Over the past few decades, San (Bushmen) communities in southern Africa, former hunter-gatherers, have developed new adaptive strategies to cope with climate change, the presence of other groups on their land, and the impacts of globalization. While San have likely lived in southern Africa for 20,000 to 40,000 years, they remain politically and economically marginalized in relation to other social...

Plant geneticists seeking to understand the history of the plants we eat can decode the genomes of ancient crops from rare, well-preserved samples. However, this approach leaves significant gaps in the timelines of where and when many modern-day fruits, vegetables, and cereal crops evolved, and paints an incomplete picture of what they looked like. A Science & Society article publishing July 14th...

Although the current human reference genome is the most accurate and complete vertebrate genome ever produced, there are still gaps in the DNA sequence, even after two decades of improvements. Now, for the first time, scientists have determined the complete sequence of a human chromosome from one end to the other ('telomere to telomere') with no gaps and an unprecedented level of accuracy.

An interdisciplinary team of scientists studying thousands of oyster shells along the Georgia coast, some as old as 4,500 years, has published new insights into how Native Americans sustained oyster harvests for thousands of years, observations that may lead to better management practices of oyster reefs today.

NASA's Aqua satellite used infrared light to identify the strongest storms and coldest cloud top temperatures in Tropical Depression 6E. Aqua found a few small areas of strength but cooler sea surface temperatures are expected to weaken them.

Aromatic esters are chemicals that contain an aromatic ring consisting of functional groups called esters. These organic compounds are widely used as chemical feedstock in industries like food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Thus, finding efficient reactions for their synthesis is an important area of research in organic chemistry.

Silver strands and graying hair is a sign of aging in humans, but things aren't so simple for our closest ape relatives—the chimpanzee. A new study published today in the journal PLOS ONE by researchers at the George Washington University found graying hair is not indicative of a chimpanzee's age.

Virginia Tech researchers have proven that a single gene can convert female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes into fertile male mosquitoes and identified a gene needed for male mosquito flight.

A new study has narrowed down the region of the genome that drives the black color in throat and face of warblers by studying the hybrid offspring produced when two species mate. The hybrids of golden-winged and blue-winged warblers have a mix of coloration from the parent species, which allows researchers to identify which regions of the genome are associated with which color patterns. The study,...

Electrons can interfere in the same manner as water, acoustical or light waves do. When exploited in solid-state materials, such effects promise novel functionality for electronic devices, in which elements such as interferometers, lenses or collimators could be integrated for controlling electrons at the scale of mirco- and nanometres. However, so far such effects have been demonstrated mainly in...

Addressing potential threats from predators has not slowed the dramatic decline of mountain caribou in British Columbia and Alberta, according to a new study by scientists from the University of Alberta and two other western Canadian universities.

Soldiers erected sandbag flood barriers in a city near China's largest freshwater lake after the heaviest rainfall in nearly six decades drenched the swollen Yangtze River basin.

NIMS has succeeded for the first time in visualizing sequential changes in electrical potential distribution across a composite electrode during charge/discharge reactions in all-solid-state lithium ion batteries. This distribution was previously measureable only before and after the occurrence of charge/discharge reactions. Microscopic understanding of charge/discharge reaction mechanisms in...

An emerging virus threatens both wild and pet rabbits in the United States. The fatal virus—which causes an Ebola-like disease called rabbit hemorrhagic disease—already has been reported in the western and southwestern United States.

A pneumonia of unknown cause was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on 31 December 2019 in China's Hubei Province.

Stoke-on-Trent faces an increased threat of poverty and destitution due to the COVID-19 crisis, a new report reveals.

The known timeline of the Aboriginal occupation of South Australia's Riverland region has been vastly extended by new research led by Flinders University in collaboration with the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (RMMAC).

New research led by The University of Queensland has provided the first comprehensive analysis of pesticide mixtures in creeks and rivers discharging to the Great Barrier Reef.

The impact event that formed the Chicxulub crater (Yucatán Peninsula, México) caused the extinction of 75% of species on Earth 66 million years ago, including non-avian dinosaurs. One place that did not experience much extinction was the deep, as organisms living in the abyss made it through the mass extinction event with just some changes to community structure.

Where things get sticky happens to be where interesting science happens in a Rice University lab working to improve battery technology.

Terahertz radiation, or T-rays, has barely been exploited compared to most of the rest of the electromagnetic spectrum. Yet T-rays potentially have applications in next-generation wireless communications (6G/7G), security systems, biomedicine, and even art history. A new device for controlling T-rays using a specially designed 'metasurface' with properties not found in nature could begin to...

Over the past decade or so, a number of astrophysics studies have detected an excess of gamma-ray radiation at the center of our galaxy. Despite the many attempts to understand this unexpected surplus of radiation, now known as the galactic center excess (GCE), its source and the reasons why it exists remain unknown.

Airborne microplastics from traffic pollution may be entering the world's oceans at a similar rate to that from rivers, according to new research Tuesday warning that the particles may also speed up Arctic ice melt.

Burger King is staging an intervention with its cows.