Molecules are usually formed in reaction vessels or laboratory flasks. An Empa research team has now succeeded in producing molecules between two microscopically small, movable gold tips – in a sense as a "hand-knitted" unique specimen. The properties of the molecules can be moni … | Continue reading
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is the most powerful particle accelerator in the world. During its ten years of operations it has led to remarkable discoveries, including the long sought-after Higgs boson. On January 15, an international team of physicists unveiled the co … | Continue reading
When molecules interact with the oscillating field of a laser, an instantaneous, time-dependent dipole is induced. This very general effect underlies diverse physical phenomena such as optical tweezers, for which Arthur Ashkin received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018, as well … | Continue reading
An international research team including scientists from the University of Southampton have shown for the first time that the energetic cost of living (the metabolic rate) of fish can be measured in structures that grow in their ears. This new tool can be used to show how fish ar … | Continue reading
The universe is about 13.8 billion years old, and its stars are arguably its most momentous handiwork. Astronomers studying the intricacies of star formation across cosmic time are trying to understand whether stars and the processes that produce them were the same when the unive … | Continue reading
Imagine how much you could accomplish if the circuits in your laptop and cell phone worked 10 times faster, and your battery lasted 10 times longer, than they do now. | Continue reading
Incentives, in one form or other, are central to our lives. | Continue reading
For the first time, researchers of the University of Twente succeeded in connecting two parts of an electronics chip using an on-chip optical link. A light connection could be a safe way of connecting a high-power component and digital control circuitry on one chip without a dire … | Continue reading
Researchers from the Catalonian Institute of Bioengineering (Instituto de Bioingeniería de Cataluña) and the Seville Chemical Research Institute (Instituto de Investigaciones Químicas de Sevilla) have described a new method for the transmission of electrons between proteins that … | Continue reading
Two newly developed methods will help researchers to study the 3-D structure of complex surfaces and of individual neurons better than ever before. Sebastian Munck and Natalia Gunko, two expert technologists at VIB-KU Leuven, report new imaging protocols that will advance neurosc … | Continue reading
The organic polymer PEDOT is one of the world's most intensely studied materials. Despite this, researchers at Linköping University have now demonstrated that the material functions in a completely different manner than previously believed. The result has huge significance in man … | Continue reading
The Florida Keys' ospreys, the fierce fish hawks whose massive nests dot utility poles, channel markers and nesting platforms up and down the ribbon of islands, will no longer be listed as an imperiled species by the state. | Continue reading
Pearlitic steel, or pearlite, is one of the strongest materials in the world, and can be made into long, thin wires. The strength of pearlite allows it to support very heavy weight, and it has the unique ability to stretch and contract without breaking (ductility). Ductility is i … | Continue reading
The environments where bacteria thrive in our bodies are very different from those in which they're tested in the lab, and that can be a problem. Sriram Chandrasekaran, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan, is using advanced computer simulat … | Continue reading
Federal agencies failed to follow the law in protecting the habitat of an endangered bumblebee that continues to be found in Illinois despite major population loss nationwide, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Washington, D.C., by an environmentalist group. | Continue reading
Scientific research can be a costly undertaking, oftentimes so much so that projects become cost-prohibitive. So what happens when the research is too expensive, but the data is too important to leave uncollected? | Continue reading
The fires in Yellowstone National Park began to burn in June 1988. A natural feature of the landscape, park managers expected the fires to fizzle out by July, when rains historically drenched the forests and valleys of the world's first national park. | Continue reading
If the partial shutdown of the U.S. government, doesn't have you quaking, maybe it should. | Continue reading
On a Friday afternoon in the spring of 2011, the Tōhoku-Oki earthquake shook northeastern Japan for six minutes and shifted the country's main island by 8 feet. Minutes later, residents began receiving tsunami warnings through broadcast media, mobile phones and sirens. | Continue reading
The ghostly green glow at the very top of this image reveals the presence of 46P Wirtanen – a relatively small comet with an estimated diameter of 1.2 kilometers. Had the path of history taken a different course, we would have much more than estimates about this Jupiter-family co … | Continue reading
Friedrich Simmel and Aurore Dupin, researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), have for the first time created artificial cell assemblies that can communicate with each other. The cells, separated by fatty membranes, exchange small chemical signaling molecules to tri … | Continue reading
It is well-known that living fossils exhibit stasis over geologically long time scales. Examples are the panda and ginkgo. Now, two tiny beetles trapped in 99-million-year-old amber may join this group. | Continue reading
An Austrian privacy campaign group lodged complaints against eight online streaming services Friday, accusing them of "structural violations" of EU data regulations that came into effect last year. | Continue reading
French carmaker Renault unveiled record sales Friday of nearly 3.9 million vehicles last year, even as it prepares to turn the page on the era of chief executive Carlos Ghosn who remains behind bars in Tokyo on fraud charges. | Continue reading
Volkswagen Group says that it will pay a fine of 1 billion rupees ($14.2 million) imposed by India for installing software that allegedly cheated pollution testing devices, though it is still appealing the order. | Continue reading
Imperial researchers have devised a way to deposit metals onto fabrics and used it to insert sensors and batteries into these materials. | Continue reading
Often considered immortal, the freshwater Hydra can regenerate any part of its body, a trait discovered by the Geneva naturalist Abraham Trembley nearly 300 years ago. Any fragment of its body containing a few thousands cells can regenerate the entire animal The one-centimeter po … | Continue reading
Saying the road ahead was "very difficult," Tesla's CEO Elon Musk said Friday that the company would be cutting its staff by about 7 percent. | Continue reading
Ryanair on Friday cut its annual profit forecast for a second time, blaming lower air fares caused by overcapacity in the European short-haul sector. | Continue reading
Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn received nearly eight million euros in "improper payments" from a Netherlands-based joint venture, the Japanese car giant alleged Friday, threatening to sue to recover the funds. | Continue reading
Netflix shares swung lower Thursday as spending on original shows at the leading streaming television service weighed on quarterly revenue and competition heated up. | Continue reading
Google agreed to pay $40 million for the smartwatch technology of the fashion and accessory group Fossil, the companies said Thursday, enabling the California tech giant to expand in the growing wearable tech market. | Continue reading
A rocket carrying a satellite on a mission to deliver the world's first artificial meteor shower blasted into space on Friday, Japanese scientists said. | Continue reading
Electric-vehicle maker Tesla will recall over 14,000 Model S cars in China as part of the global automotive sector's effort to replace potentially dangerous airbags made by Takata, China's market regulator announced on Friday. | Continue reading
A federal grand jury in Detroit has indicted four Audi engineering managers from Germany in a widening diesel emissions cheating scandal. | Continue reading
Oxford University has decided to forgo further funding from Chinese tech giant Huawei as scrutiny grows in Europe over the telecom company's relationship with the Beijing government. | Continue reading
As the next Women's March approaches, a new study of the 2017 Women's March solidarity events led by University of Notre Dame Associate Professor of Sociology Kraig Beyerlein is likely a good predictor of what to expect. Based on a survey of sister marches across the United State … | Continue reading
Declines in native bee populations are widely reported, but can existing data really analyze these trends? In the Jan. 17, 2019, online edition of PLOS One, Utah State University and USDA researchers report findings about pollinator biodiversity in California's Pinnacles National … | Continue reading
In discovering a mutant gene that "turns on" another gene responsible for the red pigments sometimes seen in corn, researchers solved an almost six-decades-old mystery with a finding that may have implications for plant breeding in the future. | Continue reading
Here comes a total lunar eclipse and supermoon, all wrapped into one. | Continue reading
Apple orchards surrounded by agricultural lands are visited by a less diverse collection of bee species than orchards surrounded by natural habitats, according to a new Cornell University-led study, published in the journal Science. | Continue reading
What happens when a strong advocate for one side of a controversial issue in science publicly announces that he or she now believes the opposite? Does the message affect the views of those who witness it—and if so, how? | Continue reading
Environmental groups on Thursday poured cold water over a much-trumpeted initiative by some of the world's biggest petrochemical firms to help end plastic refuse. | Continue reading
Dutch multinational Philips announced Thursday the closure of a British factory making baby bottles, threatening 430 jobs, citing "ongoing geopolitical challenges", months after warning about the potential negative effects of Brexit. | Continue reading
Taking advantage of recent advances in using theoretical calculations to predict the properties of new materials, researchers reported Thursday the discovery of a new class of half-Heusler thermoelectric compounds, including one with a record high figure of merit—a metric used to … | Continue reading
New research indicates that more needs to be done to raise awareness of the amount of plastic contained in commonly-used menstrual products. | Continue reading
To female molly and Limia fish, nothing is hotter than a male with a large dorsal fin. But these fins aren't just decorations to attract females. | Continue reading