Research on using Marchantia polymorpha, commonly known as liverwort, a plant closely related to moss, for food and as an ingredient in medicine and supplements is being conducted at Kobe University. [...]
A new study combines drone data, satellite observations, and ground-based flux measurements to examine methane emissions from ruminants in Kenya. The research represents a pioneering effort to quantify methane (CH₄) emissions from livestock using drones in sub-Saharan Africa. It is also among the first field studies to measure methane emissions from camels, a largely understudied source. [...]
Colorado will not release more wolves this winter to supplement its reintroduction program after federal officials stopped the planned relocation of wolves from Canada. [...]
Worldwide, it ranks among the cities with the highest levels of air pollution—and it's located in the heart of Europe: Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Previously, the spatial distribution of air pollutants here was largely unknown, as were their sources. Now the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, using its mobile laboratory, has provided the first reliable data—and found the causes of the high level of pollution. [...]
Even as NASA celebrated the rollout of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for Artemis II over the weekend, NASA's new administrator, Jared Isaacman, made sure to put an asterisk on the program's future. [...]
During pregnancy, maternal and fetal cells migrate back and forth across the placenta, with fetal cells entering the mother's bloodstream and tissues. They can settle in maternal organs such as the thyroid, liver, lungs, brain and heart—and can persist there for decades. Conversely, maternal cells can enter the fetus and be passed down to future generations, essentially creating a lifelong connection between mothers, their offspring and their descendants. [...]
There's no question that being in nature is good for well-being. Research shows that experiencing nature and listening to natural sounds can relax us. [...]
New University of Hawaiʻi research confirms that "Sharktober" is real, revealing a statistically significant spike in shark bite incidents in Hawaiian waters every October. The study, which analyzed 30 years of data (1995–2024), found that about 20% of all recorded bites occurred in that single month, a frequency far exceeding any other time of the year. [...]
For decades, researchers thought that an October 1843 earthquake on the small Greek island of Chalke caused a powerful tsunami and led to the deaths of as many as 600 people. But a new analysis of primary accounts of the event by Ioanna Triantafyllou at Hellenic Mediterranean University suggests the truth was much less dramatic and destructive. [...]
Important everyday products—from plastics to detergents—are made through chemical reactions that mostly use precious metals such as platinum as catalysts. Scientists have been searching for more sustainable, low-cost substitutes for years, and tungsten carbide—an Earth-abundant metal used commonly for industrial machinery, cutting tools, and chisels—is a promising candidate. [...]
According to a new study by the University of Würzburg, Bavarian meadows are the most monotonous insect habitats. Surprisingly, fields and settlements often offer more diversity than grassland. [...]
Whether in the human body or on surfaces, bacteria protect themselves from outside attackers using biofilms. Physicist Eleonora Secchi is researching how these slime-like protective films are formed, with the aim of making it easier to remove pathogenic bacteria. [...]
Africa confronts escalating internal migration and displacement crises fueled by intensifying climate hazards—particularly prolonged droughts—and persistent armed conflicts, which compound vulnerabilities across the continent. [...]
Researchers at University of Tsukuba have developed a cellulose-based composite sheet that integrates paper pulp with starch, polyaniline (a conductive polymer), Prussian blue (a coordination compound), and alginic acid (a natural polysaccharide). These components were assembled into layered structures using a traditional papermaking technique. The resulting sheet exhibits efficient simultaneous adsorption and immobilization of radioactive elements, including cesium, iodine, and strontium. [...]
Some stars appear to defy time itself. Nestled within ancient star clusters, they shine bluer and brighter than their neighbors, looking far younger than their true age. Known as blue straggler stars, these stellar oddities have puzzled astronomers for more than 70 years. Now, new results using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope are finally revealing how these "forever young" stars come to be and why they thrive in quieter cosmic neighborhoods. [...]
Flowers emit scented chemicals to attract pollinators, but this perfume—and how pollinators interact with the plant—can go through profound changes as a crop becomes domesticated. [...]
In inertial confinement fusion, a capsule of fuel begins at temperatures near zero and pressures close to vacuum. When lasers compress that fuel to trigger fusion, the material heats up to millions of degrees and reaches pressures similar to the core of the sun. That process happens within a miniscule amount of space and time. [...]
Inserting, removing or swapping individual atoms from the core of a molecule is a long-standing challenge in chemistry. This process, called skeletal editing, can dramatically speed up drug discovery or be applied for upcycling of plastics. Consequently, the field is witnessing a surge of interest spanning from fundamental chemical research to applications in the pharmaceutical industry. [...]
Physicists have used a new optical centrifuge to control the rotation of molecules suspended in liquid helium nano-droplets, bringing them a step closer to demystifying the behavior of exotic, frictionless superfluids. [...]
A recently identified tree species in Queensland has been given the name "zombie" by scientists who say ambitious assistance is needed to reverse its "living dead" status. [...]
Harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to study plant microbiomes—communities of microbes living in and around plants—could help improve soil health, boost crop yields, and restore degraded lands. But there's a catch: AI needs massive amounts of reliable data to learn from, and that kind of consistent information about plant-microbe interactions has been hard to come by. [...]
Greenland, which has been prominently in the news in recent days, hosts a vast ice sheet. If it melts, it will become one of the largest contributors to global sea-level rise. Under a high-emissions scenario, the Greenland Ice Sheet is expected to largely disappear over time, with far-reaching consequences. This is the conclusion of a new study by Chloë Paice and colleagues, published in The Cryosphere. The Greenland Ice Sheet contains enough ice to raise global sea levels by approximately 7.4 meters and has been losing mass at an accelerating rate since the 1990s. Roughly half of this loss is due to surface melt, while the other half results from ice calving where the ice sheet meets the ocean. [...]
Florida State University researchers have discovered a pathway within a certain type of molecule that limits chemical reactions by redirecting light energy. The study could enable development of more efficient reactions for pharmaceuticals and other products. [...]
Families of the astronauts lost in the space shuttle Challenger accident gathered back at the launch site Thursday to mark that tragic day 40 years ago. [...]
Using robotic fins, researchers at the University of California, Riverside have learned how stingrays are able to swim with impressive control. These insights could help underwater vehicles avoid disastrous ground collisions. [...]
A new study has examined how future human missions to Mars could access one of the planet's most vital resources—water. The "Martian aqua: occurrence of water and appraisal of acquisition technologies" paper, published in the Advances in Space Research journal, presents a comparative analysis of potential water acquisition technologies for use on the red planet. It also evaluates the feasibility of extracting water from various Martian sources, including underground ice, soil moisture, and atmospheric vapor—building on the findings of earlier studies which identified the sources. [...]
Oskari Lahtinen, Senior Researcher at the INVEST Research Flagship Center at the University of Turku in Finland, has developed validated tools for studying "woke" attitudes on both the political left and the political right. [...]
A research team at the University of Arizona College of Medicine–Tucson is developing a drug that works in combination with copper to kill bacteria, including those that cause MRSA, a type of staph infection that is resistant to usual treatments. The team's research is published in the journal mSphere. [...]
China's rising demand for cooling doesn't have to drive rising temperatures. A recent study shows how rapid shifts to cleaner refrigerants and high-efficiency technologies could cut cooling-related climate impacts to near zero by mid-century. The work is published in the journal npj Climate and Atmospheric Science. [...]
Coral reefs, the "rainforests of the sea," provide habitats for 25% of all marine life. Critical to global biodiversity, they are essential for food supply, culture and recreation and coastal protection from hurricanes for communities around the world and even contain a vast array of bioactive chemical compounds that could be critical to medical advances. But half of the world's coral reefs have been lost in the last 50 years and scientists fear that warming seas from climate change will decimate 70–90% of what remains by the end of this century. [...]
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