Latest science news, discoveries and scientific developments.
On a mostly flat plain an hour north of Stockholm lies a collection of large burial mounds dating from an ancient culture at least 2,500 years old. These people were not Vikings; they were northern Germanic Goths, pagan polytheists worshiping the precursors of Odin, Freyr and Thor.
Research underway in the lab of Rebecca Alexander, a professor in Wake Forest University's Department of Chemistry, is shedding light on an unusual human bacterium, Mycoplasma penetrans. Alexander's work to understand how and why this unique pathogen acts as it does could one day lead to new classes of drugs that better target illnesses associated with this particular pathogen, as well as others that act similarly.
Historic data and predictions suggest cases will rise in East Africa and southern regions, while the threat may ease in West and Central Africa.
Ecosystems like wetlands emit more carbon as temperatures rise. By 2100, such feedback loops will increase warming by 20 to 30 per cent more than anticipated
Burning UpAs the planet warms, our environment will be transformed, but so will our bodies. In this series, 'Burning up,' we investigate the health impacts of climate change, focusing on heat, air quality, food and infection risk. We also evaluate the promising solutions that could help us adapt to our warmer future.To the untrained eye, Xiaoyu Shan's lab bench looked like a home gardening experiment gone bad: dishes filled with dirt — some that looked like mud pies and others that were bone-dry — and not a plant to be seen. But those dishes held a warning. The dirt that Shan, a postdoctoral research associate in biology and biological engineering at Caltech, was studying contained soil micr...
Paleontologist Riley Black’s latest book explores how this misunderstood carnivore might have lived.
An influx of immune cells into the uterus may be what initiates childbirth. These grab on to muscle cells via tiny tubes and send across mitochondria to provide energy for contractions
The fires are burning peatlands, which can release more particulate matter into the air than other wildfires
A group of astronomers proposes that a series of events in a distant galaxy formed both a black hole and a pulsar, but other experts say the conclusion is premature
The Pacific Ocean has seen an especially active hurricane season so far, while the Atlantic has had barely a whimper of a storm. Experts explain why
A feather preserved in a dinosaur dropping, found in 2016 in north-eastern Montana’s Hell Creek FormationO'Connor et al. A bird that was eaten and partially excreted by a dinosaur 66 million years ago has left behind the best-preserved feathers ever recovered by scientists from dinosaur-age rock. This pushes the evolution of feathers, like the ones on modern birds, back by 10 million years and may tell us more about why most birds didn’t survive the post-asteroid mass extinction. “This is the best feather we’ve ever seen in a Mesozoic [252 million to 66 million years ago] deposit,” says Jingmai O’Connor at the Field Museum in Chicago. “[It’s] like a feather you could pick up off the ground.”...
Since OpenAI announced its solution to one of the prestigious Millennium Prize Problems, mathematicians have been urgently trying to unpick what it means
Scientists have directly observed how two negatively charged DNA molecules can pair up despite normally repelling each other. Positively charged metal ions appear to bridge the gap, helping matching DNA helices align groove for groove like a molecular zipper. The discovery confirms a theory proposed two decades ago and could help researchers understand DNA interactions involved in cancer and other cellular processes.
A family photo album can reflect how physical traits, such as blue eyes or lanky limbs, have been passed down — but a new analysis suggests that the way personality emerges across generations is far more complicated.The meta-analysis, published Sept. 2 in the journal Nature, is the largest of its kind ever attempted. The work identified over 1,200 genes linked to five personality traits: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience and neuroticism.However, the scientists behind the study said its most important conclusion is that no single gene determines whether an individual will have a particular personality trait. Instead, thousands of genes exert tiny effects t...
NASA’s satellites captured the aftermath of the eruption, which lasted for more than a day
If the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere declines, the Southern Ocean is likely to begin emitting more carbon than it absorbs, prolonging global warming
In the movie Whalefall, a sperm whale accidentally swallows a scuba diver. It’s technically possible, but unlikely to play out in real life.
Mercury, which is about one-third the size of Earth, may have shrunk more in its evolution than scientists originally thought.A new study suggests that the tiny planet may have contracted 10% to 30% more than previous models suggested — meaning the planet’s total diameter shrunk almost 12 miles (19 km) since Mercury was formed. (Mercury’s diameter today is roughly 3,032 miles (4,880 km). Previous missions overlooked the extent of the shrinkage because impact-crater debris on Mercury's surface hid the evidence, according to a study published Thursday (Sept. 10) in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. That size difference is important when researchers consider the planet's history, said G...
The planet’s “wrinkles” give scientists a clue into how the world is contracting in size
Scientists have used DNA from living descendants to identify four more members of the doomed Franklin expedition, including Harry Peglar, whose identity had remained uncertain for 166 years. The findings offer new clues about the sailors who survived for years in the Arctic before joining the expedition’s ultimately fatal escape attempt.