron donor and a … | Continue reading
Eelgrass, one of the most abundant plants in the ocean, originated in Japan before spreading around the globe. Now, scientists have shed light on both when and how eelgrass adapted and evolved throughout its history. | Continue reading
Scientists often field check their findings, heading outside to see if computer models match with what is happening in the real world. But doing so is challenging when the field is two and a half miles up. Enter a new field assistant: The great frigatebird. | Continue reading
Over the past decade, generative deep learning models have been applied successfully to the design of novel drug molecules, organic synthesis routes, and functional molecules tailored for electronic/optoelectronic devices. This is largely enabled by the availability of SMILES rep … | Continue reading
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology have unraveled the biosynthetic pathway of paclitaxel in yew plants, a chemotherapeutic for cancer treatment. This discovery might facilitate the production of this very complex molecule which is currently pr … | Continue reading
Scientists associated with the international software project MZmine, led by Dr. Robin Schmid and Dr. Tomáš Pluskal from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, have come up with a new piece of software that significantly speeds up an … | Continue reading
Cast your eyes over the statistics in a new report I helped author on staying cool in a warming climate and the urgency becomes clear: 1 billion people, mostly in Africa and Asia, are at high risk from extreme heat because they lack access to cooling, while a further 2.9 billion … | Continue reading
The Oxford English Dictionary has selected rizz as its word of 2023. If you've heard of it at all, you'll probably have heard that it comes from the word charisma. However, the OED definition pins it down as "style, charm or attractiveness, and the ability to attract a romantic o … | Continue reading
A QUT researcher has suggested a technology widely used by fishing fleets to attract open ocean species could be used in Marine Protected Areas to protect, conserve and sustain exploited fish species. The study is published in Conservation Letters. | Continue reading
OER (open educational resources) are learning materials that have been licensed for payment-free use by educators and students. Researchers and experts in the field of higher education are increasingly considering OER as a useful tool for reducing the financial burden on students … | Continue reading
Households in areas hit hardest by fuel poverty are not benefiting most from the government's flagship energy support scheme, a damning report has found. | Continue reading
A new study finds that precipitation levels during nesting season are not related to reproductive success for wild turkeys, which runs counter to the conventional wisdom regarding the role that rainfall plays in wild turkey nesting success. The findings shed new light on how clim … | Continue reading
Holiday shopping is in full swing, but city dwellers may have fewer options for buying in person than they did a few years ago. That's because many large chain stores are pulling out of central cities. | Continue reading