Stay informed about scientific discoveries, research developments and new findings from around the world.
Chemicals affect biological species in different ways, posing a major challenge for assessing environmental chemical risks. However, the mechanisms behind these differences have remained largely unknown.
One of biology's fundamental questions is how our genes shape who we are. Adrian Serohijos and Stephen Michnick, professors in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at Université de Montréal's Faculty of Medicine, are studying the relationship between genotype and phenotype—that is, how DNA becomes RNA, then protein, and ultimately gives rise to observable characteristics in an individual or any other living organism. "We're trying to unravel the mechanisms of the genome, specifically how the information it encodes is processed inside the cell," Serohijos says.
Changes in rainfall can trigger increases in rodent populations and subsequent spikes in infection, new research has found, revealing how a changing climate could have consequences for human health.
Olefin metathesis is one of the most important reactions in organic chemistry for forming carbon–carbon bonds—for example, in the production of pharmaceuticals, plastics and complex natural products. However, previous ruthenium catalysts that enable this reaction have faced a major challenge: They rapidly degrade in aqueous or biological environments, making their use in natural systems such as cells or blood extremely difficult.
At the end of the last ice age, early humans crisscrossed the Americas following seasons, rivers and game, often with a trusty spear in hand. Nearly 13,000 years later, archaeologists are using those spearheads to study how America's first inhabitants understood risk.
A spore is a bacterium's survival capsule: dried almost solid and wrapped in protein armor, with its chemical processes shut down. Bacteria enter this state of hibernation when environmental conditions are unfavorable. What's left is close to indestructible: It can survive boiling, desiccation, radiation and the vacuum of space. NASA once bolted Bacillus spores to the outside of a satellite and left them in orbit for nearly six years; the ones shielded from sunlight were able to come back to life upon returning to Earth.
Who, really, is the best player in baseball? Ask five sports media outlets and you may get five different answers. Rankings can vary dramatically from one source to another, change from year to year and leave out different players altogether, making it difficult to determine where there is genuine consensus and where opinions diverge.
Countless employees across the country are experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline workflows and increase productivity. Yet many are keeping these solutions to themselves.
When the Islamic Society of Santa Barbara welcomed its community to its newly built mosque in 2019, nearly 19 years had passed since it purchased the property. The city's permitting process alone took 10 years. The project faced delays during 16 public hearings, at which residents of the suburban town of Goleta raised concerns, particularly about where worshippers would park their cars.
More than two-thirds of newly flooded coastlines worldwide could become suitable habitat for 122 non-native marine species—including Chinese mitten crabs, Pacific oysters and Asian tiger shrimp—by the middle and end of this century. The research, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, identifies coastal regions at heightened risk, including the eastern United States, the Gulf of Mexico, coastlines bordering the North Sea, southeastern China and northern Australia.
Maya Mangala-Munuma '25 first noticed it in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan. When she walked from an affluent neighborhood to a more impoverished one, it wasn't just the houses and demographics that changed. The trees did, too.
A pregnant female Ormia ochracea fly has a challenging problem to solve. She must listen for the song of a male cricket, locate him in the dark and use him as a host for her developing offspring.
California's iconic coast redwoods are used to growing in cool, coastal areas where the average temperature is around 59 degrees F (15 degrees Celsius). But as average yearly temperatures rise and heat waves push temperatures above 100 degrees F (38 degrees Celsius), the trees are responding by slowing the very process that nourishes them, according to a study from the University of California, Davis.
A Missouri S&T research team is studying asphalt binders, the materials that hold road materials together, to better understand how they perform and help improve the durability of Missouri's roads. Because roads are constantly exposed to sunlight, changing weather and the stress of daily traffic, these binders can break down over time, making reliable testing essential.
Starliner hasn’t flown since its failed 2024 mission left two astronauts onboard the International Space Station for 286 days
Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a 1,700-year-old limestone tomb with a rare poem inscribed on it in ancient Greek, likely from a son lamenting his father's death. The tomb, which has a pyramid-shaped roof, dates to the fourth century, when the Roman Empire controlled Egypt. A team found it in the Dakhla Oasis, near ancient Mothis (modern-day Mut), a prominent city in the oasis. Built for a husband and wife, the tomb has a stone plaque containing a 19-line poem written in ancient Greek, representatives of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a translated statement. The deceased man was named Pisechtes and may have been a judge. However, the statement didn't mention...
Viruses such as influenza A and dengue can hijack a cellular system that helps manage protein aggregates. Previous work by FMI emeritus group leader Patrick Matthias and his team showed that a small protein called ubiquitin plays an important role in this process.
Black pod disease destroys up to a quarter of the world's cacao every year, roughly 700,000 metric tons worth more than $2 billion. The water mold responsible across the Americas is Phytophthora palmivora, and in Colombia it is the dominant Phytophthora on cacao. How it travels among the country's three Andean regions, though, has remained an open question.
Quantum batteries are an emerging area of research, with progress coming from theoretical studies and proof-of-principle experiments in small quantum systems. Unlike conventional chemical batteries used in everyday life, they use quantum systems to store and transfer energy. Researchers are exploring them as potential future energy sources for quantum processors and other quantum technologies.
To survive periods of drought, trees halt photosynthesis, a highly water-intensive process. For every molecule of CO₂ absorbed by a tree leaf, an average of around 400 water molecules are released. Entire forests may then end up emitting more CO₂ than they capture.
When a big credit card bill arrives or the rent is due, that stress can spill into our closest relationships, adding another source of tension between partners.
Microbial cell factories that produce pharmaceutical ingredients and other useful compounds include both the bacterium Escherichia coli and yeast, the organism used to leaven bread and ferment alcohol. The two organisms turn genes on by different rules, so a production design built for one has been hard to transfer to the other.
Teachers are increasingly turning from print textbooks to online materials to teach their courses. But when tasked with finding information online, they can encounter questionable or unreliable material.
There's big news from the quantum world. A quantum computer has been used in space for the first time. The device was aboard a spacecraft in low Earth orbit and demonstrated technology that could eventually help solve a problem that has been bugging satellites for years.