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Smartphones, electric vehicles, and countless portable electronics all depend on batteries. As demand for better energy storage grows, improvements in battery capacity, lifespan, and safety will play a major role in the future of electrification. One of the most promising technologies is the solid-state battery, which could allow smartphones to…
Bumblebees may be small, measuring only about an inch long, but they play an enormous role in global agriculture. About one third of the world’s food production relies on pollinators such as bees. At the same time, these vital insects face growing pressure from pesticides and other environmental threats. Modern…
Mount Etna has fascinated geologists for decades. The towering volcano on the Italian island of Sicily is the most active in Europe, erupting several times a year, yet scientists have never fully understood how it formed. Now, researchers from the University of Lausanne (UNIL) have proposed a new explanation that…
Since physicist Freeman Dyson first proposed the idea in 1960, the hypothetical “Dyson sphere” has become one of the most intriguing concepts in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Rather than a single solid shell, scientists now envision a Dyson “swarm” made up of countless orbiting structures that capture nearly all…
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is one of the most valuable tools doctors use to diagnose disease. Yet even with today’s advanced scanners, producing clear images of some areas remains difficult. Deep brain structures and the delicate tissues of the eye and surrounding orbit are especially challenging because of the hardware…
Scientists at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) have identified a naturally occurring bacterium from the intestines of Japanese tree frogs (Dryophytes japonicus) that demonstrated remarkable anticancer activity in mice. The findings, published in Gut Microbes, introduce a new approach to cancer treatment that uses living bacteria…
Quasars rank among the brightest and most powerful objects in the universe. They are fueled by supermassive black holes that consume surrounding material at the centers of galaxies, producing so much energy that they can be seen across billions of light years. Now, an international team of researchers has identified…
Mars was not always the cold, dry world we see today. Billions of years ago, scientists believe it may have been warm, wet, and wrapped in a much thicker atmosphere, creating conditions that could have supported simple microbial life. Even so, proving that life ever existed there remains one of…
Nearly 150 years after gallium was first discovered and added to the periodic table, scientists at the University of Auckland have uncovered previously unknown details about the metal’s atomic structure and behavior. Gallium was discovered in 1875 by French chemist Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran. It is best known for…
Trees do not necessarily keep growing for as long as they keep photosynthesizing, according to a new study published in Science Advances. Researchers found that oak trees continue absorbing carbon dioxide well after their annual growth has ended, suggesting forests may store less carbon in wood than many climate models…
Scientists at Johns Hopkins University have uncovered how humans develop sharp central vision before birth, identifying a carefully timed interaction between a vitamin A derived molecule and thyroid hormones in the retina. The discovery challenges a decades old explanation for how key light sensing cells form and could guide future…
The explosive growth in semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy) We use after its FDA approval for chronic weight management in 2021 was accompanied by another trend that drew researchers’ attention: a dramatic increase in calls to poison control centers across the United States. Jordan Miller, then an undergraduate student at UT…
Silicon chips have been the foundation of modern computing for decades. Now, researchers are giving them an entirely new role in biotechnology. In addition to processing information, these chips are increasingly being used to study living systems by recording activity from neurons, reading DNA, and now even creating DNA. In…
Researchers have developed tiny silica nanoparticles that can directly destroy prostate tumors while also awakening the body’s immune system to fight cancer, according to a new preclinical study led by scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Cornell Duffield College of Engineering. In mouse models of aggressive prostate cancer, the…
A new theory developed by physicists at Heidelberg University brings together two long competing ideas in quantum physics, offering a unified explanation for how an unusual particle behaves inside a crowded quantum environment. The work connects two seemingly opposite descriptions of a single impurity moving through or remaining nearly motionless…
For the first time, scientists have documented live goblin sharks (Mitsukurina owstoni) thriving in their natural deep ocean environment. The historic observations, led by a University of Hawai’i at Mānoa research team, provide an unprecedented look at one of the world’s rarest and most mysterious sharks without removing it from…
Water covers most of Earth’s surface, yet it behaves in ways that set it apart from nearly every other liquid. One of its most unusual traits is that it expands instead of contracts when it freezes. Scientists have long linked these odd behaviors to changes in water’s microscopic structure as…
Scientists have uncovered how bacteria naturally manufacture multiple versions of powerful cancer drugs, solving a mystery that has puzzled researchers for decades. The discovery could help speed the development of new treatments for cancers that are still difficult to treat. For years, scientists have hoped to harness bacterial enzymes to…
Creatine is widely known as a supplement used by athletes and bodybuilders to improve strength and performance. Now, new research from UCLA suggests it may have another surprising role: helping the immune system mount a stronger attack against cancer. The study, published in iScience, found that creatine boosts the activity…
People who repeatedly lose weight only to regain it may find intermittent fasting easier to maintain than traditional calorie counting, according to new research from the University of Adelaide. The study examined not only how much weight people lost, but also how different dieting approaches affected eating habits, mood, sleep,…
A genetic study of 132 people buried in a large megalithic tomb near Bury, about 50 kilometers north of Paris, has uncovered evidence of a dramatic population collapse and replacement during the Stone Age. The findings, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, show that the burial site was used during…
A new type of daily pill has proven more effective for weight loss and blood sugar control than its currently available counterparts, according to a recent trial. The drug, known as orforglipron, could be a game-changer in the rapidly expanding oral weight-loss drug market. The advent of the injectable weight-loss…
Researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence powered simulation that could significantly improve our understanding of how the universe creates many of its heaviest elements. Created by an international team at GSI/FAIR, the machine learning model allows scientists to simulate the complex nuclear reactions that occur during neutron star mergers…
Quantum phenomena are usually associated with extremely small objects such as individual atoms, molecules, or photons that must be carefully isolated from their surroundings. But can those same strange quantum effects also exist in objects large enough to see and hold? Researchers at TU Wien have now provided compelling evidence…
In most materials, the way heat is absorbed and the way it is emitted are inseparable. If a surface absorbs heat efficiently from a particular direction or wavelength, it also emits heat the same way. This long established principle, known as reciprocity, has made it difficult for scientists to independently…
Bumblebees can accumulate dramatically higher levels of toxic heavy metals than honeybees, even when both species forage in the same area, according to new research from the University of Cambridge. Scientists found that bumblebees collected up to seven times more heavy metals in their pollen, raising concerns about how hidden…
New research suggests that many of the UK’s most popular takeout meals contain more salt than diners are led to believe. In some cases, a single meal provided well over the recommended daily limit, even though menu labels suggested otherwise. Researchers found that 47% of the takeout foods they tested…
Within a few hours, a statistical analysis had been whipped up into a tale of desire. The “sex lives” of our ancestors were suddenly within clicking distance. This shift is not trivial. It turns an asymmetry in genetic transmission into a narrative based on feelings, attraction, and prehistoric romance. A…
Machine learning is giving scientists a powerful new way to search for superconductors, materials that conduct electricity with zero resistance. An international team has demonstrated that AI can rapidly narrow an almost limitless number of possible material combinations to identify the most promising candidates. According to Aalto University Professor Päivi…
Nearly 30 years ago, researchers discovered two unusual molecules in rye pollen that appeared to slow tumor growth in animal studies. Despite the promising findings, the research reached a dead end because scientists could not determine the molecules’ exact three dimensional structures. Now, chemists at Northwestern University have solved that…
