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Ultra-intense lasers can accelerate electrons to near-light speeds within a single oscillation (or ‘wave cycle’) of the electric field, making them a powerful tool for studying extreme physics. However, their rapid fluctuations and complex structure make real-time measurements of their properties challenging. Until now, existing techniques typically required hundreds of…
Cats prefer to sleep on their left side. This is the conclusion drawn by an international research team that analyzed several hundred YouTube videos of sleeping cats. The researchers see this bias as an evolutionary advantage because it favors hunting and escape behavior after waking up. The team from the…
Compared with a Mediterranean diet, dietary acid load decreased significantly on a low-fat vegan diet and was associated with weight loss, according to a randomized cross-over trial conducted by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and published in Frontiers in Nutrition. “Eating acid-producing foods like meat, eggs, and dairy can…
Climate change and habitat loss are affecting animal populations around the world and reptiles such as South Australia’s own endangered pygmy bluetongue are susceptible to higher temperatures and declining long-term rainfall trends. Flinders University scientists are working on securing a sustainable future for the burrow-dwelling endemic skink (Tiliqua adelaidensis) by…
In general, evolution is a long, slow process of tiny changes passed down over generations, resulting in new adaptations and even new species over thousands or millions of years. But when living things are faced with dramatic shifts in the world around them, they sometimes rapidly adapt to better survive.…
Today, all non-Africans are known to have descended from a small group of people that ventured into Eurasia after around 50 thousand years ago. However, fossil evidence shows that there were numerous failed dispersals before this time that left no detectable traces in living people. In a paper published in…
To save elephant populations from extinction, the international community banned the sale of their ivory — but selling mammoth ivory remains legal, and the two are difficult to tell apart, especially for non-experts. This leaves a possible loophole for sellers of poached ivory to exploit. Now stable isotope analysis could…
In the Andes, the rise of agriculture to replace foraging was not the result of hardship and resource scarcity, but instead a time of economic resilience and innovation, according to a study published June 25, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Luis Flores-Blanco of the University of California…
Hot tubs and saunas can both soothe aching muscles and provide welcome warmth, but hot tubs might offer greater health benefits. That’s the takeaway from a new study done by researchers in the Bowerman Sports Science Center at the University of Oregon, which compared the physiological effects of soaking in…
When and where the earliest modern human populations migrated and settled in East Asia are relatively well known. However, how these populations moved between islands on treacherous stretches of sea is still shrouded in mystery. In two new papers, researchers from Japan and Taiwan led by Professor Yousuke Kaifu from…
A new study from the Cellular Ageing and Senescence laboratory at Queen Mary University of London’s Cenfre for Molecular Cell Biology, reveals how caffeine — the world’s most popular neuroactive compound — might do more than just wake you up. The study in the journal Microbial Cell shows how caffeine could…
Inhabiting Mars has long been a futuristic fantasy fueled by science fiction. However, successful landings on our neighboring planet over the past half-century have made this seemingly far-fetched idea increasingly plausible. But don’t start packing just yet. First, we must figure out how to build structures millions of miles from…
Researchers have discovered two new viruses in bats that are closely related to the deadly Nipah and Hendra viruses — pathogens that can cause severe brain inflammation and respiratory disease in humans. The viruses, as well as other new viruses, bacteria, and parasites identified from bat kidneys, were reported this…
For over a century, scientists have puzzled over a fundamental mystery in our evolutionary history: how did mammals go from sprawling like lizards to striding like cats and dogs? This transition — from a sprawled stance (like a lizard) to an upright (parasagittal) posture — marked a pivotal moment in…
In a new paper with implications for preventing Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders, Keith Hengen, an associate professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, suggests a new comprehensive approach to understanding how the brain works and the rules it must follow to reach…
The skin acts as the body’s first line of defense against external threats. However, as we age, the epidermis — the outermost layer of skin — gradually becomes thinner and loses its protective strength. About 90% of the cells in this layer are keratinocytes, which originate from deeper layers of…
A multinational team of researchers, co-led by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, has developed and tested a new AI tool to better characterize the diversity of individual cells within tumors, opening doors for more targeted therapies for patients. Findings on the development and use of the AI tool, called…
From the bright lights of cities that don’t sleep — where people hustle and bustle through the night to keep subways, servers, and supply chains alive — to the whisper-dark understory of tropical forests where ants hum in syncopated lines, the planet’s most intricate societies hinge on round-the-clock cooperation and…
It’s no secret that women often become less interested in sex with age. However, orgasm and satisfaction have been shown to not decline significantly with age. A new study suggests regular sexual activity may limit vulvar pain, irritation, and dryness, which are all common reasons women have less sex as…
Researchers at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine have found that semaglutide, a popular diabetes and weight-loss drug, may lower the risk of dementia in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Dementia, a condition that slowly makes it harder for people to remember things and think clearly, occurs when…
Quantum computers can solve extraordinarily complex problems, unlocking new possibilities in fields such as drug development, encryption, AI, and logistics. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed a highly efficient amplifier that activates only when reading information from qubits. Thanks to its smart design, it consumes…
A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identifies a possible way to slow or block progression of age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in people over age 50. The WashU Medicine researchers and their international collaborators implicated problems with cholesterol metabolism in this…
The question of whether Earth is alone in harboring life has captivated humanity for millennia. In recent years, scientists have turned to Earth-like planets in other solar systems that may show the most promise, but many revolve around stars that emit much stronger solar radiation than our own. Now, a…
Years after wildfires burn forests and watersheds, the contaminants left behind continue to poison rivers and streams across the Western U.S. — much longer than scientists estimated. A new study, published on June 23 in Nature Communications Earth & Environment, analyzed water quality in more than 500 watersheds across the Western…
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a mental health condition that negatively affects the mood of a person and causes a loss of interest in activities that were previously associated with happiness. In addition to cognitive impairments and forgetfulness, MDD can significantly affect social and occupational areas of functioning. Studies investigating…
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have developed a gene therapy for Alzheimer’s disease that could help protect the brain from damage and preserve cognitive function. Unlike existing treatments for Alzheimer’s that target unhealthy protein deposits in the brain, the new approach could help address the…
New research from the University of California, Davis, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Texas A&M University reveals that massive emissions, or burps, of carbon dioxide from natural earth systems led to significant decreases in ocean oxygen concentrations some 300 million years ago. Combining geochemical analyses of sediment cores and…
A new study reveals that the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein can spread from infected to uninfected cells, triggering an immune response that mistakenly targets healthy cells. The research identifies how this viral protein binds to cell surfaces and shows that enoxaparin, a common anticoagulant, can block this harmful interaction, pointing to…
Primates, birds, and elephants are all known to make tools, but examples of tool use among marine animals are much more limited. Reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on June 23, a team of whale experts has found widespread tool manufacture and usage in an endangered population of…
New analysis of the remains of two ‘puppies’ dating back more than 14,000 years ago has shown that they are most likely wolves, and not related to domestic dogs, as previously suggested. The genetic analysis also proved that the cubs were sisters at the age of around two months, and…
