Top Science News

Dec. 5, 2024 — When women are pregnant and nurse their babies, their bodies change and various organs, such as the breasts or the immune system, are adapted to ensure the health of both mother and child. This happens throughout evolution in all mammals. An international research team now reports the surprising finding that the intestine also changes completely in pregnant and nursing females, resulting in a ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — Avian influenza viruses typically require several mutations to adapt and spread among humans, but what happens when just one change can increase the risk of becoming a pandemic virus? A recent study reveals that a single mutation in the H5N1 'bird flu' virus that has recently infected dairy cows in the U.S. could enhance the virus' ability to ...

Dec. 4, 2024 — A large study, of 77 deceased male ice hockey players, has found that the odds of having chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) increased by 34% each year played, and 18 of 19 National Hockey League players had CTE. CTE is a neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated traumatic brain injuries and most frequently found in former contact sport ...

Dec. 6, 2024 — Researchers have built a drone that can walk, hop, and jump into flight with the aid of birdlike legs, greatly expanding the range of potential environments accessible to unmanned aerial ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — Colorful auroras appeared around Japan's Honshu and Hokkaido islands on May 11, 2024, sparked by an intense magnetic storm. Usually, auroras observed at low latitudes appear red due to the emission of oxygen atoms. But on this day, a salmon pink aurora was observed throughout the night, while an unusually tall, blue-dominant aurora appeared ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — Physicists have outlined the next 10 years of global research into the behavior of neutrinos, particles so tiny that they pass through virtually everything by the trillions every second at nearly the speed of ...

Dec. 4, 2024 — A team of researchers has beaten its own record for the fastest swimming soft robot, drawing inspiration from manta rays to improve their ability to control the robot's movement in the ...

Dec. 6, 2024 — By decoding the DNA of the beaked hazelnut (Corylus cornuta), a native plant that thrives in British Columbia, a team of multidisciplinary scientists is providing new insight into how ancestral Indigenous peoples stewarded plants across the ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — Rising sea levels, melting glaciers, heatwaves at sea -- 2023 set a number of alarming new records. The global mean temperature also rose to nearly 1.5 degrees above the preindustrial level, another record. Seeking to identify the causes of this sudden rise has proven a challenge for researchers. After all, factoring in the effects of anthropogenic influences like the accumulation of greenhouse ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — Hummingbird bills -- their long, thin beaks -- look a little like drinking straws. But new research shows just how little water, or nectar, that comparison holds. Scientists have discovered that the hummingbird bill is surprisingly flexible. While drinking, a hummingbird rapidly opens and shuts different parts of its bill simultaneously, engaging ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — A research team has made exceptional discoveries on prehistoric archery from the early Neolithic period, 7,000 years ago. The well organic preservation of the remains of the Cave of Los Murcielagos in Albunol, Granada, made it possible for scientists to identify the oldest bowstrings in Europe, which were made from the tendons of three animal ...

Dec. 6, 2024 — Scientists report on new insights into the mechanisms of 'Niemann-Pick type C' (NPC), a rare neurodegenerative disease associated with dementia that can manifest as early as childhood. Their findings, based on studies in mice, cell cultures and patients, emphasize that neuroinflammation, which is mediated by the brain's immune system, plays a crucial role in ...

Dec. 6, 2024 — An MRI-based imaging technique predicts the response of ovarian cancer tumors to treatment, and rapidly reveals how well treatment is working, in patient-derived cell ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — New research has found that women who have had both ovaries surgically removed before the age of 50 and carry a variant of the apolipoprotein gene, the APOE4 allele, are at high risk of late-life Alzheimer disease (AD). Use of hormone therapy mitigates this ...

Dec. 6, 2024 — Helping out your neighbor or minding your own business? A challenging choice with different benefits for each decision. Game theory provides guidance in making such choices -- from a theoretical perspective. Novel findings reveal new network structures that enhance cooperation throughout a system. These insights have potential applications also in ...

Dec. 4, 2024 — Researchers have developed a three-step plan to support those burdened by the intense fear of cancer returning. This plan offers a consistent, streamlined approach to managing recurrence anxiety, empowering patients to regain confidence and move forward with their ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — Researchers have found a new receptor for nerve growth factor that plays an important role in pain signaling, even though it does not signal on its own, according to a new study. The findings hold promise for finding new treatments for arthritis and other forms of inflammatory and cancer pain, without the side effects that led recent therapies to ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — Sleep is critical for all sorts of reasons, but a team of international scientists has discovered a new incentive for getting eight hours of sleep every night: it helps the brain to store and learn a new ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — To improve the riding experience and safety, the research team has identified several potential enhancements, including better suspension systems, redesigned seats to absorb vibrations more effectively, and driver monitoring systems to encourage smoother driving ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — Analysis of cheek swabs taken from pregnant women revealed a potential epigenetic biomarker for preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening condition that often leads to preterm births. While a clinical trial is needed to confirm the results, a study offers hope that a simple test can be developed to identify preeclampsia earlier in pregnancy. Currently preeclampsia is usually identified by ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — The skies aren't always so friendly for patients and families affected by food allergies, who may often experience worry and anxiety regarding airline travel, according to a new ...

Dec. 4, 2024 — Women who have a high genetic risk of depression are more likely to develop heart disease, researchers have ...

Dec. 3, 2024 — The hydrogen atoms of [4Fe-4S] type ferredoxin, one of the electron carriers, have been visualized and both experiments and calculations have revealed the mechanisms that control the redox potential. Aspartic acid (Asp64) located a distance away from the [4Fe-4S] cluster of ferredoxin, was found to be the control switch, an evolutionarily ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — First-of-its-kind sensor monitors fluctuating proteins within the body in real time. In an animal study, device accurately tracked biomarkers of inflammation. Device also could track protein markers for other illnesses, including heart ...

Dec. 4, 2024 — An innovative algorithm called Spectral Expansion Tree Search helps autonomous robotic systems make optimal choices on the ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — Researchers have used the ALMA telescope and found old elliptical galaxies in the universe can form from intense star formation within early galaxy ...

Dec. 4, 2024 — Two massive asteroids hit Earth around 35.65 million years ago, but did not lead to any lasting changes in the Earth's climate, according to a new ...

Dec. 3, 2024 — An unusual planetary system with three known ultra-low density 'super-puff' planets has at least one more planet, according to new ...

Dec. 2, 2024 — A team of astronomers has found that Venus has never been habitable, despite decades of speculation that our closest planetary neighbor was once much more like Earth than it is ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — A new method of analyzing mammograms identified individuals at high risk of developing breast cancer more accurately than the standard, questionnaire-based method did. The new method, powered by artificial intelligence, could help diagnose cancer earlier and guide recommendations for earlier screening, additional imaging or risk-reducing ...

Dec. 4, 2024 — An AI method enables the generation of sharp, high-quality 3D shapes that are closer to the quality of the best 2D image models. Previous approaches typically generated blurry or cartoonish 3D ...

Dec. 4, 2024 — Scientists carried out an experiment that realizes a new kind of quantum standard of resistance. It's based on the Quantum Anomalous Hall ...

Dec. 4, 2024 — Earlier research showed that primary care clinicians using AI-ECG tools identified more unknown cases of a weak heart pump, also called low ejection fraction, than without AI. New study findings suggest that this type of screening is also cost-effective in the long term, especially in outpatient ...

Dec. 3, 2024 — New findings have revealed that changes in ocean density have a significant impact on the rate at which marine plankton incorporate carbon into their shells. This has profound implications for carbon cycling and the ocean's ability to absorb atmospheric CO2 in response to climate ...

Dec. 2, 2024 — Researchers have identified ARMC5 as a key regulator of fatty acid balance in adipose tissue. ARMC5 degrades non-SCAP-bound SREBP1, activating it to regulate stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD), an enzyme essential for fatty acid desaturation. This discovery opens avenues for developing drugs targeting ARMC5 to manage fatty acid levels and improve ...

Dec. 4, 2024 — Why are there so many newly formed aerosol particles in the upper troposphere over tropical regions such as the Amazon? Tropical forests play an important role in global climate regulation; however, the high concentrations of new particles above these areas have puzzled atmospheric scientists for the past 20 years. Recent research has identified that isoprene, a naturally occurring organic ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — Scientists have uncovered surprising ways transcription factors, the genetic switches for genes, regulate plant development. Their findings reveal how subtle changes in a lipid-binding region called the START domain can dramatically alter gene regulation, paving the way for advancements in crop engineering, synthetic biology, and precision gene ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — Mangroves have been shown to provide $855 billion in flood protection services worldwide, according to a new ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — As climate change accelerates, scientists are sounding the alarm about its potentially devastating impact on the world's food supply. Researchers warn that without rapid changes to how we develop climate-resilient crops, we could face widespread food shortages leading to famine, mass migration, and global ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — Spotted lanternflies -- invasive insects that first landed in the United States a decade ago -- are emerging earlier and staying active later each year, according to an analysis of citizen-science data by researchers. This longer life cycle and shift in activity may be driven in part by cities and their warmer ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — Researchers have tested ancient DNA from corn found at archaeological sites in Arkansas, shedding new light on the dispersal of one of the world's most important food ...

Dec. 5, 2024 — Research has revealed that several groups of meat-eating dinosaur stalked the Bexhill-on-Sea region of coastal East Sussex 135 million years ...

Dec. 4, 2024 — A new study sheds light on how long humans in the Americas have had relationships with the ancestors of today's dogs -- and asks an 'existential question': What is a ...

Dec. 3, 2024 — From the RMS Titanic to the SS Endurance, shipwrecks offer valuable -- yet swiftly deteriorating -- windows into the past. Conservators slowly dry marine wooden artifacts to preserve them but doing so can inflict damage. To better care for delicate marine artifacts, researchers have developed a new hydrogel that quickly neutralizes harmful acids and stabilized waterlogged wood from an ...

Dec. 4, 2024 — Teens who think their parents use cannabis are more likely to hold favorable attitudes toward the drug and to consider trying it themselves, according to a new study. The research also reveals that parental monitoring and the closeness of parent-child relationships play crucial roles in adolescents' views about cannabis, often with distinct effects based on the parent's ...

Dec. 3, 2024 — A study of American and Canadian universities found most are including climate change in the curriculum for future urban planners, but they vary widely in their approaches to preparing the future professionals for mitigating, adapting to and being resilient to climate change in their ...

Dec. 3, 2024 — Researchers describe how they gathered useful data from a group of people living in extreme conditions, as well as the challenges they faced and the lessons they ...

Dec. 4, 2024 — Being lonely is a bigger hurdle to a good night's sleep for college students than too much time at a computer or other electronic screen, a new study ...

Dec. 3, 2024 — New research reveals the unique human ability to conceptualize numbers may be rooted deep within the ...

Nov. 27, 2024 — A team of physics educators is focusing on a new approach to teaching quantum physics in schools. Traditional classroom teaching has tended to focus on presenting the history of the origins of quantum physics, which often poses problems for learners. Using the quantum measurement process as an example, the researchers have now published their first empirical findings on learning quantum physics ...

Nov. 22, 2024 — A study has shown that iconic characters such as Peter Rabbit -- or Toad and Ratty from The Wind in the Willows -- can also play an important role in the development of children's theory of mind skills, which include the ability to read and predict social changes in the environment through tone of voice, choice of words, or facial ...

Nov. 26, 2024 — A study offers a solution to water scarcity during droughts amid the tug of economic development, population growth and climate uncertainty for water users in Western U.S. states. The proposed two-way leasing contracts would coordinate agricultural-to-urban leasing during periods of drought and urban-to-agricultural leasing during wet periods, ...

Nov. 26, 2024 — A new article examines the convergence of physics, chemistry, and AI, highlighted by recent Nobel Prizes. It traces the historical development of neural networks, emphasizing the role of interdisciplinary research in advancing AI. The authors advocate for nurturing AI-enabled polymaths to bridge the gap between theoretical advancements and ...

Nov. 22, 2024 — A new study found that prolonged standing at work had a negative impact on the research participants' 24-hour blood pressure. In contrast, spending more time sitting at work was associated with better blood pressure. The study suggests that activity behavior during working hours may be more relevant to 24-hour blood pressure than recreational physical ...

Nov. 18, 2024 — It turns out gaming is good for you! New research indicates massive multiplayer online gamers learn by gaming and their skills in the workplace are enriched by those seemingly endless hours previously thought of as frittering away ...