feed info

161,023 articles from ScienceDaily


THURSDAY 8. JUNE 2023


Greenhouse gas emissions at 'an all-time high' -- and it is causing an unprecedented rate of global warming, say scientists

Human-induced warming, largely caused by the burning of fossil fuels, reached an average of 1.14°C for the most recent decade (2013 to 2022) above pre-industrial levels. This is up from 1.07°C between 2010 and 2019. Human-induced warming is now increasing at a pace of over 0.2°C per decade. The analysis also found that greenhouse gas emissions were 'at an all-time high', with human activity...

Diet tracking: How much is enough to lose weight?

Keeping track of everything you eat and drink in a day is a tedious task that is tough to keep up with over time. Unfortunately, dutiful tracking is a vital component for successful weight loss, however, a new study finds that perfect tracking is not needed to achieve significant weight loss.

Colorful fresh foods improve athletes' vision

Nutrition is an important part of any top athlete's training program. And now, a new study proposes that supplementing the diet of athletes with colorful fruits and vegetables could improve their visual range. The paper examines how a group of plant compounds that build up in the retina, known as macular pigments, work to improve eye health and functional vision.

Octopuses rewire their brains to adapt to seasonal temperature shifts

Octopuses don't thermoregulate, so their powerful brains are exposed to -- and potentially threatened by -- changes in temperature. Researchers report that two-spot octopuses adapt to seasonal temperature shifts by producing different neural proteins under warm versus cool conditions. The octopuses achieve this by editing their RNA, the messenger molecule between DNA and proteins. This rewiring...

Chatgpt designs a robot

Poems, essays and even books -- is there anything the OpenAI platform ChatGPT can't handle? These new AI developments have inspired researchers to dig a little deeper: For instance, can ChatGPT also design a robot? And is this a good thing for the design process, or are there risks?

Physicists discover an exotic material made of bosons

Take a lattice -- a flat section of a grid of uniform cells, like a window screen or a honeycomb -- and lay another, similar lattice above it. But instead of trying to line up the edges or the cells of both lattices, give the top grid a twist so that you can see portions of the lower one through it. This new, third pattern is a moiré, and it's between this type of overlapping arrangement of...


WEDNESDAY 7. JUNE 2023


Water molecules define the materials around us

A new paper argues that materials like wood, bacteria, and fungi belong to a newly identified class of matter, 'hydration solids.' The new findings emerged from ongoing research into the strange behavior of spores, dormant bacterial cells.

Remains of an extinct world of organisms discovered

Newly discovered biomarker signatures point to a whole range of previously unknown organisms that dominated complex life on Earth about a billion years ago. They differed from complex eukaryotic life as we know it, such as animals, plants and algae in their cell structure and likely metabolism, which was adapted to a world that had far less oxygen in the atmosphere than today.

New study identifies mechanism driving the sun's fast wind

Researchers used data from NASA's Parker Solar Probe to explain how the solar wind is capable of surpassing speeds of 1 million miles per hour. They discovered that the energy released from the magnetic field near the sun's surface is powerful enough to drive the fast solar wind, which is made up of ionized particles -- called plasma -- that flow outward from the sun.


TUESDAY 6. JUNE 2023


When pigeons dream

Dreams have been considered a hallmark of human sleep for a long time. Latest findings, however, suggest that when pigeons sleep, they might experience visions of flight. Researchers studied brain activation patterns in sleeping pigeons, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The study revealed that similar to mammals, most of the brain is highly active during REM sleep. However, this...

Swarming microrobots self-organize into diverse patterns

A research collaboration between Cornell and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems has found an efficient way to expand the collective behavior of swarming microrobots: Mixing different sizes of the micron-scale 'bots enables them to self-organize into diverse patterns that can be manipulated when a magnetic field is applied. The technique even allows the swarm to 'cage' passive objects...

The problems with coal ash start smaller than anyone thought

Burning coal doesn't only pollute the air. The resulting ash can leach toxic chemicals into the local environments where it's kept. New research shows that the toxicity of various ash stockpiles relies heavily on its nanoscale structures, which vary widely between sources. The results will help researchers predict which coal ash is most environmentally dangerous.

Electrical synapses in the neural network of insects found to have unexpected role in controlling flight power

A team of experimental neurobiologists and theoretical biologists has managed to solve a mystery that has been baffling scientists for decades. They have been able to determine the nature of the electrical activity in the nervous system of insects that controls their flight. They report on a previously unknown function of electrical synapses employed by fruit flies during flight.

Proposed design could double the efficiency of lightweight solar cells for space-based applications

When it comes to supplying energy for space exploration and settlements, commonly available solar cells made of silicon or gallium arsenide are still too heavy to be feasibly transported by rocket. To address this challenge, a wide variety of lightweight alternatives are being explored, including solar cells made of a thin layer of molybdenum selenide, which fall into the broader category of 2D...

Whales not to be counted on as 'climate savers'

Do whales increase the removal of carbon from the atmosphere? Despite some hope that this would be the case, a new study has found the amount of potential carbon capture by whales is too little to meaningfully alter the course of climate change. The team found the amount potentially sequestered by the whales was too minimal to make significant impact on the trajectory of climate change.

The digital dark matter clouding AI

Scientists using artificial intelligence technology may be inviting unwanted noise into their genome analyses. Now, researchers have created a computational correction that will allow them to see through the fog and find genuine DNA features that could signal breakthroughs in health and medicine.

Previously unknown antibiotic resistance widespread among bacteria

Genes that make bacteria resistant to antibiotics are much more widespread in our environment than was previously realized. A new study shows that bacteria in almost all environments carry resistance genes, with a risk of them spreading and aggravating the problem of bacterial infections that are untreatable with antibiotics.

Moving towards a more inclusive approach to medicine

The first human genome, which has served as the reference until now, was released approximately 20 years ago. It was a landmark accomplishment that had a huge impact on biomedical research and changed the way scientists study human biology. But it was based on just a few individuals and did not capture the full genetic diversity of the human population.