Explore the latest scientific discoveries, science news, breakthroughs and developments from around the world.
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.
People are often asked simple questions, such as the price of the cheapest flight to a particular destination. But the answers—and how they are perceived—can reveal far more than the cost of that trip itself. For example, whether a person believes that the response "It's $200" means $200 or assumes that the figure has been rounded up or down depends on their perception of the person giving the answer.
Investigating a scientific question is often a complex process. As an astrophysicist studying some of the most energetic phenomena in the universe, I know that finding answers requires much more than reading scientific papers or understanding existing theories. Astrophysical research involves collecting observations, analyzing data, building physical models and comparing their predictions with observations. These tasks require different scientific tools, databases and modeling software and can take considerable time even for experienced researchers.
Researchers at Tohoku University and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) have successfully controlled a unique quantum phenomenon—the quantum-geometric nonlinear Hall (QgNLH) state—using electric current for the first time. The breakthrough was achieved by revealing and exploiting the coupling between the spin structure and the QgNLH state in an electrically switchable chiral antiferromagnet.
A new biomechanical study has uncovered how elite volleyball players control ball spin during jump serves, offering fresh scientific insight into one of the sport's most decisive offensive skills.
Detecting a single photon is a challenge in itself. But what if you also want to know exactly how many photons arrive at a particular point at the same time? Physicist Erik Baalbergen is working on light detectors that can do just that. They form a key building block for the optical quantum computer of the future.
Climate change is affecting not only our weather but also the distribution of parasites and the diseases they can carry. One example is the growing presence of Hyalomma ticks in parts of Europe where they were previously uncommon. These ticks are of particular interest because they can transmit Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV), a pathogen that can cause serious, sometimes life-threatening illness in humans. Hyalomma ticks are typically found in warm and dry regions of Africa, Asia and southern Europe. However, they have increasingly been reported farther north, including in Central Europe.
Antarctic blue whales appear to be creeping back from the brink of extinction after 50 years of protection. A new study estimates the total population at 4,018, up from 418 after the last reported whale catch in 1973.