Today's Science News
New ‘mini-protein’ carries radiation dose directly to tumours without harming healthy tissues - Researchers developed AKY-1189, targeting Nectin-4, delivering radiation directly to various tumors.
Early Black Holes Fed 40x Faster than Should Be Possible - The theory goes that black holes accrete material, often from nearby stars.
'I weigh the same': NASA astronaut Suni Williams refutes tabloid health claims (video) - NASA astronaut Suni Williams says her weight is stable aboard the International Space Station, rebutting tabloid claims that her orbital stay has made her emaciated.
A Spider Stellar Engine Could Move Binary Stars Halfway Across a Galaxy - Eventually, every stellar civilization will have to migrate to a different star.
China's Mars rover Zhurong finds possible shoreline of ancient Red Planet ocean - Data from China's Zhurong rover has revealed what appears to be an ancient shoreline streaking through Mars' northern hemisphere.
LIVING COLOR: Love and labor conjoined in cochineal’s eternal charm. - The creation of cochineal, one of history’s most prized red pigments, represents a fascinating intersection of entomology, chemistry, and human ingenuity.
Oral History with R. Walter Cunningham - Selected for NASA’s third astronaut class in 1963, Cunningham served as the backup Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 1.
We Need to Ensure Legal Cannabis Is Safe - Today’s cannabis plant is highly cultivated and incredibly potent.
A ‘Mystery Mollusc’ Has See-Through Skin and Wears a Hood to Capture Prey - Researchers describe a new nudibranch that is genetically drastically different from its closest relatives.
The Art of Time Travel - It’s not about what’s out there, it’s about your perception of what’s out there.
Gut bacteria transfer genes to disable weapons of their competitors - Bacteria in the human gut rapidly exchange DNA, altering weaponry and competition dynamics among strains.
Colorado Students to Connect with NASA Astronauts Aboard Space Station - Students from Colorado will have the opportunity to hear NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams answer their prerecorded questions aboard the International Space Station on Thursday, Nov. 14.
Long ago, Voyager 2 might have caught Uranus at a bad time - A new analysis of Voyager 2 data reveals a fresh theory about Uranus's unique magnetosphere.
Kibo Robot Programming Challenge Breaks New Ground in Robotics - On Sept. 20, 2024, four students experienced the wonder of space exploration at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, taking part in an international
SabersPro Vader lightsaber review: "An elegant replica that doesn't come cheap" - Is this ode to the Dark Lord of the Sith most impressive or does it choke on its own aspirations?
'Crumb trails' of meteoroids could reveal potentially dangerous comets years before they reach Earth - Potentially dangerous comets could be spotted many years in advance by following the meteoroid trails they leave near Earth, new research shows.
For the second time this year, NASA’s JPL center cuts its workforce - "If we hold strong together, we will come through this."
Native American Seeds Flown Aboard Space Station - The Choctaw Heirloom Seeds investigation flew five varieties of heirloom seeds from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma aboard the International Space Station in early November 2023.
Canada reports 1st local case of H5 bird flu - A teen in Canada may be the first person to catch an H5 bird flu virus within the country.
Extremely rare 'failed supernova' may have erased a star from the night sky without a trace - Some stars may transform into black holes without exploding into supernovae.
Marvel superheroes explore strange timelines in new trailer for 'What If…?' Season 3 (video) - A new trailer for Marvel Animation's animated anthology "What If…?"
NASA Funds New Studies Looking at Future of Sustainable Aircraft - Picture yourself at an airport a few decades from now.
NASA Armstrong Builds Sensor Pod for Autonomous Flight - The design and build of a unique NASA pod, produced to advance computer vision for autonomous aviation, was recently completed in-house at NASA’s Armstrong
Vitamin K supplement slows prostate cancer in mice - Menadione, a pro-oxidant supplement, shows promise in slowing prostate cancer progression in mice.
Open Gateway: Step into mock lunar orbit habitat at Space Center Houston - The public can now step into the future of lunar exploration at Space Center Houston by entering an early mockup for Northrop Grumman's Gateway astronaut accommodations around the moon.
Matthew Kowalewski: Aerospace Engineer and Curious About Everything - Matthew Kowalewski describes himself as “curious about too many things,” but that curiosity comes in handy when engineering instrumentation scheduled to soar through the atmosphere of a moon of Saturn.
Disney+ announces official 'Andor' Season 2 premiere date and teases TIE fighter heist - Disney+ announced an official premiere date for "Andor" Season 2, which will return to the streaming service on April 22, 2025.
LIVING COLOR: When it comes to pigments, few can match the macabre story of Dead Man’s Head. - In the rich tapestry of art history, few pigments carry a story as haunting as "dead man's head," also known as "mummy brown."
James Webb Space Telescope finds galaxies pointing toward a dark matter alternative - A new study suggests galaxies in the early universe appear much larger and brighter than expected, precisely as predicted by modified Newtonian dynamics, or MOND.
Trump Administration Likely to Repeal Methane Leak Penalty - A fee created to push oil and gas companies to plug methane leaks could be axed by the incoming Trump administration, hampering efforts to curb the potent greenhouse gas
“Well-man” thrown from castle identified from 800-year-old Norse saga - Ancient DNA analysis confirmed the historical account of a body thrown into a well in Norway.
Our ancestor Lucy may have used tools more than 3 million years ago - An analysis looking at the hand bones of australopithecines, apes and humans reveals that tool use likely evolved before the Homo genus arose.
Leonid meteor shower 2024: How to spot 'shooting stars' and 'fireballs' over the US this week - The Leonid meteor shower peaks in North America overnight from Nov. 17 to 18, with fast-moving fireballs possible in US skies.
Pando, the world's largest organism, may have been growing nonstop since the 1st humans left Africa, study suggests - The clonal quaking aspen known as Pando is between 16,000 and 80,000 years old.
Scaling Propellant Production on Mars is Hard - Putting humans on Mars has been one of NASA’s driving missions for years, but they are still in the early stages of deciding what exactly that mission architecture will look like.
Chinese private rocket launches 1st satellite for international customer - CAS Space successfully launched 15 satellites into Earth orbit, including one for its first foreign client, the Sultanate of Oman.
Is an ‘Off-Year’ Leonid Outburst in the Cards For November? - There are good reasons to keep an eye on the Leonid meteors this year.
2,600-year-old Celtic wooden burial chamber of 'outstanding scientific importance' uncovered by archaeologists in Germany - The discovery of an impeccably preserved Celtic burial chamber in southern Germany is a "stroke of luck for archaeology," scientists say.
The Big Picture: Autumn’s Palette And The Science Behind Fall Foliage Colors - Autumn leaf color change, driven by chlorophyll breakdown and pigment emergence, creates stunning landscapes like Mount Fuji seen from Lake Kawaguchi.
Vampire bats have a really strange way of getting energy, scientists discover after putting them on treadmills - Vampire bats rely on amino acids from their blood diet to fuel their exercise, scientists discovered after observing the animals on tiny treadmills.
New Zealand enters race for nuclear fusion with unique approach - A New Zealand company has become the first in the nation’s history to turn on a fusion machine.
What Education Looked Like for These 5 Ancient Societies - There is not a ton of evidence of what education looked like in ancient society, but we do know it existed - although not for everyone.
Zymo Research Fights Back Against Qiagen’s Lawsuit, Asserts Antitrust Violations and Attempts to Stifle Innovation - Zymo Research believes that Qiagen’s lawsuit is part of a larger strategy to misuse litigation as a tool to stifle innovation and delay the adoption of groundbreaking technologies that benefit the scientific and medical communities.
Bioluminescent proteins made from scratch enable non-invasive, multi-functional biological imaging - Bioluminescence is the natural chemical process of light creation in some living creatures that makes fireflies flicker and some jellyfish glow.
Best evidence yet that “Snowball Earth” saw ice cover the entire globe - More than 700 million years ago, the entire globe was covered in ice in a period called “Snowball Earth”.
How is paper made from trees? - Plant-based paper has been used for thousands of years, but exactly how is it created from trees?
Plastic-eating mealworms native to Africa discovered - Larvae of the Kenyan lesser mealworm found to feast on polystyrene then break it down in their guts.
Apple Watch Series 10 now at its lowest-ever price — this Black Friday Apple deal is just too good to miss - Amazon has dropped the Apple Watch Series 10 price by $50 and it's also price-matched at Walmart as the Black Friday price wars begin
High-performance inkjet print head enhances bioprinting productivity - Bioprinting is a technology used to create three-dimensional structures, such as human tissues or organs, using bio-inks made of cells and hydrogels.
No One Has Ever Found the Le Griffon Shipwreck, Despite the Many Claims - Though many amature divers claim to have found the famous shipwreck, it's likely still below Lake Michigan's waves.
Jonny Kim’s Third Act: NASA Astronaut - Jonny Kim—a former Navy SEAL and ER doctor—is now a NASA astronaut who will soon launch to the International Space Station as flight engineer for the crew of Expedition 72/73
DAILY DOSE: Trump’s potential 2025 WHO withdrawal could reshape global health; Navy Special Boat Teams face growing mental health crisis. - Trump's potential WHO withdrawal in 2025 may jeopardize global health funding and shift responsibilities to other nations, experts warn.
How Geometry Revealed Quantum Memory - The unexpected discovery of a geometric phase shows how math and physics are tightly intertwined
How to Make a Mammal in Nine Evolutionary Steps - From the formation of inner ear bones to the rise of hair to cover our bodies, these developments made us distinct from other animals
Giving robots superhuman vision using radio signals - Researchers have developed PanoRadar, a new tool to give robots superhuman vision by transforming simple radio waves into detailed, 3D views of the environment.
One genomic test can diagnose nearly any infection - A genomic test developed by researchers to rapidly detect almost any kind of pathogen -- virus, bacteria, fungus or parasite -- has proved successful after a decade of use.
Astronomers' theory of how galaxies formed may be upended - The standard model for how galaxies formed in the early universe predicted that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) would see dim signals from small, primitive galaxies.
First amber find on the Antarctic continent - Roughly 90 million years ago, climatic conditions in Antarctica were suitable for resin-producing trees.
High-resolution IR spectroscopy reveals new insights into the hydrogen bonding of hydrogen sulfide - Water and the bad smelling molecule hydrogen sulfide do not seem to have a lot in common at first sight.
Q&A: Emission and odor optimization in plastics and recyclates - The odor of recycled plastics is a major challenge for their recycling and requires customized solutions.
Reaction Engines Goes Into Bankruptcy, Taking the Hypersonic SABRE Engine With it - Rarely does something get developed which is a real game changer in space exploration.
Insect-eating plants digest faster with a fungal friend - Insects stuck in sundews’ sticky goo break down faster when the plants host an enzyme-making fungus.
Microscope shows nanoscale biological process for the first time - Researchers have developed a new microscopic technique that allows them to image biological processes as they occur, with enough detail to see protein complexes move.
A failed experiment and chance open up new paths to an established reaction for chemists - The original plan of the research groups of Dr. habil.
The Other Side of the World’s Largest Dam Removal - Removing dams from the Klamath River in Northern California seems like a clear win for fish and rivers.
How Can Fungi Address the Global Food Waste Problem? - Scientists are reimagining the food system, turning to fungal fermentation as a sustainable method for transforming food byproducts into tasty treats.
People hate stories they think were written by AI. Even if they were written by people - AI-generated stories are rated poorly when identified as such, despite comparable quality to human writing.
The Notion Of Nations: Does A Nationalist Pol Know What A Nation Is? - Our outrage over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is due to our preference for democracy over autocracy, and to the danger of Russia pushing further westward into Europe.
Why do corpse flowers smell so bad? - A huge, stinking corpse flower is blooming in Geelong – an event that only lasts for a few days, roughly every 5 years.
Towards better solar cells: Exploring an anomalous phenomenon of electricity generation - Japanese researchers have demonstrated the bulk photovoltaic effect in alpha-phase indium selenide, enhancing solar technology.
Genetic Signals Linked to X Chromosome Loss Later in Life - Loss of the X chromosome increases with age and may have implications for health and disease risk.
Project Hyperion is Seeking Ideas for Building Humanity’s First Generation Ship - The dream of traversing the depths of space and planting the seed of human civilization on another planet has existed for generations.
Researchers must value Pacific culture identity, and connection with families and communities - A Pacific culture initiative that has given hundreds of teachers the chance to experience life in a Samoan village is now the subject of new research.
November 11, 2024
There are some things the Crew-8 astronauts aren’t ready to talk about - "I did not say I was uncomfortable talking about it.Behind the door – subtracting the myths out of maths - I let my curiosity take over and pushed open the big wooden door that stood between me and the maths department at Melbourne University.
How Did Supermassive Black Holes Get So Big, So Early? They Might Have Had a Head Start - Supermassive Black Holes (SMBHs) can have billions of solar masses, and observational evidence suggests that all large galaxies have one at their centres.
Gene Silencing with RNA Interference - Common to plants, animals, fungi, and some bacteria, the RNAi pathway is thought to be an evolutionarily ancient defense mechanism against viruses.
A Mission to Triton and Neptune Would Unlock Their Mysteries - A town in the Austrian Alps might not seem like the most conducive place to come up with daring space missions.
Political landscape shifts climate negotiations at COP29 - A week after former president Donald Trump again won office in the USA, the world’s countries are gathering to talk climate change.
Be Careful What You Say — Your Cat May Be Listening - Research suggests that cats can learn words, sometimes faster than a human baby.
Trump’s Election Threatens Heat Protections for Workers - A Biden administration proposal that would require employers to provide cooling measures under extreme heat conditions may be scuttled by the incoming Trump administration
A milestone in the study of octopus arms - Research describes a computational model that captures the intricate muscular architecture of an octopus arm.
Uranus wind made it harder for spacecraft to probe - Scientists have gone back over data to see that NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft’s flyby of Uranus occurred under rare planetary conditions which made it hard to probe.
New study on moons of Uranus raises chance of life - The planet Uranus and its five biggest moons may not be the sterile worlds scientists have long thought.
How to Get Rid of Gnats Safely - Gnats may be harmless to humans, but they’re still nuisances and pests to plants.
While more is better, even moderate amounts of exercise may reduce risk for common heart condition - Adding an extra hour every week of physical activity may lower the chance of developing the most common type of irregular heartbeat (arrythmia) by 11%, a study shows.
Swirling polar vortices likely exist on the Sun - Like the Earth, the Sun likely has swirling polar vortices, according to new research.
Was 'Snowball Earth' a global event? Study delivers best proof yet - A series of rocks hiding around Colorado's Rocky Mountains may hold clues to a frigid period in Earth's past when glaciers several miles thick covered the entire planet.
New Elliptic Curve Breaks 18-Year-Old Record - Two mathematicians have renewed a debate about the fundamental nature of some of math’s most important equations.
Explainer: What is gravity energy storage? - As the world struggles with climate change and the need for sustainable energy, the push for renewable energy and storage has become urgent.
Air quality problems spur $200 million in funds to cut pollution at ports - Diesel equipment will be replaced with hydrogen- or electric-power gear.
How to Remove a Tick From a Dog - Protect your dog from ticks with these easy steps for safe removal and prevention.
Good News, the Ozone Layer Hole is Continuing to Shrink - Climate change is a huge topic and often debated across the world.
Tips for Making Slide Decks for Scientific Presentations - Almost every scientific presentation uses a slide deck, but little time is spent learning how to make or improve them.
Russia: Fine, I guess we should have a Grasshopper rocket project, too - On this timeline Russia is nearly a decade and a half behind SpaceX.
Research Brief: Assessing the Influence of Data Assimilation Frequency on Ecological Forecast Skill in a Eutrophic Reservoir - Real-time water temperature monitoring networks have become increasingly more common as resource managers seek to make more informed decisions about the water bodies they oversee.
Green Water in Green Bay: Using Data Buoys to Monitor the Southern Bay - UW data buoys in Green Bay monitor water quality, helping researchers track pollutants and protect local waters.
Complex natural molecule made by breaking super-stable bonds - A bond between a carbon atom and a hydrogen atom is a special thing.
Compact error correction: Towards a more efficient quantum 'hard drive' - Two quantum information theorists have solved a decades-old problem that will free up quantum computing power.
Storm in a laser beam: Physicists create 'light hurricanes' that could transport huge amounts of data - The discovery, centred around controlling tiny hurricanes of light and electromagnetic fields, could revolutionise how much information we can deliver over cables.
Einstein's equations collide with the mysteries of the Universe - Why is the expansion of our Universe accelerating?
Secret behind the corpse flower's famous stench - A new study on titan arum -- commonly known as the corpse flower for its smell like rotting flesh -- uncovers fundamental genetic pathways and biological mechanisms that produce heat and odorous chemicals when the plant blooms.
Asthma may place children at risk of memory difficulties - Asthma is associated with memory difficulties in children, and early onset of asthma may exacerbate memory deficits, according to a new study.
Skies to clear for Taurid meteor shower peak on Monday - The Northern Taurids are at their peak on 11-12 November - but will the clouds part to let us see them?
How a stubborn computer scientist accidentally launched the deep learning boom - "You’ve taken this idea way too far," a mentor told Prof. Fei-Fei Li.
What's the difference between liquid and powder laundry detergent? It's not just the obvious - When shopping for a laundry detergent, the array of choices is baffling.
Iron electrocatalysis breaks down polystyrene and delivers green hydrogen - The vast amounts of plastic garbage heaped in landfills and in the environment are as problematic as the plastics are useful.
Math reveals how skateboarders can ramp up their half-pipe power - To pick up speed, half-pipe skaters pump — move between crouching and standing — as they roll.
Water under Threat, Wooden Satellites and a Mud Bath for Baseballs - Droughts in 48 of 50 U.S. states, evidence of microplastics mucking up wastewater recycling and the science of a baseball mud bath in this week’s news roundup.
I Destroyed a Car to Explore Some Music Myths - Two years of experimentation taught a Nashville guitarist not every musical myth makes sense
The Lucy Fossil’s Extraordinary Journey to Becoming an Icon of Human Evolution - The 3.2-million-year-old human ancestor known as Lucy rose to fame through an incredible combination of circumstances
Microbial-based plastic shows potential for replacing PET bottles - Currently, the world is suffering from environmental problems caused by plastic waste.
For sex and warnings: how animal colour signals exploded 100 million years ago - Many animals today use bright colour displays as a means of attracting potential mates or to warn off would-be predators.
What Trump win means for global development research - Donald Trump’s second presidency casts doubt over funding for development research, as well as global cooperation on climate and health.
November 10, 2024
Why do flowers wilt? We’ve finally found out - We have long known why plants grow flowers – to encourage pollination.Soaring private jet use fuels rise in greenhouse gas emissions - Private jets are emitting millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide each year – and the number is growing dramatically, according to a new study.
Fast radio bursts linked to massive galaxies - Astronomers believe they have narrowed down the search for the origin of fast radio bursts (FRBs) to massive star-forming galaxies.
A 24-hour gopher visit caused decades of benefits to volcano grave - In 1980, Mount St Helens erupted in the western USA, killing 57 people and destroying 350km2 of forest.
Symmetry in nature: how honeybees organise nests - Scientists have examined how honeybees build symmetrical nests, relating the process to how mirrored patterns emerge in biology such as human faces and bodies.
November 9, 2024
America’s Battery Plant Boom Isn’t Going Bust – Factory Construction Is on Track - A new battery plant under construction in South Carolina will supply BMW factories.Transforming polyethylene: From functionalization to antibacterial properties for sustainable applications - Polyethylene (PE) is one of the most widely used and versatile plastic materials globally, prized for its cost-effectiveness, lightweight properties and ease of formability.
New “palaeo-robot” explains how plesiosaurs swam - Researchers may have solved the centuries-old mystery of how plesiosaurs swam by constructing a robot to test the biomechanics of the extinct creatures.
Shake it off: why dogs and other hairy mammals shake when they’re wet - It’s a fact of life: if you bath a dog, it will inevitably shake the water off all over you.
A Warming Climate Continues to Ravage Sea Ice at Both Poles - Even as winter takes hold in the Arctic, sea ice there is growing sluggishly.
Somebody moved UK's oldest satellite, and no-one knows who or why - Britain's oldest satellite is in the wrong part of the sky, but no-one's really sure who moved it.
November 8, 2024
Research monkeys still having a ball days after busting out of lab, police say - They pose no risk to human health, and they're living their best lives.Don’t We Belong to Nature? - Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgaard on the inspiration for his latest novel and his turn to sci-fi.
DNA shows Pompeii’s dead aren’t who we thought they were - Integrating genetic data with historic and archaeological data can enrich or correct popular narratives.
What Trump Can—And Probably Can’t—Do to Reverse U.S. Climate Policy - The new president-elect can go beyond just pulling out of the Paris Agreement.
How the Existential Terror of Hurricanes Can Fuel Climate Change Denial - Hurricane Milton flooded parts of the Tampa Bay region just days after Hurricane Helene made landfall nearby.
Under pressure: chimps perform tasks differently with an audience - Does having eyes on you change how well you perform a task?
Sapio Sciences Expands Collaboration With AWS to Advance Science-Aware AI Vision - Collaboration enables customers to securely and confidently use AI to accelerate drug research and discovery.
Let African Communities Manage Their Climate Adaptation Plans - Outside groups often offer their solutions for climate adaptation in Africa.
Osteoporosis Can Shorten Your Life – Here’s How To Keep Bones Healthy - With some simple lifestyle changes, you can lower your risk of osteoporosis.
LabX Media Group Acquires Discover Magazine, Expanding its Reach in Science Media - The addition of Discover to LabX’s portfolio strengthens its position as a leading voice in science and research media, bringing one of the most recognized science publications into its family.
Chemists find easier way to produce biodiesel from waste oil - UC Santa Cruz chemists have discovered a new way to produce biodiesel from waste oil that both simplifies the process and requires relatively mild heat.
This Parasitic Fungus Turns Flies Into Zombie Insects - The pathogen takes over the brains of its hosts and controls them for its own sinister ends
Ultrafast imaging technique reveals how ozone-damaging molecule reacts to light - For the first time, researchers have observed how bromoform rearranges its atoms in less than a trillionth of a second after it gets hit by an ultraviolet (UV) pulse.
Rocket Report: Australia says yes to the launch; Russia delivers for Iran - The world's first wooden satellite arrived at the International Space Station this week.
Additional tests demonstrate chalk-coated textiles' cooling effect in urban environments - As air temperatures stay elevated through fall months, people may still want clothes that cool them down while outside, especially if they live in cities that stay warmer than rural landscapes.