A team of engineers designed and developed a novel humanoid hand that may be able to help human-robotic interactions.

A longitudinal study of more than 230 teens and young adults in Washington state finds that teens may be more likely to use marijuana following legalization - with the proliferation of stores and increasing adult use of the drug -- than they otherwise would have been.

An open-source data platform for researchers studying archaea is paving the way for new insights and educational opportunities.

A shield of graphene helps particles destroy antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the free-floating genes in wastewater treatment plants.

Respiratory droplets from a cough or sneeze travel farther and last longer in humid, cold climates than in hot, dry ones, according to a study on droplet physics.

Researchers investigated the effects of trade on hunger in the world as a result of climate change. The conclusion is clear: international trade can compensate for regional food shortages and reduce hunger, particularly when protectionist measures and other barriers to trade are eliminated.

The homes of wealthy Americans generate about 25% more greenhouse gases than residences in lower-income neighborhoods, mainly due to their larger size. In the nation's most affluent suburbs, those emissions can be as much as 15 times higher than in nearby lower-income neighborhoods.

Magnetic nanodiscs can be activated by an external magnetic field, providing a research tool for studying neural responses.

In their zeal to promote the importance of climate change as an ecological driver, climate scientists increasingly are ignoring the profound role that indigenous peoples played in fire and vegetation dynamics, not only in the eastern United States but worldwide, according to researchers.

Humans depend on farming for their survival but this activity takes up more than one-third of the world's landmass and endangers 62% of all threatened species. However, agricultural landscapes can support biodiversity. Scientists argue that agroecological principles should be integrated in the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework to be decided at the 15th Convention of the Parties (COP15).

A chance mutation that led to spinal defects in a zebrafish has opened a little window into our own fishy past. The single-letter mutation showed that both the ancient and modern recipes for spine development are still to be found in the fish genome.

A replicating RNA vaccine, formulated with a lipid-based nanoparticle emulsion, produces antibodies against the COVID-19 coronavirus in mice and primates with a single immunization. These antibodies potently neutralize the virus in young and old animals. The antibody levels induced are comparable to those in recovered COVID-19 patients. This formulation is shelf-stable, with mass-production and...

A phase 2 randomized controlled trial of a recombinant adenovirus type-5-vectored COVID-19 vaccine (Ad5-vectored COVID-19 vaccine) was conducted in China in April 2020 and involved more than 500 people. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the immune response and safety of the vaccine, and to determine the most suitable dose for a phase 3 trial. Phase 3 trials are needed to confirm...

Physicists have taken extremely fast snapshots of light-induced molecular ring-opening reactions -- similar to those that help a human body produce vitamin D from sunlight.

A new blood test that reliably predicts outcomes for heart failure patients could lead to new diagnostics and treatments for COVID-19 patients as well, according to new research.

Using cosmogenic nuclide burial dating methods and optically stimulated luminescence dating, geoscientists establish ages for river deposits from the Yukon River basin that span key time periods of global climate change.

A key uncertainty in climate projections is the amount of carbon emitted by thawing permafrost in the Arctic. Plant roots in soil stimulate microbial decomposition, a mechanism called the priming effect. An international research team shows that the priming effect alone can cause emission of 40 billion tonnes carbon from permafrost by 2100.

A new study identified 37 recently active volcanic structures on Venus. The study provides some of the best evidence yet that Venus is still a geologically active planet.

Last December, researchers designed technology that could achieve the lowest temperature chemical reactions and then broke and formed the coldest bonds in the history of molecular coupling. Now, though reactions are considered too fast to measure, they determined the exact lifespan of their intermediate -- the space between reactants and products -- and solved the mystery of why some ultracold...

Researchers have created next-generation solar modules with high efficiency and good stability. Made using a type of material called perovskites, these solar modules can maintain a high performance for over 2000 hours. Their findings have brightened prospects of commercialization.

Researchers have discovered that the cells that cause goosebumps are also important for regulating the stem cells that regenerate hair. In the skin, the muscle that contracts to create goosebumps is necessary to bridge the sympathetic nerve's connection to hair follicle stem cells. The sympathetic nerve reacts to cold by contracting the muscle and causing goosebumps in the short term, and by...

Things can always be done faster, but can anything beat light? Computing with light instead of electricity is seen as a breakthrough to boost the computer speeds. Transistors, the building blocks of data circuits, require to switch electrical signals into light in order to transmit the information via a fiber-optic cable. Optical computing could potentially save the time and energy used to be...

Geophysicists have measured Earth's spin and axis orientation with a novel ring laser, and provided the most precise determination of these parameters yet achieved by a ground-based instrument without the need for stellar range finding.

Cheese production relies on coagulation of milk proteins into a gel matrix after addition of rennet. Milk that does not coagulate (NC) under optimal conditions affects the manufacturing process, requiring a longer processing time and lowering the cheese yield, which, in turn, has economic impact. Scientists studied the protein composition of milk samples with different coagulation properties to...