Symbiosis, or the interaction of two unalike species, is common and often necessary for survival. In insects, symbiotic microbes often facilitate and promote the growth of hosts. Before the symbiotic collaboration can begin, however, hosts must acquire their symbionts. Sometimes, they are passed on from parents to offspring; other times, hosts must find their symbionts themselves—or face dire consequences if they fail to do so in a timely fashion, a new Frontiers in Microbiology study has shown. [...]
Just a few hours before the Orion spacecraft crossed the sky en route to the moon on April 1, mechatronics engineer Rodrigo Trevisan Okamoto received confirmation he had been waiting for since the Artemis 2 mission was announced in 2023. The email from NASA stated that the crew of the first crewed mission to orbit the moon in half a century would carry a device developed by Okamoto and his team at Condor Instruments, a São Paulo-based startup. [...]
The US Government has released a new trove of documents on cases of "unidentified anomalous phenomena" (UAPs)—many of which would have been described in the past as unidentified flying objects or UFOs—including photos, videos and reports of unexplained events sighted in the sky and in space. [...]
Storm-driven sea floods are becoming more frequent as the climate warms, increasingly destroying the nests of threatened wader birds along the Baltic Sea coast. Waders are currently beginning their breeding season. [...]
We are surrounded by computer-generated voices these days, from navigation systems and voice assistants to automated announcements. But how human do these voices actually sound? A recent study by the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, published in the journal Speech Communication, shows that our perception is affected by three things: how something is said, what is being said, and whether we understand the language. [...]
If you travel around Australia, you will find an incredible diversity of lizards. The three-toed snake-tooth skink (Saiphos reticulatus), for example, is a peculiarly long and stumpy-legged reptile that burrows in rainforest and is covered in a brilliant orange and black-banded pattern. Alpine water skinks (Eulamprus kosciuskoi) are incredibly cold-tolerant and mottled with black and greenish yellow, like mossy rocks in mountain streams. Prickly forest skinks (Concinnia queenslandiae) are delightfully chunky-headed, spiky, armored rainforest gems. [...]
Trying to solve quantum gravity is frustrating. We have made tremendous progress in quantum theory, but it seems that every time we find a new quantum technique, there's a reason it doesn't quite work with gravity. Take, for example, the case of quantum fluctuations and renormalization. [...]
Have you ever wondered if the simple building blocks of life could one day power our wearable electronics? Glycine, the simplest amino acid found in our bodies, has a superpower in its β-phase form: it is highly piezoelectric, meaning it can convert mechanical pressure into electricity. However, this phase of glycine is unstable, usually transforming into a non-piezoelectric α-phase before we can ever use it in a device. We wanted to see if we could trap this elusive phase in tiny spaces to keep it stable. [...]
RIKEN researchers have determined the molecular structure of an enzyme that occurs in fish. This could shed light on molecular processes in a wide range of marine organisms. The work is published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. [...]
The task of gently transporting a microscopic particle from one point to another along a winding path, and then bringing it back using nothing more than a single, compact chip is a challenge we set out to address in our new study, now published in Nature Communications. [...]
As the U.S. and other countries expand clean energy, large hydropower dams, often seen as a reliable renewable solution, can come with significant environmental and social costs if not planned thoughtfully. [...]
One of the first steps in addressing health concerns is measurement. For firefighters, one health concern is that their gear commonly contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also called "forever chemicals" because they don't break down naturally in the environment. Since 2021, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have been systematically measuring PFAS concentrations in firefighter equipment. [...]
People in low-performing organizations are more likely to look to others working elsewhere to access new knowledge and practices, a new study shows. Those in high performing organizations are more likely to search for help from colleagues. The research in Public Management Review suggests that low-performing, risk-tolerant organizations could benefit most from searching across boundaries for new knowledge. High-performing, risk-averse organizations could benefit from internal searches to refine existing routines. [...]
A microscopic "plant destroyer" not only helped trigger one of the deadliest famines in modern history but also reshaped global agriculture and gave birth to an entirely new scientific discipline. Now, nearly 180 years after the Irish Potato Famine devastated Ireland and altered the course of human history, researchers are tracing the remarkable scientific journey of the organism behind it: Phytophthora infestans and the larger genus, Phytophthora. [...]
Researchers at the Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures have conducted high-resolution investigations of the so-called cyanosphere, the "housing community" of cyanobacteria. The focus was on identifying previously unknown associated bacteria that play a crucial role in the vitality of the cyanobacteria. Particular attention was paid to a newly discovered myxobacterium capable of performing photosynthesis. The researchers led by Prof. Dr. Jörn Petersen from the Department of Microorganisms at the Leibniz Institute DSMZ published their findings in Environmental Microbiology Reports and ISME Communications. [...]
British chemists David Klenerman and Shankar Balasubramanian joined French biophysicist Pascal Mayer in winning Spain's top science award on Wednesday for DNA sequencing research that helped combat coronavirus. [...]
The selective conversion of alkenes into alcohols is a cornerstone of modern chemical synthesis, underpinning the production of pharmaceuticals, functional materials, and fine chemicals. However, conventional acid-catalyzed hydration reactions typically follow Markovnikov's rule, yielding secondary or tertiary alcohols. Achieving the complementary anti-Markovnikov hydration, where water adds to form primary alcohols, has long remained a challenge in organic chemistry. Although photocatalytic strategies have emerged as promising alternatives, they are limited only to activated substrates, leaving a significant gap in practical and sustainable solutions. [...]
An international research team led by National Taiwan University has developed a new analytical framework based on Empirical Dynamic Modeling. This framework can quantify how response diversity varies over time using time-series data. Published in Nature Communications, the study offers the first direct empirical evidence that greater response diversity helps stabilize total community biomass. This breakthrough addresses a longstanding methodological challenge in ecology: measuring the response diversity of natural communities solely from observational data. [...]
Oxygen is a cornerstone of chemistry, largely because it is so good at building the organic molecules that make up our world. Some oxygen-based compounds called peroxides are famous for being highly reactive—they act like oxygen delivery trucks, transferring atoms to other molecules. This process is essential for everything from creating new medicines to industrial manufacturing. [...]
The twinkling stars in the night sky are not just beautiful to look at. Their flickering reveals something about the varying temperatures and densities in the layers of Earth's atmosphere, which refract the light as it travels toward us. Certain stellar remnants that emit radio waves can exhibit a very similar effect. [...]
A new study published in the May 2026 issue of the American Economic Review and authored by an international group of researchers gives a different perspective on how production and financial networks are at interplay. The research develops a framework that integrates two key dimensions of modern economies: the network of supply relationships among firms and the web of financial connections linking firms to banks. While these networks have traditionally been studied in isolation, the paper demonstrates that their interplay is essential to understanding how bank shocks affect the real economy. [...]
Rice plants and Venus flytraps share something in common that was not scientifically documented until recently. Using a faint smell to lure caterpillars into a trap, rice plants killed early-stage fall armyworm larvae by trapping them in a spikelet, the part at the end of a rice panicle where individual grains develop. [...]
In physics, the spontaneous de-mixing of two substances is known as phase separation. It is an important mechanism in nature to create structure and patterns and typically requires some form of attraction between the constituents. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) in Göttingen, together with collaborators at the University of Edinburgh and the Institute of Physical Chemistry in Warsaw, have now discovered a new route to phase separation available in systems where the constituents are inherently alive or active. [...]
Researchers have developed a technique to analyze how black holes "ring" when they collide and merge: one of the universe's most dramatic events. When black holes merge, the collision produces a new, larger black hole that "rings" like a plucked guitar string or a bell while it settles into its final, stable shape. But instead of sound waves, the new black hole rings with gravitational waves: ripples in spacetime first predicted by Albert Einstein. [...]
Can we have higher yields and better taste? Using a natural extract from the fungus Pseudozyma aphidis, this method improves the firmness and natural sugar content of crops like tomatoes and melons while significantly boosting production. This discovery offers a practical path to meeting global food demands without compromising the health of the planet or produce quality. Furthermore, because the approach uses stable microbial secretions instead of live cultures, it ensures consistent and reliable performance across various agricultural environments and climates. [...]
Have you ever wondered how a fly manages to dodge you in a split second? Scientists have long been fascinated by the lightning-fast reflexes that help flies escape danger almost instantly. But despite decades of research, they still don't fully understand exactly how the brain coordinates these rapid reactions at the level of individual neural connections. [...]
Two bald eagles hatchlings have been spotted in a nest in a Chicago park in what city officials believe is the raptors' first successful wild breeding in the Windy City in more than a century. [...]
Sea levels are rising not only on average, but also in their seasonal fluctuations. This is a lesser-known trend that could have major consequences for mudflats, salt marshes and other coastal ecosystems. Researchers from the Netherlands and Flanders describe these findings in a study published on 13 May in Nature Climate Change. [...]
Buffalo's legendary snowfall totals are largely the result of one unlucky geographic reality: the city sits east of the Great Lakes instead of west. Anyone who has lived through a winter in Buffalo, Cleveland or any snowbelt city knows that prevailing westerly winds pick up moisture from the lakes and dump lake-effect snow on their eastern shores. [...]
A research team at TU Wien has succeeded in modifying known materials in such a way that they possess new, desirable properties. These materials are expected to find application in the field of thermoelectricity. [...]