More than 2,100 people are evacuated as an Indonesian volcano spews clouds of ash
More than 2,100 people living near an erupting volcano on Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island were evacuated Friday due to the dangers of spreading ash, falling rocks, hot volcanic clouds and the possibility of a tsunami. ⌘ Read more

Global study finds there really are more insects out after dark
Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? ⌘ Read more

Remote Indonesia volcano erupts again after thousands evacuated
A remote Indonesian volcano sent a tower of ash spewing into the sky Friday, after nearly half a dozen eruptions earlier this week forced thousands to evacuate when molten rocks rained down on their villages. ⌘ Read more

Indonesia on alert for more eruptions at remote volcano
Indonesian authorities were on alert Friday for more eruptions from a remote island volcano that forced thousands to evacuate this week, as nearby residents began clearing debris after molten rocks rained down on their villages. ⌘ Read more

Key protein regulates immune response to viruses in mammal cells
Researchers have revealed the regulatory mechanism of a specific protein that plays a key role in balancing the immune response triggered by viral infections in mammal cells. These findings could help drive the development of antiviral therapies and nucleic acid medicines to treat genetic disorders. The research is published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research. ⌘ Read more

First evidence of ancient human occupation found in giant lava tube cave in Saudi Arabia
If you look from above, you can see thousands of stone structures dotting the landscape of the Arabian peninsula. On the ground, you can find a bounty of stone tools and ancient fireplaces scattered along the edges of ancient lakes, as well as rock art depicting hunting and herding scenes in the surrounding mountains. ⌘ Read more

Why the kookaburra’s iconic laugh is at risk of being silenced
Once, while teaching a class of environmental science students in China’s Hebei University of Science and Technology, I asked who knew what a laughing kookaburra was. There were many blank faces. Then I tilted my head, much like a kookaburra does, and opened my mouth: “kok-kak-KAK-KAK-KAK-KOK-KAK-KOK-kook-kook-kok, kok, kok.” I became the “bushman’s alarm clock”. ⌘ Read more

Materials follow the ‘Rule of Four,’ but scientists don’t know why yet
Scientists are normally happy to find regularities and correlations in their data—but only if they can explain them. Otherwise, they worry that those patterns might just be revealing some flaw in the data itself, so-called experimental artifacts. ⌘ Read more

SpaceX tallies 1st of two launches over two days from Space Coast
SpaceX launched Wednesday evening the first of a pair of Space Coast rockets in two days, both carrying batches of the company’s Starlink satellites. ⌘ Read more

Indonesians leave homes near erupting volcano and airport closes due to ash danger
Indonesian authorities closed an airport and residents left homes near an erupting volcano Thursday due to the dangers of spreading ash, falling rocks, hot volcanic clouds and the possibility of a tsunami. ⌘ Read more

Here’s why experts don’t think cloud seeding played a role in Dubai’s downpour
With cloud seeding, it may rain, but it doesn’t really pour or flood—at least nothing like what drenched the United Arab Emirates and paralyzed Dubai, meteorologists said. ⌘ Read more

Researchers identify genetic variant that helped shape human skull base evolution
Humans, Homo sapiens, have unique features compared with other closely related hominin species and primates, including the shape of the base of the skull. The evolutionary changes underlying these features were significant in allowing the evolution of our increased brain size. ⌘ Read more

Mountain chickadees have remarkable memories. A new study explains why
Lost your keys? Can’t remember where you parked the car? If only you had the memory of a mountain chickadee. ⌘ Read more

Higher density living is changing the way neighborhoods work in Canada
There is growing concern about people’s unwillingness to get to know their neighbors. This concern is significant enough to have spurred research into what has been termed the “emerging asocial society”—one of the challenge areas of an initiative called Imagining Canada’s Future. ⌘ Read more

Astronomers discover the most metal-poor extreme helium star
Using the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), astronomers have performed high-resolution observations of a recently detected extreme helium star designated EC 19529–4430. It turned out that EC 19529–4430 is the most metal deficient among the population of known extreme helium stars. The finding was reported in a research paper published April 5 on the pre-print server arXiv. ⌘ Read more

Silver-based micromotors that eliminate bacteria can move freely in aqueous media
Researchers at ICIQ in Tarragona have developed a simple technique to produce microscopic crystals that activate in the presence of light, releasing silver ions with antimicrobial activity. ⌘ Read more

NASA’s VIPER moon rover gets its head and neck
In this image from Feb. 12, 2024, engineers lift a mast into place on NASA’s VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) robotic moon rover. VIPER’s mast and the suite of instruments affixed to it look a lot like the rover’s “neck” and “head.” The mast instruments are designed to help the team of rover drivers and real-time scientists send commands and receive data while the rover navigates around hazardous crater slopes, boulders, and places that … ⌘ Read more

Supreme Court to consider whether local governments can make it a crime to sleep outside if no inside space is available
On April 22, 2024, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could radically change how cities respond to the growing problem of homelessness. It also could significantly worsen the nation’s racial justice gap. ⌘ Read more

‘Urban form’ and the housing crisis: Can streets and buildings make a neighborhood more affordable?
As of 2007, most humans live in cities. Though this is a relatively recent trend, many of our settlements contain street, block, and building patterns that have developed over centuries. These patterns—which collectively make up what we call “urban form”—are far from a neutral backdrop: they influence who lives where, what businesses find footholds in which locations, and what makes some areas … ⌘ Read more

Attosecond imaging made possible by short and powerful laser pulses
Extremely short pulses of laser light with a peak power of 6 terawatts (6 trillion watts)—roughly equivalent to the power produced by 6,000 nuclear power plants—have been realized by two RIKEN physicists. This achievement will help further develop attosecond lasers, for which three researchers were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2023. The work is published in the journal Nature Photonics. ⌘ Read more

Seed ferns experimented with complex leaf vein networks 201 million years ago, paleontologists find
According to a research team led by paleontologists from the University of Vienna, the net-like leaf veining typical for today’s flowering plants developed much earlier than previously thought, but died out again several times. Using new methods, the fossilized plant Furcula granulifer was identified as an early forerunner. The leaves of this seed fern species already exhibited the net-like veining in the … ⌘ Read more

Most massive stellar black hole in our galaxy found
Astronomers have identified the most massive stellar black hole yet discovered in the Milky Way galaxy. This black hole was spotted in data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission because it imposes an odd ‘wobbling’ motion on the companion star orbiting it. Data from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) and other ground-based observatories were used to verify the mass of the black hole, putting it at an impres … ⌘ Read more

New analysis reveals the brutal history of the Winchcombe meteorite’s journey through space
Intensive new nano-analysis of the Winchcombe meteorite has revealed how it was affected by water and repeatedly smashed apart and reassembled on the journey it took through space before landing in an English sheep field in 2021. ⌘ Read more

Officials sued over farm chemicals near Latino schools
For Nelly Vaquera-Boggs, the plastic tarps that cover strawberry fields in Monterey County, California, when they are being fumigated with toxic chemicals offer little comfort—especially when those fields are close to schools. ⌘ Read more

Victorian London was a city in flux: Architectural models helped the public visualize the changes
In 1848, the British government decided to draw up a precisely measured map of London. Imperial expansion had seen the city develop quickly, particularly around the docks and the City of London. ⌘ Read more

First insights into the genetic bottleneck characterizing early sheep husbandry in the Neolithic period
Modern Eurasian sheep predominantly belong to only two so-called genetic matrilineages inherited through the ewes, so previous research has assumed that genetic diversity must already have decreased rapidly in the early stages of domestication of wild sheep. A study of a series of complete mitogenomes from the early domestication site Asıklı Höyük in central Anatolia, which was inha … ⌘ Read more

Chemists stabilize ethylene on silver in search for better ethylene purification technology
Production of ethylene is one of the most important chemical processes used today, with about 300 million metric tons of the tiny chemical produced each year. Ethylene gas is used to create everyday items like shopping bags and plastic film packaging. ⌘ Read more

Lynx found at bottom of Roman era pit, along with four dogs, mystifies archaeologists
A team of archaeologists at the Institute of Archaeology, HUN-REN Research Center for the Humanities, in Hungary, working with a colleague from Stockholm University, has revisited a mystery: a Roman era lynx skeleton buried in a pit with four dog skeletons, all layered above it. ⌘ Read more

Clay-assisted organic carbon burial induced early Paleozoic atmospheric oxygenation, data show
In a study published in Science Advances, scientists have used new lithium isotope (δ7Li) data to show that continental clay export promoted organic carbon burial and thus atmospheric oxygenation during the Cambrian period. ⌘ Read more

Japan’s Sapporo sees earliest 25C day since records began
Temperatures in Japan’s northern city of Sapporo—famous for skiing—on Monday passed 25 degrees Celsius at the earliest point of any year on record, a weather agency official said. ⌘ Read more

Digging up new species of Australia and New Guinea’s giant fossil kangaroos
Paleontologists from Flinders University have described three unusual new species of giant fossil kangaroo from Australia and New Guinea, finding them more diverse in shape, range and hopping method than previously thought. ⌘ Read more

Tandem heat waves, storm surges increasingly batter coasts: Study
Coastal communities need to prepare for simultaneous extreme weather events as heat waves increasingly overlap with surges in sea levels due to climate change, a study published on Thursday warned. ⌘ Read more

Scientists find vast numbers of illegal ‘ghost roads’ used to crack open pristine rainforest
One of Brazil’s top scientists, Eneas Salati, once said, “The best thing you could do for the Amazon rainforest is to blow up all the roads.” He wasn’t joking. And he had a point. ⌘ Read more

What did Roman wine taste like? Much better than previously thought, according to new research
From a modern, scientific perspective, the wine Romans drank is often seen as an inconsistent, poorly made and thoroughly unpleasant beverage. It is alleged that Roman winemakers had to mask their products’ flaws by adding spices, herbs and other ingredients to the freshly pressed grape juice, which is known as “must.” ⌘ Read more

Study lists world’s ‘forever chemical’ hotspots
Dangerous concentrations of long-lingering “forever chemicals” have been found in surface and groundwater worldwide, according to a study released Tuesday that showed Australia, the United States and Europe as hotspots. ⌘ Read more

One in 10 Australians sexually harassed by peers: Study
The first nationally representative figures on the prevalence of sexual harassment across childhood reveal females and those who are gender or sexuality diverse are most at risk. ⌘ Read more

Designing a cost-effective X-ray free electron lasers facility
Many advances in structural science since the 1970s were made by probing materials with synchrotron radiation: that is, high energy X-rays generated through accelerating high-energy electrons. The latest generation of such sources, X-ray free electron lasers (XFEL), are far more powerful than their predecessors but are only accessible to international consortia and a few rich countries because of their high cost. ⌘ Read more

Problems with 3 Body Problem? Experts discuss physics, mathematics behind hit Netflix show
The science fiction television series 3 Body Problem, the latest from the creators of HBO’s Game of Thrones, has become the most watched show on Netflix since its debut last month. Based on the bestselling book trilogy Remembrance of Earth’s Past by Chinese computer engineer and author Cixin Liu, 3 Body Problem introduces viewers to advanced concepts in physics in service to a suspenseful story involving i … ⌘ Read more

Environmental groups grateful but vigilant after Key Bridge collapse
When Alice Volpitta watched the video of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, and the trucks tumbling into the Patapsco River in the darkness, she thought first for the people who had fallen. ⌘ Read more

New species of ant found pottering under the Pilbara named after Voldemort
A study by The University of Western Australia has unearthed a new species of subterranean ant that shares some traits with a well-known Harry Potter villain. ⌘ Read more

Biden plans sweeping effort to block Arctic oil drilling
The U.S. set aside 23 million acres of Alaska’s North Slope to serve as an emergency oil supply a century ago. Now, President Joe Biden is moving to block oil and gas development across roughly half of it. ⌘ Read more

Persistent socioeconomic gaps for Black Californians would take more than 248 years to close unless more is done: Report
Almost two decades ago, the inaugural State of Black California report was the first to provide a comprehensive look at how the material conditions and socioeconomic outcomes for Black Californians fared compared to other racial and ethnic groups. ⌘ Read more

The cicadas are coming: An entomologist’s take on a once-in-200-years event
Get ready. Billions of trillions of singing, winged insects with big red eyes are about to emerge from more than a decade of sleep underground. ⌘ Read more

Microbial food as a food production strategy of the future
The global food crisis is increasing due to rapid population growth and declining food productivity from climate change. Moreover, today’s food production and supply system emits a huge amount of carbon dioxide, reaching 30% of the total amount emitted by humanity, further aggravating climate change. Sustainable and nutritious microbial food is attracting attention as a key to overcoming this impasse. ⌘ Read more

NASA unveils probe bound for Jupiter’s possibly life-sustaining moon
US space scientists on Thursday unveiled the interplanetary probe NASA plans to send to one of Jupiter’s icy moons as part of humanity’s hunt for extra-terrestrial life. ⌘ Read more

Most countries do not take a fair share of refugees. Here’s how we could incentivize them
Since its introduction in 1951, the UN refugee convention has been the basis for the global refugee system. It defines who a refugee is and outlines the rights they are entitled to. ⌘ Read more

Keys to the genome: Unlocking the package with ‘pioneer transcription factors’
Scientists at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute have discovered the molecular mechanisms responsible for opening up the human genome and expressing new genes. ⌘ Read more

New advances promise secure quantum computing at home
The full power of next-generation quantum computing could soon be harnessed by millions of individuals and companies, thanks to a breakthrough by scientists at Oxford University Physics guaranteeing security and privacy. This advance promises to unlock the transformative potential of cloud-based quantum computing and is detailed in a new study published in Physical Review Letters. The paper is titled “Verifiable blind quantum computing with trapped ions and … ⌘ Read more

Ghost roads speed destruction of Asia-Pacific tropical forests, finds study
Researchers mapping tropical forests have found many more roads than declared by official sources, which is raising fears of a huge increase in environmental degradation as the pace of road building increases. ⌘ Read more

Team finds evidence of commonly conducted ritualized human sacrifice across Europe in the Stone Age
A team of archaeologists affiliated with several institutions in France and one in Germany has found that ritualized human sacrifice was common across Europe during the Neolithic. ⌘ Read more