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Tropical ecosystems are famous for their teeming, exuberant diversity. In fact, the dramatic increase in biodiversity from the poles to the tropics
Private retirement savings are an increasingly important topic in public debate. One popular idea is to phrase savings reminders in one of two ways: either you emphasize what someone stands to lose if they don
Armed with dozens of motion-sensing cameras, William Grooms spent this past summer documenting wildlife across Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico. It was his first field season collecting photos for a two-year study to understand how forest structure influences biodiversity in the Southern Rocky Mountains.
There are at least 14 million insect species on Earth, and they play highly diverse roles in sustaining the natural world. Insects provide many well-known benefits
An academic abstract, a blog post and a public outreach article all place different demands on the writer. Readers
In a new Nature Physics study, researchers demonstrated the Aharonov-Bohm effect in a quantum simulation of a lattice gauge theory using a hybrid trapped-ion quantum computer.
The Mediterranean Sea still holds species unknown to science. One of them is Copula lucentia, a tiny jellyfish measuring just a few millimeters. Discovered off El Campello, in Alicante, it was formally described in 2024 by a research team at the University of Alicante (UA) Marine Laboratory in D
Glaciers are often thought of as unyielding blocks of ice that slowly carve out the landscape as they move downhill by gravity. But sometimes their slow crawl becomes a surge that sees them move orders of magnitude faster than their usual speed.
Medieval health and sanitation efforts involved deliberate interventions; however, some of these measures had the opposite effect, leading to an increased spread of disease in Trondheim.
An alternative model in which the universe is 26.7 billion years old and needs neither dark matter nor dark energy has held up against several major cosmology tests, according to a new University of Ottawa study. The research, titled
To protect their future harvests, Western Canadian farmers need to manage soil acidity across their entire multiyear rotation rather than crop by crop, long-term research from the University of Alberta suggests.
For people across South Asia, especially in northern India, Diwali celebrations coincide with the return of hazardous winter air, raising concerns about how to celebrate safely.
Meteorologists said Friday they were observing an unprecedented early disruption of the polar vortex, raising the risk of cold snaps across the Northern Hemisphere, though there remains significant uncertainty.
Japan on Friday announced an emergency cybersecurity package that includes the use of artificial intelligence and cyber rescue teams after a wave of massive data breaches hit major companies and government agencies.
It would seem difficult to miss a 15,000-pound (6,804-kilogram) baby, but for months scientists who study rare whales did just that, and now they couldn
It took around 480,000 trucks to haul away 4.8 million metric tons (5.3 million tons) of rubble across western Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa tore through the Caribbean in 2025, United Nations satellites showed.
A figure in red trudges across a blanket of white. Snow squeaks under the scientist
Few insects have a more gruesome lifestyle than Darwin wasps. Rather than simply hunting other animals, these parasitic wasps lay their eggs on or inside living hosts, including caterpillars, beetles and spiders. Their larvae then feed on their hosts, gradually consuming them and eventually killing them.
Traditional lenses and mirrors focus light using curved surfaces. Metasurfaces can achieve similar functions with a flat layer of nanoscale structures that locally control the phase of light. Extending these flat optics into the ultraviolet could support compact systems for high-resolution imaging, spectroscopy, and sensing, but it introduces a fundamental materials problem: many of the materials used to make metasurfaces strongly absorb UV light.
Metabolites are consumed by enzymes to produce other vital molecules as well as to control metabolite levels. But how do cells avoid consuming too much? Researchers from the MPI of Biochemistry, with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the de Duve Institute in Brussels, have deciphered such molecular regulation in tryptophan metabolism. The essential amino acid tryptophan binds to a second site on the enzyme TDO2, distinct from where it is consumed. This sequesters a region needed by two ef
Microplastics have been found in our bodies and the food we eat
The extreme heat waves we have seen over the last few years may only serve as a preview of what is to come as a result of climate change. A new study led by researcher Philipp Aglas-Leitner from Freie Universit
Throughout the drug development process, which can take a decade or more, tens of thousands of chemical compounds are produced that never go on to become medicines. A Florida State University researcher is part of a team that has discovered a new way to give some of these
For the first time, an international team of researchers from Germany, Thailand, India, China and the United States has created a three-component Hubbard system with tunable interactions in the laboratory. In doing so, the team used a quantum gas microscope to make the individual atoms visible. The study, published in Science, provides an important foundation for future quantum simulations of nuclear physics and materials science.
Forest areas can act both as carbon sinks and as vital habitats for thousands of species
Where oceanic crust subducts beneath continental crust, belts of volcanoes known as continental arcs can form. Located around the world, these arcs may undergo episodic magma flare-ups
Artificial intelligence is helping Texas A
When a company suffers a cyberattack, leaks customer data or faces a major public scandal, telling the truth is essential. But new research suggests it is not enough on its own: organizations also need to communicate early, treat people with respect and show how they intend to put things right.
Researchers have demonstrated three new techniques to prevent so-called
Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have identified a specialized lipid barrier in the fruit fly pupa that protects against dehydration in dry and hot environments. Their findings also expose the lipid barrier
A battery material can look perfect in the lab and still fail in a real battery. That is the puzzle facing researchers working on solid electrolytes, the materials seen as key to safer, longer-lasting batteries.
Food spoilage causes chemical changes that are not always easy to detect by appearance alone. To provide a clearer indication of freshness and quality, researchers at Kyushu University have developed a smart packaging film that changes color and glows under ultraviolet (UV) light as meat loses freshness. Tested with refrigerated mutton, the film responds to compounds released during spoilage, offering two ways to track changes in food quality. The findings are published in the Chemical Engineeri
We live in a noisy world. Whether it is the roar of traffic, the rumble of ships or the hum of heavy industry, there is often no escaping noise unless you are a hermit on a desert island.
This year may be seen as a turning point in the climate crisis. The U.N. has accepted that global warming is going to exceed 1.5
Optical cavities are pairs of light-trapping mirrors and underpin the operation of lasers, atomic clocks and many types of precision sensors. If the distance between the mirrors is changed rapidly enough, some theories predict that the waves inside them should bunch together into short, intense pulses. So far, however, this prediction has never been tested directly.
Like many of us, I always enjoy the John Lewis Christmas ad and 2026 is no different. This year, I love the fact that the star of the show is a grandmother.
Penn State researchers have refined an atom-scale model of how silicon carbide changes from a solid into vapor during crystal growth, work that could help manufacturers produce higher-quality material for advanced electronics while reducing costly trial-and-error experiments.
Sports betting has grown explosively since 2018, when a U.S. Supreme Court ruling struck down a federal ban on it. Now, Americans wager more than $165 billion on sports annually, contributing to an industry larger than state-run lotteries even excluding prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket.
Matter starts to behave differently at extremely low temperatures, creating conditions ideal for studying quantum physics and new states of matter. Now, researchers from China have achieved a new low-temperature record aboard their Tiangong space station. Their research, recently published in Science, might lead to a new generation of experiments in quantum physics and precision measurements in space.
When you walk through a gallery, admiring the paintings on the walls, what you are seeing are finished products. They are the result of countless hours of learning and practice and trial and error, but none of that is on display.
The growth of artificial intelligence has increased demand for more efficient data storage. Instead of adding bulk to satiate this appetite, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are working to increase memory capacity by manipulating materials
Human cells turn genetic instructions into proteins with great precision. Critical for the translation of this information are transfer RNAs, or tRNAs, small molecules that read the genetic code three letters at a time and bring the matching building blocks of proteins, the amino acids, to the cell
It would greatly benefit the environment and climate if nylon
A robotic truss builder that was conceived, designed and built by Caltech researchers has successfully built a structure in space
An international team of researchers led by UT Southwestern Medical Center has developed a versatile light-sheet microscope that captures 3D views of biological samples, from activity inside living cells to larger tissues. Designed to make detailed imaging much simpler and faster, the approach could help laboratories stretch equipment budgets and expand research that may ultimately inform patient care.
The broad-headed snake (Hoplocephalus bungaroides), one of Australia

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