On Friday, students will once again down textbooks and laptops and go on strike for climate action. Many will give their schools a Climate Doctor's Certificate signed by three leading climate academics. | Continue reading
The simple activity of walking through a room jumpstarts the neurons in the human brain. An explosion of electrochemical events or "neuronal spikes" appears at various times during the action. These spikes in activity, otherwise known as action potentials, are electrical impulses … | Continue reading
As astrophysics technology and research continue to advance, one question persists: is there life elsewhere in the universe? The Milky Way galaxy alone has hundreds of billions of celestial bodies, but scientists often look for three crucial elements in their ongoing search: wate … | Continue reading
Nutrient cycles such as the carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous and sulfur cycles are critical processes that free up elements essential to life by recycling them through our water, air, and soil. Sulfur, specifically, is an integral element in producing amino acids, vitamins, and enzy … | Continue reading
Students around the world suffered historic setbacks in reading and math during the COVID-19 pandemic, with declines in test scores so widespread that the United States climbed in global rankings simply by falling behind less sharply, a new study finds. | Continue reading
As countries try to hammer out a response to climate change at the COP28 talks in Dubai, here are some key figures about how fossil fuels have warmed our world. | Continue reading
Health care-associated infections are a common problem in suppurating wound care, as is the rise in multi-drug resistant bacteria. In order to effectively and selectively combat bacterial infections, a team of researchers has developed a bactericidal nanomaterial equipped with a … | Continue reading
Lipids are the main constituents of our cell membranes, which are formed as lipid bilayers. The distribution of lipids is far from uniform; it is asymmetric, with different lipid compositions in the outside and inside layers. This asymmetry is essential for a variety of cellular … | Continue reading
The electric eel is the biggest power-making creature on Earth. It can release up to 860 volts, which is enough to run a machine. In a recent study, a research group from Nagoya University in Japan found electric eels can release enough electricity to genetically modify small fis … | Continue reading
In a recent study published in Nature Communications, the Vorholt lab investigated the properties of plant microbiota involved in host protection against pathogen colonization. They identified the presence of specific strains that confer robust protection across different biotic … | Continue reading
Researchers have uncovered the intricate molecular mechanism used by parasitic phytoplasma bacteria, known for inducing "zombie-like" effects in plants. This detailed revelation opens new horizons for groundbreaking applications in biotechnology and even in biomedicine. | Continue reading
Researchers at the University of Manchester have made a breakthrough in the transfer of 2D crystals, paving the way for their commercialization in next-generation electronics. This technique, detailed in a recent Nature Electronics article, utilizes a fully inorganic stamp to cre … | Continue reading
Researchers report December 5 in the journal Neuron that mice display behavior that resembles self-recognition when they see themselves in the mirror. When the researchers marked the foreheads of black-furred mice with a spot of white ink, the mice spent more time grooming their … | Continue reading
Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica has gone through an irreversible retreat, passing a tipping point within the last 80 years, researchers have found. | Continue reading
Does every wine carry its own chemical signature and, if so, can this be used to identify its origin? Many specialists have tried to solve this mystery, without fully succeeding. By applying artificial intelligence tools to existing data, a team from the University of Geneva (UNI … | Continue reading
Bacteriophages are natural "predators" and enemies of bacteria. They are able to recognize specific types of bacteria and are considered safe for humans. Due to the increasing resistance of pathogenic microorganisms to antibiotics, bacteriophages have recently been considered as … | Continue reading
A research team from the University of Vienna, in collaboration with the Constructor University in Bremen, showed that polyoxometalates (POMs) can transport biologically relevant cargo through biological membranes. The study was recently published in Advanced Materials . It will … | Continue reading
In November 2023, BioDesign Research published a perspective article titled "Ice Cores as a Source for Antimicrobials: From Bioprospecting to Biodesign," outlining a revolutionary approach to antibiotic discovery using ice cores. This innovative article comes at a pivotal time, a … | Continue reading
A study published in Nature Chemistry reveals a remarkable leap in the synthesis of artificial cells using synthetic materials, which was achieved by an international team led by Dr. Andrea Belluati, Prof. Nico Bruns (both TU Darmstadt) and Dr. Sètuhn Jimaja (University of Fribou … | Continue reading
A team of chemists, microbiologists and physicists at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. has developed a way to use solid-state nanopores and multiplexed DNA barcoding to identify misfolded proteins such as those involved in neurodegenerative disorders in blood samples. In t … | Continue reading
An interdisciplinary research team from the University of Waterloo is using artificial intelligence (AI) to identify microplastics faster and more accurately than ever before. | Continue reading
Aquaporins, which move water through membranes of plant cells, were not thought to be able to permeate sugar molecules, but University of Adelaide researchers have observed sucrose transport in plant aquaporins for the first time, challenging this theory. | Continue reading
The central dogma of molecular biology postulates that the information packets encoded within the molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) are first transcribed into molecules of messenger ribonucleic acids (mRNAs), and then subsequently translated/decoded to generate molecules c … | Continue reading
Who needs science fiction when you have the mitochondria? Billions of years ago, early plant and animal cells were infected by protobacteria which sought refuge from the outside world. Over time, these bacteria formed a symbiosis with our ancestors, removing damaging oxygen from … | Continue reading
An international team of astronomers has discovered a new warm Jupiter exoplanet orbiting a distant G-type star. The newfound alien world, designated TOI-4515 b, is similar in size to Jupiter but about two times more massive than it. The finding was detailed in a paper published … | Continue reading
A collaboration between quantum physicists and astrophysicists, led by Francesca Ferlaino and Massimo Mannarelli, has achieved a significant breakthrough in understanding neutron star glitches. They were able to numerically simulate this enigmatic cosmic phenomenon with ultracold … | Continue reading
Hunting the now extinct straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) was widespread among Neanderthals, concludes a research team consisting of members of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), the Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA), also based in Mainz, and Leiden … | Continue reading
Black holes—the cosmic behemoths known for powering some of the brightest radio wave sources in the universe—were the focal point of a study led by Associate Professor Michael Brown, from the School of Physics and Astronomy at Monash University. | Continue reading
A team of engineers at Duke University have developed a method to broaden the reach of CRISPR technologies. While the original CRISPR system could only target 12.5% of the human genome, the new method expands access to nearly every gene to potentially target and treat a broader r … | Continue reading
Biomass burning from wildfires puts large amounts of aromatic hydrocarbons in the atmosphere every year, which are thought to convert into more light-absorbing and toxic nitroaromatics. | Continue reading
For the past two winters, Florida wildlife biologists have experimented hand-feeding lettuce to hungry manatees in the Indian River Lagoon as the animals' natural food source, seagrass, was in short supply from pollution problems. | Continue reading
Chains of fused carbon-containing rings have unique optoelectronic properties that make them useful as semiconductors. These chains, known as acenes, can also be tuned to emit different colors of light, which makes them good candidates for use in organic light-emitting diodes. | Continue reading
Water tests show nearly 3,000 private wells located near 63 active and former U.S. military bases are contaminated with "forever chemicals" at levels higher than what federal regulators consider safe for drinking. | Continue reading
On a cool, cloudy morning one day last week, Albert Rivas approached a pile of dry wood in the Angeles National Forest and set it on fire. | Continue reading
To make fuel cells more affordable, researchers have spent decades searching for low-cost catalysts to replace platinum and other expensive metals. | Continue reading
For many, a $200 traffic ticket can devastate their households' savings and finances. | Continue reading
New research from Scripps and NOAA scientists has discovered ecological correlations that could help explain the booms and busts of California's anchovy population. If the correlations hold up to further research, they could one day help inform management of California's anchovy … | Continue reading
Researchers have discovered magnetic monopoles—isolated magnetic charges—in a material closely related to rust, a result that could be used to power greener and faster computing technologies. | Continue reading
The world may cross the crucial 1.5C global warming threshold in seven years as fossil fuel CO2 emissions continue to rise, scientists warned Tuesday, urging countries at the COP28 talks to "act now" on coal, oil and gas pollution. | Continue reading
Against the backdrop of the mega port city of Karachi, choked with traffic and construction, four green turtles emerge from the frothy Arabian Sea seeking a spot to lay their eggs. | Continue reading
Conservationists in New Zealand celebrated on Tuesday after discovering that kiwi chicks had been born in the wilds around Wellington for the first time in more than a century. | Continue reading
Saudi Arabia's energy minister has slammed the door shut to agreeing to phase down fossil fuels at the UN's COP28 climate talks, setting the stage for difficult negotiations in Dubai. | Continue reading
Chest-high waters surged down the streets of India's southern city Chennai on Tuesday with eight people killed in intense floods as Cyclone Michaung was set to make landfall on the southeast coast. | Continue reading
Environmental change hits the poorest the hardest, experts say, and in India's toxic smog-filled capital that includes the air people breathe. | Continue reading
Associate professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech, Ashley Dayer is the lead author of an article published in People and Nature that argues not only for the acknowledgment of the activity's benefit to humans, but that it should play a role i … | Continue reading
Research led by Hiromi Shiraishi, a researcher at Chuo University, indicated a steep rise in the importation of American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) live fry to East Asia for aquaculture purposes. This surge poses a potential threat to the already endangered species, further depletin … | Continue reading
An entirely new way to probe how active black holes behave when they eat has been discovered by an international team of astronomers. | Continue reading
Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels have risen again in 2023—reaching record levels, according to new research from the Global Carbon Project science team. | Continue reading