Science
Higher-dimensional black holes hide an exact symmetry in their ringing, and string-inspired gravity breaks it
Strike a bell, and it rings with a pitch and a fading that tell you about the bell: its size, its shape, the metal it is made of. Black holes ring too. When two merge, the newborn…
NASA Shares SpaceX Crew-14 Assignments for Space Station Mission
Four crew members from three space agencies will launch to the International Space Station no earlier than spring 2027 for a long-duration science expedition as part of NASA’s Spa…
3D-printed scaffolds help turn waste methane into useful chemical using less power than liquid reactors
When landfills and wastewater treatment plants create methane as a byproduct, much of it is simply burned and its value is lost. But the gas is an energy-rich resource that could …
New findings explain how cells assemble machinery to repair damaged DNA
A cell's ability to repair its damaged DNA is one of the most fundamental processes in biology, helping protect us from diseases like cancer. Over the years, researchers have unra…
AI-guided mutations help viruses infect bacteria up to 1 million times more effectively
Biochemists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison are using AI to tackle one of modern medicine's most pressing challenges: the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.…
First known case of Marfan syndrome discovered in feline siblings
Researchers at the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Baker Institute of Animal Health have published the first molecular characterization of Marfan syndrome in domestic cats …
Shared blueprint in aphid proteins helps AI predict their structures
Tiny insects called aphids inject hundreds of mysterious proteins into plants, hijacking the plants' own genomes to build galls: structures made of plant tissue but constructed to…
NASA to study human health and performance during Crew-13 mission
During NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 mission aboard the International Space Station, astronauts will support a series of biomedical and human performance investigations, including a new c…
Picosecond pulses push superconductors beyond their critical-current limit
Superconductors can carry electrical current without resistance, but only up to a maximum value known as the critical current. The critical current is a crucial figure of merit fo…
On ancient Madagascar, large native herbivores paid the price as introduced livestock spread
New analyses of ancient cattle, sheep and goat bones on Madagascar suggest the rapid spread of introduced livestock on the island 1,200 years ago coincided with forest loss and po…
Engineers just designed a better 'shock absorber' for spacecraft
Rocket launches are among the most violent ways humans have devised to travel. They generate millions of pounds of thrust and subject passengers to intense g-forces. Humans must u…
Machine learning helps identify chemicals that repel honey bees from pesticides
In a win for pollinator conservation, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have developed a machine learning-based method to identify chemical compounds that ca…
Gut bacteria-derived metabolite extends the lifespan of fruit flies
Gut microbiota influence multiple aspects of host physiology, including metabolic and immune functions. Many metabolites produced by gut bacteria can cross the intestinal epitheli…
Vertical quantum sensor could reveal nanoscale magnetic patterns in quantum materials
Quantum materials do things ordinary materials cannot. They carry current without any loss, or conduct only along their outer edge while the inside insulates. Future quantum compu…
Physicists define new material blueprint for next-generation microchip encryption
Behind every secure online transaction or encrypted message lies a string of completely unpredictable numbers. A team of physicists has now proposed a theoretical way around a lon…
One-atom-high rails steer superconducting vortices, with temperature and magnetic field tuning their guidance
Researchers at the Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), a center within Japan's National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), discovered that atomic-scale s…
A treasure map to search for past marine life
Fossils offer a glimpse into Earth's distant past. They provide insights into extinct animals and plants, as well as past ecosystems. However, the fossil record is incomplete: Fos…
NASA Unveils Winning Designs for Mars Space Food Systems Challenge
NASA announced the winners of the Deep Space Food Challenge: Mars to Table Thursday, with the top $300,000 prize being awarded to Chinyere Ukeje of Philadelphia, Pa. for the Adapt…
Dog brains track consonant patterns in speech, a first outside humans
Dog brains segment speech into words in a way previously seen only in humans, a new study from Hungary finds. This suggests that efficient speech processing is not necessarily a c…
Learning style predicts survival skills in young orangutans
Orangutan infants spend their first eight years with their mothers, and throughout this time, they can draw on their knowledge. After that, however, orangutans are entirely on the…
New catalogs map the quantum possibilities of atomically thin materials
Twistronics has become a new alchemy of materials. By choosing atomically thin layers, stacking them and changing their relative angle, researchers can create electronic behavior …
A new venomous British snake? Why there's no need to panic
Great Britain has long been thought to be home to a single venomous snake species, the adder. Although its bites are rarely life-threatening, they require a trip to the emergency …
New AlphaFold Database release adds viral protein complexes to support pandemic preparedness
AI-predicted protein complex structures for more than 2,800 viruses are now openly available in the AlphaFold Database. To better understand and protect against emerging pathogens…
Sharks can hear sounds nearly 250 feet away and find the source
Sound travels through the ocean carrying clues about potential prey, predators and other animals, giving sharks an important way to detect what they cannot yet see. But exactly ho…