As an astrophysicist, probably the most common question I get asked is: "Are we alone in the universe and do aliens exist?" | Continue reading
By systematically refining standard processing techniques, A*STAR researchers have developed a low-cost method for manufacturing an electrically conductive aluminum oxide ceramic composite—a hard-wearing material used in many industrial applications. | Continue reading
Imagine a taxi service that picked you up (into the sky) and then dropped you off after an exciting journey, completely free of road works and traffic lights. It has been claimed that air taxis could be flying us through the air in just a few years' time – and it's true that some … | Continue reading
A project by the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country has for the first time implemented a model of quantum artificial life on a quantum computer. | Continue reading
Toggling the functions of a protein that regulates gene expression during cellular reprogramming ensures cell fate conversion, an A*STAR study has found. | Continue reading
Humankind is about to sever one of the links between its present and its past. | Continue reading
Advanced materials are vital ingredients in products that we rely on like batteries, jet engine blades, 3-D-printed components in cars. Scientists and engineers use information about the structure and motion of atoms in these materials to design components that make these produc … | Continue reading
In late September 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. Shortly after the hurricane hit, more than 90 percent of the US territory lacked access to electricity. Even three months later, half of the island still did not have power, and power outages were frequent, forcing m … | Continue reading
With virtual reality (VR) sizzling in every electronic fair, there is a need for displays with higher resolution, frame rates and power efficiency. Now, a joint collaboration of researchers from SCALE Nanotech, Graphenea and TU Delft have used graphene to make reflective-type dis … | Continue reading
The South African city of Cape Town, which nearly ran out of water this year, could beat future droughts by cutting down non-native trees including pine, acacia and eucalyptus, according to a study released Friday. | Continue reading
It's Wednesday, 2:00 pm sharp in the densely-populated South African township of Ivory Park on the outskirts of Midrand—time for about 60 11-year-olds to duel at their local coding club. | Continue reading
Tajikistan on Friday inaugurates a $3.9 billion hydro-electric power plant, a mega project that will enable the impoverished country to eliminate domestic energy shortages and export electricity to Afghanistan and Pakistan. | Continue reading
Powerful winds felled trees, destroyed homes and forced thousands to flee to safety as Cyclone Gaja barrelled into India's eastern coast Friday. | Continue reading
A new study by The University of Texas at Austin has demonstrated a possible link between life on Earth and the movement of continents. The findings show that sediment, which is often comprised from pieces of dead organisms, could play a key role in determining the speed of conti … | Continue reading
Animal weapons such as antlers, tusks and limbs specialized for fighting require a large energy expenditure to produce and may cost even more to maintain. Because the leaf-footed bug sheds its large hind limbs, used as weapons in male-male battles, scientists working at the Smith … | Continue reading
Thanks to one peculiar characteristic of carbon nanotubes, engineers will soon be able to measure the accumulated strain in an airplane, a bridge or a pipeline – or just about anything – over the entire surface or down to microscopic levels. | Continue reading
It is an idea for repairing our broken political system that is so promising that new members of Congress will learn about it before taking office in January. | Continue reading
Smoke masks. Eye drops. No outdoor exercise. This is how Californians are trying to cope with wildfires choking the state, but experts say an increase in serious health problems may be almost inevitable for vulnerable residents as the disasters become more commonplace. | Continue reading
The already-rare Stone's sheep of the Yukon is 20 per cent less common than previously thought, according to new research by University of Alberta biologists. | Continue reading
Facebook said it's making progress on detecting hate speech, graphic violence and other violations of its rules, even before users see and report them. | Continue reading
The most luminous galaxy in the universe has been caught in the act of stripping away nearly half the mass from at least three of its smaller neighbors, according to a new study published in the journal Science. The light from this galaxy, known as W2246-0526, took 12.4 billion y … | Continue reading
When children are victims of crimes, the legal testimony they provide is known as forensic interviews. However, since victims are often traumatized and potentially abused by their caregivers they can be reluctant to come forward with accusations or disclose relevant information. | Continue reading
A glucose-powered biofuel cell that uses electrodes made from cotton fiber could someday help power implantable medical devices such as pacemakers and sensors. The new fuel cell, which provides twice as much power as conventional biofuel cells, could be paired with batteries or s … | Continue reading
Computer scientists develop algorithms that control everything from unmanned aerial vehicles to desktop computers to the cellphones in our pockets. But it can be complicated to match the code they develop to hardware systems that vary so widely. | Continue reading
Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have captured a difficult-to-view singular event involving "magnetic reconnection"—the process by which sparse particles and energy around Earth collide producing a quick but mighty explosion—in the Earth's magnetotail, the magnetic … | Continue reading
The gut bacteria of four Himalayan populations differ based on their dietary lifestyles, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and their collaborators. | Continue reading
If pharmaceutical chemists are the drug hunters who discover new medicines, scientists like Andrew McNally and Robert Paton are the armorers—the deft creators who arm drug hunters with the sharpest tools. | Continue reading
Inspired by the extraordinary characteristics of polar bear fur, lotus leaves and gecko feet, engineering researchers have developed a new way to make arrays of nanofibers that could bring us coatings that are sticky, repellant, insulating or light emitting, among other possibili … | Continue reading
Alarming examples of the dangers from chemical weapons have been seen recently in the use of industrial chemicals and the nerve agent sarin against civilians in Syria, and in the targeted assassination operations using VX nerve agent in Malaysia and novichok nerve agent in the UK … | Continue reading
Genetically engineered microbes such as bacteria and yeasts have long been used as living factories to produce drugs and fine chemicals. More recently, researchers have started to combine bacteria with semiconductor technology that, similar to solar panels on the roof of a house, … | Continue reading
Creating fire buffers between housing and dry brush, burying spark-prone power lines and lighting more controlled burns to keep vegetation in check could give people a better chance of surviving wildfires, according to experts searching for ways to reduce growing death tolls from … | Continue reading
California regulators recommended new restrictions Thursday on a widely used pesticide blamed for harming the brains of babies. | Continue reading
Scientists at Scripps Research have discovered that a mysterious family of cellular proteins called OSCAs and TMEM63s are a novel class of mechanosensitive ion channels. | Continue reading
Nearly a thousand years ago, a famous king created a famous book, later given the title "Domesday" (pronounced "doomsday"). | Continue reading
Purdue University researchers have developed a technology aimed at making it easier to deliver cancer treatment to the right "address" in the body while also easing the painful side effects of chemotherapy on patients. | Continue reading
Tropical Cyclone Gaja continued to organize in the Bay of Bengal as it made its approach to southeastern India when NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed overhead and captured an image. The image revealed that Gaja had developed a cloud-filled eye. | Continue reading
The already-rare Stone's sheep of the Yukon is 20 per cent less common than previously thought, according to new research by University of Alberta biologists. | Continue reading
Amazon is extending its dominance in US e-commerce, but Walmart is seeing strong gains and is poised to become the number three online retailer, a market tracker said Thursday. | Continue reading
A study using animal-attached technology to measure food consumption in four very different wild vertebrates has revealed that animals using a high-risk strategy to find rarer food are particularly susceptible to becoming extinct, as they fail to gather food for their young befor … | Continue reading
Helmet-heads of the freshwater fish world, African mormyrid fishes are known for having a brain-to-body size ratio that is similar to humans. | Continue reading
An analysis of Twitter data from the U.S. shows that social media usage largely mirrors daily work schedules and school calendars. The data reflect the amount of "social jet lag" caused when social demands make people wake up much earlier than their biological rhythms would prefe … | Continue reading
The sight or smell of something delicious is often enough to get your mouth watering, but the physiological response to food perception may go well beyond your salivary glands. New research in mice shows that the sight and smell of food alone may be enough to kickstart processes … | Continue reading
The German government will ease air pollution law so as to spare cities that only slightly exceed limits on harmful nitrogen dioxide (NO2) from diesel vehicle bans, ministers agreed Thursday, sparking sharp criticsm by environmentalists. | Continue reading
The chemical process of tanning turns animal hides into durable, supple leather. | Continue reading
Many voters would have forgiven David Cameron if he had failed to deliver on his campaign promise to hold an EU referendum, a study suggests. | Continue reading
Cloudy weather and rain pushed back until Friday the planned launch of a US cargo ship loaded with supplies for astronauts living at the International Space Station, NASA said Thursday. | Continue reading
Emirates Airline on Thursday posted an 86 percent drop in half-year profits as the Middle East's leading carrier was hit by a hike in oil prices and currency devaluations. | Continue reading