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NZ's climate in 'uncharted territory,' with more extreme weather events ahead
Science News

NZ's climate in 'uncharted territory,' with more extreme weather events ahead

Much is being made of a record-strength El NiΓ±o event that could well spell a drier, windier summer for the north and east of New Zealand. But, as a major new assessment shows, it is forming against a backdrop of warming that's pushed the country's climate into "uncharted territory."

πŸ“… 2026-10-20 03:00:01    β€’    Phys.org
Juvenile striped bass maintaining average abundance in Virginia waters in 2026
Science News

Juvenile striped bass maintaining average abundance in Virginia waters in 2026

Preliminary results from an ongoing long-term survey conducted by William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) suggest that an average year class of young-of-year striped bass was produced in the Virginia tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay in 2026. Striped bass are an important top predator in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem and a valuable resource for commercial and recreational anglers. The 2026 year class, representing fish hatched this spring, will reach fishable sizes in three to four years.

πŸ“… 2026-10-20 02:20:01    β€’    Phys.org
Q&A: How does technology help track foodborne pathogens and outbreaks?
Science News

Q&A: How does technology help track foodborne pathogens and outbreaks?

After a cyclospora outbreak and recalls of imported beef over the summer, a recent Gallup poll found that Americans' confidence in food safety has fallen to a record low, and consumers may be wondering how foodborne illness outbreaks can be tracked and mitigated.

πŸ“… 2026-10-20 01:40:01    β€’    Phys.org
Nanoscale tech tracks proteins inside living neurons to guide Alzheimer's and Parkinson's drug discovery
Science News

Nanoscale tech tracks proteins inside living neurons to guide Alzheimer's and Parkinson's drug discovery

A technology developed at The University of Queensland allowing scientists to observe how disease-related proteins behave inside living neurons will be used to advance early drug discovery for neurodegenerative diseases. The NASTIC (Nanoscale Spatiotemporal Indexing Clustering) platform, spun out into Brisbane-based startup Accretion Bio, enables researchers to study real-time biological processes in living cells across space and time at the single-molecule level for the first time.

πŸ“… 2026-10-20 01:00:02    β€’    Phys.org
New 4D biofabrication technology holds promise for tissue engineering, wound healing
Science News

New 4D biofabrication technology holds promise for tissue engineering, wound healing

If you've ever created a snowflake by folding, cutting and unfolding a piece of paper, you've practiced the art of kirigami. Like origami, kirigami has inspired innovations far beyond the elementary school classroom, with applications ranging from deployable structures for spacecraft to semiconductors.

πŸ“… 2026-10-19 23:40:12    β€’    Phys.org
Molecular switch controls how cells load cargo for recycling
Science News

Molecular switch controls how cells load cargo for recycling

Cells constantly recycle proteins and other cellular components. But how do they ensure that the right cargo ends up in the right recycling vesicleβ€”one of the cell's transport carriers? A team at the University of Basel has identified a molecular switch that controls this process. The small protein ARF-1 ensures that recyclable cargo is efficiently loaded into transport vesicles and returned to the cell's surface.

πŸ“… 2026-10-19 23:40:08    β€’    Phys.org
13% of Earth's land identified as biodiversity conservation hotspots
Science News

13% of Earth's land identified as biodiversity conservation hotspots

As governments prepare to gather in Yerevan, Armenia, this week for the U.N. Biodiversity Conference (COP17), new research identifies 13% of Earth's land area as hotspots for biodiversity conservation, highlighting where conservation efforts are most urgently needed.

πŸ“… 2026-10-19 23:20:12    β€’    Phys.org
Criminal justice researchers use statistical modeling to examine wrongful-conviction risk
Science News

Criminal justice researchers use statistical modeling to examine wrongful-conviction risk

A University of Mississippi study is adding nuance to a debate over how often police interrogation tactics can produce false confessions leading to wrongful convictions. In a recent simulation study published in the Journal of Criminal Justice, Ole Miss criminal justice and legal studies professors Mary Catlin and Thomas Bryan Smith found that the predicted likelihood of a false confession grows with the length of a police interrogation.

πŸ“… 2026-10-19 23:00:01    β€’    Phys.org