Science
New screening method finds rare DNA gyrase poison for future antibiotics
The goal was to build a faster way to search for new antibiotics. The search turned up something unexpected. FIU biochemistry professor Fenfei Leng and a group of researchers set …
Student-led missions deploy free-flying light sails from CubeSats in low Earth orbit
Students in Cornell's Space Systems Design Studio (SSDS) have released mission results for two unique light-sail experiments. These sails are slightly larger than a pizza box and …
NASA Kicks Off Nationwide Effort to Prepare Tomorrow’s Space Workforce
NASA kicked off its State Hubs for Skilled Technical Workforce initiative Sept. 15, 2026 with awardees at Space Center Houston. Agency leadership convened State Hub partners to al…
AI tool compares 125 cell types across 700 million years of evolution
A KAUST-led team has developed the AI tool Unify to help scientists compare similar cell types across distant species. This comparison can help researchers assess which findings f…
Plasma technology could help plant-based packaging replace plastic
A new study has found a sustainable and scalable way to improve the durability of plant-based packaging; it's a discovery that researchers say could help curb the environmental fo…
Early Mars rocks reveal at least three separate water episodes
When NASA's Perseverance rover reached the inner edge of Mars' Jezero Crater in September 2023, mission scientists were surprised by what they found. The geologic area, called the…
Scientists reveal how our cells conduct emergency repairs for DNA
Two new studies from Johns Hopkins University are providing scientists with an unprecedented view of how human cells repair one of the most dangerous forms of genetic damage: a br…
Earth's center of mass drifts less than we thought
Where is Earth's center of mass? The answer seems trivially obvious. It's right in the middle of the planet. Ah, but that kind of thinking won't get you a paper in the Geophysical…
How migrating cells build their leading edge: Master regulator may resolve long-standing debate
The ability of cells to move and change position is essential for various processes in our bodies. Immune cells move to sites of action, epithelial cells migrate during wound clos…
Perseverance’s View of ‘Turquoise Bay’
Description NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to capture this 360-degree panorama of “Turquoise Bay,” a geologic area of interest in the “Margin Unit.” The …
Solar Orbiter catches the sun's missing high-speed vibrations
The sun's magnetic fields are a twisty, curvy, ever-changing mess. In particular, our star's polar regions host areas called polar coronal holes, which contain invisible magnetic …
New ligand design balances radical generation and catalyst regeneration for challenging chemical reactions
Radicals, atoms or molecules that readily react with other substances to form new bonds, are useful tools for building complex substances such as pharmaceuticals. But even when a …
NASA Astronaut Reid Wiseman Attends Ravens vs. Saints Game
NASA astronaut and commander of the agency’s Artemis II mission, Reid Wiseman, a Baltimore native, takes a selfie with fans at an NFL game between the New Orleans Saints and the B…
Low-cost sensor tracks soil pH continuously for months across varied soils
At first glance, a farm field doesn't seem all that complicated. It's just dirt and crops.
Tiny wild cat newly identified as a species draws curious visitors in Bolivia
A tiny wild cat hidden away in the cloud forests of Bolivia has become an unlikely tourist attraction, drawing a stream of visitors hoping for a glimpse of the animal that scienti…
Breached Earth Boundaries Raise Risk of ‘Irreversible Change’
Scientists have developed an overwhelming array of methods to measure how burning fossil fuels, clearcutting forests and polluting oceans are harming the planet. But which measure…
Newly identified Bolivian wildcat 'Tigrino' plays in his enclosure – video
Scientists who identified a previously unknown wildcat in Bolivia have called the new species Leopardus tilcayo. The 10-year-old wildcat, called Tigrino, had been adopted by a fam…
A newly discovered mechanism helps cells prevent errors during DNA replication
At the scale of individual cells, the human body is constantly in motion. Every second, millions of cells divide, particularly in tissues such as the bone marrow, intestine and sk…
Lemur uses opera singer's trick to belt out forest songs
We are often left open-mouthed in awe as an opera singer hits a soaring top note. Now, researchers at the University of Warwick have found that the indri, the world's only known s…
Elusive builders of nearly perfect hexagonal tunnel fossils were probably small crustaceans—not worms
For more than 170 years, paleontologists have been trying to solve the mystery of what created the strangely uniform hexagonal tunnels found in fossils. In a new study published i…
Under stress, bacterial RNA and proteins tell different stories
During infection, bacteria encounter rapidly changing and stressful environments inside the body. To understand how they adapt, researchers often measure messenger RNA (mRNA), whi…
NASA Discovery Reveals Complex Water Systems on Early Mars
When NASA’s Perseverance rover reached the inner edge of Mars’ Jezero Crater in September 2023, mission scientists were surprised by what they found. Called the “Margin Unit,” the…
Wildlife will be affected by current drought for years to come, UK government says
The number of potentially damaging environmental incidents triggered by this year’s hot and dry weather has surpassed that of 2025Wildlife in England and Wales will be affected by…
Newly identified Bolivian wildcat 'Tigrino' plays in his enclosure
Scientists who identified a previously unknown wildcat in Bolivia have called the new species Leopardus tilcayo. The 10-year-old wildcat, called Tigrino, had been adopted by a fam…