Phys.org

Allen Schnibben

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is commonly associated with both health concerns and poor visibility. However, these two effects do not necessarily improve or worsen at the same time.

Where did the energy come from to power the chemical origin of life, and how did phosphate come to be the universal energy currency of cells? Biologists from the Institute of Molecular Evolution at Heinrich Heine University D

Anyone who has ever tried and failed to swat a fly has experienced the speed of a tiny nervous system. Now, a new review brings together evidence that its secret lies partly in microscopic movements and shape changes within sensory cells and neurons, challenging conventional views of how brains process information.

Many outdoor enthusiasts have spent hours in front of a computer, racing to reserve a campsite, backpacking permit or national park entrance ticket. A recent study suggests that the way these reservation systems are designed can favor higher-income visitors.

Why do the gut microbiomes of people from industrialized and nonindustrialized regions differ? A study by the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) in collaboration with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the University of Trento (Italy) and the University of T

A study from the Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), one of the centers under the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), presents a new method to reveal hidden material disorder reflected in complex photoluminescence spectra, paving the way for new optical diagnostics of material disorder in two-dimensional semiconductors and related light-emitting materials.

When a person falls and gets a cut or a scrape, they often use hydrogen peroxide to clean the wound. This molecular compound is also produced within our cells, helping our immune system build its defenses against harmful bacteria or other pathogens. Hydrogen peroxide is produced inside plants, too, where it acts as a messenger, telling cells to beef up a plant

The Egyptian goose, native to Africa, is considered an invasive species of Europe-wide significance. Researchers from the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Center and Goethe University Frankfurt spent four years investigating the ecological and economic impacts of its expansion.

A joint research team led by professors Seunghyun Baik and Joonmyung Choi from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) has developed a new nanocomposite material whose electrical and thermal conductivities increase as it is stretched. The team successfully applied it to stable heat dissipation for foldable phones.

Favorite songs can stay with us for a lifetime, but their shelf life on the music charts is fleetingly short. Tracks that shoot up the U.S. Billboard charts may flood the airwaves for a short while, but just a few weeks later, they have vanished. The outlook for albums is far more enduring, according to a new paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

Older adults enjoy spending time in peaceful, green spaces, but not in complete isolation. For her Ph.D. research, Anne Grave investigated which characteristics are most important for the ideal living environment for people age 70 and older. Her findings show that relaxation occurs where tranquility, nature, safety and the presence of other people come together. By gathering input directly from older adults, she provides designers of public spaces with valuable insights into the needs of older r

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has unveiled numerous stars formerly hidden by clouds of dust in a stellar nursery known as NGC 7129

Artificial intelligence is making it easier than ever to create convincing fake political content and harder to tell what

Evidence for hypernovae, theorized to be the most powerful explosions in the universe, has been disputed in two papers by University College London (UCL) researchers.

Findings recently published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics provide, according to the study

Following the major Cyclospora outbreak linked to iceberg lettuce, consumers might assume that produce labeled

Earth seems like a troubled place right now, but at least our cosmic surroundings appear peaceful. This is not universally true, as explosions, collisions and other dangers lurk in other places and times.

The world is changing. As humans, we tend to focus on what happens on land, but the planet

In eastern Ethiopia, pressures like conflict and displacement are changing how people and their camels travel, shifting livestock into new environments and potentially influencing the risk of zoonotic diseases spreading between animals and humans.

As voters seeking information about political issues increasingly turn to LLMs to do research, will AI lead them astray with hallucinations and bias, distorting the democratic process? Maybe not, according to a study of AI use in the 2024 U.K. election, published in PNAS Nexus.

An abundance of complex molecules has been proposed as a universal signature of life.

A team from Flinders University

It

The University of York

In the humid tropics of Southeast Asia, afternoon thunderstorms roll through almost every day. Daytime heat causes towering, fluffy cumulonimbus clouds to form and swell before unleashing torrential rain on cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok. In these places, drainage systems are designed to cope with short, heavy downpours.

Seagrasses are flowering plants that thrive in marine environments and form extensive meadows along the tropical Queensland coast. New James Cook University research shows the seagrass meadows of Trinity Inlet in Cairns Harbor have recovered after severe cyclones and flooding nearly wiped them out

More than half of the Ecuadorian Amazon has been marked for oil drilling, overlapping with Indigenous territories and areas of high biodiversity. The ecological and cultural impacts of oil extraction are well documented and have fueled some of Latin America

Municipalities are increasingly mowing dikes and verges in stages, so that insects can make longer use of the plants growing there. Mowing is essential to keep a dike strong, explains ecologist Constant Swinkels of Radboud University.

According to a Pew survey conducted this year, about half of U.S. adults say that they spend too much time on their phone. About a quarter say that they are on their phone

One of the hardest challenges in wildlife conservation arises when the habitat of a species in need of protection overlaps with land used by humans. Wolves and bears can kill livestock, elephants can damage homes and other property and wild boar can damage crops.

Stories about AI systems deceiving users, cooperating with one another or pursuing their own goals increasingly invite us to talk about them as if they had minds of their own. But do people really believe that AI is conscious? A new LMU study suggests that they draw a surprisingly sharp line between intelligent behavior and consciousness.

Electric cars are dangerous, bad for the environment and impossible to use in the outback. These are just some of the claims circulating among Australians skeptical of the switch to EVs, new research finds.

From our smartphones to advanced industrial systems, cameras have become an integral part of modern life. Conventional cameras capture scenes as a sequence of frames at fixed time intervals. In contrast, event cameras detect changes in brightness at each pixel as they occur and record them asynchronously as

Remote waters are difficult to monitor. Boats can take a long time to reach them, while aircraft cannot remain there for extended periods. To close that gap, researchers at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) have developed a nature-inspired robotic platform. Released from the air, it lands on water, rights itself and then sails autonomously using wind energy.

As communities across the U.S. grapple with the rapid spread of Flock cameras and questions about who can access the data they collect, a new study from a University of Massachusetts Amherst public policy researcher reframes the debate to ask a more basic question: Does the technology serve the public?

Anyone who has used ChatGPT or another artificial intelligence chatbot has likely seen a disclaimer that its answers may be incorrect. Large language models are built to generate the most probable response to a prompt. Even when they lack reliable information, they may produce an answer that sounds convincing rather than acknowledge uncertainty.

Addiction, violence, aggression, social withdrawal: Video games have been in the crosshairs for a litany of negative impacts. Researchers at Macquarie University, however, are working on the premise that video games can have positive impacts, too

AI-generated summaries are becoming increasingly prevalent

For weeks, Indonesia has been battling fires that have burned vast swaths of forest and peat ecosystems, causing toxic haze to blanket parts of the country, Malaysia and Singapore.

Meta unveiled several new wearables powered by its AI models Wednesday, including an audio-only, camera-free version of its smart glasses, amid global concerns about privacy and the filming of women and girls without their consent.

Apple

Meta is going all in on a consumer-friendly AI agent and pushing forward with AI-powered wearable devices during a moment in the industry when its CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged it is a