Scientists are grasping at straws while trying to protect infant corals from hungry fish
South Florida researchers trying to prevent predatory fish from devouring laboratory-grown coral are grasping at biodegradable straws in an effort to restore what some call the rainforest of the sea. ⌘ Read more

Talking to Americans reveals the diversity behind the shared opinion ‘the country is on the wrong track’
If you pay any attention to politics and polling, you have likely heard that your friends and neighbors are not very happy with the direction of the country. You might not be, either. ⌘ Read more

Polysaccharide-based membranes with high wet mechanical properties for bone repair
Currently, membrane materials play an important role in tissue repair, especially polysaccharide-based membranes, attracting much attention due to their excellent biological properties. However, poor mechanical properties of polysaccharide-based membranes under wet conditions severely limit their in vivo applications. The fabrication of polysaccharide-based membranes with both robust wet mechanical proper … ⌘ Read more

Tiny crystals capture millions of years of mountain range history: Geologist excavates the Himalayas with a microscope
The Himalayas stand as Earth’s highest mountain range, possibly the highest ever. How did it form? Why is it so tall? ⌘ Read more

Deforestation harms biodiversity of the Amazon’s perfume-loving orchid bees
A survey of orchid bees in the Brazilian Amazon state of Rondônia, carried out in the 1990s, is shedding new light on the impact of deforestation on the scent-collecting pollinators, which some view as bellwethers of biodiversity in the neotropics. ⌘ Read more

In some classrooms in Senegal, deaf and hard-of-hearing students now study alongside everyone else
Mouhamed Sall stepped to the chalkboard with a glance and quick question in sign language to an assistant. Then he solved the exercise to the silent approval of his classmates, who waved their hands in a display of appreciation. ⌘ Read more

A microbial plastic factory for high-quality green plastic
Engineered bacteria can produce a plastic modifier that makes renewably sourced plastic more processable, more fracture-resistant and highly biodegradable even in seawater. The Kobe University development provides a platform for the industrial-scale, tunable production of a material that holds great potential for turning the plastic industry green. ⌘ Read more

Four decades of glacial data reveals substantial losses and water worries
An analysis of glacial data spanning four decades has provided valuable insights into the changes taking place in the glaciers of the Pir Panjal range within the Kashmir basin in India. The research, published in the International Journal of Hydrology Science and Technology, analyzed data for the period 1980 to 2020. ⌘ Read more

Research team exerts electrical control over polaritons, hybridized light-matter particles, at room temperature
A research team has pioneered an innovative technique in ultra-high-resolution spectroscopy. Their breakthrough marks the world’s first instance of electrically controlling polaritons—hybridized light-matter particles—at room temperature. The research has been published in Physical Review Letters. ⌘ Read more

Can’t get enough of the total solar eclipse or got clouded out? Here are the next ones to watch for
Whether you saw the moon completely block the sun, were foiled by cloudy weather or weren’t along the path of Monday’s total solar eclipse, there are still more chances to catch a glimpse. ⌘ Read more

Broken record: March is 10th straight month to be hottest on record, scientists say
For the 10th consecutive month, Earth in March set a new monthly record for global heat—with both air temperatures and the world’s oceans hitting an all-time high for the month, the European Union climate agency Copernicus said. ⌘ Read more

Total solar eclipse wows North America. Clouds part just in time for most
After beholding the midday darkness of a total solar eclipse that raced across the continent, thousands of spectators in New England were stuck seeing only brake lights Monday night as highway traffic backed up for hours. ⌘ Read more

On-surface synthesis of carbyne: An sp-hybridized linear carbon allotrope
In a study led by Prof. Wei Xu (Interdisciplinary Materials Research Center, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University) and published in the journal National Science Review, a research team achieved the successful synthesis of a one-dimensional carbon chain on the Au(111) surface, with the longest chain containing approximately 120 carbon atoms, and the polyynic nature of the carbon chain was unambig … ⌘ Read more

Office gossip isn’t just idle chatter. It’s a valuable—but risky—way to build relationships
Gossip flows through the offices and lunchrooms of our workplaces, seemingly filling idle time. But perhaps, through these ubiquitous and intriguing conversations, we are influencing our workplace relationships more than we realize. ⌘ Read more

The flavors of fire: How does heat make food taste good?
Sure, cooking our food can make it safer to eat and more digestible. But let’s be honest. We mainly cook to create something we enjoy—something delicious. ⌘ Read more

Carbon trading solutions for declining coral reef management tested with game theory
Climate change in the media is often represented through evocative images of polar bears on small floating ice rafts and bleached corals—stark white skeletons in the wasteland of a once-thriving marine community. Besides being diverse ecosystems, coral reefs have a vital role in dissipating wave energy to protect coastlines from erosion and natural disasters, as well as being important sources of tourism income … ⌘ Read more

Weather is the hot topic as eclipse spectators stake out their spots in US, Mexico and Canada
Eclipse spectators staked out their spots across three countries Sunday, fervently hoping for clear skies despite forecasts calling for clouds along most of the sun-vanishing route. ⌘ Read more

Eclipse viewing safety: Keeping your & your kid’s vision safe
People preparing to watch Monday’s total eclipse of the sun need to protect their vision during the event, eye doctors say. ⌘ Read more

Citizen science group plans to use the 2024 eclipse for ionospheric discovery
As the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, draws closer, a vibrant community of enthusiastic amateur radio operators, known as “hams,” is gearing up for an exciting project with the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) group. Our goal is clear and ambitious: to use the moon’s shadow as a natural laboratory to uncover the intricacies of the ionosphere, a layer of Earth’s atmosphere crucial for radio co … ⌘ Read more

Scientists investigate information propagation in interacting bosonic systems
A new study by scientists from Japan explores the propagation of quantum information within interacting boson systems like Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), revealing the potential for accelerated transmission unlike previously thought. ⌘ Read more

Jurassic shuotheriids reveal earliest dental diversification of mammaliaforms
Paleontologists have presented a new insight into the initial dental variations across mammaliaforms, providing a fresh perspective on the evolutionary past of these ancient beasts. ⌘ Read more

Dinosaur study challenges Bergmann’s rule
When you throw dinosaurs into the mix, sometimes you find that a rule simply isn’t. ⌘ Read more

Youth grapple with interpreting the unspoken for their immigrant families
UC Merced researchers are shedding light on a little-explored aspect of cross-cultural communication that involves no spoken words but sometimes can cause confusion and anguish for children acting as interpreters for older family members. ⌘ Read more

Scientists harness chemical dynamics for complex problem solving
At the intersection of chemistry and computation, researchers from the University of Glasgow have developed a hybrid digital-chemical probabilistic computational system based on the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction which can be used for solving combinatorial optimization problems. ⌘ Read more

Do immigrants and immigration help the economy?
When Americans mark their presidential election ballots later this year, immigration will be top of mind—it’s the nation’s number one issue, according to pollster Gallup. And one of the toughest talkers on the topic is former president and presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump. He’s built his political career on calls to secure the border and defend America against what he says are immigration’s dangers, warning of shrinking wages and stretched benefits pr … ⌘ Read more

Propelling atomically layered magnets toward green computers
Globally, computation is booming at an unprecedented rate, fueled by the boons of artificial intelligence. With this, the staggering energy demand of the world’s computing infrastructure has become a major concern, and the development of computing devices that are far more energy-efficient is a leading challenge for the scientific community. ⌘ Read more

World’s richest 1% emit as much carbon as bottom two-thirds: report
The richest one percent of the global population are responsible for the same amount of carbon emissions as the world’s poorest two-thirds, or five billion people, according to an analysis published Sunday by the nonprofit Oxfam International. ⌘ Read more

Experts warn ‘green growth’ in high income countries is not happening, call for ‘post-growth’ climate policies
The emission reductions in the 11 high-income countries that have “decoupled” CO2 emissions from Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fall far short of the reductions that are necessary to limit global warming to 1.5°C or even just to “well below 2°C” and comply with international fairness principles, as required by the Paris Agreement, according to a paper published in The Lancet Planetary Health j … ⌘ Read more

More human than human: Measuring ChatGPT political bias
The artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT shows a significant and systemic left-wing bias, according to a new study led by the University of East Anglia (UEA). The team of researchers in the UK and Brazil developed a rigorous new method to check for political bias. ⌘ Read more

Machine learning model sheds light on how brains recognize communication sounds
In a paper published today in Communications Biology, auditory neuroscientists at the University of Pittsburgh describe a machine learning model that helps explain how the brain recognizes the meaning of communication sounds, such as animal calls or spoken words. ⌘ Read more