Explore the latest scientific discoveries, science news, breakthroughs and developments from around the world.
Enzymes are often described as molecular machines that recognize and process specific molecules. However, they are not rigid structures. Their shapes can change, affecting how molecules enter, interact with and remain within their active sites.
A new technique for controlling optical components with light could help usher in a generation of high-efficiency signal-processing technology that could drive futuristic applications such as holographic video.
Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used to discover new materials, but conventional data-driven approaches can struggle to explain their predictions, work reliably beyond their training data and remain consistent with physical laws. A new perspective proposes a framework called Physics-Grounded Materials AI (PhysMat AI), which integrates fundamental physical knowledge into the materials discovery process. The research is published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
Spiny lobster larvae spend six to nine months drifting in the open ocean, feeding within the plankton community, before eventually settling into shallow-water habitats such as mangroves, seagrass beds or coral reefs. This means the number of young lobsters reaching Bermuda is strongly influenced by ocean conditions across the wider North Atlantic and Caribbean region.
Cell division is a complex process. At the heart of this complexity is a membraneless organelle called the centrosome, which is made up of more than 200 components. It is responsible for clustering mitotic spindles, threadlike structures needed to separate genetic material. It has long remained unclear which parts of the centrosome are necessary and sufficient for spindle assembly.
A team at the University of Córdoba (UCO) has reviewed and updated the catalog of versions of the wheat gene GLU-B1, which is responsible for a protein that makes up gluten. The team has also made a collection of wheat representing the gene's true variability available to the research community.
Plants cannot run away when the wind picks up, rain lashes down or a hungry herbivore begins chewing on their leaves. Instead, they must sense their surroundings and adapt. Now, researchers have uncovered an important piece of the puzzle of what happens inside plants when they are exposed to touch, injury or other physical stimuli.
Researchers at AIST have developed a device that measures the absolute surface profile of curved optical elements with high precision without touching them.
Fueled by record-breaking drought and unusually high temperatures, Canada's 2023 wildfire season was the worst in the country's history, with more than 15 million hectares (37 million acres) charred. Smoke blanketed the eastern seaboard, with health alerts keeping people indoors as skies turned an eerie orange.
A Baylor College of Medicine-led team has developed a strategy that combines the analysis of thousands of proteins with artificial intelligence to accelerate the discovery of small molecules called molecular glues to treat disease. Their approach, published in Nature Communications, has uncovered a new class of molecular glues that could neutralize harmful proteins linked to blood cancers and autoimmune diseases. The work also shows how AI-based structural modeling can help chemists optimize compounds well before experiments reveal how they work.
A newly described feathered dinosaur found in northeastern China adds evidence supporting the theory that flight-related features evolved differently in various bird-like dinosaur groups. The findings, reported in Nature Communications, are based on an analysis of an exceptionally well-preserved fossil of a microraptorine (a small dinosaur with feathers and wings) found in a geological formation estimated to be between 145 and 100 million years old.
Photos taken using a microscope reveal the colorful, kaleidoscope-like crystal structure of a new NASA-made material that could be used for manufacturing during future space missions. Developed at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, the material could be created directly on the moon or Mars, allowing NASA to pack fewer supplies—saving weight and reducing launch costs.