A multi-layered, virus-specific immune response is important for controlling SARS-CoV-2 during the acute phase of the infection and reducing COVID-19 disease severity, with the bulk of the evidence pointing to a much bigger role for T cells than antibodies. A weak or uncoordinated immune response, on the other hand, predicts a poor disease outcome.

A recent study documents how personal risk assessment and protective behaviors are linked.

A new study suggests that for the most part, people formulate goals consistent with their personality traits.

Artificial intelligence researchers have improved the performance of deep neural networks by combining feature normalization and feature attention modules into a single module that they call attentive normalization. The hybrid module improves the accuracy of the system significantly, while using negligible extra computational power.

Instincts developed to protect us from illnesses can generalize into avoidance of healthy individuals who simply look, speak or live differently.

A team of researchers has demonstrated a way to use low-energy, visible light to produce polymer gel objects from pure monomer solutions. The work not only poses a potential solution to current challenges in producing these materials, it also sheds further light on the ways in which low energy photons can combine to produce high energy excited states.

New research has led to the discovery of world's oldest animal sperm inside a tiny crustacean trapped in amber around 100 million years ago in Myanmar.

Tropical forest soils play a crucial role in providing vital ecosystem functions. They provide nutrients for plants, store carbon and regulate greenhouse gases, as well as storing and filtering water, and protection against erosion. Scientists have investigated how the properties and ecosystem functions of tropical soils change when forests are cut down, and whether reforestation can reverse such...

Tortoises are born with a natural preference for faces, according to new research.

Scientists have now uncovered a key mechanism by which pancreatic function is maintained in response to a high-fat diet. A protein present in pancreatic insulin-producing cells protects them from damage under the stress induced by a high-fat diet. As the world increases its intake of high-fat foods and as type 2 diabetes incidence rises as a result, this protein could be a novel therapeutic target...

New research finds that the traits that make vertebrates distinct from invertebrates were made possible by the emergence of a new set of genes 500 million years ago, documenting an important episode in evolution where new genes played a significant role in the evolution of novel traits in vertebrates.

During a research stay in the highlands of Colombia conducted as part of her doctorate, a PhD student has discovered and zoologically described a new species of spider.

Researchers have developed an advanced spectrometer that can acquire data with exceptionally high speed. The new spectrometer could be useful for a variety of applications including remote sensing, real-time biological imaging and machine vision.

Biologists are building a volunteer network of citizen scientists to help monitor the abundance of dragonflies and damselflies.

The negative effects of over-parenting on children are well documented, but less is known about why certain people become helicopter parents. A new study suggests perfectionism is one driver.

Many people want to become more empathetic. But, these changes in personality may also lead to changes in political ideologies.

A simpler and more efficient way to predict the performance of batteries will lead to better batteries, according to engineers.

Using computer modeling, researchers simulated how the distribution of quaking aspen, a native tree known for its brilliant yellow and orange foliage in fall and the sound of its trembling leaves, will change amid rising temperatures over the next 100 years.

Colloidal particles have become increasingly important for research as vehicles of biochemical agents. In future, it will be possible to study their behavior much more efficiently than before by placing them on a magnetized chip. A research team has discovered that colloidal rods can be moved on a chip quickly, precisely, and in different directions. A pre-programmed magnetic field even enables...

When stars like our sun die, all that remains is an exposed core -- a white dwarf. A planet orbiting a white dwarf presents a promising opportunity to determine if life can survive the death of its star, according to researchers.

Before autonomous vehicles participate in road traffic, they must demonstrate conclusively that they do not pose a danger to others. New software prevents accidents by predicting different variants of a traffic situation every millisecond.

Thanks to a bevy of telescopes in space and on Earth -- and even a pair of amateur astronomers in Arizona -- astronomers have discovered a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting at breakneck speed around a distant white dwarf star.

Invaders, pirates, warriors - the history books taught us that Vikings were brutal predators who travelled by sea from Scandinavia to pillage and raid their way across Europe and beyond. Now cutting-edge DNA sequencing of more than 400 Viking skeletons from archaeological sites scattered across Europe and Greenland will rewrite the history books.

Researchers have made an unexpected world-first stem cell discovery that may lead to new treatments for placenta complications during pregnancy.