Science
Are baby girls more sociable? Super El Niño, meningitis outbreak explained – podcast
Madeleine Finlay sits down with her co-host and Guardian science editor, Ian Sample, to discuss three science stories from the week, including a study that offers a clue in the ag…
Aerial maps reveal successful woodland expansion in Scotland's Cairngorms
A University of Cambridge–led team has used aerial surveys across a huge swath of the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland to create detailed 3D maps that show the beginnings of l…
Hurricane Polo fuels fears of landslides in Mexico as Nolo closes in on Hawaii
Southwestern Mexico braced for heavy rain and mudslides after Polo became a major hurricane. Forecasters warned another system headed for Hawaii could cause catastrophic flooding …
Across southwest China and Thailand, plant turnover and nematode body width help explain soil diversity
Soils harbor some of the most diverse life on Earth. Soil nematodes play crucial roles in maintaining ecosystem functions. Yet how their diversity changes across large landscapes,…
Self-driving lab automates semiconductor ink synthesis and thin-film characterization
Developing new functional materials often requires testing numerous material combinations. Conventional experiments reach their limits quickly when many variants must be compared.…
The Coalition says it wants cheaper power, not ideology. But its evidence-free plan is all ideology | Adam Morton
The reheated plans to scrap renewable schemes, boost fossil fuels and revive nuclear are not based on fact but ideologyGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastG…
Delaying cherry blossom to reduce frost damage
Climate change is causing many fruit trees to flower earlier, increasing their exposure to damaging late spring frosts. A study led by the University of Göttingen shows that the p…
Crown-of-thorns starfish can help reefs thrive
Crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) are infamous in the marine world. Their toxin-loaded thorns give them a menacing appearance, and they have a reputation as destroyers of coral reef…
Astrophysicists use wave simulations to open a new window on dark matter
Astrophysicists from The University of Hong Kong (HKU), working with a research team led by Beijing Normal University (BNU), have developed a more physically realistic approach to…
Biologists battle over North America's largest crayfish
When Caitlin Bloomer wrestled the massive Crawzilla crawdad—yes, that's its actual common name—out of the muck during a biological survey in Kentucky, she was convinced it was the…
Can this biotech innovation halt the destructive march of a cereal killer?
A UK-led research collaboration has taken a significant step in the global effort to protect cereal crops from the devastating blast fungus. Researchers at the John Innes Centre e…
Bennu asteroid samples point to a surprising origin involving Jupiter
The asteroid Bennu orbits the sun once every 1.2 years and approaches Earth every six years, passing within around 300,000 kilometers. NASA took advantage of this to collect mater…
Starch-based sensor changes color to indicate moisture in food packaging
Brazilian researchers have developed a biodegradable, starch-based sensor that changes color when moisture enters food packaging. With the addition of cobalt chloride, the sensor …
Gene editing produces soybean with more than 90% oleic acid
Sejong University researchers have developed a high-quality soybean with improved oxidative stability, reduced saturated fat and increased seed fatty acid content. The research te…
NASA Modernizes Commercial Airline Systems
NASA’s researchers know that when you settle into your seat on a commercial flight, you expect a smooth takeoff, views over the clouds, a steady descent, and hopefully an early ar…
Bee-made propolis boosts an antifungal drug against yeast pathogens in lab tests
Propolis may not only inhibit the growth of certain fungi but also affect the activity of drugs used to treat fungal infections. Researchers have investigated how an ethanolic ext…
Court Nixes Michigan’s Novel Antitrust Case Targeting Big Oil
A federal court in Michigan has tossed out a pioneering antitrust lawsuit brought by the state of Michigan against four major oil and gas companies and their largest U.S. trade as…
Twenty years after An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore still believes in the climate fight: ‘We are going to win this’
Former US vice-president still has optimism for climate advocacy two decades after groundbreaking documentaryTwo decades after the release of his groundbreaking documentary An Inc…
Central surface density of dark matter agrees with the prediction of a new theory of gravity
A researcher from Sejong University has used a new theory of gravity proposed by Erik Verlinde to predict the observed central surface density of dark matter. The study was publis…
Aiming at number 9: CASPAR targets fluorine in new science run
The Compact Accelerator System for Performing Astrophysical Research (CASPAR) recreates conditions inside stars to study how elements are made. The experiment recently restarted w…
The Antarctic's only two flowering plants reveal opposing strategies for surviving long-term warming
A team of Chilean and Spanish researchers has published the results of one of the longest-running in-situ warming experiments in maritime Antarctica in the journal Physiologia Pla…
Graphene measurements reveal energy-loss and quantum-coherence exponents diverge under gate control
Scientists have shown that the two exponents (inelastic scattering exponent and dephasing exponent) commonly used to describe electron scattering in graphene do not necessarily fo…
In a first, olive ridley turtles spotted nesting on California’s beaches
Scientists are questioning whether the nestings on Seal and Huntington Beach were freak occurrences or start of a trendA sea turtle crawled out of the surf in southern California …
Super El Niño to Cause 451,000 Heat Deaths
More than 451,000 people are projected to die across the globe in the next six months from the additional heat brought by a super El Niño, according to estimates from climate scie…