Optical imaging and characterization of weakly scattering phase objects, such as isolated cells, bacteria and thin tissue sections frequently used in biological research and medical applications, have been of significant interest for decades. Due to their optical properties, when these 'phase objects' are illuminated with a light source, the amount of scattered light is usually much less than the...

Information in computers is transmitted through semiconductors by the movement of electrons and stored in the direction of the electron spin in magnetic materials. To shrink devices while improving their performance—a goal of an emerging field called spin-electronics ("spintronics")—researchers are searching for unique materials that combine both quantum properties. Writing in Nature...

An insightful cross-disciplinary team of University of Hawai'i (UH) at Mānoa researchers, working for over a decade, published a study recently revealing that a key number of hours of darkness during the lunar cycle triggers mature "Hawaiian box jellyfish" (Alatina alata) to swim to leeward O'ahu shores to spawn.

Mysterious fast radio bursts release as much energy in one second as the Sun pours out in a year and are among the most puzzling phenomena in the universe. Now researchers at Princeton University, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have simulated and proposed a cost-effective experiment to produce and...

Texas A&M University researchers Dr. Sam Noynaert and Fred Dupriest recently presented results from a geothermal project that drastically reduced well-completion times and drill bit changeouts to an audience of mostly petroleum drillers. The Department of Energy (DOE) funded the project, which improves geothermal drilling practices with physics-based instruction and oil and gas techniques to lower...

New research by a team of researchers at the NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Smart Materials Lab published today in the journal Nature Communications demonstrates that organic crystals, a new class of smart engineering materials, can serve as efficient and sustainable energy conversion materials for advanced technologies such as robotics and electronics.

Iraq's Lake Hamrin, a once-vast reservoir northeast of Baghdad that is the sole source of water for irrigation across Diyala province, has nearly dried out, a senior official said Friday.

Besides planting milkweed in the garden, people interested in helping monarch butterflies might want to turn off the porch light.

When it comes to attitudes and behaviors among members of American political parties, the conventional wisdom is that hate is stronger than love. 

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a phenomenon responsible for transporting ocean heat northward through the Atlantic Ocean. This process significantly influences the Arctic and North Atlantic oceanic climate and the Eurasian continental climate. The corresponding cross-equatorial northward heat transport also determines the location of the Intertropical Convergence Zone...

Researchers from the B.S.R.C. "Alexander Fleming" in Greece have optimized a method to characterize DNA traces in honey, revealing the species that honeybees interact with. This collaborative work led by researcher Dr. Solenn Patalano allowed the monitoring of the variability of bee diets across the year, revealing bee microbiota in a non-invasive way, as well as identifying pathogenic species...

Unlike fictional laser swords, real laser beams do not interact with each other when they cross—unless the beams meet within a suitable material allowing for nonlinear light-matter interaction. In such a case, wave mixing can give rise to beams with changed colors and directions.

Soil fauna, especially termites, are essential for sustainable forest ecosystems and significantly influence soil quality. The community composition and activity density of termites can influence nutrient cycling and other ecological functions.

Billionaire Elon Musk arrived in Brazil Friday, announcing a project to bring internet access to schools in the Amazon and improve satellite monitoring of the rainforest.

An Israeli city is testing whether an artificial intelligence programme that detects drowning threats can help save lives off its beaches.

Boeing's Starliner capsule was preparing to dock with the International Space Station Friday, in a high-stakes uncrewed test flight key to reviving the US aerospace giant's reputation after a series of failures.

In a stopgap measure to help struggling spring- and winter-run Chinook salmon spawn in the face of rising water temperatures and lower water levels due to climate change, state and federal wildlife officials in Northern California have begun trucking adult fish to cooler waters.

Hundreds of sick and dying California brown pelicans have recently been found across the Southern California region and are now being treated at various rescue centers along the coast, officials said.

In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, ESA, NASA and JAXA worked closely together to create an open-source platform, based on the Euro Data Cube, that used a wealth of data from Earth-observing satellites to document the worldwide changes happening to our society and the environment. Now, the COVID-19 Earth Observing Dashboard has been expanded to contain six new focus areas which offers a...

Once dubbed "forever chemicals," per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, might be in the market for a new nickname.

Wildlife trade is a multimillion dollar industry. While some animals are traded legally, in compliance with legislation that aims to protect populations, wildlife trafficking continues to thrive in many places, threatening precious species with extinction.

An international research collaboration has discovered how to exploit certain defects to protect confined energy in acoustics systems. Their experimental approach provides a versatile platform to create at-will defects for further theoretical validation and to improve control of waves in other systems, such as light, according to principal investigator Yun Jing, associate professor of acoustics...

Heatwaves are extreme climatic events that occur in the atmosphere and even the oceans. Recent research indicates that marine heatwaves (MHWs) will become more frequent and intense under global warming conditions.

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital are studying voltage-gated ion channels (VGICs). Their work revealed a previously unknown mechanism of inactivation for one such channel that plays an important role in how neurons and muscles respond to electric signals sent by the nervous system. A paper on the work appeared today in Molecular Cell.

Forming metal into the shapes needed for various purposes can be done in many ways, including casting, machining, rolling, and forging. These processes affect the sizes and shapes of the tiny crystalline grains that make up the bulk metal, whether it be steel, aluminum or other widely used metals and alloys.

This new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image looks at one of the nearest, massive lenticular galaxies to Earth, NGC 1023 some 36 million light-years away. Lenticular galaxies get their names from their edge-on appearance that resembles a lens. They are intermediate galaxies between ellipticals and spirals. Lenticular galaxies have a large central bulge and a flattened disk like spirals, but no...

Despite effective vaccines, the rabies virus kills around 59,000 people a year. We asked medical anthropologist Deborah Nadal why the disease is still a threat.

A research team led by Prof. Yin Baoshu from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS) has revealed how typhoons trigger coastal algal blooms.

A small team of researchers with members from Thailand, Finland and China, has found that there is a very large and active trade in arachnids across the internet. In their paper published in the journal Communications Biology, the group describes their study of arachnid trade via the internet and possible repercussions of so many of the creatures being traded across the world.

Energy storage with rechargeable battery technologies powers our digital lifestyles and supports renewable energy integration into the power grid. However, battery function under cold conditions is an ongoing challenge, motivating researchers to improve low temperature performance of batteries. Aqueous batteries (in a liquid solution) do better than non-aqueous batteries in terms of rate...

The Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court proceedings in the United States have put the spotlight on the issue of abortion rights. Limiting access to safe abortions has many consequences, including increases in poverty, unemployment and pregnancy-related deaths. Another key area of impact from restricting abortion access is on family well-being and child development.

Diversifying the species in forest plantations has a positive impact on the quality of woodlands, according to an international study involving a CNRS researchers published on May 20, 2022, in the journal Science.

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research (MPIPZ) and the University of Cologne, Germany, have discovered a novel biochemical mechanism explaining how immune proteins defend plants against invading microorganisms. Their findings are published in the journal Cell.

Olive oil is one of the most prestigious agri-foods in Spain and it is the base of the Mediterranean diet. Adulteration and commercial fraud cases occur when it comes to the origin and varieties of a product with such an economic and business interest. Now, a team from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, Torribera Food and Nutrition Campus and the Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety...

In 2020, two police officers in Hackney strip-searched a 15-year-old Black girl at her school. Police conducted the search of this child, known as Child Q, without the consent of her parents, without an appropriate adult present (despite this being required by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984), and with the knowledge that she was menstruating.

Researchers at the 5th Physical Institute of the University of Stuttgart have verified a novel binding mechanism forming a molecule between a tiny charged particle and a gigantic (in molecular terms) Rydberg atom. The scientists observed the molecule with the help of a self-built ion microscope. The results are published in Nature.

Much of the western U.S. has been in the grip of an unrelenting drought since early 2020. The dryness has coincided with record-breaking wildfires, intense and long-lasting heat waves, low stream flows and dwindling water supplies in reservoirs that millions of people across the region rely on.

What is it like to be on the surface of Mars or Venus? Or even further afield, such as on Pluto, or Saturn's moon Titan?

Inflation rates have become almost impossible to ignore. In the U.K., inflation has soared in recent months, now reaching 9%—the highest rate for 40 years. The Bank of England expects it to rise to 10% this year and for the economy to slow down.

Nations in the G20 group of major economies have yet to strengthen greenhouse gas reduction goals despite agreeing to revisit their plans ahead of critical UN climate talks in November, according to an analysis by leading research NGOs seen exclusively by AFP.

High temperature superconductivity is something of a holy grail for researchers studying quantum materials. Superconductors, which conduct electricity without dissipating energy, promise to revolutionize our energy and telecommunication power systems. However, superconductors typically work at extremely low temperatures, requiring elaborate freezers or expensive coolants. For this reason,...

As physicists delve deeper into the quantum realm, they are discovering an infinitesimally small world composed of a strange and surprising array of links, knots and winding. Some quantum materials exhibit magnetic whirls called skyrmions—unique configurations described as "subatomic hurricanes." Others host a form of superconductivity that twists into vortices.

The United States Congress recently held a hearing into US government information pertaining to "unidentified aerial phenomena" (UAPs).

Spanning from 2003 to 2021, this collection of images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features galaxies that are all hosts to both Cepheid variables and supernovae. These two celestial phenomena are both crucial tools used by astronomers to determine astronomical distance, and have been used to refine our measurement of Hubble's constant, the expansion rate of the universe