Explore the latest scientific discoveries, science news, breakthroughs and developments from around the world.
Quality of life for Americans 65 and older increased over the past decade, according to new research from Shatakshee Dhongde in Georgia Tech's School of Economics.
The Cambrian explosion was a major diversification of animal life that unfolded early in the Cambrian period, which began around 538.8 million years ago. During this interval, marine animals became much more varied, building the foundations for current marine ecosystems.
OCD is a mental health disorder characterized by unwanted, recurring thoughts and repetitive behaviors that can severely interfere with everyday life. Exposure-based psychotherapy is one of the most effective treatments, but the biological mechanisms underlying treatment response remain poorly understood.
The Terracotta Army near Xi'an, China, is a breathtaking sight: thousands of life-size terracotta figures created in the third century B.C. to guard the tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuang. They were discovered in 1974, and people have assumed they were built exclusively by men. But new research on this underground army and its chariots, horses and weapons suggests women and children lent a helping hand.
Paired appendages—the pectoral and pelvic fins of fishes and the forelimbs and hindlimbs of tetrapods—were a major innovation in vertebrate evolution. Their emergence greatly expanded the ways vertebrates could move through their environments and ultimately provided the developmental foundation for the evolution of limbs. Yet how the genetic system responsible for building paired appendages was assembled during evolution remains an unresolved question.
New Curtin University research has found parents want to treat their children equally when helping them buy their first home.
What if the brain evolved to serve the gut? Scientists at Flinders University are challenging a cornerstone of biology, arguing that the gut's nervous system may be the body's original "brain," with the brain evolving later to support its needs.
A research team led by senior researcher Minyoung Lee and principal researcher Sunggyu Park of the Advanced Bio and Healthcare Materials Research Division at the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), has developed a label-free surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) analysis technology that rapidly detects extremely low concentrations of viable bacteria by directly growing plasmonic metal nanostructures on and around bacterial cells.
Fires in Indonesia that have caused a regional haze crisis burned through over 1.9 million hectares (4.7 million acres) between January and the end of September this year, a monitor analyzing satellite imagery said on Monday.
Humans throughout history have invented a variety of ways to fight back against troublesome bacteria. But bacteria live in a dangerous world too. The human body and other bacteria-rich environments abound with bacteriophages, or viruses that prey upon bacteria. Phages can sometimes outnumber bacteria a hundredfold, yet the bacteria endure and even thrive. What gives?
Mercury remains one of our solar system's most elusive and difficult planets to study. It's easier to send probes to the icy moons of Saturn or Jupiter, or even to Pluto, than to land on our innermost planet, Mercury.
A massive landslide in Alaska triggered the second-highest tsunami ever recorded, sending water and debris 1,580 feet up a mountainside just hours after tourists visited the area. Scientists discovered that the disaster was preceded by several warning signs, including rapid glacier retreat, heavy rainfall, and thousands of tiny seismic tremors. As glaciers retreat, similar disasters could become a growing danger in mountainous coastal regions.