Latest science news, discoveries and scientific developments.
UNSW engineers have identified a number of chemicals that may merit closer scrutiny to ensure water utility companies and regulators can make informed decisions about the management of biosolids.
Using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), an international team led by Leiden University has produced the sharpest and most sensitive radio image of the sky ever made at low radio frequencies. The image reveals almost 63,000 radio sources, such as active galactic nuclei and star-forming galaxies, across a patch of sky about 25 times the area of the full moon. The results have been accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. The paper is currently available on the arXiv preprint server.
Children in some of India's poorest families may be missing out on free school meals because the scheme does not match parents' aspirations for their futures, new research has revealed.
Researchers revealed an ultralow-barrier collective sliding mechanism mediated by domain walls, as well as defect-induced pinning of the sliding motion. They found that twisted bilayer MoS₂ moiré superlattices can undergo spontaneous long-range interlayer sliding at room temperature, while a sulfur-vacancy concentration of only about 0.1% can turn the motion into localized oscillations.
Microbes build a long-lived nitrogen reservoir in soil from the remains of dead bacteria and fungi, which cling to minerals and resist decay. The microbial nitrogen pump turns nitrogen taken up by living microbes into this persistent pool, and microbial nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) has long been assumed to regulate this process.
Human societies could lose the ability to respond to worsening climate change, scientists have warned.
X-rays with wavelengths between approximately 2.3 and 4.4 nanometers, i.e., in the so-called water window, are particularly well suited to examining biological samples in their natural, aqueous environment. To date, however, it has been technically difficult to access this type of radiation at an appropriate quality and intensity, as only free-electron lasers in large-scale accelerator systems are capable of generating it.
What did the algae that gave rise to the first land plants look like? A research team led by the University of Göttingen and including the universities of Maastricht and Innsbruck and Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales has now taken a detailed look at one of the most important groups for answering this question: the Zygnematophyceae, the closest living algal relatives of land plants. These include familiar-looking filamentous algae such as Spirogyra, as well as many that just consist of single cells. Despite their relatively simple appearance, they are particularly important for understanding plant evolution due to their close relationship with land plants.
You have probably performed a sandwich assay before, even if you didn't know it. Sandwich assays are the molecular sensing technology behind lateral flow tests like the at-home COVID test. After a sample is dripped onto the test strip, it combines with detector antibodies attached to tiny gold particles, which bind to any viral proteins present. When the sample reaches the test line, a second antibody anchored to the strip binds to a different site on the viral protein, creating a molecular "sandwich." As the gold particles accumulate, the test line turns dark red, becoming visible to the naked eye.
Accurate fish-weight estimates can help aquaculture operators manage feeding, monitor growth and plan harvests. However, conventional underwater imaging methods often require substantial computing power and can struggle with reflections, bubbles and turbid water.
Exposure to toxic metals like cadmium has been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as miscarriage, preterm birth and low birth weight. Because these effects are difficult and ethically challenging to study directly in pregnant women, how such exposures affect pregnancy has remained poorly understood.
Doing more with less has become standard operating procedure for many in the current economic climate. And for some in the wake of France's 1998 workweek reduction, it was in response to a reform that's still being debated today.
High losses of honeybee colonies, which play a crucial role in global food production, have caused concern around the world. Many potential factors for the population declines have been cited, but a potentially significant threat to pollinator health—environmental antibiotic pollution from agricultural sources—has been largely overlooked, according to a new article published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
In the first fraction of a second following the Big Bang, matter existed as a trillion-degree plasma of quarks and gluons—subatomic particles that zinged around at close to the speed of light. This roiling soup lasted for just a few microseconds before the particles coalesced into more stable protons and neutrons.
In an Amsterdam prison during the Nazi occupation, Sal Bramson drew his cell on pieces of cotton cloth. He added handwritten explanations and sent these messages to his mother, concealed inside a shirt collar among the prison laundry. The cloth could travel because it passed as something ordinary. Its material was part of what made communication possible.
As offshore wind development expands along the U.S. Atlantic Coast, understanding its potential effects on marine ecosystems is increasingly important.
For devout leaf peepers, timing is everything. A new study led by researchers from Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment shows that leaf nutrient levels affect the onset of fall color. The findings, published in Nature Communications, could improve leaf drop forecasts and carbon cycle tracking.
How we feel about taking a break from our screens could tell us something important about the way we behave online, according to new research from the University of Bath and Goethe University Frankfurt. Researchers have developed the first validated scale specifically designed to measure people's attitudes toward temporarily reducing their digital consumption, finding considerable differences in how positively people view the prospect of switching off.
Around 450 million metric tons of plastics are produced worldwide each year. The major share of this sheer volume is used only once and then winds up in an incinerator or in landfills. This also applies to so-called polyolefins, which include polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). As packaging materials and films, they account for approximately half of our plastic consumption.
Listening to someone recount their visit to an amusement park can feel like being on an emotional roller coaster yourself. Even if the listeners have never set foot in the park, they can still empathize with the other person's feelings: the deep disappointment when it turns out that their favorite ride is closed. The joy—at having the best ice cream of their life. And the embarrassment—after that ice cream abruptly left their stomach on the Freefall Tower. Put simply: whatever the other person is feeling, we feel it with them.