Engineers have developed a device that uses sound waves to separate and sort the tiniest particles found in blood, in a matter of minutes. The technology is based on a concept called 'virtual pillars' and could be a boon to both scientific research and medical applications.

The Kibble-Zurek (KZ) mechanism, confirmed experimentally only for equilibrium phase transitions, is also applicable for non-equilibrium phase transitions, as is now shown in a landmark study. The KZ mechanism is characterized by the formation of topological defects during continuous phase transition away from the adiabatic limit. This breakthrough finding could open the doors to investigation of...

Scientists believe bats first transmitted SARS-CoV-2 to humans in December 2019, and while the virus has since evolved into several variants such as delta and omicron, a new study indicates the virus is still highly transmissible between mammals.

A specimen retrieved from a cupboard of the Natural History Museum in London has shown that modern lizards originated in the Late Triassic and not the Middle Jurassic as previously thought.

A new study finds that the health benefits associated with wind power could more than quadruple if operators turned down output from the most polluting fossil-fuel-based power plants when energy from wind is available. However, compared to wealthier communities, disadvantaged communities would reap a smaller share of these benefits.

A randomized control trial led by psychologists shows the positive effects learning to play music for just a few weeks has on cognitive abilities.

While scientists have struggled in the past to create an effective vaccine against HIV, a novel vaccine design strategy being pursued by a team of researchers. The teams work shows new promise, according to data from a first-in-human clinical trial.

Researchers have applied emerging electronic tattoo (e-tattoo) technology to the tricky task of measuring stress levels by attaching a device to people's palms.

Does stress during pregnancy impact children's cell aging, and does race matter? The answer is yes, according to a new study.

B cells are critical to the proper functioning of the immune system. However, researchers have shown that they can sometimes do more harm than good, as their numbers greatly increase after bowel damage, preventing the tissue from healing. The results can be of significance to the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.

A research team has discovered the underlying neural mechanism that allows us to feel empathy. The group's study on mice hinted that empathy is induced by the synchronized neural oscillations in the right hemisphere of the brain, which allows the animals to perceive and share each other's fear.

As the Christmas season starts to ramp up, researchers are reminding people to prioritize a good night's sleep as new research shows that a troubled sleep may be associated with risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

Exposure to traffic related air pollution is associated with an increased likelihood of having multiple long-term physical and mental health conditions according to a new study of more than 364,000 people in England.

Gamers who buy 'loot boxes' are up to two times more likely to gamble, shows new research.

In a new study, researchers sought to determine the percentage of COVID-19 patients discharged from the hospital who had a type of fibrotic lung damage, known as interstitial lung disease, that requires ongoing follow-up care. These patients had varying degrees of COVID-19 severity at hospital admission.

Tin sulfide (SnS) solar cells have shown immense promise in the rush to develop more environmentally friendly thin-film solar cells. Yet for years SnS solar cells have struggled to achieve a high conversion efficiency. To overcome this, a SnS interface exhibiting large band bending was necessary, something a research group has recently achieved.

What if you could tell if your surroundings contained COVID-19 particles or droplets the moment they or you entered the vicinity? This is now closer to reality. Researchers have engineered a battery-less, self-powering device that can wirelessly transmit the detection of coronavirus in the air.

Marking trees are important hotspots of communication for cheetahs: Here they exchange information with and about other cheetahs via scent marks, urine and scats. A team has now shown that several mammalian species on farmland in Namibia maintain a network for intra- and interspecific communication at cheetah trees. Black-backed jackals, African wildcats and warthogs visited and sniffed the...

Microplastics -- small plastic pieces less than five millimeters in length -- are becoming a ubiquitous ecological contaminant. Studies suggest that on their own, these tiny bits are potentially harmful, and it's unclear what effect they could have on pollutants that latch onto them. Now, researchers show that, when attached to microplastics, UV filters used in products such as sunscreens can make...

Researchers at the University of Bern have developed a new method for the successive calculation of the emission reductions which are necessary for achieving temperature targets, such as the 2°C goal. The calculation method is based solely on observation rather than models and scenarios. According to the study, international climate policy has to become even more ambitious.

Researchers detail an analysis method that could improve telescopes at the Simons Observatory by evaluating their performance before installation. This is the first time the optical performance of a telescope has been confirmed prior to its deployment.

Supporters of the large-scale Mississippi River sediment diversions currently being planned by the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority got a boost to their case recently when scientists published an analysis of two existing freshwater diversions on the state's coastline, one of which shows a significant amount of land having formed over the past 17 years.

Adding a daily ounce of peanuts or about a teaspoon of herbs and spices to your diet may affect the composition of gut bacteria, an indicator of overall health, according to new research. In two separate studies, nutritional scientists studied the effects of small changes to the average American diet and found improvements to the gut microbiome.