Explore the latest scientific discoveries, science news, breakthroughs and developments from around the world.
The remarkable intelligence of octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish may trace back to an ancient reshuffling of their DNA that created new connections between genes. Scientists discovered that these changes in the genome's 3D structure may have helped drive the evolution of their unusually complex nervous systems.
Land subsidence is the gradual sinking of the ground, which can damage buildings, foundations, and drainage and sewage systems, and may increase flood risks. However, information on land subsidence dynamics remains limited, which makes it difficult for policymakers to identify where risks are intensifying and where urgent intervention may be needed. Previous assessments have often used different methods or time periods, or focused only on small numbers of cities, which has made global comparisons difficult.
From a rigid molecular pair to flexible assemblies with moving domains, the enzymes that build sugar chains display strikingly different behaviors.
Hurricane Simon lashed Mexico's Pacific coast with severe winds and heavy rain on Monday as it threatened to make landfall this week, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
A research team from the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen and Leiden University in the Netherlands has examined a tooth from the Schöningen archaeological site in Lower Saxony. The study was published in Quaternary Environments and Humans.
A new study led by researchers at the University of Limerick (UL) has identified a new battery material from a renewable wood industry byproduct that could help reduce reliance on scarce and expensive materials.
Researchers at the University of St Andrews have identified the first examples of a new class of advanced organic semiconductor materials that could one day be used as bioimaging agents, opening up new possibilities for deep-tissue imaging. The study, published in Nature Communications, was led by the Zysman-Colman group in the School of Chemistry at the University of St Andrews in collaboration with the Pal group at Durham University.
A rare assemblage of micro- and macro-fossils found in a roadside outcrop in South China, featuring thin ribbons, branching shapes and a tiny balloon on a stalk, offers a glimpse of marine life after one of Earth's most extreme ice ages.
Audit firms rely on partners to oversee audits and client relationships; managers to supervise teams and projects; and staff to perform much of the day-to-day work. The more audit partners and managers are involved in supervising and reviewing audit engagements, the better the audits tend to be, according to new research from the University at Buffalo School of Management.
Though strong El Niños have occurred only four times in as many decades, 2024's intense El Niño is already getting a sequel. New UCLA research shows that 2024 broke the record for extreme rainfall, with 40% of that increase tied to global warming—and conditions are ripe for a repeat.
In the early moments of the big bang, two elements were forged: hydrogen and helium. Technically, the tiniest traces of light elements such as lithium were produced as well, but nothing of consequence. The early universe was about three parts hydrogen to one part helium. All the heavier elements, from the oxygen in your lungs to the iron in your blood, were created through astrophysical processes—fused in stars, formed in supernovae or scattered by the collisions of neutron stars. Even in the present cosmos, heavier elements are so cosmically rare that astronomers group them all as metals.
The buzzer goes off. Three occupational therapy students are convinced they have worked out what should happen to their patient next. They are wrong.