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All known life on Earth relies on the same four-letter genetic alphabet. Researchers at the University of California San Diego have now shown that one of biology’s most important enzymes can accurately read and transcribe a much larger version containing eight genetic letters. The finding suggests that cells can use…
A study published in Nature Communications has revealed an unusual form of quantum oscillation in a three-dimensional topological insulator. The findings show that electrons in zirconium pentatelluride (ZrTe5) can behave in unexpected ways when exposed to temperatures close to absolute zero and extremely powerful magnetic fields. The research was led…
A new study of bonnethead sharks (Sphyrna tiburo) in Florida is challenging a previous explanation for how males and females develop their distinctively different head shapes. Researchers from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science and collaborating institutions found that the sharks’ shovel shaped heads…
Knitting is no longer limited to making familiar items such as sweaters, hats, and blankets. Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have shown that conventional knitting techniques can be used to create functional fabrics capable of changing shape, sensing movement, and operating…
Aging often makes itself visible in familiar ways, from gray hair and wrinkles to lapses in memory. That has fueled a longstanding scientific question: Could some of those changes eventually be slowed, prevented, or even reversed? Research involving a group of scientists from Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Stanford University, Shanghai Jiao…
Puerto Rico typically enters its wet season in May, but 2026 has unfolded very differently. By late August, rainfall had remained scarce across much of the U.S. territory, allowing drought conditions to spread rapidly. The lack of rain has contributed to water shortages and rationing in some communities, prompting Puerto…
MIT researchers have engineered bacteria to work like transistors, creating living “circuit boards” that can be printed onto growth material inside a Petri dish. In conventional electronics, transistors act as switches that control whether electrical current can pass through a circuit. In the MIT system, engineered bacterial cells perform a…
A new study suggests that deliberately changing the rhythm of your breathing can influence how you make decisions by altering activity in both the heart and brain. Researchers from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke (DIfE) and Charité — Universitätsmedizin Berlin found that longer exhalations increased heart rate variability…
Summer is the busiest time of year for iceberg activity in Greenland’s glacier-fed fjords, and 2026 delivered a particularly dramatic example. In August, a huge iceberg broke away from Petermann Glacier on Greenland’s northwest coast. About the size of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, it marked the largest…
Astronomers have identified a little-studied population of faint remnant radio galaxies that appear to fade quickly after their central supermassive black holes stop producing powerful radio jets. The findings provide a closer look at what happens during the final stages of a radio galaxy’s evolution. Researchers from the University of…
For nearly a century, scientists have been trying to identify dark matter, the invisible material thought to account for about 85% of all matter in the universe. Its gravitational effects can be seen throughout the cosmos, yet no experiment has directly detected the substance itself. Discovering what dark matter is…
Before birth, the human brain is assembled through an enormous series of cellular choices. At the center of this process are radial glia, a special type of stem cell that helps create many of the features that distinguish the human brain. These cells produce large numbers of the neurons and…
Biomedical engineers at Duke University have created an injectable biomaterial that may help the brain recover from damage left behind by an ischemic stroke. In experiments with mice, the material transformed the cavity created by lost brain tissue into a more favorable environment for healing. The treatment recruited the body’s…
Scientists have identified a remarkable new species of leafless flowering plant growing on the forest floor of a national park in western Thailand. Its unusual, almost supernatural appearance inspired its name: Thismia daemona, the “devil flower.” The plant belongs to Thismia, a genus of tiny species sometimes known as “fairy…
Plants facing both a warming climate and rapidly declining pollinator populations may be pulled in competing evolutionary directions. A University of Michigan study suggests that, instead of adapting primarily to climate pressures, some plants may be evolving traits that help them attract pollinators. In morning glories, researchers found that the…
Researchers at the University of Oxford have found evidence that Mars may once have contained enormous Earth-like magmatic systems deep below its surface, even though the planet does not have the plate tectonics that scientists have long associated with this level of geological complexity. The findings, published in Nature Astronomy,…
At first glance, stromatolites and their close relatives, microbial mats, can look like little more than dark, ancient rocks. In reality, they are densely packed, layered communities built by microbes. Billions of years ago, before animals and plants existed, stromatolites helped release some of the earliest oxygen into Earth’s atmosphere.…
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a striking new feature in Saturn’s atmosphere: a huge, evolving 10-sided wave circling the planet’s south pole. It is the first time scientists have observed a large, regularly shaped jet pattern in Saturn’s southern hemisphere. The structure has some similarities to Saturn’s famous hexagon…
Carnegie Mellon University researchers have identified an unusual magnetic response that overturns a long-standing assumption about the Hall effect, a foundational principle used to study how materials behave electrically and magnetically. The findings, published in Nature Materials, expand scientists’ understanding of the Hall effect and could eventually support simpler and…
Scientists have long been intrigued by a question surrounding bats: how can these flying mammals carry viruses capable of causing severe disease while rarely becoming seriously ill themselves? Researchers at Tulane University, working with collaborators at Stanford University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may now have identified…
Aging happens at different speeds from one person to another, but it eventually affects everyone. New research from Stanford Medicine, conducted in mice and human cells, points to a particular failure in the immune system that may help explain why. The researchers found that tissue-resident macrophages, a type of immune…
The universe is producing fewer stellar “babies.” Over the past 4.5 billion years, the rate at which new stars form has fallen to less than half its previous level. Yet the supply of one of the most important types of “fuel” for star formation has changed surprisingly little. That finding…
September brings a busy lineup for skywatchers, including a dazzling Venus, a Harvest Moon near Saturn and Neptune, the seasonal equinox, and opportunities to use the Moon as a guide to some recognizable stars and Milky Way features. September Skywatching Highlights Sept. 14-20: Follow the Moon to Antares and the…
When John Glenn orbited Earth in 1962, he commented on a striking green valley northwest of El Paso, Texas, surrounded by an otherwise dry landscape. That contrast is largely the result of human-made lakes along the Rio Grande, which have made farming possible in the arid region. Irrigation supports crops…
ADHD affects millions of people and can make everyday tasks involving focus, impulse control, and sustained attention more difficult. At the same time, traits associated with ADHD are also found among highly successful artists and innovators, including Justin Timberlake and Simone Biles. New research from Constructor University neuroscientist Dr. Radwa…
Spending long periods sitting without getting up may carry greater health risks than simply accumulating a high amount of sedentary time over the course of a day. A new study found that every additional hour of prolonged, uninterrupted sedentary behavior was associated with a 9% higher risk of dying from…
Takotsubo syndrome is a sudden heart condition that most often affects postmenopausal women and can be triggered by intense emotional or physical stress. It accounts for about 2 percent of patients initially thought to be having a heart attack – and up to one in ten women with acute coronary…
Reaching another star within a practical amount of time will require something far more capable than chemical rockets. One of the leading ideas is a solar sail, a large reflective structure that can be pushed by light. If extremely powerful lasers are aimed at such a sail, they could accelerate…
Persistent financial hardship may speed up age-related cognitive decline, according to new research led by University College London (UCL). Published in Innovation in Aging, the study analyzed information from 2,759 people in the UK who completed questionnaires across much of their lives through the MRC National Survey of Health and…
A new study suggests that brain imaging could reveal changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease more than seven years earlier than researchers previously believed. The work was led by scientists in the Department of Psychology at the University of Oslo and was published in Nature Neuroscience. The study suggests that the…