Reporting world updates to you
A large clinical trial suggests that taking a daily multivitamin could help slow biological aging in older adults, especially in people whose bodies were aging faster than expected at the start of the study. Researchers from Mass General Brigham analyzed data from older adults who participated in a randomized clinical…
For more than 100 years, scientists have been trying to understand cosmic rays, incredibly powerful particles that travel across the universe at extreme energies. Despite decades of research, many questions about where they come from and how they are accelerated remain unanswered. Now, researchers working with the DAMPE (Dark Matter…
In March 2022, thousands of earthquakes rattled São Jorge Island in Portugal’s Azores archipelago after a huge body of magma (molten rock) surged upward from deep underground, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL (University College London). The magma traveled from more than 20 kilometers beneath Earth’s…
For decades, scientists believed dinosaur fossils were little more than mineralized rock, with any original biological material long since destroyed by time. But an extraordinary study centered on a remarkably preserved Edmontosaurus fossil is challenging that assumption in a major way. Researchers led by the University of Liverpool uncovered strong…
People often spot familiar shapes in random places. Maybe you have looked at the clouds and imagined a sailboat, a seahorse, or even your great-aunt Rosemary staring back at you. Scientists call this tendency to find meaningful patterns in randomness “apophenia.” But in some cases, those patterns are very real.…
As the Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere continue to warm, another part of the planet’s atmosphere is doing the opposite. Far above the ground, the upper atmosphere has been cooling significantly for decades. Scientists have long recognized this unusual contrast as one of the clearest signals of human driven climate…
Powerful solar activity can create stunning auroras on Earth, but outside the protection of our planet’s magnetic field, the Sun can become extremely dangerous. Violent eruptions such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections can blast high energy particles through space, creating serious risks for astronauts and spacecraft. Some of…
For decades, scientists believed the Japanese population largely descended from two ancient groups: the Jomon hunter-gatherers who lived in the archipelago for thousands of years, and later migrants from East Asia who brought rice farming and new technologies to Japan. But a major genetic analysis from researchers at RIKEN’s Center…
Scientists have uncovered new evidence that Earth is traveling through a cloud of ancient stellar debris left behind by a long ago exploding star. By studying Antarctic ice that formed tens of thousands of years ago, researchers detected traces of iron-60, a rare radioactive form of iron created during supernova…
Macquarie Island sits in one of the most remote parts of the world, halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica. The narrow, windswept island is packed with wildlife. Elephant seals crowd its beaches, king penguins climb its green slopes, and albatrosses glide above the open landscape. But scientists say the island is…
Researchers at UC Davis have developed a light driven technique that converts amino acids, the molecules that make up proteins, into compounds that behave similarly to psychedelics in the brain. These newly created molecules activate serotonin 5-HT2A receptors, which are associated with brain cell growth and are considered promising targets…
Scientists say your daily coffee habit may do more than give you an energy boost. New research suggests that drinking a moderate amount of caffeinated coffee or tea could help lower the risk of dementia as people age. However, the benefits appear to level off after a certain point, meaning…
Reinforced rubber is one of the most important materials in modern life. It helps car and airplane tires withstand enormous stress, keeps industrial machinery running, and appears in everything from medical devices to garden hoses. Despite being used for nearly a century and supporting a global tire industry worth about…
Researchers say the famous comet known as Halley’s Comet may have been identified as a repeating object centuries before British astronomer Edmond Halley gave it his name. According to new research involving Professor Simon Portegies Zwart, an English monk named Eilmer of Malmesbury appears to have recognized that the same…
People moved back into the British Isles around 15,200 years ago after the last major ice sheet began retreating, according to new research. That timeline is nearly 500 years earlier than earlier estimates suggested. The return of humans appears to have happened alongside a sharp increase in summer temperatures in…
Quantum entanglement is one of the strangest features of the quantum world. It describes a situation in which particles such as photons are so deeply linked that their properties cannot be fully understood one by one. Instead, the system has to be treated as a whole. That idea sharply conflicts…
Quantum computers and other advanced quantum technologies rely on specialized quantum materials that behave in unusual ways under the right conditions. In some cases, scientists can even create entirely new quantum properties by carefully changing a material’s structure. One striking example involves stacking sheets of graphene and twisting them into…
Scientists have identified surprisingly high levels of a little-known silicone pollutant in the atmosphere, raising new questions about possible risks to human health and the climate. The chemicals, known as methylsiloxanes, are commonly used in cosmetics, industrial products, transportation, and household items. Researchers found these compounds across a wide range…
Cacti are famous for growing slowly, but scientists have discovered that these desert plants are actually evolving at an impressive pace. New research shows that cacti are remarkably quick at forming entirely new species, revealing that deserts are far more dynamic than they may seem. For decades, biologists believed that…
The way people speak during ordinary conversations could offer valuable insight into brain health, according to new research from Baycrest, the University of Toronto, and York University. Scientists found that subtle speech characteristics, including pauses, filler words such as (‘uh,’ ‘um’), and difficulty retrieving words, are closely connected to executive…
Researchers at UBC Okanagan have uncovered the process plants use to create mitraphylline, a rare natural compound that has attracted attention for its possible cancer fighting properties. Mitraphylline belongs to a unique class of plant chemicals known as spirooxindole alkaloids. These molecules are recognized for their unusual twisted ring structures…
Researchers at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) have uncovered a crucial step that enteroviruses use to reproduce inside human cells. The findings, published in Nature Communications, explain how viruses responsible for illnesses such as polio, encephalitis, myocarditis, and even the common cold take control of cellular machinery to…
Scientists have identified a new weakness in harmful “zombie-like” cells that could open the door to better cancer treatments and therapies for age-related diseases. These cells, known as senescent cells, survive in a fragile state by producing large amounts of a protective protein that keeps them from dying. Researchers at…
Scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have successfully reversed aging in blood-forming stem cells in mice by repairing defects in structures known as lysosomes. The findings, published in Cell Stem Cell, point to lysosomal dysfunction and overactivity as major causes of stem cell aging and show…
Older adults who cut back on dietary fat or reduced the amount of animal-based protein they consumed showed signs of becoming biologically younger, according to new research from the University of Sydney. The study, published in Aging Cell, found that adults between the ages of 65 and 75 experienced reductions…
Scientists have uncovered a molecular “switch” in mice that turns on a hidden energy-burning system inside brown fat, a discovery that could eventually help researchers develop new treatments for bone disease. The findings, published in Nature, provide new insight into how brown fat works. Unlike white fat, which stores energy,…
Researchers at the University of Missouri are developing a new way to remove tiny plastic pollutants from water using specially engineered algae. Susie Dai, a researcher at Mizzou, recently created a modified strain of algae designed to capture harmful microplastics from contaminated water. Her long term goal is not only…
Long necks, enormous bodies, tiny heads, and sweeping tails have made sauropods some of the most recognizable dinosaurs ever discovered. These plant eating giants included the largest land animals in Earth’s history, with some species reaching lengths of nearly 130 feet (40 meters). Famous examples include Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus. Now,…
Scientists studying ancient microfossils from Brazil have discovered that structures once believed to be traces left behind by tiny animals were actually formed by communities of microscopic bacteria and algae. The findings challenge previous ideas about when small animals first appeared on Earth and suggest oxygen levels in ancient oceans…
For decades, scientists searching for life beyond Earth have focused on one central challenge: identifying the right molecules to look for on distant planets and moons. But new research published in Nature Astronomy suggests the answer may lie not in the molecules themselves, but in the hidden patterns that connect…
