Urban myth has it that a frog placed in cold water that's brought to the boil will not react, dying a horrible death. Clearly this is a fallacy, yet climate change is forcing a similar predicament for mountain frog species stranded on "islands in the sky," according to a new Southern Cross University study.

A group from Nagoya University in Japan has discovered a never-before-seen form of ruthenium phosphide with an unusual configuration of atoms and electrons in its cooled state. This may resolve the puzzle of how a metal can be a conductor at high temperatures, but an insulator at lower temperatures.

Bacteria, fungi, and microalgae—living things too small to be seen with the naked eye—are microorganisms that are commonly used for chemical production via their fermentation. The development of Mycoplasma mycoides in 2010, an artificial microorganism, has highlighted the technology that is utilized to develop industrial microorganisms such as Escherichia coli and yeast as "cell factories" for...

In a study published in PNAS, a research team led by Prof. Gong Weiming from the University of Science and Technology (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and his collaborators revealed the "Yin and Yang" regulation of stress granules (SGs) by Caprin-1.

By analyzing the data from ESA's Gaia satellite, astronomers have detected two new young open clusters. The newfound clusters, designated Casado 82 and Casado-Hendy 1, are located in a nearby primordial group of open clusters. The finding is reported in a paper published November 23 on arXiv.org.

Rainbows and sugar may conjure up images of a certain leprechaun-branded breakfast cereal. But now, researchers in ACS Nano report a kaleidoscope-like film for telling different sweeteners apart that displayed multiple colors when stretched by hand. When evenly stretched with a simple apparatus, the material enhanced the unique shifts in fluorescence intensity of 14 sugars tagged with a dye,...

Even the best water filters let some things through, but designing improved materials and then testing them is time consuming and difficult. Now, researchers in ACS Central Science report that artificial intelligence (AI) could speed up the development of promising materials. In a proof-of-concept study, they simulated different patterns of water-attracting and water-repelling groups lining a...

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Elon Musk has created a toxic mess for the LGBTQ+ community. I would know. By Scott Wiener, a California state senator who represents San Francisco and northern San Mateo County. A mere day…

Researchers from University of Miami and New York University published a new Journal of Marketing article that examines how voice technology can affect what consumers reveal about themselves.

We tend to lump all plastics into one category, but water bottles, milk jugs, egg cartons, and credit cards are actually made from different materials, as you’ve probably noticed while trying to figure out what can go in your recycling bin. Once they’ve reached a recycling facility, the plastic must be separated, a process that can be slow and costly, and ultimately limits which materials,...

China Report is MIT Technology Review’s newsletter about technology developments in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. The past week has meant many sleepless nights for people in China, and for people like me who are intently watching from afar.  You may have seen that nearly three years after the pandemic started,…

Patients unlikely to receive lecanemab before 2026 and health service does not yet have necessary infrastructureDrug slows cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients, study revealsA reorganisation of NHS dementia care is needed to ensure UK patients can receive a groundbreaking drug that slows the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, doctors say.Detailed results from a clinical trial of...

Australian researchers have uncovered a new form of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), undetectable using traditional laboratory testing methods, in a discovery set to challenge existing efforts to monitor and tackle one of the world's greatest health threats.

Recent lecanemab trials are reason for hope. But the NHS and other health services may struggle to deliver these new treatmentsIt is 20 years since the last drug for Alzheimer’s was licensed in the UK. Since then, huge advances have been made in our understanding of the disease’s causes. Better diagnostic tests are available, and we may now be on the cusp of new treatments that could have an...

A mere day after Elon Musk reactivated Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Twitter account, she tweeted that I’m a “communist groomer,” presumably because I’m a gay Jewish Democratic elected official from San Francisco.  Greene’s tweet also promoted her proposed federal law to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth and to make it effectively impossible for adult transgender...

In a tropical forest beside the Panama Canal, two black-handed spider monkeys swing about their wire enclosure, balanced by their long tails. They arrived at this government rehabilitation center after environmental authorities seized them from people who had been keeping them as pets.

SpaceX on Wednesday postponed by one day a mission to launch the first private—and Japanese—lander to the Moon.

Stroking a tiny spruce sapling, Swiss forest ranger Francois Villard fears the tree will not withstand global warming and live to a ripe old age like its ancestors.

Three Chinese astronauts docked early Wednesday with their country's space station, where they will overlap for several days with the three-member crew already onboard and expand the facility to its maximum size.

NASA is canceling a planned satellite that was going to intensely monitor greenhouse gases over the Americas because it got too costly and complicated.

The first eruption in 38 years of the world's largest active volcano is attracting onlookers to a national park for "spectacular" views of the event, and it's also dredging up bad memories among some Hawaii residents who have been through harrowing volcanic experiences in the past.

Greater atmospheric demand for water means a dramatic increase in the risk of major fires in global forests unless we take urgent and effective climate action, new research finds.

A new study, authored by experts at Monterey Bay Aquarium and their partners, examines the development of its landmark sea otter rehabilitation program and how it can support sea otter recovery and reintroduction. Published in the Journal of Zoological and Biological Gardens, the research recounts its successes and challenges, showing how the program benefits both species recovery and ecosystem...

A team of quantum engineers at UNSW Sydney has developed a method to reset a quantum computer—that is, to prepare a quantum bit in the '0' state—with very high confidence, as needed for reliable quantum computations. The method is surprisingly simple: it is related to the old concept of 'Maxwell's demon', an omniscient being that can separate a gas into hot and cold by watching the speed of...

Living under China’s policy to suppress Covid cases means days are filled with health codes, the constant threat of shutdowns and moments of hopeLife in Beijing these days is spent either in lockdown or preparing for lockdown. Stockpiling food at home, just in case, has become the new norm. Meeting friends is hard because every few weeks one of us is sealed inside their home for days. Carrying...

With digital bioacoustics, scientists can eavesdrop on the natural world – and they’re learning some astonishing thingsScientists have recently made some remarkable discoveries about non-human sounds. With the aid of digital bioacoustics – tiny, portable digital recorders similar to those found in your smartphone – researchers are documenting the universal importance of sound to life on...

A submersible off the coast of Western Australia chanced upon an 45-metre-long deep-sea siphonophore arranged in a feeding spiral, trailing its deadly tentaclesIn 2020, about 600 metres (2,000ft) down in an underwater canyon off the coast of Western Australia, scientists encountered a long gelatinous creature suspended in a giant spiral. “It was like a rope on the horizon. You couldn’t miss...

Antibody therapy lecanemab removes clumps of protein called beta amyloid that builds up in brainResearchers have hailed the dawn of a new era of Alzheimer’s therapies after a clinical trial confirmed that a drug slows cognitive decline in patients with early stages of the disease.The result comes after decades of failure in the field and encouraged experts to say Alzheimer’s – which affects...

Cooling accounts for about 15 percent of global energy consumption. Conventional clear windows allow the sun to heat up interior spaces, which energy-guzzling air-conditioners must then cool down. But what if a window could help cool the room, use no energy and preserve the view?