Stay informed about scientific discoveries, research developments and new findings from around the world.
Paul K. Piff, UC Irvine associate professor of psychology, has officially been recognized for what millions of frustrated commuters have long suspected: The fancier the car, the worse the driver.
Imagine this. You pick up a contact lens from its container and—yikes!—it falls on the bathroom floor. Before you know it, your cat pounces, claws out. By the time you wrestle it back, the lens looks like a tiny chew toy. And then, just like that—the scratches fade away and the ripped edge seals itself up.
Learning is often thought to require a brain. But learning is a broad concept that does not necessarily depend on neurons.
Dozens of glacial lakes have formed across northern India in the last three decades, while existing lakes have expanded rapidly, highlighting the need to monitor a landscape reshaped by climate change.
Editing a plant's genes is only half the battle. Before a new, improved trait can ever reach a farmer's field, scientists must be able to grow a whole plant from just a few edited cells—a process that can be slow, unreliable and, for some plant species, impossible.
A new report from Portland State University's Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative (HRAC) and the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health offers an in-depth examination of how individuals navigate, survive and attempt to exit homelessness in Multnomah County. Titled "Without a Map: A Lived Experience Study of the Paths People Create Through Homelessness," the publication serves as the second and final part of the Pathways study.
An international team of researchers, including CIIMAR, has developed a new tool that could help produce clams that are more resistant to disease and climate change while also strengthening the conservation of these species' genetic diversity. The study, published in the journal Aquaculture, represents a significant step forward for sustainable aquaculture and the management of two of the most economically important clam species: the Japanese clam (Ruditapes philippinarum) and the good clam (Ruditapes decussatus).
The nutritional value of aquatic invertebrates such as oysters, mussels and crabs has been significantly overlooked, according to a new study led by researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). The findings provide one of the most comprehensive assessments to date of the nutritional contribution of aquatic invertebrates, along with new evidence to better understand their role in human nutrition and help inform more sustainable fisheries, aquaculture and food-system planning.
Scientists led by the Universitat Politècnica de Barcelona and the ESRF, the European Synchrotron, have revealed the chemical reactions in nanoparticles that created a unique, shimmering effect in the painting on ninth-century Islamic ceramics. The results are published in Science Advances.
Allowing females to mate with multiple males, rather than just one, could help make species more resistant to extinction, University of East Anglia research shows. A new study reveals that when females have multiple males to mate with, their offspring inherit significantly fewer harmful genetic mutations. This, in turn, makes the entire population healthier and less likely to die out.
Kinesin is a molecular motor responsible for hauling essential cargoes within cells by walking step by step along filamentous tracks known as microtubules. To move efficiently and avoid falling off, the motor's two feet must coordinate their stepping in a precise direction. Scientists have known that a connecting segment called the neck region is crucial for coordinating this motion. However, its exact three-dimensional structure and how it physically interacts with the microtubule track have remained a mystery because of the limitations of current imaging techniques.
The historic droughts of 2023 and 2024 in the Amazon reduced river flows and altered the region's rainfall composition. Daily monitoring in Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, revealed these changes through the use of isotopes, which act as a kind of water "fingerprint." This method demonstrated how El Niño and warming in the North Atlantic affected the origin of moisture and precipitation dynamics.
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.
Nation & World Where U.S. has lost ground since 9/11 Moderator Meghan O’Sullivan (from left), Joseph Pfeifer, Nancy Gibbs, and Michael Mullen. Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer Clea Simon Harvard Correspondent September 10, 2026 5 min read FDNY chief, admiral who survived Pentagon attack, Time journalist say decline in national unity since then is perhaps most damaging problem After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the nation rallied under the cry “Never forget.” But 25 years later, several lessons that emerged from that day of death and destruction have been forgotten, according to a panel of experts at a John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Institute of Politics on Tuesday night....
Health Who needs opioids? Kathleen Refior HSDM Communications September 10, 2026 5 min read As concerns about misuse persist, paper suggests role for AI in making pain treatment more precise For a patient having their wisdom teeth removed, the days after surgery can bring an important question: How much pain medication will I actually need? Over-the-counter medications such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen provide adequate pain relief for most, but some patients experience breakthrough pain that does not respond to these medications and may benefit from an opioid. For clinicians, the challenge is knowing before surgery which patients will need additional pain relief. Harvard School of Dental M...
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
Illustration by Liz Zonarich/Harvard Staff Health Does having a bad dream make you a bad person? Psychologist breaks down what those negative night narratives might be trying to tell you Samantha Laine Perfas Harvard Staff Writer September 10, 2026 4 min read Part of the Wondering series A series of random questions answered by Harvard experts. Deirdre Leigh Barrett is a dream researcher and a Harvard Medical School lecturer on psychology in the department of psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance. She is also the author of “The Committee of Sleep: How Artists, Scientists, and Athletes Use Their Dreams for Creative Problem Solving — And How You Can Too.” Dream interpretation is tricky. Let’...
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