Top Science News

May 22, 2023

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Half of World's Largest Lakes Losing Water

May 18, 2023 — Fifty-three percent of the world's largest freshwater lakes are in decline, storing less water than they did three decades ago, according to a new study. The study analyzed satellite observations dating back decades to measure changes in water levels in nearly 2,000 of the world's biggest lakes and ...

Homo Sapiens Likely Arose from Multiple Closely Related Populations

May 17, 2023 — In testing the genetic material of current populations in Africa and comparing against existing fossil evidence of early Homo sapiens populations there, researchers have uncovered a new model of human evolution -- overturning previous beliefs that a single African population gave rise to all ...

What Did the Earliest Animals Look Like?

May 17, 2023 — Surprisingly, genome comparisons have failed to resolve a major question in animal evolution: Which living animals are the descendants of the earliest animals to evolve in the world's oceans? Scientists performed a detailed chromosomal analysis that comes down definitively in favor of comb jellies, ...

NASA's Spitzer, TESS Find Potentially Volcano-Covered Earth-Size World

May 17, 2023 — Astronomers have discovered an Earth-size exoplanet, or world beyond our solar system, that may be carpeted with volcanoes. Called LP 791-18 d, the planet could undergo volcanic outbursts as often as Jupiter's moon Io, the most volcanically active body in our solar ...

Latest Top Headlines

updated 8:01am EDT

Amputees Feel Warmth in Their Missing Hand

May 18, 2023 — An unexpected discovery about temperature feedback has led to new bionic technology that allows amputees to sense the temperature of objects ¬-- both hot and cold -- directly in the phantom hand. The technology opens up new avenues for non-invasive ...

Humanity's Earliest Recorded Kiss Occurred in Mesopotamia 4,500 Years Ago

May 18, 2023 — Written sources from Mesopotamia suggest that kissing in relation to sex was practiced by the peoples of the ancient Middle East 4,500 years ...

How Breast Cancer Arises

May 17, 2023 — Researchers trace the origin of certain breast cancers to genomic reshuffling -- rearrangement of chromosomes -- that activates cancer genes and ignites disease. The finding offers a long-missing explanation for many cases of the disease that remain unexplained by the classical model of breast cancer development. The study shows the sex hormone estrogen -- thus far thought to be only a fuel for ...

FDA-Approved Alzheimer's Drug Lecanemab Could Prevent Free-Floating Amyloid Beta Fibrils from Damaging the Brain

May 10, 2023 — Researchers described the structure of a special type of amyloid beta plaque protein associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression. Scientists showed the small aggregates of the amyloid beta protein could float through the brain tissue fluid, reaching many brain regions and disrupting local neuron functioning. The research also provided ...

Physical Chemists Develop Photochromic Active Colloids Shedding Light on the Development of New Smart Active Materials

May 19, 2023 — In nature, the skin of cephalopods (animals with tentacles attached to the head) exhibits unparalleled camouflage ability. Their skin contains pigment groups that can sense changes in environmental light conditions and adjust their appearance through the action of pigment cells. Although intricate in nature, this colour-changing ability is ...

Wiring Up Quantum Circuits With Light

May 18, 2023 — The number of qubits in superconducting quantum computers has risen rapidly during the last years, but further growth is limited by the need for ultra-cold operating temperatures. Connecting several smaller processors could create larger, more computationally powerful quantum computers -- however doing so poses new challenges. Researchers have now demonstrated quantum entanglement between optical ...

Smart Material Prototype Challenges Newton's Laws of Motion

May 18, 2023 — Engineers have developed a prototype metamaterial that uses electrical signals to control both the direction and intensity of energy waves passing through a solid material. Potential applications of this innovative design include military and commercial uses, such as controlling radar waves by directing them to scan a specific area for objects or managing vibration created by air turbulence from ...

Driving on Sunshine: Clean, Usable Liquid Fuels Made from Solar Power

May 18, 2023 — Researchers have developed a solar-powered technology that converts carbon dioxide and water into liquid fuels that can be added directly to a car's engine as drop-in ...

In Years After El Niño, Global Economy Loses Trillions

May 18, 2023 — Researchers report that the financial toll of the climate pattern known as El Niño can persist for several years and cost trillions in lost income worldwide. The study, which is among the first to evaluate the long-term costs of El Niño, found that the 1982 and 1997 events led to $4.1 trillion and $5.7 trillion in lost income in the five years following them. With El Niño projected to return ...

Oldest Architectural Plans Detail Mysterious Desert Mega Structures

May 19, 2023 — Researchers have identified engravings in Jordan and Saudi Arabia as the oldest known scaled building plans in human ...

Perfection: The Enemy of Evolution

May 18, 2023 — Evolution is a sequence of design changes happening on their own in a discernible direction; it never weds itself to a single point on a drawing board. An evolving system or animal is free to simply go with what works. Not so much that its performance suffers greatly, but enough that it opens access to other options near the so-called optimal design. With scientists often looking to nature for ...

Fossil of Mosasaur With Bizarre 'Screwdriver Teeth' Found in Morocco

May 18, 2023 — Scientists have discovered a new species of mosasaur, a sea-dwelling lizard from the age of the dinosaurs, with strange, ridged teeth unlike those of any known reptile. Along with other recent finds from Africa, it suggests that mosasaurs and other marine reptiles were evolving rapidly up until 66 million years ago, when they were wiped out by an asteroid along with the dinosaurs and around 90% ...

Human Pangenome Reference Will Enable More Complete and Equitable Understanding of Genomic Diversity

May 10, 2023 — Scientists have released a draft of the first human pangenome -- a new, usable reference for genomics that combines the genetic material of 47 individuals from different ancestral backgrounds to allow for a deeper, more accurate understanding of ...

Evidence of Conscious-Like Activity in the Dying Brain

May 1, 2023 — A new study provides early evidence of a surge of activity correlated with consciousness in the dying ...

Global Research Reveals Countries Where Record-Breaking Heatwaves Are Likely to Cause Most Harm

Apr. 25, 2023 — A new study has highlighted under-prepared regions across the world most at risk of the devastating effects of scorching ...

Small Acts of Kindness Are Frequent and Universal, Study Finds

Apr. 24, 2023 — A study found that people around the world signal others for assistance every couple of minutes. The research, which examined behaviors in towns and rural areas in several different countries, revealed that people comply with these small requests for help far more often than they decline them. The ...

Latest Health Headlines

updated 8:01am EDT

Nitrate: Healthy Heart or Cancer Risk? Meet Nutrition's Jekyll and Hyde

May 21, 2023 — For a long time nitrate has been viewed warily, with previous research showing it could potentially be linked to causing cancer. However, it has subsequently bee revealed to have various cardiovascular health benefits. So, which is it? A new review of dietary nitrate research shows the answers to its health benefits or risks may lie in where it is sourced ...

Artificial Intelligence Catalyzes Gene Activation Research and Uncovers Rare DNA Sequences

May 19, 2023 — Biologists have used machine learning, a type of AI, to identify 'synthetic extreme' DNA sequences with specifically designed functions in gene activation. They tested 50 million DNA sequences and found synthetic DNA sequences with activities that could be useful in biotechnology and ...

Drug Significantly Reduces Chorea Symptoms in Patients With Huntington's Disease

May 19, 2023 — The drug valbenazine statistically improves chorea, a movement disorder commonly associated with Huntington's disease, when compared to a ...

Perfect 'Pathogen' Storm: Vibrio Bacteria, Sargassum and Plastic Marine Debris

May 18, 2023 — Little is known about the ecological relationship of Vibrio bacteria with Sargassum. Evidence also is sparse as to whether vibrios colonizing plastic marine debris and Sargassum could potentially infect humans. As summer kicks off and efforts are underway to find solutions to repurpose Sargassum, could these substrates pose a triple threat to ...

Forgetfulness, Even Fatal Cases, Can Happen to Anyone

May 18, 2023 — Researchers set out to understand how and why forgetfulness can occur -- whether it be forgetting your cellphone or, even worse, forgetting your child in the backseat of the car. Researchers set up an experiment to better understand this lapse in what researchers call prospective memory, or the ability to remember critical but routine ...

Blind Trust in Enhancement Technologies Encourages Risk-Taking Even If the Tech Is a Sham

May 17, 2023 — A placebo effect can make users overconfident when they think tech is helping ...

Even Slight Traffic Noise Has a Negative Impact on Work Performance

May 19, 2023 — As cities are densified at a fast pace, there is now construction very close to roads and thoroughfares. It is already known that noise can have a negative impact on human health, but new research shows that as little as 40 decibels of traffic noise -- the typical level of background noise in an office environment or kitchen -- has a detrimental effect on cognitive ...

From Molecular to Whole-Brain Scale in a Simple Animal, Study Reveals Serotonin's Effects

May 15, 2023 — With full genetic control and visibility into neural activity and behavior, scientists map out chemical's role in ...

Losing Sleep Over Losing Sleep: How Watching the Clock Impacts Insomnia, Use of Sleep Aids

May 16, 2023 — Watching the clock while trying to fall asleep exacerbates insomnia and the use of sleep aids, according to new research -- and a small change could help people sleep ...

Joro Spiders Aren't Scary: They're Shy

May 16, 2023 — Despite their intimidating appearance, the giant yellow and blue-black spiders spreading across the Southeastern U.S. owe their survival to a surprising trait: They're rather timid. The Joro spider may be the shyest spider ever ...

'Love Hormone' Guides Young Songbirds in Choice of 'Voice Coach'

May 15, 2023 — Oxytocin, the so-called 'love hormone,' plays a key role in the process of how a young zebra finch learns to sing by imitating its elders, suggests a new study which add to the understanding of the neurochemistry of social ...

Students Positive Towards AI, but Uncertain About What Counts as Cheating

May 12, 2023 — Students are positive towards AI tools such as ChatGPT in education, but 62 percent believe that using chatbots during exams is cheating. However, where the boundary for cheating lies is highly ...

Astronomers Observe the First Radiation Belt Seen Outside of Our Solar System

May 15, 2023 — Astronomers have described the first radiation belt observed outside our solar system, using a coordinated array of 39 radio dishes from Hawaii to Germany to obtain high-resolution images. The images of persistent, intense radio emissions from an ...

Astronomers Reveal the Largest Cosmic Explosion Ever Seen

May 12, 2023 — Astronomers have uncovered the largest cosmic explosion ever witnessed. The explosion is more than ten times brighter than any known supernova and three times brighter than the brightest tidal disruption event, where a star falls into a supermassive black ...

Astronomers Detect 'Nearby' Black Hole Devouring a Star

Apr. 28, 2023 — Astronomers have discovered a new 'tidal disruption event,' in which the center of a galaxy lights up as its supermassive black hole rips apart a passing star. The outburst is the closest tidal disruption event observed to date, and one of the first to be identified at infrared ...

Nanowire Networks Learn and Remember Like a Human Brain

Apr. 21, 2023 — Scientists have demonstrated nanowire networks can exhibit both short- and long-term memory like the human ...

Latest Physical/Tech Headlines

updated 8:01am EDT

Sensors That Operate at High Temperatures and in Extreme Environments

May 19, 2023 — Researchers have developed a new reliable and durable sensor that can work in temperatures as high as 900 degrees Celsius or 1,650 degrees Fahrenheit and can be used in multiple ...

New Use for A.I.: Correctly Estimating Fish Stocks

May 18, 2023 — A newly published artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm is allowing researchers to quickly and accurately estimate coastal fish stocks without ever entering the ...

Automated Window Shades Show Potential for Significant Energy Savings

May 17, 2023 — Automated insulating window shades can cut energy consumption by approximately one-quarter and may recoup the cost of installation within three to five years, according to a landmark study. The study showcases a promising path for sustainability and energy efficiency in architectural ...

The Physics of Gummy Candy

May 16, 2023 — Researchers conduct a series of experiments that explore how changing key parts of the gummy-making process affects the final product, as well as how the candies behave in different storage temperatures. The group adjusted a variety of inputs while making the gummies, from the glucose syrup-to-sucrose ratio to starch and gelatin concentrations, to understand how these changes affected features ...

An X-Ray Look at the Heart of Powerful Quasars

May 19, 2023 — Researchers have observed the X-ray emission of the most luminous quasar seen in the last 9 billion years of cosmic history, known as SMSS J114447.77-430859.3, or J1144 for short. The new perspective sheds light on the inner workings of quasars and how they interact with their ...

Radio Signal Reveals Supernova Origin

May 17, 2023 — Astronomers reveal the origin of a thermonuclear supernova explosion. Strong emission lines of helium and the first detection of such a supernova in radio waves show that the exploding white dwarf star had a helium-rich ...

New Study Puts a Definitive Age on Saturn's Rings -- They're Really Young

May 12, 2023 — Physicists measured the flux of interplanetary dust around Saturn. The researchers concluded that the planet's rings formed less than 400 million years ago, making them much younger than Saturn ...

Researchers Find New Approach to Explore Earliest Universe Dynamics With Gravitational Waves

May 11, 2023 — Researchers have discovered a new generic production mechanism of gravitational waves generated by a phenomenon known as ...

New Wireless System for Greater 5G Access

May 18, 2023 — A new paper on wireless connectivity introduces a new technique for increasing access to the 5G-and-beyond millimeter wave (mmWave) ...

A Better Way to Study Ocean Currents

May 17, 2023 — Computer scientists and oceanographers developed a machine-learning model that generates more accurate predictions about the velocities of ocean currents. The model could help make more precise weather forecasts or effectively predict how oil will spread after a ...

ChatGPT Passes Radiology Board Exam

May 16, 2023 — The latest version of ChatGPT passed a radiology board-style exam, highlighting the potential of large language models but also revealing limitations that hinder reliability, according to two new research ...

Curved Spacetime in a Quantum Simulator

May 17, 2023 — The connection between quantum physics and the theory of relativity is extremely hard to study. But now, scientists have set up a model system, which can help: Quantum particles can be tuned in such a way that the results can be translated into information about other systems, which are much harder to observe. This kind of 'quantum simulator' works very well and can lead to new insights about the ...

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Environment News

May 22, 2023

Nature Favors Creatures in Largest and Smallest Sizes

May 10, 2023 — Surveying the body sizes of Earth's living organisms, researchers found that the planet's biomass -- the material that makes up all living organisms -- is concentrated in organisms at either end of the size ...

Researchers Discover a Cause of Rapid Ice Melting in Greenland

May 8, 2023 — While conducting a study of Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland, researchers uncovered a previously unseen way in which the ice and ocean interact. The glaciologists said their findings could mean that the climate community has been vastly underestimating the magnitude of future sea level rise ...

Previously Unknown Intercellular Electricity May Power Biology

Apr. 28, 2023 — Researchers have discovered that the electrical fields and activity that exist through a cell's membrane also exist within and around another type of cellular structure called biological condensates. Like oil droplets floating in water, these structures exist because of differences in density. ...

Scientists Slow Aging by Engineering Longevity in Cells

Apr. 27, 2023 — Researchers have developed a biosynthetic 'clock' that keeps cells from reaching normal levels of deterioration related to aging. They engineered a gene oscillator that switches between the two normal paths of aging, slowing cell degeneration and setting a record for life ...

Latest Environment Headlines

updated 8:01am EDT

Synthetic Biology: Proteins Set Vesicles in Motion

May 19, 2023 — Biophysicists have designed a new cell-like transport system that represents an important milestone on the road to artificial ...

Wildfire Spread Risk Increases Where Trees, Shrubs Replace Grasses

May 18, 2023 — A new study found that as woody plants like shrubs and trees replace herbaceous plants like grasses, spot fires can occur farther away from the original fire ...

Out of the Frying Pan: Coyotes, Bobcats Move Into Human-Inhabited Areas to Avoid Apex Predators -- Only to Be Killed by People

May 18, 2023 — Conservationists have argued that the presence of wolves and other apex predators, so named because they have no known predators aside from people, can help keep smaller predator species in check. New research shows that in Washington state, the presence of two apex predators -- wolves and cougars -- does indeed help keep populations of two ...

Study Finds Carrying Pollen Heats Up Bumble Bees, Raises New Climate Change Questions

May 17, 2023 — A new study finds carrying pollen is a workout that significantly increases the body temperature of bumble bees. This new understanding of active bumble bee body temperatures raises questions about how these species will be impacted by a warmer world due to climate ...

Ancient Climate Change Solves Mystery of Vanished South African Lakes

May 19, 2023 — New evidence for the presence of ancient lakes in some of the most arid regions of South Africa suggests that Stone Age humans may have been more widespread across the continent than previously ...

Impact of Ancient Earthquake Revealed

May 17, 2023 — By combining the scientific powerhouses of genetics and geology, researchers have identified a new area of coastal uplift, which had been hiding in plain ...

African Smoke Over the Amazon

May 16, 2023 — Up to two-thirds of the soot above the central Amazon rainforest originates in Africa. Researchers differentiate soot particles using their relative properties and attribute them to their respective points of origin. They found that bush fires and burning savannah in the north and south of Africa make a substantial contribution to air pollution in the central Amazon all year round, thereby ...

About 13,000 Years Ago, the Water Outflow from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean Was Twice That of Today’s

May 16, 2023 — About 13,000 years ago, a climate crisis caused a global drop in temperatures in the northern hemisphere. This episode of intense cold, known as the Younger Dryas, also caused severe aridity across the Mediterranean basin, which had a major impact on terrestrial and marine ecosystems. But what do we know about the impact of this climate change on ...

Jaw Shapes of 90 Shark Species Show: Evolution Driven by Habitat

May 16, 2023 — Researchers investigated how the jaw shape of sharks has changed over the course of evolution. Their conclusion: in the most widespread shark species, the jaws show relatively little variation in shape over millions of years; most variable jaws were found for deep-sea ...

We Now Know Exactly What Happens in Nature When We Fell Forests

May 15, 2023 — Deforestation is the biggest threat to the planet's ecosystems, and new research has now mapped out exactly what happens when agriculture replaces ...

Past Climate Change to Blame for Antarctica's Giant Underwater Landslides

May 18, 2023 — Scientists found weak, biologically-rich layers of sediments hundreds of meters beneath the seafloor which crumbled as oceans warmed and ice sheets declined. The landslides were discovered in the eastern Ross Sea in 2017, by an international team of scientists during the Italian ODYSSEA expedition, and scientists revisited the area in 2018 as part of the International Ocean Discovery Program ...

New Study Illustrates Unique Genetic Landscape in Newfoundland and Labrador With Links to Ireland and England

May 15, 2023 — A new study has produced the most detailed genetic analysis of people living in the Canadian province of Newfoundland to date, demonstrating a unique founder population structure that could be used for the identification and study of health-related genetic ...

Study Into Global Daily Air Pollution Shows Almost Nowhere on Earth Is Safe

Mar. 7, 2023 — In a new study of daily ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) across the globe, a new study has found that only 0.18% of the global land area and 0.001% of the global population are exposed to levels of PM2.5 -- the world's leading environmental health risk factor -- below levels of safety ...

Feedback Loops Make Climate Action Even More Urgent, Scientists Say

Feb. 17, 2023 — Researchers have identified 26 global warming accelerators known as amplifying feedback loops that the researchers say aren't being properly included in climate models. They note that the findings add urgency to the need to respond to the climate crisis and provide a roadmap for policymakers aiming ...

Traffic Pollution Impairs Brain Function

Jan. 24, 2023 — A new study has shown that common levels of traffic pollution can impair human brain function in only a matter of hours. The study was the first to show in a controlled experiment using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that exposure to diesel exhaust disrupts the ability of different ...

Risk of Multiple Climate Tipping Points Escalates Above 1.5°C Global Warming

Sep. 8, 2022 — Multiple climate tipping points could be triggered if global temperature rises beyond 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, according to a major new analysis. Even at current levels of global heating the world is already at risk of passing five ...

Latest Society/Education Headlines

updated 8:01am EDT

Butterflies on the Decline

May 16, 2023 — Research shows that the numbers of butterflies in meadows and pastures of Europe are in a continuous decline. Grassland butterflies will soon play an even greater role in EU nature conservation legislation. Based on the occurrences and population trends of butterflies, the member states are supposed to document the progress they have made in implementing the planned 'Nature Restoration ...

Better Than Humans: Artificial Intelligence in Intensive Care Units

May 11, 2023 — With the help of extensive data from intensive care units of various hospitals, an artificial intelligence was developed that provides suggestions for the treatment of people who require intensive care due to sepsis. Analyses show that artificial intelligence already surpasses the quality of human decisions. However, it is now important to also discuss the legal aspects of such ...

Nature Is Changing as Land Abandonment Increases

May 11, 2023 — Abandoned lands could be both an opportunity and a threat for biodiversity; a recent article highlights why abandoned lands are critical in the assessment of global restoration and conservation ...

Can a City Store as Much Carbon as a Forest?

May 9, 2023 — A new tool helps show how growing cities can remain carbon ...

How 1,000 Undergraduates Helped Solve an Enduring Mystery About the Sun

May 9, 2023 — For three years at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of students spent an estimated 56,000 hours analyzing the behavior of hundreds of solar flares. Their results could help astrophysicists understand how the sun's corona reaches temperatures of millions of degrees ...

Multi-Site Trial of Belonging Exercise Improves College Students' Academic Persistence

May 8, 2023 — A new study finds that incoming students who participated in an online belonging exercise completed their first year as full-time college students at a higher rate than their peers, but only when their institution had strong strategies and resources in place to support diverse students' ...

Do Your Homework to Prep for the 2023 and 2024 Eclipses

May 3, 2023 — This year and next, Americans will have the extraordinary opportunity to witness two solar eclipses as both will be visible throughout the continental U.S. Both occurrences promise to be remarkable events and teachable moments but preparation is essential. Astronomers provide a practical playbook to help teachers, students, and the general public prepare for the eclipse ...

60 Years Later, High School Quality May Have a Long-Term Impact on Cognition

May 2, 2023 — Attending a high school with a high number of teachers with graduate training was the clearest predictor of the impact of school quality on late-life cognition, researchers ...

Warm-Up Time Corrects Creativity Power Imbalance

Apr. 19, 2023 — Power often boosts an employee's creativity because being powerful liberates the individual from constraints, such as worrying that their ideas will be rejected. However, new research shows that employees who are not in positions of power can become more creative when given time to 'warm up' to a task by engaging in the creative task more than ...