Science
Climate ‘Overshoot’ Is Coming—Are We Ready?
Fossil fuel emissions are pushing Earth’s climate toward a dangerous new phase of climate “overshoot,” scientists warned Wednesday in a new report from the United Nations Environm…
Global heating will hit at least 1.8C, UN warns, and there are ‘no good outcomes’
But scientists say the world could get back to 1.5C through deep, rapid emissions cuts and removing carbon from the atmosphereGlobal heating will reach at least 1.8C under even th…
Scientists discover the key ingredients that make birdsong pretty
What makes birdsong beautiful? Answering this question could help us understand how soundscapes make the natural world relaxing for humans, opening the door to improving parks, up…
Agentic AI accelerates search for crops that can harvest critical minerals
For too long, the United States has relied on foreign sources for most of the raw materials powering its technological future: the essential minerals in every smartphone, battery …
Many space missions are searching for life beyond Earth, but are we prepared for the fallout if they succeed?
Microbes from space have fueled the plots of science fiction mainstays like "Project Hail Mary" and "The Andromeda Strain." But with more space missions launching each year, findi…
Magnetic beads streamline large-scale analysis of disease-linked glycopeptides
A research team has developed a reliable, economical laboratory method that uses tiny magnetic beads to study proteins with sugar molecules attached to them in blood and tissue sa…
New high-temperature, high-pressure isotope ratio analysis method developed for halogenated compounds
Halogenated organic compounds (HOCs) are widely used in industrial and consumer products, but some are highly persistent and difficult to analyze and manage. In a new study, resea…
Algorithm improves detection of differentially expressed genes in large single-cell trajectory data sets
Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) is a method for measuring gene expression in individual cells, allowing observation of various cellular processes, including cell differenti…
Federal Judge Strikes Down New York’s Climate Change Superfund Law
A federal judge has struck down New York’s Climate Change Superfund Act, ruling that it “conflicts with” federal authority. The legislation would have required fossil fuel compa…
Firelight may have sparked human storytelling by extending social hours
New research from the University of St Andrews has developed a novel hypothesis of how firelight was critical to the evolution of sophisticated storytelling.
Muddying the waters makes stickleback fish more coordinated, study finds
Stickleback fish can change their social behavior to help them find food in cloudy water, according to a new University of Bristol study published in Proceedings of the Royal Soci…
Survey reveals marine biodiversity hotspot needs protection
An environmental DNA study by a multi-institutional research collaboration has revealed distinct regions of extraordinary marine biodiversity that can help inform management of a …
At the Grand Canyon, Flooding and Wildfire Underscore Compounding Extreme Weather Risks
An intense downpour at Grand Canyon National Park transformed hiking trails and shallow creeks into deadly rapids over the weekend, killing at least two people. Following scattere…
Giant impact could have formed an intact moon within five hours, simulations suggest
New Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) modeling, conducted in collaboration with scientists at the University of Arizona, shows fundamental differences in how the moon may have f…
Saturn encounter may have set distant centaur on path to becoming a comet
More than 3 billion miles (4.8 billion kilometers) from Earth, an ancient icy object is slowly awakening. As it drifts inward through the solar system, the frozen body known as Ce…
A roadmap for animal-free chemical testing
For many years, the European Union has pursued a policy aimed at the replacement, reduction and refinement of animal testing (the 3Rs principle). To put the ethical principle of t…
A sustainable flame retardant derived from corn steep liquor
Certain phosphorus compounds are highly effective at suppressing fires, which is why they are widely used in flame retardants. Phosphorus, however, is a finite resource. Estimates…
NASA Selects Blue Origin as Mars Telecommunications Network Provider
NASA awarded Blue Origin a contract Tuesday to develop the agency’s Mars Telecommunications Network, a next-generation communications system that will enable reliable, high-bandwi…
Two astronauts replace ISS camera and docking aid on 6th-ever all-female spacewalk (video)
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot replaced a camera and a docking aid during a 6-hour, 49-minute spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Tue…
AI-informed AdaptiveFlow redefines large-scale cloud computing for drug discovery
Researchers today announced AdaptiveFlow, an AI-informed platform that can virtually screen billions of drug-like molecules with a 1,000-fold reduction in computational costs over…
Precision optics to make plant health visible from space
When the ESA Earth observation mission FLEX launches into space on September 15, 2026, as scheduled, it will carry high-precision optical components from Jena, Germany. Researcher…
Scientists trace 7 stages of a meteorite's life, from hurtling space rock to Earth's surface
Studying 75 meteorites falling to Earth, scientists have identified the seven stages a space rock goes through as it crashes through our atmosphere.
Why Montana Firefighters Are Intentionally Burning Areas Around Two Wildfires
About a month ago, two wildfires ignited a day apart in southwest Montana. The Bobcat Lakes Fire started July 31 near Wise River, followed by the Sand Creek Fire on Aug. 1 near Wi…
Larger catalyst batches could make carbon recycling cheaper and easier to scale
Turning carbon dioxide into industrial chemicals used in everything from synthetic fuels to plastics and pharmaceuticals is costly. But new research shows it does not have to be.