Researchers from Sun Yat-sen University and collaborating institutions have discovered a new species of bumblebee goby on Hengqin Island in Guangdong Province, marking the first recorded presence of this fish genus in China. The discovery and description of Brachygobius jennie, detailed in a published study in Zoosystematics and Evolution, expands the known geographical distribution of these small coastal fishes northeastward into the subtropical mangrove wetlands of the Zhujiang River Estuary. [...]
Neutrinos are one of the fundamental particles of the universe. They live a ghostly existence with no electric charge, very little mass and extremely few interactions with matter. They are also the most abundant particles with mass in the universe and can be created through a variety of processes, such as the decay of heavy particles, nuclear reactions in the sun and the explosions of stars. [...]
SpaceX shares surged again Tuesday, lifting Elon Musk's rocket company into the world's top five in market value for most of the session as a record-breaking IPO gave way to a torrid buying frenzy. [...]
A Tasmanian devil named Mary has been found in an "unstable condition" more than two weeks after escaping her enclosure, an Australian wildlife park said Wednesday. [...]
Greenland has a long and checkered history of human settlement: several Paleo-Inuit cultures since approximately 2,500 BCE, descendants of Vikings between the 10th and 15th centuries, and early modern Danes since 1721. All left their traces on the landscape, for example in the form of ancient domestic rubbish heaps. Composed of waste like animal bones, excrement, mollusk shells and human artifacts, these middens are a precious resource for archaeologists. [...]
It is becoming increasingly urgent to study the effects of climate change on the global ocean system. Future projections indicate significant changes in the Mediterranean and Atlantic circulation systems, which could have unpredictable climatic consequences, especially for one of the most influential ocean currents in the global climate: the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). [...]
The body size, morphology and associated behavioral traits of flower-visiting insects strongly influence the quantity of pollen they transport. Thus, pollinators with similar appearances are often assumed to exert similar ecological effects on plants. However, pollinators' effects on plants are not determined solely by the amount of pollen they carry. [...]
Indian millets are a staple for the country's population of more than a billion. They are also gaining global popularity, with rising exports and a reputation as a climate-resilient crop. Now, new research shows that their nutritional value includes a rich diversity of lipids, including a previously undetected group that may offer potential health benefits. The research is published in the journal Food Chemistry. [...]
While the world's most advanced climate models successfully reproduce heat waves once they are underway, they consistently miss key atmospheric processes that trigger these events, potentially limiting the ability to anticipate extreme heat several days in advance. [...]
Even at this early stage in our spacefaring age, humanity has already begun sending probes that will eventually reach other solar systems, even if that was not their original intention. Five robotic explorers—Pioneer 10 and 11, Voyager 1 and 2, and New Horizons—are all on escape trajectories out of the solar system and might someday enter another one. They will no longer be operational at that point, but they serve as proof of concept that spacefaring civilizations do indeed build interstellar probes. [...]
Researchers have calculated light levels at the ground surface across Switzerland to within 10 meters, in both open and forested areas. The model even simulates the shadows cast by individual trees. [...]
An international research team, which included University of Tartu visiting doctoral student Wen-Gang Zhang and Professor of Botany Meelis Pärtel, has found a new solution to one of ecology's long-standing controversies—Darwin's naturalization conundrum, which addresses the question of why some species successfully establish in a new habitat while others do not. The research is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [...]
An RMIT University innovation uses ultrasound to extract leaf protein from discarded cauliflower leaves, identifying a potential new use for vegetable scraps. The process could help food manufacturers turn vegetable waste into protein ingredients, reducing waste and adding value to existing crops. [...]
Plants must carefully strike a balance between harvesting sunlight to fuel photosynthesis and protecting themselves from light damage. Part of this balancing act is performed by antenna proteins that are bound to light-harvesting molecules inside plant chloroplasts. Mostly known for harvesting energy from sunlight, some antenna proteins can dissipate excess absorbed energy as heat through a photoprotection mechanism called non-photochemical quenching (NPQ). [...]
NASA's "rapid-response" space telescope is slowly falling out of orbit, but a daring mission this summer could allow the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to continue scanning the sky for many more years to come. In the first mission of its kind, a spacecraft will launch from Earth and rendezvous with Swift to boost it to a higher altitude and extend its life. [...]
Our food and our bodies are full of tiny protein fragments called peptides. These small chains of amino acids act as biological messengers, influencing processes ranging from sensory perception to physiological functions. [...]
Marine heat waves (MHWs) are events characterized by prolonged warm coastal and ocean conditions with wide-ranging impacts on ecosystem health and associated industries. While research on MHWs has historically relied on surface-water data from satellite observations and buoy records, new research from the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences & VIMS highlights the need to—quite literally—go deeper. [...]
Using artificial intelligence, scammers can duplicate someone's voice with just seconds of audio, says the University of Cincinnati's Kimberly Hyun. Impostor scams are one of the most common forms of fraud, according to the Federal Trade Commission. [...]
A study carried out by scientists from Ifremer, IRD, the universities of Western Brittany (UBO) and Bordeaux, CNRS, and the University of Tartu (Estonia) reveals the impact of nickel mining on the coastal ecosystems of New Caledonia. Published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, this research shows that starting in the 1950s, the mechanization of mining operations led to a sharp increase in sediment inputs into the Thio Lagoon and a disruption of microbial communities that persists to this day. [...]
Researchers using two of humanity's most powerful observatories—NASA's James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes—have definitively shown that Terzan 5 is not a globular star cluster, as it was once classified, offering new insight into how galaxies like our own form and evolve over time. [...]
Scientists who study plant physiology and evolution have a new tool in their toolkit: a machine learning algorithm that can scan digital plant specimen collections and quickly measure leaf size and thickness. [...]
There's nothing like this in nature, Jonathan Wendel said as he showed a visitor in his Bessey Hall office the long white puffs billowing from a cotton boll—the protective flower capsule of the plant cultivated by humans for thousands of years. In the wild, cotton bolls are far smaller and hold darker, coarser and shorter fibers. [...]
California's iconic Santa Cruz Mountains are an outdoor recreation wonderland. With a world-class network of hiking, mountain biking and equestrian trails, they draw millions of visitors each year from neighboring Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Mateo counties. [...]
Cleveland Clinic researchers are unlocking quantum computing's full potential through the creation of a new computing paradigm inspired by the human brain. Fabio Cumbo, Ph.D., research associate in the lab of Daniel Blankenberg, Ph.D., associate staff, Computational Life Sciences, is developing the model, called quantum hyperdimensional computing (QHDC). [...]
With artificial intelligence tools available on every phone, laptop and tablet, higher education has struggled to implement consistent recommendations for how and when AI can be used. A new national guide seeks to change that. [...]
Amorphous materials such as glass are solids whose internal structure lacks a repeating pattern. Their molecules are arranged in a random and irregular way. Surprisingly, these disordered materials can "remember" past mechanical experiences; that is, the way they respond to a force can depend on how they have responded to external forces before. [...]
For humans, death is surrounded by culture, emotion, ritual and language. But the question can be framed in a much more basic way: What would an animal have to understand in order to recognize that someone has died? [...]
How do political ideology and perceived ideological alignment influence supply chain professionals' evaluation of operational decisions involving politically charged macroeconomic issues such as tariffs? [...]
An interdisciplinary team of Rice University researchers has uncovered previously unknown relationships between bacteriophages—viruses that infect bacteria—and their bacterial hosts, offering a powerful new tool for next-generation microbiome engineering. [...]
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have switched on NASA's newly upgraded Cold Atom Lab, a one-of-a-kind facility designed to improve how scientists explore the fundamental workings of matter and develop new quantum technologies. By leveraging the unique environment of microgravity in space, the lab can accomplish cutting-edge science impossible to do anywhere else. [...]