A research team led by Prof. Yousung Jung of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Seoul National University (SNU) has developed an innovative AI-based technology that uses large language models (LLMs) to redesign new materials that were previously difficult to synthesize into forms that are experimentally feasible. [...]
After analyzing how the climate crisis is addressed in digital media and on digital platforms, Ángela Alonso-Jurnet, a researcher in the Gureiker group at the University of the Basque Country (EHU), has compiled a list of ten opportunities outlining the most effective strategies employed by the scientific community, members of the public and climate activists. [...]
Have you ever wished you could swim like a fish? How about speak like one? In a paper recently published in the Journal of Fish Biology, our team from the University of Victoria deciphered some of the strange and unique sounds made by different fish species along the coast of British Columbia. [...]
A perspective in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface argues that advances in AI, sensing technologies and modeling are transforming the study of collective animal behavior, with implications reaching far beyond biology, from robotics to the dynamics of human crowds. [...]
The Barrow-in-Furness accent is very different from the rest of Lancashire and Cumbria because of an intense mixing and rapid population change in the late 1800s, says new research by Lancaster University, which used the voices of Victorian speakers to inform the study. [...]
Around 540 million years ago, Earth's biosphere underwent a pivotal transformation, shifting from a microbe-dominated world to one teeming with animal life, as nearly all major animal phyla appeared abruptly in the fossil record over a very short geological time interval. This landmark evolutionary event is known as the Cambrian Explosion. [...]
When it comes to global warming and climate change, we often hear news stories about tipping points where Earth's systems shift into a new and dangerous state. One such may have been reached in the year 2000 that caused tropical weather cycles to have a greater effect on autumn sea ice melt across the Laptev and East Siberian seas, according to a study published in Science Advances. [...]
In a study conducted by Dr. Mahdi Alirezazadeh and Dr. Hanan Bahranipoor, published in Archaeological Research in Asia, two exceptionally well-preserved fetal burials from Chaparabad, Iran, dating to the mid-5th millennium BC, were analyzed including burial L522.1, one of the most complete prehistoric infant burials in the Iranian plateau. Despite being buried only meters apart, the two fetal burials exhibit distinct burial treatments, offering insights into the variable burial practices of prehistoric cultures in southwestern Asia. [...]
Dangerous concentrations of algae such as "red tides" have been consistently emerging in locations around the world. A region in Southern Australia is experiencing a nine-month toxic algae bloom that spans thousands of miles and has caused thousands of deaths across marine species. Such harmful algal blooms (HABs) produce toxins that can force municipalities to close beaches and lakes due to public health risks. [...]
Ditches and canals are the underdog of the freshwater world. These human-made waterways are often forgotten, devalued, and perceived negatively—think "dull as ditchwater." But these unsung heroes have a hidden potential for climate change mitigation, if they're managed correctly. [...]
A new study finds that Canada could remove at least five times its annual carbon emissions with strategic planting of more than six million trees along the northern edge of the boreal forest. The paper, "Substantial carbon removal capacity of Taiga reforestation and afforestation at Canada's boreal edge," appears in Communications Earth & Environment. [...]
In some solid materials under specific conditions, mutual Coulomb interactions shape electrons into many-body correlated states, such as Wigner crystals, which are essentially solids made of electrons. So far, the Wigner crystal state remains sensitive to various experimental perturbations. Uncovering their internal structure and arrangement at the atomic scale has proven more challenging. [...]
Travel misery was set to continue Sunday as a powerful snowstorm blasted southern US states, bringing subzero temperatures to regions not accustomed to the deadly winter conditions. [...]
An international team has discovered the earliest known hand-held wooden tools used by humans. A study jointly led by Professor Katerina Harvati from the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen and Dr. Annemieke Milks at the University of Reading describes discoveries from the Marathousa 1 site, in Greece's central Peloponnese, dating back 430,000 years. [...]
The life of one of the most remote grizzly bear populations in the world is being documented by the animals themselves, with collar cameras that provide a rare glimpse of how they survive on Alaska's rugged and desolate North Slope. [...]
NASA began a two-day practice countdown Saturday leading up to the fueling of its new moon rocket, a crucial test that will determine when four astronauts blast off on a lunar flyby. [...]
When I see a great white shark, I am in awe of the enigmatic, powerful apex predator. My life has been dedicated to trying to know everything about sharks and immersing myself in their world. Most people when they see "shark attack" automatically think of white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) and "Jaws." [...]
Traditional processes used to discover new materials are complex, time-consuming, and costly, often requiring years of sustained effort. Recent advances in large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated powerful capabilities in information processing, offering new opportunities for intelligent and autonomous materials research. [...]
A major breakthrough has been achieved in the fight against the invasive polyphagous shot hole borer (PSHB), Euwallacea fornicatus in Western Australia. Researchers at Murdoch University have successfully established the first stable laboratory colony of PSHB in the state. [...]
A report published today by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law shows that 53% of transgender youth between the ages of 13 and 17 in the U.S.—approximately 382,800 young people—live in 29 states with laws or policies that restrict their access to gender-affirming care, sports, bathrooms and facilities or restrict the use of gender-affirming pronouns in schools. [...]
Blue carbon refers to organic carbon captured and stored by the marine and vegetated coastal ecosystems such as mangrove forests, salt marshes, and seagrass meadows. These ecosystems act as powerful carbon sinks, sequestering carbon from the atmosphere efficiently like terrestrial forests. [...]
Across large parts of northern Tanzania, gully erosion—soil erosion caused by flowing water—is cutting deep scars through fertile farmland, grazing areas, roads and even villages. These gullies grow faster every year and what was once a slow environmental process has accelerated into a humanitarian threat. It has serious consequences for food and livelihood security, infrastructure and biodiversity. [...]
While most of us value honesty, we consider those who skew reality to avoid hurting others to be more moral. Despite that, we prefer to hear the harsh truth when the feedback concerns us, according to a study conducted by psychologists from SWPS University and the University of Wrocław. [...]
Community-engaged research often raises questions about who benefits from academic work and how knowledge moves between universities and the people most affected by the issues being studied. In his research and film projects, Kirk French, an assistant professor of anthropology and of film production and media studies at Penn State, works with communities as collaborators rather than subjects, shaping research questions, methods and outcomes alongside local partners. [...]
Invasive species, pathogens, and parasites can have serious ecological consequences for aquatic ecosystems and also put human health and economies at risk. Early detection of these biological threats is vital for mitigating their impact. A new low-cost autonomous robot expands access to MBARI's engineering innovation, providing resource managers, decision-makers, and communities a tool for monitoring aquatic environments and mitigating the ecological and economic impacts of biological threats. [...]
Turning on the light to turn off pain: This is the principle behind a new analgesic method called light-induced analgesia (LIA), discovered by scientists from the CNRS1 in rodents. Noninvasive and drug-free, LIA proves to be more effective and longer-lasting than commonly used analgesics such as ibuprofen. The study was published in Nature Communications on 26 January 2026. [...]
A new University of Oxford study finds that almost half of the global population (3.79 billion) will be living with extreme heat by 2050 if the world reaches 2.0°C of global warming above pre-industrial levels—a scenario that climate scientists see as increasingly likely. [...]
Researchers at the University of Maine and the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are collaborating on a new way to dry non-aggregated cellulose nanofiber—a material that could replace plastics in a wide range of products. [...]
Cold spray whipped off the ropes as a diesel engine throbbed in the background. One by one, empty shellfish pots came over the side of the fishing boat, occasionally containing the remnants of crab and lobster claws and carapaces. Something strange was going on. [...]
An upside-down jellyfish drifts in a shallow lagoon, rhythmically contracting its translucent bell. By night that beat drops from roughly 36 pulses a minute to nearer 30, and the animal slips into a state that, despite its lack of a brain, resembles sleep. [...]
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