Explore the latest scientific discoveries, science news, breakthroughs and developments from around the world.
Researchers at Yale have identified a promising new approach to osteoarthritis that could do more than simply ease pain. The epilepsy drug lacosamide appears to block a protein involved in both pain signaling and cartilage destruction, helping damaged joints shift back toward repair in preclinical studies.
Scientists accidentally discovered a microscopic organism with a genetic code that breaks a rule researchers thought was nearly universal. While testing a new DNA sequencing technique, they examined a previously unknown protist collected from a freshwater pond at Oxford University. To their surprise, the organism uses two genetic signals that normally mark the end of a gene to encode two entirely different amino acids instead. These signals were previously thought to evolve together, making the discovery particularly remarkable.
A brilliant yellow coral discovered off Costa Rica proved so unusual that scientists had to create an entirely new family to classify it. The meter-tall colonies rise from seafloors covered in brittle stars, inspiring the Tolkien-inspired name Laurinque elenya, or āgolden tree of the stars.ā Advanced genetic analysis revealed that the coral belongs to a previously unknown evolutionary lineage.
A new study examined how positive psychology interventions could help reduce teacher burnout and turnover, retain valuable knowledge and experience in our schools and create better learning environments for students.
Global climate and weather forecasting use predictive models that divide Earth's atmosphere into a grid, with each section typically covering tens to hundreds of kilometers. Now a new model, run by a team at the University of Tokyo, has narrowed this grid spacing to just 220 meters (720 feet). This higher resolution eliminated instances of "popcornlike" rainābursts of heavy rain that appear in simulations but not in real lifeāproviding more accurate predictions of extreme local weather from a global model.
Participants in two small trials lost dangerous fat around their internal organs. This fat is linked to health issues like diabetes and heart problems.
Researchers are worried about the impact the strongest-known El NiƱo will have on the Great Barrier Reef, and whether anything can be done to avert the World Heritage Areaās demise
New fossils from South Africa are reshaping the story of early human evolution. Researchers have described 18 hominin fossils from Drimolen Cave, including an adult Homo erectus skull fragment dated to about 2 million years ago, supporting evidence that the species appeared in southern Africa roughly 200,000 years earlier than long thought. The finds also reveal that Paranthropus robustus, which lived alongside Homo erectus, was gradually evolving even larger teeth and stronger chewing muscles as the climate changed.
Identifying the favorite snacks of one of Australia's cutest animals no longer needs to rely on guesswork or picking apart their poop, according to University of the Sunshine Coast research. Although the shortened title of her latest paper is "The future is faeces," associate professor Dominique Potvin and colleagues want to make the task less of a hands-on, hit-and-miss job.
Students with stronger reading skills are better able to spot misinformation onlineāand those skills may be especially important for teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds, according to a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
NASA is preparing for humanityās first Moon base with three investigations that will hunt for underground shelters, uncover hidden ice, and track dangerous conditions on the lunar surface. The findings could reveal how astronauts can survive and thrive on the Moon while laying the groundwork for future journeys to Mars.
Cholesterol, a fat-like substance in the body best known for its role in cardiovascular health, also plays a key role in how neuronsāfoundational cells for the brain's ability to process and integrate informationācommunicate with one another. Now, research led by Vitaly A. Klyachko, a professor in the WashU Medicine Department of Cell Biology & Physiology, has shown that brain cells called astrocytes regulate cholesterol supply to modulate neuronal communication. The findings are published in the Journal of Cell Biology.