The striped dog-like marsupial we know as the Tasmanian tiger has long been surrounded by mystery, and the subject of scientific curiosity. Now, newly discovered rock art depicting Tasmanian tigers and Tasmanian devils in northern Australia is providing fresh insights into their cultural importance and when they may have last roamed mainland Australia. A paper on this topic appears in Archaeology in Oceania. [...]
Using zebrafish, researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University (OMU) have identified the tegmentum region in the fish midbrain as the area where light input from both the fish's eyes and the pineal organ—the "third eye"—is integrated. Their findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that fish use the integrated light signals in this region to swim up or down in response to differences in the wavelength of light. [...]
A new study has revealed that improving the landscapes surrounding forest remnants can dramatically increase their ability to retain bird species—even when the forest fragments themselves are small or isolated. For decades, traditional ecological theory has treated isolated habitat remnants as "islands," predicting species' survival largely through area size and isolation. But these models have long overlooked the nature of the "matrix": the farmland, vegetation, or open areas surrounding these habitat remnants. This surrounding landscape is critical, as species must move through, use, or avoid it when navigating between forested areas. [...]
The number of known proteins is infinitely small in comparison to the universe of possible proteins, which could in theory be realized. Yet these known proteins are the only major training ground for future protein design. Understanding how representative these proteins are of the overall potential diversity can therefore help inform strategies for a wide range of applications, including therapeutic, biocatalysis, or biomaterials development. [...]
How does a star affect the makeup of its planets? And what does this mean for the habitability of distant worlds? Carnegie's Luke Bouma is exploring a new way to probe this critical question—using naturally occurring space weather stations that orbit at least 10% of M dwarf stars during their early lives. He presented his work at the American Astronomical Society meeting (AAS 247) held in Phoenix in January. [...]
Earth and the moon may look very different today, but they formed under similar conditions in space. In fact, a dominant hypothesis says that the early Earth was hit by a Mars-sized object, and it was this giant impact that spun off material to form the moon. But unlike Earth, the moon lacks plate tectonics and an atmosphere capable of reshaping its surface and recycling elements such as oxygen over billions of years. [...]
When you go out to run errands on the weekend, you're on a "tour" as defined by human mobility researchers. Same if you book a guided tour of a famous city or take a trip on a cruise boat that reaches multiple ports. A characteristic of such tours is that you begin and end up in the same place and take intermediate stops along the way. The number of stops is the tour's "length." [...]
When lasers were invented in the 1960s, they opened new avenues for scientific discovery and everyday applications, from scanners at the grocery store to corrective eye surgery. Conventional lasers control photons—individual particles of light—but over the past 20 years, scientists have invented lasers that control other fundamental particles, including phonons—individual particles of vibration or sound. Controlling phonons could open even more possibilities with lasers, such as taking advantage of unique quantum properties like entanglement. [...]
To date, the main role of AI in scientific research has been to assist with narrow tasks such as discovering chemical structures, analyzing data or predicting protein shapes. But now, the technology has broken new ground with a fully AI-generated paper passing peer review at a major machine-learning conference workshop. [...]
Many aromatic compounds, such as phenols, cresols and styrenes, are toxic to organisms and harmful to the environment. They can accumulate as a result of industrial processes and harm ecosystems. Soil bacteria can help to break them down. [...]
A new Northwestern study surveying federal judges across the U.S. on their use and outlook on artificial intelligence in and outside of the courtroom found that more than 60% of judges who responded reported using at least one AI tool in their judicial work. While judges reported broad adoption of AI tools, only 22.4% of judges reported using AI tools on a weekly or daily basis. [...]
In quantum technologies, everything depends on the ability to detect the properties carried by a single photon. But in the real world, that photon of interest is often buried in a sea of unwanted light—a true "needle in a haystack" challenge that currently limits the deployment of many applications, including secure quantum communication, quantum sensors used in telescope networks, as well as the interconnection of quantum computers to accelerate the development of new drugs and materials. [...]
A new study has found that gambling harms can intensify domestic abuse and act as a form of escapism for female victims—putting women and children at risk of long-term housing instability. The research, produced in partnership between four major U.K. universities—the University of Nottingham, Durham University, Cranfield University and the University of Sheffield—highlights the urgent need for housing providers to recognize and respond to these risks to better protect women and families. [...]
Planetary scientists have long debated where the material that formed Earth comes from. Despite its location in the inner solar system, they consider it likely that 6–40% of this material must have come from the outer solar system, i.e., beyond Jupiter. For a long time, material from the outer solar system was considered necessary to bring volatile components such as water to Earth. Accordingly, there must also have been an exchange of material between the outer and inner solar systems during the formation of Earth. But is that really true? [...]
Earth has already exceeded its ability to support the global population sustainably, with new research warning of increasing pressure on food security, climate stability, and human well-being. However, slowing population growth and raising global awareness could still offer humanity some hope. [...]
By comparing osteoarthritis pain pathways known to be active in dogs and humans to those in cats with degenerative joint disease (DJD), researchers found that elevation of a particular molecule, artemin, could serve as a marker of disease (and possibly pain) as well as a potential therapeutic target. The findings offer the most comprehensive evidence to date that naturally occurring osteoarthritis (OA) in cats mirrors important biological features of human disease. The study appears in Frontiers in Pain Research. [...]
Leaf through a textbook, watch a wellness influencer, or listen in at the gym, and it can feel as though the human body has already been mapped to exhaustion. Every muscle named, every nerve traced. Everything understood and readily available. [...]
Silicon is ubiquitous in modern electronics, and now it is becoming increasingly useful in quantum computing. In particular, silicon's compatibility with existing chip technology and its long coherence times in silicon-based spin qubits make it a promising material for scalable quantum computing. A new study, published in Nature Nanotechnology, has demonstrated silicon's use in a logical quantum processor, representing the first of its kind. [...]
Physicists have developed a new theoretical framework which unifies a wide array of seemingly unrelated "Mpemba effects": counterintuitive cases where systems driven further from equilibrium relax faster than those closer to it. Reporting their results in Physical Review X, researchers led by John Goold at Trinity College Dublin show that both classical and quantum versions of the effect can be understood using the same underlying logic—resolving a long-standing conceptual puzzle. [...]
Finding life beyond our solar system goes beyond measuring an exoplanet's size, as rocky, Earth-sized worlds might not have the conditions for life as we know it. While exoplanets can be directly imaged by blocking their star's glare, these images are fuzzy and lack resolution to provide enough details about the habitability. Therefore, astronomers are limited to studying an exoplanet's atmosphere, and this has proven to be quite beneficial in teaching scientists about an exoplanet's formation and evolution, and whether it contains the necessary ingredients for life as we know it. [...]
Paintings are far more than dabs of oil on canvas. They are complex works of art composed of multiple layers, from primer and glues to the pigments and protective varnishes applied by the artists. Being able to see into these layers and map their chemical makeup is essential for art historians and conservators. A new technique developed by an international team of scientists can now probe paint layers in far greater molecular detail than before. [...]
The destruction of Pompeii preserved ash residues on the household altars of its inhabitants. An international research team has scientifically investigated for the first time what was burned in Roman incense burners from Pompeii—and discovered something surprising: In addition to native plants, the people used imported aromatic substances from Africa or Asia. This indicates that Pompeii was part of a global trade network. [...]
When cells experience enough chronic stress, they can stop dividing permanently. In this state of cellular limbo, known as replicative senescence, cells remain alive but no longer proliferate. Pinpointing the stressors that help trigger or accelerate replicative senescence has proven difficult. [...]
Astronomers have discovered an exceptionally rare radio galaxy that has three distinct pairs of radio lobes. This system falls into a subpopulation of radio galaxies known as "triple-double" radio galaxies (TDRGs). Located nearly 7.5 billion light-years away, this unique system, cataloged as J022248−060934, is only the seventh known example of its kind. A paper outlining this discovery was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on February 25. [...]
In a study published in The Anatomical Record, researchers have identified a new species of large-bodied gorgonopsian from the middle Permian. The discovery pushed back the known origins of when these apex predators began evolving large bodies and their unique later skull morphologies. [...]
Volcanoes are both captivating and disastrous. Most are likely familiar with the common short-term dangers associated with them: explosive forces, lava, and even atmospheric particles disrupting air traffic. But researchers also explore longer-term impacts of eruptions, as their contributions to broader climate patterns are important, but not well understood. For example, it's known that ejected material can reach high into the atmosphere and cause local or even global cooling to some degree. [...]
Green roofs and green walls are no longer niche design features but proven, scalable nature-based solutions that can significantly enhance biodiversity, climate resilience, energy efficiency and human well-being in European cities. This is a central finding of a new knowledge synthesis report prepared by the Science Service for Biodiversity that is being developed by BioAgora in response to a relevant knowledge request submitted by DG Environment to the EC Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity (KCBD). [...]
The rainforests of northern Australia are home to extraordinary ant colonies. Instead of dwelling in underground burrows, these ants inhabit canopies of trees, dozens of meters above the ground, inside hollow spheres they construct from tree leaves. During the building process, the ants link their bodies together to form living tools, eventually weaving the leaves into nests using silk threads produced by their larvae—hence their name: weaver ants. [...]
The people who toiled night and day to put astronauts on the moon during Apollo are thrilled that NASA is finally going back. They just wish these Artemis moonshots had happened sooner while more of Apollo's workforce was still alive. [...]
A new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution connects plant and insect physiology, chemical ecology, molecular function, and evolutionary analysis to offer a new perspective on plant–insect coevolution. The research team was led by Yu-Hsien Lin, Assistant Professor in the Global Agricultural Technology and Genomic Science Program (Global ATGS), International College, National Taiwan University, in collaboration with international research partners and Assistant Professor Ching-Wen Tan at National Chung Hsing University. [...]