Science
Bacteria from ancestral wheat microbiomes help protect plants against root rot fungus
In the journal npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, researchers from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) and the University of São Paulo (USP) describe the role of …
Metal ceramics under AI control: A new approach for calculating the mechanical properties of materials
Researchers from the Skoltech Materials Center have proposed a new approach to modeling the mechanical properties of heterogeneous materials, combining machine learning with activ…
New study reveals how space rocks become meteorites
What happens to a space rock as it falls through Earth's atmosphere and becomes a meteorite? By studying 75 meteorite falls captured on video and in photographs, researchers ident…
Pluto losing its planet status may be the best thing that ever happened to solar system diversity
Unpopular opinion time, Pluto being reclassified as a dwarf planet was a great thing for our understanding of the solar system and for the former planet, too.
Nevada files lawsuit challenging federal plan for Colorado River revival
In Trump administration’s plan, California, Arizona and Nevada face about a 20% cut to water supply over two yearsNevada filed a federal lawsuit on Monday challenging the Trump ad…
Drying springs in Arizona jeopardize the future of a key Navajo tradition
For centuries, Navajo shepherds have herded sheep in Arizona's mountains. Now, springs they rely on are drying up, putting a mainstay of the tribe's culture at risk.
Vacuum-fluctuation-enhanced superconductivity demonstrated for the first time
In a study published in Nature on Aug. 19, a research team has enhanced superconductivity through vacuum fluctuations for the first time. The achievement marks a significant advan…
NASA Sets Coverage for Roman Space Telescope Launch from Florida
Coverage plans are ready for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope prelaunch and launch activities. Roman is NASA’s next-generation observatory designed to explore some of the …
Assembly of giant wild sunflower family genomes unlocks potential for new perennial crops
The Land Institute and HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, in collaboration with key partners, have assembled the first chromosome-scale, haplotype-phased genomes for Silphiu…
Shell-crushing predators may have sparked early Cenozoic boom in marine snail evolution
A large-scale study of nearly 700 species reveals the evolutionary relationships and history of Neogastropoda, a diverse group of marine snails. The findings provide new evidence …
Glacier retreat could promote the spread of diseases among bees
A study conducted in the Swiss Alps by the University of Lausanne and the University of Milan shows that glacier retreat and changing vegetation could influence the spread of cert…
Ball milling enhances the antiviral activity of inexpensive inorganic materials
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, developing surfaces that can inactivate viruses upon contact has become an important goal in public health care. Ideally, such surfaces would work on …
'Ghosts of Mars' at 25: Are we any closer to living on the Red Planet? We asked the experts
John Carpenter's 'Ghosts of Mars' explored a future where Mars is terraformed, but is it closer to becoming a reality? We spoke to the experts to find out.
Gut bacteria mostly compete—but cooperation finds a way
Understanding how bacteria influence one another is essential for understanding how microbial communities are formed and maintained. Researchers at Umeå University have now system…
What happens inside a wildfire? A Ph.D. student is finding out
What happens during a wildfire? The short answer is: much more than we know. As wildfires burn through trees, grasses and other vegetation, heat from the flames sets off thousands…
Dung beetles offer insights into biodiversity in Singapore
Dung beetles could provide scientists with a new way to uncover the animals living in Singapore's forests, including elusive species that are difficult to spot with conventional w…
Why ancient grasslands, once plowed, don't grow back the same
When a 10,000-year-old prairie is plowed up to plant corn or a savanna is consumed by a strip mall, these once-grassy expanses, if left to regrow, can eventually look vaguely like…
Mapping the 'hidden highways' of Mexico's illegal wildlife trade
For decades, wildlife traffickers have illegally captured and sold hundreds of thousands of wild parrots native to Mexico. Despite changes to international wildlife laws, the cons…
'Project Hail Mary' and 'The Martian' author Andy Weir is headed back to outer space, but not how you'd expect
Weir will executive produce "Exoplanet," a new Audible sci-fi drama coming this fall.
French tourist dies in California’s Death Valley after being stranded in heat
Man, 68, was left searching for help in 116F weather after his car became stuck in mud along remote park roadA French tourist recently died in Death Valley national park after a c…
Mapping thorium's preferred sites could pave the way for nuclear clocks
For decades, physicists have used a technique called Mössbauer spectroscopy to peer inside solid materials, revealing fine details of their surroundings by studying how their atom…
Fish DNA in Ozark streams reveals region's complex geologic history
My students and I encountered a mystery. We were partnering with the Missouri Department of Conservation to monitor for fish presence and abundance in the Missouri Ozarks. We visi…
Mule helps scientists build the clearest horse and donkey genomes yet
A mule has helped researchers build the most complete reference genomes to date for horses and donkeys, giving scientists access to complex regions of DNA that earlier versions co…
A single lever could ease India's twin agricultural pressures of fertilizer pollution and groundwater stress
A new study from the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) has shown that redesigning India's cereal cultiva…