Machine learning can pinpoint "genes of importance" that help crops to grow with less fertilizer, according to a new study published in Nature Communications. It can also predict additional traits in plants and disease outcomes in animals, illustrating its applications beyond agriculture.

Guatemala's Fuego volcano began a strong eruptive phase on Thursday, spewing lava and ash in a series of explosions that have not yet forced any evacuations, authorities said.

A team co-led by a Washington State University scientist offers an alternative way to understand and minimize health impacts from human-caused changes to the climate and environment in a new study published in the journal One Earth. 

Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have identified a way of determining the age of a lobster based on its DNA. 

We put "save the chimps" on t-shirts and posters. But you'll never see anyone walking around in a shirt that says "save the chimpanzee lice." People seem to be more aware of the plight of endangered gorillas than of the gorillas' gut worms, or are understandably more enamored with mouse lemurs than their mites.

A University of Toronto study has found that those living close to natural gas wells are exposed to higher levels of certain organic pollutants in their homes.

Clouds are one of the biggest wildcards in predictions of how much and how fast the Arctic will continue to warm in the future. Depending on the time of the year and the changing environment in which they form and exist, clouds can both act to warm and cool the surface below them.

The Fornax Cluster—which, as the name suggests, lies primarily in the constellation Fornax (the Furnace)—is a relatively nearby galaxy cluster, only about 60 million light-years from Earth. This means that it looms large in the night sky, stretching across an area more than 100 times larger than the full moon. With over 600 member galaxies, the Fornax Cluster is the second "richest" (most...

The private space flight, SpaceX, completed a historic mission with the first all-civilian flight crew last weekend. The four members of the Inspiration4 crew raised $200 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and helped prove SpaceX founder Elon Musk's belief that non-professional astronauts can venture into space in regularity.

Cancer is a devastating disease and is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. One of the hallmarks of cancer is genomic instability, or the tendency to accumulate mutations and damage to the DNA that leads to genome alterations during cell division. DNA mutations can arise from exposure to ultraviolet or X-ray radiation or from certain chemicals known as carcinogens; however, our cells have...

Footprints found at White Sands National Park in New Mexico provide the earliest unequivocal evidence of human activity in the Americas and offer insight into life over 23,000 years ago.

An international team of researchers led by the University of Huddersfield's Archaeogenetics Research Group, including geneticists, archeological scientists, and archeologists, has published the genome sequence of a unique individual from Islamic medieval Spain—al-Andalus—the results of which have shed light on a brutal event that took place in medieval Spain.

No language has words for all the blues of a wind-churned sea or the greens and golds of a wildflower meadow in late summer. Globally, different languages have divvied up the world of color using their own set of labels, from just a few to dozens.

A new miniature satellite designed and built at CU Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) is providing proof that "cute" things can take on big scientific challenges.

Long-lasting protection from corrosion is essential for materials used for vehicles and aircraft to ensure structural integrity amid extreme operating conditions. Two chemical pre-treatment processes are widely used in industrial settings to prepare for coating adhesion and protect aluminum alloy surfaces against corrosion. While highly regulated, both processes use large quantities of hazardous...

When we reflect on our past behavior and decisions, we can normally identify both occasions where we have been true to ourselves, i.e. acted authentically, as well as times when we have done things in a way that doesn't align with who we believe we are. However, how do these recollections translate onto the story of who we are that we tell ourselves every day?

The control and measurement of asserted forces on small objects are frequently seen in micromanipulation, material science, and biological and medical applications. Researchers in China have proposed for the first time the microprinting of a novel fiber-tip-polymer clamped-beam probe micro-force sensor for the examination of biological samples. This approach opens new avenues towards the...

Chinese scientists recently reported a de novo route for artificial starch synthesis from carbon dioxide (CO2) for the first time. Relevant results were published in Science on Sept. 24.

Researchers can predict what syllables a bird will sing—and when it will sing them—by reading electrical signals in its brain, reports a new study from the University of California San Diego.

Vampire bats that form bonds in captivity and continue those "friendships" in the wild also hunt together, meeting up over a meal after independent departures from the roost, according to a new study.

Two University of Wyoming researchers are part of the first-ever mapping of magnetic stripes—one of the foundations of plate tectonics—within the lower gabbroic section of fast-spreading oceanic crust.

High stable common-path digital holographic interferometers can be widely applied in long-term time-lapsing interferometric measurements, three-dimensional imaging, and quantitative phase imaging. Scientists in China reviewed the common-path off-axis digital holography and categorized the common-path models into lateral shearing, point diffraction and other types, and summarized the progress of...

Engineers at the University of Cincinnati are developing new ways to convert greenhouse gases to fuel to address climate change and get astronauts home from Mars.

The global decline of pollinators threatens the reproductive success of 90 per cent of all wild plants globally and the yield of 85 per cent of the world's most important crops. Pollinators—mainly bees and other insects—contribute to 35 per cent of the world's food production. The service provided by pollinators is particularly important for securing food produced by the more than two billion...