Nearly 150 years ago, scientists began to imagine how information might flow through the brain based on the shapes of neurons they had seen under the microscopes of the time. With today's imaging technologies, scientists can zoom in much further, seeing the tiny synapses through which neurons communicate with one another, and even the molecules the cells use to relay their messages. These inside views can spark new ideas about how healthy brains work and reveal important changes that contribute to disease. [...]
By day, Chris Boone leads the USC Price School of Public Policy as dean. By night, he captures the wonders of the cosmos through astrophotography. An expert in urban sustainability and environmental justice, Boone sees cities the way he sees those celestial bodies: vast, complex and interconnected systems shaped by invisible forces. [...]
Andrew Lakoff studies how experts—in areas from public health to the environment to security—generate knowledge about and plan for an uncertain future. Trained as an anthropologist of science and medicine, Lakoff is a professor of sociology and anthropology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, where he is also the founding director of the USC Dornsife Center on Science, Technology, and Public Life (STPL). [...]
The world's biggest corporations have caused $28 trillion in climate damage, a new study estimates as part of an effort to make it easier for people and governments to hold companies financially accountable, like the tobacco giants have been. [...]
An innovative algorithm for detecting collisions of high-speed particles within nuclear fusion reactors has been developed, inspired by technologies used to determine whether bullets hit targets in video games. This advancement enables rapid predictions of collisions, significantly enhancing the stability and design efficiency of future fusion reactors. [...]
The Sinú River in northwestern Colombia is a kind of bloodstream from which life emanates. Its heart lies within Paramillo National Park, where the river begins, moving through tropical rainforests and tropical dry forests before flowing down to the Caribbean coast of the country—enabling hydropower, agriculture, ranching, and drinking water supplies for cities and tourist destinations. [...]
The link between proximity to greenspace—including trees and parks—and healthy birth outcomes is well established. Now new data from researchers at Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health adds to our understanding of these health benefits, accounting for other factors that may influence this link, such as education, income and body mass index, but also taking the body of knowledge a step further by exploring the effect of residing near newly planted trees. [...]
The East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) plays a crucial role in shaping the regional climate and ecosystem. It is a key driver of seasonal precipitation patterns that sustain agricultural productivity and water resources in East Asia. Additionally, the EASM facilitates heat and moisture transport, modulating the regional energy balance and influencing large-scale atmospheric circulation. [...]
Researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) achieved the first direct laboratory observation of ion acceleration through reflection off laser-generated magnetized collisionless shocks. This observation demonstrates how ions gain energy by bouncing off supercritical shocks, central to the Fermi acceleration mechanism. The research is published in Science Advances. [...]
Large regions in northern, southern, and central-western Africa, as well as northern Madagascar, are experiencing severe drought conditions due to two or more years of lower-than-average rainfall and higher than usual temperatures. These are the findings of a new report from the Copernicus Global Drought Observatory, run by the European Commission's Joint Research Center (JRC). [...]
In a study published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, a research team integrated activity-based protein profiling (ABPP) data with the covalent DNA-encoded chemical library (CoDEL) technology and identified structurally novel lysine-targeting covalent inhibitors with diverse mechanisms of action. [...]
A NASA sensor recently brought a new approach to battling wildfire, providing real-time data that helped firefighters in the field contain a blaze in Alabama. Called AVIRIS-3, which is short for Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer 3, the instrument detected a 120-acre fire on March 19 that had not yet been reported to officials. [...]
Over recent decades, humanity has witnessed a remarkable and continuous increase in lifespan. However, this advancement has been accompanied by a growing aging population, increasingly affected by age-related diseases such as cancer, neurodegeneration, and diabetes. To extend not only lifespan but also healthspan, a deeper understanding of the biological mechanisms that support healthy aging is essential. [...]
As plastic pollution in the world's oceans reaches critical levels, recently published research reveals how artificial intelligence-driven algorithms can dramatically accelerate plastic waste removal, boosting efficiency by more than 60%. [...]
Scientists have achieved a major milestone in the quest to understand high-temperature superconductivity in hydrogen-rich materials. Using electron tunneling spectroscopy under high pressure, the international research team led by the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry has measured the superconducting gap of H3S—the material that set the high-pressure superconductivity record in 2015 and serves as the parent compound for subsequent high-temperature superconducting hydrides. [...]
A study has shown that a dangerous game of "brinkmanship" between rival genes in mammals could help explain why many fertilized eggs don't result in a new life. [...]
Let's turn the sun into a telescope. In fact, we don't have to do any work—we just have to be in the right spot. [...]
On a wave-battered rock in the northern Pacific Ocean, a fish called the sculpin grips the surface firmly to maintain stability in its harsh environment. Unlike sea urchins, which use their glue-secreting tube feet to adhere to their surroundings, sculpins manage to grip without a specialized adhesive organ like tube feet or the suction cups of octopuses. [...]
Tornadoes, wildfires, tropical cyclones and sea level rise are all on the list of dangers made worse by climate change. Answering questions about how severe these disasters will be, how soon and how frequently they will occur, and what areas are likely to sustain the most harm is of vital importance. [...]
A research team led by Prof. Wang Zhenyang at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a novel 3D-printed graphene/polymer double-layer composite featuring high anisotropic thermal conductivity. [...]
ESA's state-of-the-art Biomass mission has been designed to shed new light on the health and dynamics of the world's forests, revealing how they are changing over time and, critically, enhancing our understanding of their role in the global carbon cycle. [...]
The exoplanet K2-18b is generating headlines because researchers announced what could be evidence of life on the planet. The JWST detected a pair of atmospheric chemicals that on Earth are produced by living organisms. The astronomers responsible for the results are quick to remind everyone that they have not found life, only chemicals that could indicate the presence of life. The results raise a larger question, though: Will the JWST really ever detect life? [...]
Even under today's climatic conditions, the long-extinct straight-tusked elephant could still live in Europe. This is the conclusion of a recent study by the Sport Ecology research group at the University of Bayreuth that combined fossil finds with reconstructions of past climates. The researchers have published their findings in the journal Frontiers of Biogeography. [...]
A recent sociological study explored how children's health habits are shaped by their families and communities and how those habits are connected to social class. Researchers said policies seeking to change health behaviors that fail to account for these influences may not be successful. [...]
Chinese scientists have discovered that fragile swamp forests in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region suddenly collapsed approximately 2,100 years ago (2.1 ka)—with human activity as the cause. [...]
Advertising is a combination of art and science, and for a small business competing with big brands, it can be hard—and costly—to develop ads that connect with consumers. But a team of researchers led by a Virginia Commonwealth University professor has developed a method of using artificial intelligence in ad creation, which could help level the playing field for businesses and lead to more targeted marketing to consumers. [...]
Most people generally are more concerned about the immediate risks of artificial intelligence than they are about a theoretical future in which AI threatens humanity. A new study by the University of Zurich reveals that respondents draw clear distinctions between abstract scenarios and specific tangible problems and particularly take the latter very seriously. [...]
A new study by Prof. Ariel Chipman of The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem provides a novel model for understanding the development and evolution of arthropod body plans—specifically the arrangement of their segmented body parts known as tagmata. [...]
While all people are innately driven to find meaning in their lives, this subconscious desire pulls some people to conspiracy theories and dangerous belief systems. [...]
Giant kangaroos stuck close to home and went extinct when climate change caused that home to disappear, according to a study published in PLOS One by Christopher Laurikainen Gaete of the University of Wollongong, Australia, and colleagues. [...]
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