Study finds cable news networks have grown more polarized
Even though it seems that Americans are constantly on their phones, studies have shown that the majority of Americans still get their news from television. At the beginning of 2020, the average American adult consumed around nine-and-a-half hours of television news per week, according to Nielsen.
Asexual reproduction leads to harmful genetic mutations
A team led by biologists at The University of Texas at Arlington has published a study supporting the theory that species that reproduce asexually have more harmful genetic mutations than those utilizing sexual reproduction.
What's new under the sun? Researchers offer an alternate view on how 'novel' structures evolve
Many crustaceans, including lobster, crabs, and barnacles, have a cape-like shell protruding from the head that can serve various roles, such as a little cave for storing eggs, or a protective shield to keep gills moist.
Successful women make the best advocates to help other women rise up in the ranks
New research utilizing data from U.S. Supreme Court law clerk hiring decisions finds that female job applicants with recommendations from other highly tenured women have the strongest chance of getting a job offer.
AI can reveal new cell biology just by looking at images
Humans are good at looking at images and finding patterns or making comparisons. Look at a collection of dog photos, for example, and you can sort them by color, by ear size, by face shape, and so on. But could you compare them quantitatively? And perhaps more intriguingly, could a machine extract meaningful information from images that humans can't?
Scientists offer new theory on how plants can orchestrate the rhythms of light
A team of scientists led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory has developed a theory that thylakoids, membrane networks key to plant photosynthesis, also function as a defense mechanism to harsh growing conditions, which could aid the development of hardier plants.
Research finds mechanically driven chemistry accelerates reactions in explosives
Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Energetic Materials Center and Purdue University Materials Engineering Department have used simulations performed on the LLNL supercomputer Quartz to uncover a general mechanism that accelerates chemistry in detonating explosives critical to managing the nation's nuclear stockpile. Their research is featured in the July 15 issue of...
Climate change: Potential to end humanity is 'dangerously underexplored' say experts
Global heating could become "catastrophic" for humanity if temperature rises are worse than many predict or cause cascades of events we have yet to consider, or indeed both. The world needs to start preparing for the possibility of a "climate endgame."
Legacy of ancient ice ages shapes how seagrasses respond to environmental threats today
Deep evolution casts a longer shadow than previously thought, scientists report in a new paper published the week of Aug. 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Smithsonian scientists and colleagues looked at eelgrass communities—the foundation of many coastal marine food webs along the north Atlantic and Pacific coasts—and discovered their ancient genetic history can play a...
Automating neutron experiments with AI
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are developing a first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence device for neutron scattering called Hyperspectral Computed Tomography, or HyperCT. The fully automated, AI-driven platform can rotate a sample in almost any direction, eliminating the need for human intervention and significantly reducing lengthy experiment times.
Shining light on how bacteria interact
The ways in which bacteria infect cells are important for understanding host-pathogen interactions. The knowledge also opens up a world of practical applications.
Fires increase in Brazilian Amazon in July
The number of forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon increased by eight percent last month compared with July 2021, according to official figures released Monday, the latest alarm bell for the world's biggest rainforest.
France and parts of England see driest July on record
France and parts of England saw their driest July on record, the countries' weather agencies said on Monday, exacerbating stretched water resources that have forced restrictions on both sides of the Channel.
Enzyme, proteins work together to tidy up tail ends of DNA in dividing cells
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have described the way an enzyme and proteins interact to maintain the protective caps, called telomeres, at the end of chromosomes, a new insight into how a human cell preserves the integrity of its DNA through repeated cell division.
Study finds nickelate superconductors are intrinsically magnetic
Electrons find each other repulsive. Nothing personal—it's just that their negative charges repel each other. So getting them to pair up and travel together, like they do in superconducting materials, requires a little nudge.
Researchers develop miniature lens for trapping atoms
Atoms are notoriously difficult to control. They zigzag like fireflies, tunnel out of the strongest containers and jitter even at temperatures near absolute zero.
Most but not all Texas coaches say they'll plan for climate change
A survey of coaches and athletic officials in Texas indicates many of them would be wise to think harder about the risks their students face as the climate changes, according to Rice University researchers who conducted the statewide study.
Signaling 'stressed-out' plants
A plant scientist from the University of Missouri has discovered a new way of measuring stress in plants, which comes at a time when plants are experiencing multiple stressors from heat, drought and flooding because of extreme weather events.
VegSense makes sense for forest studies
Rice researchers set up a Microsoft HoloLens as a mixed-reality sensor to feed VegSense, their application to measure understory vegetation, plant life that grows between the forest canopy and floor.
Engineers repurpose 19th-century photography technique to make stretchy, color-changing films
Imagine stretching a piece of film to reveal a hidden message. Or checking an arm band's color to gauge muscle mass. Or sporting a swimsuit that changes hue as you do laps. Such chameleon-like, color-shifting materials could be on the horizon, thanks to a photographic technique that's been resurrected and repurposed by MIT engineers.
The many versions of a female scientist
Depictions of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are powerful sources of inspiration for young women who aspire to a career in those fields. But stereotypes of female scientists persist, and we have some way to go to vanquish them. So says Alexandra Phillips, a researcher at UC Santa Barbara's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), in a paper...
Profits over planet? Experts eye companies at crucial moment for climate change fight
June 1 marked the start of another perilous hurricane season in the eastern United States.
New York onion growers can keep yields while cutting chemical use
A surprise finding from new research on controlling pests and disease in New York commercial onion fields will enable the state's producers to cut their use of synthetic chemicals without sacrificing yield.
Have the past misdeeds of John James Audubon come home to roost?
It was a risk that likely was not perceived back in 1886, when Forest and Stream magazine editor George Bird Grinnell, distraught over the mass slaughter of birds, decided to name his new organization after one of the most noted artists and naturalists of his time, John James Audubon.
Formation of dwarf galaxy observed using India's AstroSat
An international team of researchers has observed part of the formation of a dwarf galaxy, helping to explain how they evolve from a dwarf state to maturity. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the group describes finding evidence of maturation in such galaxies.