Within the next decade, the novel coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 could become little more than a nuisance, causing no more than common cold-like coughs and sniffles. That possible future is predicted by mathematical models that incorporate lessons learned from the current pandemic on how our body's immunity changes over time.

Fast-spreading variants of the COVID-19-causing coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, carry mutations that enable the virus to escape some of the immune response created naturally or by vaccination. A new study has revealed key details of how these escape mutations work.

Countries and US states more predisposed to collectivist behavior have more people following mask guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study.

Using a robotic 'Third Thumb' can impact how the hand is represented in the brain, finds a new study.

Physicists make unique broadband polarization rotators with ultrathin carbon nanotube films. The rotators extend to the terahertz, which could simplify devices for use in telecommunications, security and manufacturing.

You might be older - or younger - than you think. A new study found that differences between a person's age in years and his or her biological age, as predicted by an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled EKG, can provide measurable insights into health and longevity.

New research provides an updated understanding of how to add functional groups onto simple hydrocarbons like methane. This new and highly detailed mechanism is a crucial step towards designing the next generation of catalysts and finding scalable approaches for turning greenhouse gases into value-added chemicals.

450 million years ago, the first plants left aquatic life. Researchers have now succeeded in demonstrating that this colonization of land by plants was made possible by a partnership between plants and fungi. Validating this 40-year-old hypothesis allows us to understand a stage that was crucial to the development of life on Earth.

A protein that provides essential protection against free radicals inside the cell provokes damaging inflammation when released outside, activating immune cells and worsening damage following a stroke, according to a new study.

Taking more steps per day, either all at once or in shorter spurts, may help you live longer. The benefits of more daily steps occurred with both uninterrupted bouts of steps (10 minutes or longer) and short spurts such as climbing stairs.

The brain-computer interface user was able to transfer objects with a robotic arm at twice the speed of doing it without the tactile feedback.

A global survey of fossil pollen has discovered that the planet's vegetation is changing at least as quickly today as it did when the last ice sheets retreated around 10,000 years ago.

A compound used widely in candles offers promise for a much more modern energy challenge -- storing massive amounts of energy to be fed into the electric grid as the need arises. Researchers show that low-cost organic compounds hold promise for storing energy that would kick in when the grid goes offline due to severe weather, and for storing renewable energy.

More than 15 months into the pandemic, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 is nearing 600,000. But COVID-19 deaths may be underestimated by 20 percent, according to a new study.

Some climate activists advocate large-scale tree-planting campaigns in forests around the world to suck up heat-trapping carbon dioxide and help rein in climate change.

The most populous boroughs in New York City, Queens and Brooklyn, likely served as the major hub of COVID-19 spread in the spring of 2020, a new study finds.

Analyzing data obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), researchers found a galaxy with a spiral morphology by only 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang. This is the most ancient galaxy of its kind ever observed. The discovery of a galaxy with a spiral structure at such an early stage is an important clue to solving the classic questions of astronomy: 'How and when...

A new allotrope of carbon has been produced. Like graphene, it is only one atom thick, but unlike graphene it behaves like a metal even at small scales, ideal for nanosized wires. This result is exciting for engineers trying to develop new carbon-based electronics and the new method demonstrates a novel way to produce other theoretically-designed but not-yet-created forms of nanoscale carbon...

Astronomers have traced the locations of five brief, powerful radio blasts to the spiral arms of five distant galaxies.

Building more homes and buildings with wood has been on the radar for years as a way to offset carbon emissions, though construction companies have been hesitant to take the material in broader use. A study is now the first to show that building with wood can be a sound investment. The findings show that multi-storied buildings made out of wood sold for an average of 8.85% more than those made...

Latinx young adults who experience heart-focused anxiety could be at greater risk for mental health disorders. New research indicates that heart-focused anxiety among that group is a statistically significant predictor for general depression and overall anxiety.

Swifts aren't called 'swifts' for nothing. They're known for being among the fastest migrating small birds around. When they aren't breeding, common swifts stay in the air most of the time -- up to 10 months of the year. Scientists had thought they travel about 500 kilometers per day on average. Now, new evidence shows that's a conservative estimate.

Biologists have used human pluripotent stem cells to grow sesame-seed-sized heart models, called cardioids, that spontaneously self-organize to develop a hollow chamber without the need of experimental scaffolds. This advance allows for the creation of some of the most realistic heart organoids to date.

A common factor called 'decision acuity' underpins diverse decision-making abilities in adolescents and young adults, suggests a new study. A large set of behavioral and neuroimaging data revealed that decision acuity is stable over time, distinct from IQ, and reduced in individuals with low general social functioning.