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Two PhD students from Sydney have helped restore the sharp vision of the world’s most powerful space observatory without ever leaving the ground. Louis Desdoigts, now a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden University in the Netherlands, and his colleague Max Charles celebrated their achievement with tattoos of the instrument they repaired…
Researchers have made a major leap in solar physics by finding the first direct evidence of small-scale torsional Alfvén waves within the Sun’s corona. These elusive magnetic waves, first theorized in the 1940s, have long been suspected to play a key role in heating the Sun’s outer atmosphere. The findings,…
Researchers from Heriot-Watt University have released striking images of an asteroid impact crater hidden deep beneath the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. These images confirm that the 9 km (~5.6 mile) wide Nadir Crater, lying about 300 meters (~1000 feet) below the ocean floor, was created when an asteroid slammed…
Climate models have long predicted that global warming would weaken the Southern Ocean’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2). Yet decades of measurements show little sign of this decline. Scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) have now uncovered a likely reason for the surprising stability. Their findings suggest that…
A promising group of medications already used to treat diabetes and obesity may also hold potential for tackling alcohol and drug addiction, according to a new study published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society. These drugs, called Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1RAs), could represent a hopeful new direction for…
Physicists at MIT have introduced a technique to study the interior of an atom’s nucleus by relying on the atom’s own electrons as “messengers” inside a molecule. In research published on October 23 in Science, the team precisely measured the energy of electrons orbiting a radium atom that was chemically…
For much of the past century, scientists thought dinosaurs were already in decline long before the asteroid impact that ended their reign 66 million years ago. However, a new study published in Science by researchers from Baylor University, New Mexico State University, The Smithsonian Institution, and several international partners challenges…
Fungal networks could one day replace the tiny metal components that process and store computer data, according to new research. Mushrooms are known for their toughness and unusual biological properties, qualities that make them attractive for bioelectronics. This emerging field blends biology and technology to design innovative, sustainable materials for…
Hippos, now found only in sub-Saharan Africa, managed to survive in central Europe far longer than anyone previously believed. A new analysis of ancient bones shows that hippos lived in the Upper Rhine Graben between about 47,000 and 31,000 years ago, during the depths of the last ice age. The…
Scientists from the Institut Pasteur have conducted a genetic analysis of the remains of soldiers who retreated from Russia in 1812. Their work uncovered traces of two disease-causing pathogens — those behind paratyphoid fever and relapsing fever — which match the symptoms described in eyewitness records from that time. The…
A groundbreaking study is taking a fresh look at one of science’s oldest questions: how did life arise from nonliving material on early Earth? Researcher Robert G. Endres of Imperial College London has created a new mathematical framework suggesting that the spontaneous appearance of life may have been far less…
New research published in Scientific Reports has found that regular exercise paired with omega-3 supplementation can significantly enhance immune function and reduce the severity of chronic apical periodontitis, a type of inflammation that affects the tip of the tooth root. Understanding Apical Periodontitis Apical periodontitis occurs when bacteria from untreated…
Glaciers are pushing back against global warming by chilling the air that flows over their surfaces. But how long can this natural defense last? Researchers from the Pellicciotti group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) have reexamined a massive global collection of glacier data. Their study, recently…
Researchers at Trinity College Dublin have uncovered what they call a “universal thermal performance curve” (UTPC), a pattern that appears to apply to every living species on Earth. This curve describes how organisms respond to changes in temperature, and it seems to hold true across the entire spectrum of life.…
From counting sheep to trying white noise or using weighted blankets, people have explored countless ways to improve their sleep. Poor sleep, however, continues to take a serious toll, influencing heart and metabolic health, memory, learning, productivity, emotional balance, and even relationships. Now, scientists say one surprisingly effective aid for…
Researchers from the University of Queensland (Australia) and the University of Helsinki (Finland) have discovered that neurons are capable of using fat as a source of energy, challenging the long-held belief that they rely only on sugar. Even more remarkably, when the brain’s energy demand increases, neurons can produce their…
Throughout life, our cells are continually exposed to both internal and external influences that can harm DNA. This DNA damage is a well-known factor in the development of aging and cancer, yet scientists have long struggled to understand the exact link — especially how DNA-damaged stem cells affect tissue health…
How does your brain know when to take a breath, stabilize your blood pressure, or fight off an infection? The answer lies in interoception, a lesser-known process through which the nervous system constantly monitors the body’s internal signals to keep essential functions running. Now, a collaborative team from Scripps Research…
For the first time, scientists have directly witnessed a subduction zone — the place where one tectonic plate plunges beneath another — in the midst of breaking apart. The finding, published in Science Advances, provides an unprecedented view of how Earth’s surface changes over time and adds new insight into…
Some inherited diseases, including cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, and Tay Sachs disease, involve multiple genetic mutations within a person’s DNA. Even two individuals with the same condition may have different sets of mutations. Because of this complexity, creating gene therapies that work broadly across all patients with a given disorder has…
Sharper views from a single telescope: Normally, astronomers link multiple telescopes together to get the clearest images of distant stars and galaxies. A UCLA-led team has now achieved record-breaking detail of the star beta Canis Minoris using just one telescope equipped with a breakthrough device called a photonic lantern. How…
For the first time, researchers at Tel Aviv University have predicted what might be discovered by detecting radio waves that originated in the early Universe. Their results suggest that during the “cosmic dark ages,” dark matter gathered into dense clumps across space, pulling in hydrogen gas that emitted intense radio…
If you’ve never kept a reptile, you might be surprised to learn that many of them actually “pee” in crystal form. In a study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers examined the solid urine of more than 20 different reptile species and found that all contained…
Mutations in a gene called CPD have been found to play a key role in a rare inherited form of hearing loss, according to an international research collaboration. Scientists from the University of Chicago, the University of Miami, and several institutions in Turkiye published the discovery in the Journal of…
Researchers at Mayo Clinic have uncovered a molecular “switch” inside lung cells that determines when the cells focus on repairing tissue and when they shift to fighting infection. This important finding could pave the way for regenerative treatments for chronic lung conditions. “We were surprised to find that these specialized…
Deep within your gut lives a bustling world of microbes, each playing a role in digesting your food. Among them is one unusual microbe that produces methane — a gas more often associated with cows and landfills than humans. According to new research from Arizona State University (ASU), this methane-making…
Having lower cholesterol levels may help protect against dementia, according to a large-scale international study led by the University of Bristol. The research, involving data from more than one million participants, found that people with genetic traits that naturally reduce cholesterol are less likely to develop dementia. The work was…
For the first time, researchers have directly seen and measured the protein clusters thought to spark Parkinson’s disease, marking a major milestone in understanding the world’s fastest-growing neurological condition. These microscopic clusters, known as alpha-synuclein oligomers, have long been suspected as the starting point for Parkinson’s, but they have remained…
An international team of paleontologists has identified a previously unknown dinosaur species named Khankhuuluu, believed to be the closest-known ancestor of the giant Tyrannosaurs. The discovery, led by Jared Voris and Dr. Darla Zelenitsky from the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Science, has been published in Nature. Voris, a PhD…
A new study in Nature Communications finds that the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), one of the most influential forces behind global climate variability, may change dramatically as the planet continues to warm. Using advanced, high-resolution climate models (Figure 1, above), researchers from South Korea, the USA, Germany, and Ireland discovered…
