Science
The race to protect Santa Rosa Island's rare, damaged Torrey pines
In May, a fire damaged 80% of the trees one of the only two naturally-occurring groves of Torrey Pines in the world. The National Park Service is trying to help them recover.
LISA to the rescue: Using light to fix cell division
Cell division is a complex process. At the heart of this complexity is a membraneless organelle called the centrosome, which is made up of more than 200 components. It is responsi…
Genetic audit of wheat: Researchers determine the actual variability of a gene responsible for bread quality
A team at the University of Córdoba (UCO) has reviewed and updated the catalog of versions of the wheat gene GLU-B1, which is responsible for a protein that makes up gluten. The t…
NASA Awards Orbital Safety Analysis Support Services Contract
NASA has awarded a contract to Omitron Inc. for the acquisition of orbital safety analysis services, which provide for critical protection of NASA spaceflight assets and astronaut…
NASA Features Exploration, Science at International Space Conference
NASA will participate in the 77th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Antalya, Türkiye, from Monday, Oct. 5, to Friday, Oct. 9, highlighting America’s leadership in huma…
Protein signaling cascade helps explain how plants respond to touch
Plants cannot run away when the wind picks up, rain lashes down or a hungry herbivore begins chewing on their leaves. Instead, they must sense their surroundings and adapt. Now, r…
New device measures curved mirrors' absolute shape to within 2 nanometers without touching them
Researchers at AIST have developed a device that measures the absolute surface profile of curved optical elements with high precision without touching them.
AI structure prediction speeds discovery of 'molecular glues' to treat disease
A Baylor College of Medicine-led team has developed a strategy that combines the analysis of thousands of proteins with artificial intelligence to accelerate the discovery of smal…
New feathered, winged dinosaur from China challenges our theories on bird and dinosaur evolution
A newly described feathered dinosaur found in northeastern China adds evidence supporting the theory that flight-related features evolved differently in various bird-like dinosaur…
Under the Microscope: NASA-made material for moon manufacturing
Photos taken using a microscope reveal the colorful, kaleidoscope-like crystal structure of a new NASA-made material that could be used for manufacturing during future space missi…
NASA Adds Blue Origin New Glenn 9×4 to Launch Services Contract
In accordance with a contract on-ramp clause, NASA has added Blue Origin’s New Glenn 9×4 launch service to the NASA Launch Services (NLS) II contract. The New Glenn 9×4 launch ser…
A new family of materials for efficiently converting sunlight into clean energy
Researchers at Oregon State University have developed a new family of materials that use light to produce hydrogen from water, opening the door to new ways of converting the sun's…
Scientists call for protection and restoration of Africa's seagrass meadows
A team of African researchers has published the first comprehensive review of seagrass restoration activities across Africa's coastline.
8-million-year-old rhino skull found in Crete
A rhinoceros skull at least 8 million years old has been found in the town of Sitia on Crete, the Greek news agency ANA reported Tuesday.
NASA Sets Crew-13 Launch, Docking Coverage
NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch, launch, and docking activities for the agency’s SpaceX Crew‑13 mission to the International Space Station. Live coverage will stream …
Suns set on hunt for giant planets in nearby binary system
New research led by the University of Michigan is helping set the stage for future observatories to characterize rocky planets outside our solar system, planets that could prove l…
Wolves did not save Yellowstone—why were we so desperate to believe they did?
You might be among the 46 million people who've seen a video showing how wolves changed Yellowstone, or you may have heard another version of the story. Yellowstone, which covers …
SpaceX's Starship rocket does its job during first orbital flight
SpaceX sent its Starship super-rocket on its first orbital flight—a shorter-than-planned test mission that put operational Starlink satellites into orbit for the first time.
How ocean chemistry helped life keep breathing
Scientists have helped solve a longstanding mystery about how Earth remained habitable after oxygen first accumulated in its atmosphere more than 2 billion years ago, providing ev…
Researchers find a fungus in Kentucky's forest grass that makes rare bug-fighting chemicals
Researchers at the University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE) have discovered that a fungus living inside a common Kentucky woodland …
NASA highlights lessons learned from Swift boost mission
A commercial mission to boost NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory ended without raising the spacecraft's orbit, but the agency and Katalyst Space gained experience that will ben…
How does a bird virus infect a person?
How do we know when an animal virus might pose a risk to humans? Canada confirmed a human case of H5N1 avian influenza (often called "bird flu") in 2024, the first known to have b…
Parasites that steer nocturnal hosts into water do not rely on lunar cycles, study finds
Like many parasites, nematomorphs are known to manipulate their hosts' behavior to complete their life cycles. Also known as horsehair worms, among other names, these creatures de…
NASA announces new missions for Boeing Starliner spacecraft
NASA announced Monday that it is planning new missions using Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, the first since a troubled test flight left two astronauts stranded at the Internationa…