Top Science News

Oct. 9, 2024 — Researchers tracked the health of nearly one thousand mice on a variety of diets to see if these diets would extend the mice's lifespan. The study was designed to ensure that each mouse was genetically distinct, which allowed the team to better represent the genetic diversity of the human population. By doing so, the results are made more clinically relevant, elevating the study to one of the ...

Oct. 7, 2024 — Researchers have discovered a natural immune mechanism in mice that stops escaped cancer cells from developing into tumors elsewhere in the ...

Oct. 9, 2024 — We often only realize how important our sense of smell is when it is no longer there: food is not as tasty as it once was, or we no longer react to dangers such as the smell of smoke. Researchers have investigated the neuronal mechanisms of human odor perception for the first time. Individual nerve cells in the brain recognize odors and react specifically to the smell, the image and the written ...

Oct. 9, 2024 — Astronomers have observed Jupiter's legendary Great Red Spot (GRS), an anticyclone large enough to swallow Earth, for at least 150 years. But there are always new surprises -- especially when NASA's Hubble Space Telescope takes a close-up look at it. Hubble's new observations of the famous red storm, collected 90 days between December 2023 to March 2024, reveal that the GRS is not as stable as it ...

Oct. 9, 2024 — Researchers recently developed electronic tongue capable of identifying differences in similar liquids, such as milk with varying water content; diverse products, including soda types and coffee blends; signs of spoilage in fruit juices; and instances of food safety concerns. They found that results were even more accurate when artificial intelligence used its own assessment parameters to ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — A new article shares findings from an extensive literature analysis of AI's current trajectory in health ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — Researchers show that for the first time they have achieved atomic-scale observations of grain rotation in polycrystalline materials. Using state-of-the-art microscopy tools, the scientists were able to heat samples of platinum nanocrystalline thin films and observe the mechanism driving grain rotation in unprecedented ...

Oct. 9, 2024 — 161,979 new RNA viruses have been discovered using a machine learning tool that researchers believe will vastly improve the mapping of life on Earth and could aid in the identification of many millions more viruses yet to be ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — An international coalition of scientists concludes that the Earth's worsening vital signs indicate a 'critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate crisis' and that 'decisive action is needed, and ...

Oct. 7, 2024 — Researchers have made the surprising discovery that one species of comb jelly (Mnemiopsis leidyi) can fuse, such that two individuals readily turn into one following an injury. Afterwards, they rapidly synchronize their muscle contractions and merge digestive tracts to share ...

Oct. 4, 2024 — A study determines when and how pterosaurs went from tiny tree-climbers to towering terrestrial titans Flying reptiles first came down from the trees in the mid-Jurassic Period, paving the way for giants with 10-meter wingspans. Fingers and toes point to secrets of flying reptile ...

Oct. 9, 2024 — As flu season approaches, researchers are discovering that the flu and fake news have far more in common than we may ...

Oct. 7, 2024 — Research analyzing actual pedestrian interactions with vehicles on busy streets concludes that distracted pedestrians face higher safety risks compared with undistracted road users. The study found that distracted pedestrians often remained unaware of their surroundings, making fewer adjustments to their path or speed, which decreased their overall navigational efficiency. This level of ...

Oct. 7, 2024 — New study shows that the lengths of menstrual cycles, follicular phases (before egg release) and luteal phases (after ovulation) are all variable. The luteal phase is importantly more variable than currently ...

Oct. 4, 2024 — An estimated one in five Americans live with chronic pain and current treatment options leave much to be desired. Scientists are now using artificial intelligence (AI) for drug discovery in advanced pain management. The team's deep-learning framework identified multiple gut microbiome-derived metabolites and FDA-approved drugs that can be ...

Oct. 3, 2024 — Researchers have identified individuals with increased risk for dementia using mobility data, recorded during a smartphone-based way-finding task on the university campus. The findings show the potential of smartphone data, collected in conditions close to everyday life, for the early detection and monitoring of Alzheimer's disease. The study included 72 adults; about a third of them with ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — Muscle activation in people suffering from hip osteoarthritis might be a case of 'mind over matter', new research has shown. A recent study investigated muscle function in people with hip osteoarthritis and found that these patients were unable to activate their muscles as ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — The expectations humans have of a pleasurable sensation asymmetrically shape neuronal responses and subjective experiences to hot sauce, according to a new ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — In a pioneering longitudinal study, researchers found that the everyday effects of sleep, exercise, heart rate and mood -- both good and bad -- could linger in our brains for over two ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — Until now, it was considered certain that people are more likely to cooperate if the benefits from cooperation are higher. A recently published, large-scale study has now called this finding into question: in over 2000 study participants, the researchers found no relationship between benefits from cooperation and willingness to ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — Although access to nature is a basic human right, people's actual use of green spaces is subject to inequalities. A research team analyzed what conditions make it more likely that people are exposed to nature across generations: the availability of green spaces around where they live, work and shop, as well as nature relatedness and past natural experiences. Their findings may inform policies for ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — Most dog owners didn't know that flea and tick treatments are dangerous to aquatic life, suggesting more awareness could ease the ...

Oct. 7, 2024 — Researchers have created a high-performance polymer that can be chemically recycled without compromising its heat and chemical resistance. The revolutionary design includes a directing group that allows links in the polymer to be broken easily with a catalyst and the original polymer to be reformed in few steps. The directing group could be included in many polymers, potentially providing a new ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — A research team describes how they engineered an efficient new enzyme that can produce a synthetic genetic material called threose nucleic acid. The ability to synthesize artificial chains of TNA, which is inherently more stable than DNA, advances the discovery of potentially more powerful, precise therapeutic options to treat cancer and autoimmune, metabolic and infectious ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — Using ammonia is regarded as a promising method of transporting hydrogen. However, an efficient process is also needed to convert it back into hydrogen and ...

Oct. 7, 2024 — NASA's Curiosity rover, currently exploring Gale crater on Mars, is providing new details about how the ancient Martian climate went from potentially suitable for life -- with evidence for widespread liquid water on the surface -- to a surface that is inhospitable to terrestrial life as we know ...

Oct. 7, 2024 — Researchers conducted innovative simulations of spinning black holes grounded in general relativity, which clarified that the ultraluminous accretion disk (i.e., gaseous spiral surrounding a black hole) exhibits a precessional motion driven by the black hole's spin. This finding underscores the potential of this spin to be the primary driver of ...

Oct. 7, 2024 — Planet-forming disks, maelstroms of gas and dust swirling around young stars, are nurseries that give rise to planetary systems, including our solar system. Astronomers have discovered new details of gas flows that sculpt those disks and shape them over ...

Oct. 3, 2024 — Looking deep into the early universe with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have found something unprecedented: a galaxy with an odd light signature, which they attribute to its gas outshining its stars. Found approximately one billion years after the big bang, galaxy GS-NDG-9422 (9422) may be a missing-link phase of galactic evolution between the universe's first stars and familiar, ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — A cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) app has been found to significantly prevent increases in depression in young people who are at high risk -- and could be implemented as a cost effective public mental health ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — Two new apps will enable blind people to navigate indoor buildings with spoken directions from a smartphone app, providing a safe method of wayfinding where GPS doesn't ...

Oct. 7, 2024 — Unearthing new LEDs, solar cells, and photodetectors requires extensive knowledge surrounding the optical properties of materials. Calculating these takes time and resources. Yet researchers unveiled a new AI tool that can accurately, and crucially much faster than quantum simulations, for predicting optical ...

Oct. 7, 2024 — SMU have created SmartCADD. This open-source virtual tool combines artificial intelligence, quantum mechanics and Computer Assisted Drug Design (CADD) techniques to speed up the screening of chemical compounds, significantly reducing drug discovery ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — Scientists have discovered one of the earliest examples of a winged seed, granting insight into the origin and early evolution of wind dispersal strategies in ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — Scientists have revealed a new cellular adaptation to starvation, in which the mitochondria of yeast cells get coated by ribosomes. Surprisingly, the ribosomes attach to the mitochondrial outer membrane with a very unusual 'upside-down' orientation. The discovery of this mechanism has potential implications for our understanding of how stressed cancer cells survive ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — Proteins control most of the body's functions, and their malfunction can have severe consequences, such as neurodegenerative diseases or cancer. Therefore, cells have mechanisms in place to control protein quality. In animal and human cells, chaperones of the Hsp70 class are at the heart of this control system, overseeing a wide array of biological processes. Yet, despite their crucial role, the ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — Natural climate patterns such as El Nino are causing tropical glaciers to lose their ice at an alarming rate, a new study has ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — A circular bioeconomy that reduces and recycles waste, transitions away from fossil fuels to renewable bio-based alternatives, and regenerates natural systems is critical for feeding and fueling the world's growing population in environmentally sustainable ways. But it's a complicated concept, and significant questions remain about how it should be implemented and how to get buy-in from farmers, ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — As the global push towards low-carbon societies accelerates, a new study reveals that justice concerns are increasingly surfacing in legal disputes over climate policies and projects. This phenomenon, described as 'just transition litigation', emphasizes the need to balance climate action with social justice considerations, ensuring that ...

Oct. 8, 2024 — Engineers built a solar-powered desalination system that produces large quantities of clean water despite variations in sunlight throughout the day. Because it requires no extra batteries, it offers a much more affordable way to produce drinking water, compared to other solar-driven ...

Oct. 2, 2024 — By studying rare fossils of jaws and other skull parts of a long-extinct Caribbean monkey, a team of researchers says it has uncovered new evidence documenting the anatomy and ecology of an extinct primate once found on Hispaniola -- the Caribbean island on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are ...

Oct. 2, 2024 — A rare collection of 300-year-old petitions gives voice to the forgotten women who cared for England's most vulnerable children while battling their local ...

Oct. 2, 2024 — Small iron-rich formations found within Western Australia's Pinnacles, which are part of the world's largest wind-blown limestone belt spanning more than 1000km, have provided new insights into Earth's ancient climate and changing ...

Sep. 25, 2024 — Researchers have discovered inorganic nanostructures surrounding deep-ocean hydrothermal vents that are strikingly similar to molecules that make life as we know it possible. These nanostructures are self-organized and act as selective ion channels, which create energy that can be harnessed in the form of electricity. The findings impact not only our understanding of how life began, but can also ...

Sep. 30, 2024 — Prior research has found that exposure to social diversity in early life, such as through day care, influences how people communicate. Those early social experiences can also moderate tendencies toward stereotyping down the road, according to a new ...

Oct. 7, 2024 — Never before have people recorded more information about their lives than today. But what does this mean for the way we remember our lives and how we talk about them? Researchers are trying to find answers to these ...

Oct. 7, 2024 — After nearly doubling over the 20th century, the rate of increase in life expectancy has slowed considerably in the last three decades, according to a new ...

Oct. 2, 2024 — Despite growing evidence of the importance of student well-being and an abundance of best practices, most institutions have yet to prioritize it as much as they do enrollment, graduation and grades. A new study provides guidance on how institutions can support and enhance student well-being, and breaks down the various benefits for learners during and beyond their university career. It identifies ...

Oct. 2, 2024 — 'Future You' is a generative AI tool that enables users to have a simulated conversation with a potential version of their future selves. The chatbot is meant to reduce users' anxiety, improve positive emotions, and guide them toward making better everyday ...

Sep. 27, 2024 — A new study shows how individual brain cells in the hippocampus respond to pronouns. 'This may help us unravel how we remember what we ...

Sep. 23, 2024 — Researchers have published a pivotal study that sheds light on a novel genetic variant associated with intellectual capacities and educational outcomes. This discovery offers new insights into intellectual disability diagnostics and potential therapeutic ...

Sep. 26, 2024 — Using mathematical modeling, researchers found a way to maintain cooperation without relying on complex norms or ...

Sep. 18, 2024 — Researchers have developed a new framework to make complex AI tasks more accessible and transparent to users. The framework specializes in providing solutions to deep reinforcement learning (DRL) requests. The framework pairs developers, companies and individuals that have specific but out-of-reach AI needs with service providers who have the ...

Aug. 16, 2024 — Researchers developed a new method known as flash-within-flash Joule heating (FWF) that could transform the synthesis of high-quality solid-state materials, offering a cleaner, faster and more sustainable manufacturing ...

Aug. 14, 2024 — A new article concludes that current climate standards are not sufficiently incentivizing the big picture innovations necessary to deliver net zero, and must be expanded to include a company's broader influence on climate ...