Charophytes are extremely beneficial to lakes, improving water quality and biodiversity. However, their abundance was found to decline in many lakes without clear signs of eutrophication during recent decades. [...]
Rising trade frictions over the past decade have sparked urgent questions about their long-term impact on global economies. The U.S. now applies tariffs of 66.4% on Chinese exports, which is higher compared to the average rate of 19.3%, while China retaliates with a 58.3% import tariff on U.S. exports, higher than the average rate of 21.1%. [...]
For more than three decades, DHS provided vital demographic and health data on population, health, HIV, and nutrition in over 90 countries. Its termination leaves major gaps in tracking the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in low- and middle-income countries. [...]
Enzymes are the molecular machines that power life; they build and break down molecules, copy DNA, digest food, and drive virtually every chemical reaction in our cells. For decades, scientists have designed drugs to slow down or block enzymes, stopping infections or the growth of cancer by jamming these tiny machines. But what if tackling some diseases requires the opposite approach? [...]
The production of clean hydrogen through water electrolysis is a promising route toward emission-free and sustainable energy technologies. However, its efficiency is still constrained by the kinetically sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER). This reaction requires high potential energy input and operates under highly oxidative conditions, which often force a trade-off between catalytic activity and long-term stability. [...]
An international group of researchers says that biodiversity conservation and scientific research are not benefiting from the vast knowledge about the world's plants held by botanic gardens, because of fragmented data systems and a lack of standardization. [...]
The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), a joint mission between the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NASA, launched on Sept. 7th, 2023. Its advanced imaging filters and spectrometers were designed to study black holes and neutron stars and detect the hot plasma in the intergalactic medium. Alongside the European Space Agency's (ESA) X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission Newton (XMM-Newton) and NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), XRISM has provided the sharpest-ever X-ray spectrum of the iconic MCG–6-30-15. [...]
The Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers, located in the Amundsen Sea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), are among the fastest-melting glaciers on Earth. Together, they are losing ice more rapidly than any other part of Antarctica, raising serious concerns about the long-term stability of the ice sheet and its contribution to future sea-level rise. [...]
At temperatures where most molecular movement ceases, certain organic crystals begin their self-healing journey. [...]
Air pollution regulations in the United States are intended to protect public health, but a new study has found that they also carry an unexpected cost: higher interest rates on the bonds used by counties to fund schools, hospitals, and infrastructure. When a county falls out of compliance with the ozone standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), borrowing becomes costly. As a result, the municipality faces higher costs to fund public infrastructure like schools, hospitals, and roads. [...]
Happy new year! If you're a redhead, the pigments in your hair are protecting you from cellular damage. A post-stroke injection comprising regenerative nanomaterial can protect the brain. And researchers have developed a method to extract rare earth elements from coal tailings. [...]
Australian authorities declared a state of disaster on Saturday after bushfires destroyed houses and razed vast belts of forest in the country's southeast. [...]
The old saying goes: Money can't buy happiness. But it sure can make or break a relationship. [...]
Pandora, the latest in a long portfolio of University of Arizona's space science missions, has cleared its last major milestone on its journey into space. This week, Pandora—a satellite about the size of fridge—was mounted inside the launch vehicle, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Pandora now awaits blast-off from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The launch window opens at 6:19 a.m. Arizona time (8:19 a.m. EST) on Sunday, Jan. 11. SpaceX will provide a livestream of the event. [...]
NASA crewmembers aboard the International Space Station (ISS) could return to Earth as soon as Thursday, the US space agency said, after a medical emergency prompted the crew to return from their mission early. [...]
Gale-force winds and storms barreled through northern Europe on Friday, claiming more lives, causing travel mayhem, shutting schools, and cutting power to hundreds of thousands in freezing temperatures. [...]
As drones survey forests, robots navigate warehouses and sensors monitor city streets, more of the world's decision-making is occurring autonomously on the edge—on the small devices that gather information at the ends of much larger networks. [...]
In order to understand currents, tides and other ocean dynamics, scientists need to accurately capture sea surface height, or a snapshot of the ocean's surface, including peaks and valleys due to changes in wind, currents and temperature, at any given moment. In order to more accurately forecast ocean circulation and other processes, climate variability, air-sea interactions and extreme weather events, researchers need to be able to accurately predict sea surface height into the future. [...]
Using a tiny, acid-tolerant yeast, scientists have demonstrated a cost-effective way to make disposable diapers, microplastics, and acrylic paint more sustainable through biomanufacturing. [...]
Some 445 million years ago, life on Earth was forever changed. During the geological blink of an eye, glaciers formed over the supercontinent Gondwana, drying out many of the vast, shallow seas like a sponge and giving an "icehouse climate" that, together with radically changed ocean chemistry, ultimately caused the extinction of about 85% of all marine species—the majority of life on Earth. [...]
Hydroperoxides are strong oxidants that have a significant influence on chemical processes in the atmosphere. Now, an international research team involving the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) has shown that these substances also form from α‑keto acids such as pyruvic acid in clouds, rain and aerosol water when exposed to sunlight. [...]
The U.S. boasts more than 4 million miles of rivers, peppered with laws and regulations to protect access to drinking water and essential habitat for fish and wildlife. But in the first comprehensive review of river protection, research co-led by the University of Washington shows that the existing regulations account for less than 20% of total river length and vary widely by region. [...]
Recent research published in Science introduces a promising solid electrolyte material that could improve the performance of next-generation lithium batteries, particularly at lower temperatures. Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) Research Professor of Chemistry James Kaduk, who co-authored the paper, contributed a key finding to the research: identifying where lithium atoms reside within the crystalline structure. [...]
Flirting is often seen as playful behavior that signals interest to a potential partner. But according to new research, there is much more to the teasing, light-hearted conversation and coquettish glances than meets the eye. Flirting is also used as a tool to get what we want, not just a way to start a new romance. And some ways people flirt are shaped by their personality traits. [...]
Vulnerable communities in the United States often face the highest risks from individual environmental burdens, such as exposure to toxic air pollutants. But new research shows that these communities are also exposed to a disproportionate number of multiple high-intensity burdens at once. [...]
Organs often have fluid-filled spaces called lumens, which are crucial for organ function and serve as transport and delivery networks. Lumens in the pancreas form a complex ductal system, and its channels transport digestive enzymes to the small intestine. Understanding how this system forms in embryonic development is essential, both for normal organ formation and for diagnosing and treating pancreatic disorders. [...]
An international research team reveals new molecular mechanisms associated with pathogenic mutations in the protein transthyretin that cause transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR), a group of fatal progressive diseases. The results, obtained thanks to a new methodological approach, open the door to the development of drugs with higher therapeutic potential, designed specifically for the variants of the protein associated with the disease. [...]
Plant viruses pose a serious and ongoing threat to global agriculture in tropical to temperate regions. Among the most damaging are begomoviruses, a group of DNA viruses spread by whiteflies that infect many important food crops, including eggplant, tomato, pepper, cucurbit, cassava, and cotton. Infected plants often develop yellowing and curling leaves, stunted growth, and reduced yields, leading to significant economic losses for farmers. [...]
A research team from Osaka Metropolitan University proposed using a current-biased kinetic inductance detector with submicron 400 megapixels to image hot spots induced by a localized external stimulus over a 15 × 15 mm2 area. The team utilized a delay-line technique to trace the propagation of internal signals for a pair of signals arising from each hot spot. [...]
Crops increasingly need to thrive in a broader range of conditions, including drought, salinity, and heat. Traditional plant breeding can select for desirable traits, but is limited by the genetic variation that already exists in plants. In many crops, domestication and long-term selection have narrowed genetic diversity, constraining efforts to develop new varieties. [...]
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