A pair of University of Houston engineers has discovered that they can create upward fountains in water by shining laser beams on the water's surface. Jiming Bao, professor of electrical and computer engineering at UH, and his postdoctoral student Feng Lin, attribute the finding to a phenomenon known as the Marangoni effect, which causes convection and explains the behavior of water when...

Wild populations must continuously adapt to environmental changes or risk extinction. For more than fifty years, scientists have described instances of "rapid evolution" in specific populations as their traits (phenotypes) change in response to varying stressors. For example, Spanish clover has developed a tolerance for copper from the mine tailings in which it grows, and the horn size of Alberta...

A collection of 17 papers in Pacific Conservation Biology aims to transform the field of conservation biology. The special issue titled "Transforming Conservation Biology Through indigenous Perspectives," edited by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH) researchers Kawika Winter and Melissa Price, and Anne-Marie Jackson of the University of Otago (Aotearoa New Zealand), features papers by...

Beneath the SARS-CoV-2 membrane and its spikes lurks a squiggle of genetic material, or RNA, enveloped by a protein that acts like bubble wrap to protect the genetic material. This protein also acts as a "hotbed" for multiple interactions to control the infected cell.

Violent crime in Vancouver, Canada rose in the city's poorer regions during the first year of the pandemic while wealthier neighborhoods saw thefts rise, according to a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Criminology.

Scientists are now one step closer to better understanding how to live in a "quantum" world—and not just from watching the character "Ant-Man" in the Marvel movie franchise.

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University have identified a new mechanism by which a protein known for repairing damaged DNA also protects the integrity of DNA by preserving its structural shape.

Recent advances in brain imaging techniques facilitate accurate, high-resolution observations of the brain and its functions. For example, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a widely used noninvasive imaging technique that employs near-infrared light (wavelength >700 nm) to determine the relative concentration of hemoglobin in the brain, via differences in the light absorption...

While the American Rescue Plan Act provided a major infusion of economic aid to low-income and middle-class Americans, more should be done to tackle racial wealth inequality and the structural issues in the tax code that allow those at the top of the income distribution to benefit disproportionately from tax subsidies, an Indiana University professor wrote.

When it comes to electrons—one of the fundamental building blocks of all matter—there are lots of unanswered questions. How big are they? What are they made out of? What … are they?

High school students who have trouble paying attention in class are more likely to admit to cheating, a new study shows.

A study of the management plans for 118 conservation units in Brazil shows that 60% use unsuitable methods to detect the presence of deer, and that 38% do not even describe the method used. Conservation of these animals may be endangered as a result. Eight deer species occur in Brazil; three are red-listed as "vulnerable" by IUCN.

A contagious blood cancer jumped from one species of clam to another and spread among clams living in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, shows a study published today in eLife.

Big cats caged in zoos are at risk from catching COVID-19 from their keepers, a study said Tuesday.

Heat waves—like the one that blistered the Pacific Northwest last June—also occur underwater. A new study in Frontiers in Marine Science paints a worrisome picture of recent and projected trends in marine heat waves within the nation's largest estuary, with dire implications for the marine life and coastal economy of the Chesapeake Bay and other similarly impacted shallow-water ecosystems.

The SETI Institute teamed up with Louisiana State University (LSU) and Mississippi State University (MSU) to help students design the science program for AstronetX PBC's first lunar-based camera (L-CAM 1). The scientific program planning is funded by a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation grant to AstronetX. Additional funding for student participation is provided by the National Science Foundation...

A new experimental platform developed at Rice University promises to speed up the discovery of how infectious bacteria become resistant to antibiotics. 

Tiny dressings that generate electricity in response to movement could accelerate wound healing and tissue regeneration. Scientists in Taiwan reviewed the latest advances and potential applications of wound healing technology in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials.

Researchers from the University of Saskatchewan (USask) and St. Paul's Hospital in Saskatoon used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at USask to help improve health outcomes for patients on dialysis.

ExxonMobil pledged Tuesday to reach "net zero" greenhouse gas emissions in its operations by 2050, but stopped short of extending the promise to products it sells throughout the global economy.

Shape-shifter molecules are in never-ending motion. Their structure fluctuates because the carbon bonds that hold them together constantly break up and form again. Researchers have now found a way to "tame" a shape-shifter molecule called bullvalene. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, they report that integrating the molecule into a coordination cage enables its shape-shifting behavior to be...

University of Surrey researchers have developed a single-step procedure to put single-crystal silicon under more strain than has been achieved before. The discovery, which has a patent pending, could be crucial to the future development of silicon photonics, which underpins the technologies behind the internet-of-things, and is currently constrained by the lack of cheap, efficient, and easily...

The blast from the volcano could be heard in Alaska, and the waves crossed the ocean to cause an oil spill and two drownings in Peru. The startling satellite images resembled a massive nuclear explosion.

An international team of researchers has found that extra-pair paternity in pied flycatchers leads to cooperation between males and females in feeding and fending off threats. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes experiments they conducted with wild pied flycatchers given boxes for nesting and what they learned from them.