Geologists have solved the mystery of the disappearance from the geological record, millions of years ago, of one of North America's most important waterways: the Colorado River. A paper published in Science shows that the river flowed into an upstream lake over the course of a few million years, then likely flowed for the first time into the Grand Canyon. The moment marked the Colorado River's transition to a continental-scale river as it made its way down to the Gulf of California. [...]
A sprinkle of nutmeg powder on baked goodies or mashed potatoes can immediately lift the flavor with its warm and sweet aroma. Even though it is used globally, not much is known about the true origins of the nutmeg spice tree, Myristica fragrans. In an attempt to retrace evolutionary history, researchers traveled to five different islands in the Moluccas archipelago, Indonesia, traditionally known as the Spice Islands and collected leaves from 393 nutmeg trees to analyze their DNA. [...]
Blistering temperatures rising to 40°C and above will now be branded "cruelly hot" or "kokusho-bi" in Japan, the weather agency said Friday, as heat wave days become increasingly frequent in the region. [...]
Does a male bird with a long and complex courtship dance have superior cognitive abilities? Simply put, is a talented dancer a smarter bird? To answer the question, researchers at Université de Montréal studied the zebra finch, a small bird known for the dramatic differences between the male and female of the species. The scientists wanted to determine whether females choose males who perform elaborate dances because those displays reflect above-average intelligence. [...]
The earliest documentary evidence of organized whaling dates back to the 11th century in the Basque Country. From there, the activity spread rapidly across the ports of the Bay of Biscay, from Galicia to Labourd in France, and then across the Atlantic to countries such as Brazil and Iceland. [...]
A randomized trial in a large economics course found that AI-mediated feedback improved students' revisions when teaching assistants stayed in control. Artificial intelligence can help instructors write better feedback on student essays and improve learning outcomes when AI is used as a behind-the-scenes assistant rather than a replacement for human graders, a new University of Michigan Engineering study suggests. [...]
European astronomers have used the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe a recently discovered giant disk galaxy known as ADF22.1. Results of the new observations, published April 8 on the arXiv preprint server, shed more light on the formation and evolution of this galaxy. [...]
How do some wealthy families remain in the upper class for many generations, while other rich families do not? That is the question author Shay O'Brien (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) tackles in the sociological study "Kinship Interlocks: How the Intimate Exchange of Wealth, Status, and Power Generates Upper-Class Persistence," published in the April 2026 issue of the American Sociological Review. [...]
Asian immigrants are both the fastest-growing and highest-earning immigrant ethnic group in the United States, facts that have caught the attention of many economists interested in how these groups—whether investors or residents—impact housing prices, K-12 education, and other important aspects of community life. [...]
Texas A&M University is preparing for a new era of space research with the launch of a research centrifuge at the Anthony Wood '87 Artificial Gravity Lab. Set to become one of the most advanced human centrifuge facilities in the United States, the lab can simulate lunar and Martian gravity for extended periods of time, allowing researchers to test how changes in gravity affect the human body. [...]
Originally deployed to record re-entry signals of the OSIRIS-REx return capsule, a T-shaped fiber optic cable draped across the ground at a Nevada airfield also captured unique aspects of a Cessna 172's speed and maneuvering. [...]
New research led by the University of Houston suggests that formerly incarcerated people are more likely to receive job search assistance if they voluntarily disclose their past while highlighting accomplishments earned during their sentence. [...]
Publishing in Communications Chemistry, researchers from Kyushu University have discovered a simple method of generating hydrogen gas by mixing methanol, sodium hydroxide, and iron ions, then irradiating the solution with UV light. [...]
Weill Cornell Medicine investigators have revealed the detailed workings of a cell membrane protein that has essential roles in all animals. The discovery could lead to new therapeutic strategies for blood coagulation disorders, cancers and other conditions in which the protein, called a TMEM16 scramblase, works abnormally. Scramblases operate within cell membranes, where they alter or "scramble" the normal layered arrangement of lipid molecules—an essential step in many biological processes. The scramblase TMEM16F also works as an ion channel, allowing small, charged molecules such as potassium or chloride ions through the membrane. [...]
Nearly a week after their Pacific splashdown, the astronauts who crewed the Artemis II mission that flew around the moon told reporters Thursday they have yet to fully grasp the magnitude of the moment. [...]
The Artemis II astronauts who ignited a lunar renaissance gave high marks Thursday to their moonship, especially the heat shield, for its performance during reentry. [...]
In the era of precision cosmology, research often means big science: large observatories, highly complex instruments, international collaborations and substantial funding. Yet even in such an advanced field, progress is still possible—including in the search for elusive dark matter—through more agile approaches, driven by small teams and young researchers, supported by institutions and a good dose of ingenuity. [...]
Seismicity decreases with depth because elevated confining pressure prevents frictional sliding of faults. However, seismicity tends to increase with depth in the mantle transition zone (depths of 410−600km). It has been believed that pressure-induced phase transitions of olivine in the "cold" subducted slabs is the cause of high seismicity in the mantle transition zone. [...]
It did not take long after the discovery of X-rays in the 1890s for scientists to begin exploring the harmful effects of radiation on living organisms. Yet even after more than a century of research, new insights continue to emerge about how radiation affects the body. In a recent study, researchers at Hokkaido University uncovered a previously unrecognized effect of radiation that leads to changes in the mitochondria of the offspring. The study was published in March 2026 in the journal Redox Biology. [...]
The East Asian Subtropical Westerly Jet (EASWJ) and the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) are two pivotal components of the East Asian monsoon system, shaping the precipitation distribution and climate over East Asia. Whether the co-evolutionary EASWJ–EASM relationship remains consistent under different climatic backgrounds has been a key question in both modern and paleoclimate research. [...]
In his doctoral thesis, Michael Roop develops numerical methods that allow finding physically reliable approximate solutions to nonlinear differential equations used to model turbulence. [...]
Aluminum die-cast components are widely used in automotive and precision machinery applications due to their combination of low weight and structural strength. However, internal defects known as porosity—voids formed by entrapped air during casting—remain a persistent challenge. These defects are difficult to detect through external inspection and can compromise mechanical integrity and long-term reliability. [...]
Researchers from the University of Seville (US) and the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) have demonstrated that it is possible to grow tomatoes and generate solar energy simultaneously, a key strategy for tackling global water scarcity. The study, carried out in Madrid and Seville during the spring of 2024, evaluated the use of agrovoltaic systems and regulated deficit irrigation to optimize water resources in tomato cultivation. The results show that, although using less water reduces the volume of the harvest, the overall outcome is a more efficient and sustainable process. [...]
Bottom fishing can release CO₂ from the seabed, but the consequences for the climate are not straightforward. New research, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, shows that disturbing the seabed sets in motion multiple processes with contrasting effects. The overall climate impact of bottom fishing is the result of these processes and depends strongly on where fishing takes place and on whether carbon is released that would otherwise have remained stored in the seabed for long periods. [...]
University of Birmingham experts have created open-source computer software that helps scientists understand how fast-moving particles behave when they interact with electromagnetic waves in space. Understanding how these particles behave in Earth's radiation belts is crucial because high-energy electrons can damage satellites, while radiation belt dynamics affect space weather forecasts. Better models help protect astronauts, power systems, and communications infrastructure. [...]
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is now on its way out of our solar system, never to return. The comet was only the third-ever detected object to originate from outside our solar system. Traveling at high speeds, it looped around the sun within 1.5 AU (one AU, or astronomical unit, is the distance between Earth and the sun) in October 2025; as of April, it is now past the orbit of Jupiter on its way out of the solar system. [...]
A new study shows that a specific type of silicone, the so-called methylsiloxanes, is widely present in the atmosphere across diverse environments. Also, concentrations appear to be much higher than expected. According to the researchers, this raises concerns about their potential—yet poorly understood—effects on human health and the climate. Methylsiloxanes are commonly used in industry, transportation, cosmetics, and household products. The study was supervised by Utrecht University and the University of Groningen, and the results are published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. [...]
The launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in 2021 pushed the horizon of seeing the early universe, unveiling cosmic events just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. Among the most striking discoveries are supermassive black holes—some reaching 100 million times the mass of our sun. [...]
While the Netherlands was in lockdown because of the coronavirus, Ph.D. candidate Koen Rijpkema began his research into the same virus. In the lab, he developed molecules that can inhibit an important viral enzyme. [...]
The time had come to open the envelope, but Stephan Schlamminger, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), wasn't sure he wanted to know the secret number that lay inside. For the past 10 years, Schlamminger had spent most of his working hours trying to measure a single quantity, known as the universal gravitational constant, which determines the strength of gravity everywhere in the universe. The secret number would allow Schlamminger to unscramble his data and get his answer. [...]