For the first time, scientists have directly detected molecules in a Frisbee of gas and dust swirling around an alien gas-giant planet. I didn't think this was possible, says astronomer Sierra Grant of Carnegie Science in Washington, D.C. Typically such a faint signal would be invisible in the glare of a star. Grant and her co-author Gabriele Cugno of the University of Zurich, who published the results recently in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, think the carbon-rich disk is a lunar nursery.
In the version of the article initially published, in Fig. 2a, the y axis of the middle panel was shifted upwards and has now been moved down so that 0 is level with the x axis. In Fig. 3a, the RGB pixels dashed red line has been shortened for clarity. In Extended Data Fig. 2, the y-axis label was W (100 to 200 nm) but should have been W (100 to 220 nm).
Researchers at Cornell University have developed a method that allows them to create the darkest fabric ever made, inspired by the ultrablack feathers of the magnificent riflebird. In the study, the group says that material can be used to improve solar thermal systems as well as camouflage clothing designed for thermal control. It is because the bird's feathers can absorb almost all light with their complex physical structure and the melanin inside them.
Scientists led by Stephanie Eisenbarth, MD, PhD, the Roy and Elaine Patterson Professor of Medicine and director of the Center for Human Immunobiology, have discovered how critical IgA antibodies are produced through unexpected cellular pathways, findings that may help inform the design of more effective vaccines to prevent infections, according to a recent study published in Immunity. Immunoglobulin (Ig)A is an antibody that serves as the first line of defense for mucosal tissues that comprise the inner lining of organs in the respiratory system and digestive
Trump in an August executive order said federal grants had been insufficiently vetted, and some propagated absurd ideologies. Hastings, whose South San Francisco firm Nkarta engineers killer cells to fight disease, said biotechnology companies across the board are cutting staff and product-development projects as uncertainty over what comes next rattles investors.
There are some major problems facing humanity in the 21st century, and they're all going to require an enormous investment of our collective resources if we want to solve them. From climate change to global pandemics to the energy and water crises and more, none of these problems are going to solve themselves. If they're to be solved at all, it's going to come down to humanity's collective actions.
After two years of experimentation, the material was finally right: a particular mix of thermoplastics and fibreglass that is strong, has no need of extra coating to protect it from sunlight, and is resistant to fouling and marine growth. The perfect base, says Mr Logtenberg, from which to 3D print a boat. Boats need to withstand the unforgiving nature of the marine environment.
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NASA has drafted its Mars rover Perseverance to help monitor the sun's activity. Every day for the next two months, the rover will image the sun with its Mastcam-Z cameras, capturing crucial information about sunspots and other large features that can give clues to solar activity. Mars is currently passing behind the sun, giving the rover a view of the star's far sidea perspective we can't see from Earth.
The aeronautics company announced Friday that they have discovered a potential vulnerability in the software on board the Airbus A320 during solar storms, which may hinder pilots from steering or stabilizing the plane while in the air. Airbus issued an Alert Operators Transmission (AOT), a global warning that urges all airlines using the A320 passenger jet to immediately update their software and hardware to better protect against radiation interference.
Scientists at the University of Cambridge's cognition and brain sciences unit have used images of roughly 3,800 "neurotypical" brains, ranging in age from birth to 90, to pinpoint these turning points where our brains change shape to serve different functions as we grow, age, and eventually decline. Roughly speaking, ages nine, 32, 66, and 83 mark pivotal shifts in how our brains operate. "This study is the first to identify major phases of brain wiring across a human lifespan," Dr. Alexa Mousley, who led the research, said in a release.
The only major difference between the sun and the stars we see at night is that the sun happens to be close to uswhich is advantageous, assuming you enjoy being alive. Astronomers enjoy this as well but have another reason for rejoicing in the sun's proximity: this allows us to see it as a disk. The sun is, of course, three-dimensional.
More than 2,000 years ago, pretty much every educated human knew the Earth was round. There are some pretty obvious clues, after all. If you travel south, you see stars and constellations you've never seen before (because they're blocked by Earth's curvature). When a ship comes into port, you see the top of it before the bottom (because the ocean surface is curved). Finally, when Earth's shadow falls on the moon in a lunar eclipse, the shadow is a circle. I mean, c'mon!
Three minor earthquakes were detected less than 30 miles south of San Jose Friday morning, striking within three minutes of each other between 10.40 and 10.43am ET. The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported that the first tremor registered as a magnitude 3.4 earthquake, and was then followed moments later by magnitude 2.6 and 2.5 quakes. No injuries or damage to local property has been reported at this time.
Ever since I first read Janine Benyus's Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, I've descended into a rabbit hole in search of what " intelligence " really means (and who has it). Perhaps that's why I love the name of this newsletter so much. [It's a worm, after all. A humble, indispensable critter buried beneath the soil.] Benyus's central argument is that the "smartest" solutions to human problems already exist in nature. We just need to know where, and how, to look for them. (For instance: wind turbines inspired by humpback whales.)
The European Space Agency's long-delayed Rosalind Franklin rover has received a boost with confirmation that NASA is staying in the project. During Director General Josef Achbacher's speech at the agency's Ministerial meeting, where funding is debated and projects proposed and selected, he said [PDF]: "Just yesterday, I received very good news from NASA to confirm their contribution to the Rosalind Franklin Mission."
In 2019, shortly after finishing her master's at Nanjing University in China, Xinyi Zhao opened an e-mail to learn that she had been offered a PhD position at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany. "When I told my parents, they asked me to double-check whether the offer was real, as they weren't familiar with the institute." But Zhao knew of its glowing scientific reputation.
Melting the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could save the Gulf Stream, a remarkable new study reveals. The vast icy mass in the southern hemisphere contains around 750,000 cubic miles of ice - enough to fill Wembley Stadium nearly three billion times. As it melts, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet sends salty water towards the North Atlantic, which helps the water stay dense enough to keep the crucial ocean current moving, the study authors reveal.
In the study, they tracked 121 adults aged between 18 and 50 and split them into two groups. All underwent cardiovascular fitness tests and were quizzed about their lifestyle. Two days later, all participants then gave blood samples and had an electroencephalographic (EEG) scan to record the electrical activity of the brain. The first group then did sets of weight exercises of moderate difficulty, while the other was asked to watch a video of adults performing resistance exercises. The resistance exercises lasted for 42 minutes.
Kiira Motors Corporation has concluded a 1,771-kilometre electric coach run across Tanzania along its journey on the Made in Uganda Grand Trans-Africa Electric Expedition, which is offering the company a detailed set of observations on long-distance electric coach operation in East African conditions. The company was founded a few years ago and is owned by the State of Uganda. It focuses on the development of zero emission vehicles.
Most Americans think of turkeys in November, but for wild turkeys, the real drama unfolds in spring, when breeding season transforms forests and fields into complex social arenas filled with high-stakes courtship. During this time, male turkeys, or toms, display a striking combination of physical traits and behaviors to attract females, including gobbling calls, fanned tails, sharp spurs, hair-like beards on their chests, and the elongated snood draping over their beak, which research shows is a key factor in female choice.
A 2025 study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, surveyed more than a thousand college students to find out how they thought food affects their sleep and dreams. About 40% said certain foods make their sleep better or worse. Only 5.5% said food changes their dreams, which suggests there is not one surefire, nightmare-inducing snack, so much as sensitive people whose guts and sleep are tightly linked.
A Florida archaeologist's decades-long persistence has helped solve one of Peru's most puzzling geographical conundrums: the origin and purpose of the so-called Band of Holes in the country's mountainous Pisco Valley. Charles Stanish, professor of archaeology at the University of South Florida, and an expert on Andean culture, spent years studying the more than 5,200 curious hillside shallow pits known to local residents as Monte Sierpe - serpent mountain.
