"Glass" has a unique and distinct meaning in physics—one that refers not just to the transparent material we associate with window glass. Instead, it refers to any system that looks solid but is not in true equilibrium and continues to change extremely slowly over time. Examples include window glass, plastics, metallic glasses, spin glasses (i.e., magnetic systems), and even some biological and computational systems. [...]
Bones broken in a skiing accident usually heal on their own. But if the break is too severe or a bone tumor needs to be removed, surgeons insert an implant that enables the bone to grow back together. Implants often consist of pieces of the patient's own bone, known as autografts, or metal or ceramic parts. A key drawback of many of today's implants is that they require a second surgery to harvest the tissue for the autografts. Additionally, metal implants tend to be too rigid and may loosen over time, compromising stability. [...]
Multiphoton microscopy is used in biomedical research to study cells and tissues. Today, so-called two-photon microscopy is used to study processes within cells, but the technique has limitations in terms of image resolution. Four-photon microscopy provides images with higher resolution. However, such instruments are very expensive and, when studying biological material, the powerful laser light required can damage samples. [...]
Physicists and chemists at Heidelberg University have realized a photonic microchip that is driven by light just as easily as electronic components via a "plug." Their development could serve as the basis for fast and cost-effective production of photonic integrated systems that are of great importance for implementing innovative computing and communications systems. [...]
The earliest stage of drug discovery is governed by a simple constraint: there are far more possible drug-like molecules than any pharmaceutical laboratory could ever test. A new deep learning system, reported in the International Journal of Reasoning-based Intelligent Systems, offers a way to speed up research and could unblock industry bottlenecks. [...]
Identified as the most complete Australopithecus fossil discovered to date, "Little Foot" was buried in sediments whose movement and weight caused fractures and deformations, making analysis of its skull—and more particularly its face—difficult. This anatomical region, which is essential for understanding the adaptations of our ancestors and relatives to their environment, has now been virtually reconstructed for the first time by a CNRS researcher and her British and South African colleagues. These are published in Comptes Rendus Palevol. [...]
In 2021, a technology developed at the University of Michigan, called Seq-Scope, revolutionized the ability to map gene activity within intact tissue at microscopic resolution, enabling researchers to measure all expressed mRNA molecules and determine precisely where they are located within the tissue, using an Illumina sequencer machine. The team behind the Seq-Scope method, led by Jun Hee Lee, Ph.D., has taken the technology even further. [...]
Children who received Early Intervention (EI) services before age 3 were more likely to meet third-grade academic standards in math and English language arts (ELA), according to a study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the New York City Health Department. The findings are published in JAMA Network Open. [...]
Adaptation is essential for survival. Across species, it occurs over many generations through evolution and natural selection. Individual animals, however, can also adapt within their own lifetimes—through learning. For many species, humans included, this process is vital. [...]
Although plastic particles in the air are increasingly coming into focus, knowledge about their distribution and effects is still limited. Chemical analyses from Leipzig now provide details from Germany for the first time: Around 4% of the particulate matter consists of plastic. Around two-thirds of this comes from tire abrasion. [...]
Researchers at Arizona State University have uncovered a key scientific principle that governs how what's coated on the surfaces of engineered nanoparticles may ultimately control how they work in our bodies. In a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team directly measured how water interactions influence nanoparticle biological performance. [...]
A comprehensive 30-year study led by University of California, Irvine glaciologists has produced a circumpolar ice grounding line migration map of Antarctica. An amalgamation of three decades of satellite data compiled and analyzed by the researchers revealed that while most of Antarctica remains remarkably stable, vulnerable sectors are losing grounded ice equivalent to the size of Greater Los Angeles every three years. [...]
Members of the arachnid class—think spiders, scorpions and harvestmen (daddy long legs)—are often the targets of revulsion, disgust and fear. Yet, they are crucial for ecosystems to thrive. Given the crash in worldwide biodiversity, including what some call the "insect apocalypse," a pair of ecologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst decided to check in on the general state of insects and arachnids in the U.S.—only to discover massive gaps in the data. [...]
In the forests of the southeastern United States, dense tree cover dominates most landscapes. That's why the Appalachian Trail is sometimes nicknamed "The Green Tunnel." But avid hikers know that often in the Southeast, they'll emerge from the green tunnel. [...]
A new article introduces a science-based operational framework developed by researchers from several universities and the Danish Biodiversity Council. The framework can help countries assess their genuine national contributions to protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030. When applied to Denmark, the framework shows that the official Danish reporting substantially overestimates the country's progress toward meeting the international targets. The work is published in the journal One Earth. [...]
A study of changes to the habitats of more than 700 species reveals massive biodiversity loss—but also possibilities for restoration. "There is a lot of talk about deforestation and biodiversity loss in the Amazon, but even here in Colombia there is much less said about the tropical dry forest, although it is also an extremely rich ecosystem—and one that is under severe threat," warns Colombian researcher Maria Isabel Arce Plata. [...]
Whether it's a sudden dash across the garage or silhouette in a backyard web, spiders evoke fear in many people. But researchers don't have a clear picture of why, exactly, this phobia is so common. An interdisciplinary team at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln is using state-of-the-art eye-tracking technology to pinpoint the physical characteristics of spiders that may contribute to the unease. [...]
The glacier located near Sunlight Peak, Wyo., has been its icy self since the Yellowstone region's last major glaciation occurred some 20,000 years ago. The bulk of Sunlight's ice has remained ensconced in its northern Rocky Mountain keep for many thousands of years. But that is now changing, according to research from scientists at Washington University in St. Louis. [...]
Plants are fast-tracking their own evolution by "plugging in" genetic code stolen from their neighbors, according to new research that reveals the secret to their own successful genetic engineering. The study, led by Catherine Collins, Dr. Luke Dunning and Dr. Lara Pereira from the University of Sheffield, in collaboration with researchers from Yale and Bangor Universities, examined how grasses "steal" DNA from other species. [...]
A new interdisciplinary study published in Nature Communications provides the first detailed insights, from a biomolecular and archaeological perspective, into the lives of people living in Central Europe during the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1300–800 BCE), the so-called Urnfield period, which was marked by cultural changes such as the widespread adoption of cremation. [...]
More than four out of every five dead black vultures examined by University of Georgia researchers tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, according to a new study published in Scientific Reports. The actual toll of the virus on the integral species is likely exponentially higher, though, the researchers warned. [...]
A new accounting of nitrogen pollution in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB) reveals a significant decline in recent decades, suggesting positive momentum for water quality goals in local watersheds and the Gulf of Mexico. Surprisingly, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign-led study doesn't credit the change to reduced fertilizer application, but instead to cleaner air and more efficient nitrogen uptake by modern corn hybrids. The research is published in the journal Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Research. [...]
"Sunlight" beams off a partly cloudy Atlantic Ocean just after sunrise as the International Space Station orbited 263 miles above on March 5, 2025. This is an example of sunglint, an optical phenomenon that occurs when sunlight reflects off the surface of water at the same angle that a satellite sensor views it. The result is a mirror-like specular reflection of sunlight off the water and back at the satellite sensor or astronaut. [...]
A provocative new international study published in Austral Ecology warns the massive "broadcast baiting" campaign currently used to combat Red Imported Fire Ants (RIFA) in south-east Queensland may be doing more harm than good. [...]
While sifting through the extensive data collected by NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft over the last decade, scientists discovered a familiar type of electromagnetic signal commonly caused by lightning. This rare find represents the first direct indication of lightning activity on Mars. The team recently published their findings in Science Advances, where they describe the event and why it's so difficult to detect lightning-like activity on Mars. [...]
It's been about eight months since the Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO) saw first light. Now the telescope is scanning the night sky to detect transient changes and sending alerts to astronomers and observatories around the world so they can perform follow-up observations. This alert system is one of the last milestones before the VRO starts its primary endeavor: the decade-long Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). [...]
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF) is the hottest place on Earth for the briefest of moments during an experiment. Now, it can be one of the brightest places thanks to the Advanced Radiographic Capability (ARC), NIF's laser-within-a-laser. How this is possible and how it's measured is detailed in a paper in Physics of Plasmas titled "Development and scaling of MeV X-ray radiography at NIF-ARC." [...]
The deep sea is a dark, cold place. It's just a few degrees above freezing, subject to immense pressure, and beyond the reach of the sunlight needed for photosynthesis. The life that does survive in such a hostile place must find a different way to thrive. [...]
If you gathered every American with a prison record into one contiguous territory and admitted it to the union, you would create the 12th-largest state. It would be home to at least 7 million to 8 million people and hold a dozen votes in the Electoral College. [...]
The house sparrow is a highly invasive pest in North Carolina, and bluebird enthusiasts frequently throw their eggs out and remove their nests to keep them from overtaking the nestboxes that bluebirds call home. A new study puts those discarded eggs to use in detecting heavy metal contaminants in bluebird habitats, which often border human communities. [...]