Science
Protecting isn't enough—creating integrated conservation landscapes is key
New Monash University research has revealed how countries could strengthen their conservation networks by looking beyond the boundaries of national parks and protected areas—and f…
How shoes change our bones—and what that tells us about the evolution of walking
We tend to think of our bones as solid, unchanging support structures inside our bodies, but a recent study from the University of Chicago shows just how much they can change depe…
'Donnie Darko' at 25: How a giant rabbit, time loops, and teen angst became a sci-fi cult classic
"28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 12 seconds. That is when the world will end."
Interfacial intelligence: A new way to design polymer brushes
Polymer brushes are dense layers of polymer chains that can be engineered to change how a surface interacts with its surroundings. By controlling interactions with water, ions, pr…
Stuck for a Halloween outfit? Set phasers to stunning with the best Star Trek costumes
Halloween is just round the corner, but if you hurry, you can beam down these superb Star Trek outfits, from old-school Star Trek through to The Next Generation and Discovery.
Clouds on a lava planet challenge what astronomers expected
A rocky lava planet once thought to be too extreme to have an atmosphere appears to be wrapped in one with a reflective layer of vaporized silicate mineral clouds, the same family…
NASA Invites Media to Moon Landing Simulation Experience in California
Members of the media are invited to tour a new lunar landing simulator at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley on Thursday, Oct. 29, and Friday, Oct. 30.
Did you solve it? A magical melody from the Mozart of math
The solution to today’s puzzlesEarlier today, I set a puzzle by UCLA professor Terry Tao, who is widely regarded as one of the world’s top mathematicians.Here it is again with sol…
Laser-blasted plasma shows how instabilities could heat the sun's corona
From its visible surface, the sun radiates heat at a relatively cool temperature of 5,800 Kelvin. Yet within the thin outer layer of the sun's atmosphere known as the corona, elec…
Record breaker! Astronomers spot powerful cosmic explosion that lasted 27 days
Astronomers have spotted a remarkable gamma-ray burst that's a real Incredible Hulk compared to other cosmic explosions of the same type.
Lizard tail preserved in amber sheds light on a 100-million-year-old defense mechanism
A lizard making a dramatic escape, leaving its tail wriggling behind as it darts to safety, is an image familiar to many. Tail-shedding is one of the most widespread defenses agai…
Japan's largest marine DNA study detects 126 fish species farther north than previously recorded
As climate change reshapes habitats both on land and at sea, you might go to the beach one day, only to find yourself in a place that looks nothing like you remember, around sea c…
Armored amphibian lived entirely at sea 237 million years ago, fossils suggest
Scientists report fossil evidence of the first fully marine amphibian in a study from the University of California, Davis; Peking University; and the Geological Museum of Guizhou.…
SpaceX ignites giant Super Heavy booster engines ahead of daring Starship launch (video)
SpaceX conducted a static-fire test with its Super Heavy boosters B22 on Sunday (Oct. 25), beginning a test campaign to ready the giant rocket for Starship's Flight Test 15.
Physicists reveal new paradigm for fiber growth in neurodegenerative diseases
Some proteins that are linked to neurodegenerative diseases can form both liquid droplets and amyloid fibers. But how are these two states connected, and where do the fibers grow?…
NASA’s X-59 Aircraft and Test Pilot
NASA test pilot Mike Lippert poses for a photo ahead of his first time flying the agency’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft on Oct. 21, 2026. The X-59 has flown numerous ti…
Stellar collisions may have been common when the universe was young
In our solar system's corner of the galaxy, stars rarely collide. It makes sense: Space is vast, and stars have room to roam. Even in most of the present-day universe, stellar col…
Protein fibers, a hallmark of Alzheimer's, spotted making genetic deliveries to sperm cells
Unexpectedly, a kind of protein that is usually linked with diseases in the brain may play a vital role in semen, helping shepherd genetic material into sperm cells, scientists at…
Plants may switch between reproductive strategies more easily than thought
When it comes to reproduction, plants have options. Some can fertilize themselves, while others rely on pollen from genetically different plants. Many populations even contain a m…
RNA archiving method reveals what a cell did days ago
Information on what a cell did a few hours or days ago is generally unavailable to researchers, who can only measure the cell's current status. This is a problem if the aim is to …
Diamond defects confirm 80-year-old theory of crystal stress
For the first time, researchers in Japan have directly mapped several components of the stress field surrounding an atomic-scale flaw in the crystal structure of diamond. Led by T…
Tiny shifts in iron content tip a potential memory material between competing magnetic states
A team of Yale researchers has figured out what gives a magnetic material its mysterious properties, a discovery that could help boost computing memory and the field of "spintroni…
Thermal priming enhances heat tolerance and yield in tomatoes after recurrent heat stress
High temperatures can significantly impair the growth and yield of crops, including tomatoes. A new study by an international research team led by Dr. Justyna Olas, of the Leibniz…
An 'electron waiting room' helps blue titanium dioxide hold light energy longer
To produce hydrogen using sunlight, the energy obtained from light must be retained until it can be used in a chemical reaction. However, if an electron that has gained energy fro…