The American Association for the Advancement of Science is adopting Proofig, an artificial intelligence-powered image-analysis tool, to screen images for duplication and manipulation in its six family journals. This move aims to reduce human error and identify both honest mistakes and fraudulent activity before publication.
The study uses genetic analysis of an Antarctic octopus to suggest the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) collapsed during the Last Interglacial period. This collapse could have devastating global ramifications, including a 3-5 meter rise in sea levels.
The study found that digital payments and Bitcoin use declined after its introduction as legal tender, with the wealthy and financially literate being the primary users. The findings suggest that policies incentivizing cryptocurrency adoption may not be effective unless populations trust digital currencies.
Researchers created polar bear fur-inspired fibers with high thermal and mechanical properties, demonstrating excellent insulation performance in a sweater. The fibers are washable, dyeable, and durable, making them suitable for use in advanced textiles.
A new study finds that framing racial disparities related to health sparks greater support for policy reform and social change. Racial inequalities in health are perceived as more unjust, leading to increased motivation for action.
Researchers used genomic analyses to map illegal pangolin poaching from Africa to Asia, identifying key hotspots and smuggling routes. The study provides new opportunities to monitor and combat wildlife trafficking, with significant implications for species conservation.
New GLP-1 agonist therapies are being investigated for their potential to treat a range of obesity-related health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. The breakthroughs have raised important discussions about the stigma surrounding weight and body image.
Researchers developed solar-powered clothing that adapts to environmental temperatures, providing 24-hour thermoregulation without external power sources. The device maintains a thermal comfort zone between 32-36°C, even in extreme environments.
A recent study using ancient genomics and Indigenous knowledge has shed new light on the decline of the Coast Salish 'woolly dog,' an extinct breed with a unique woolly coat. The research, led by Audrey Lin, found that these dogs maintained their genetic integrity despite European colonization.
A recent study analyzing tree ring measurements from 122 species found that trees in wetter forests are more vulnerable to drought than those in drier regions. This suggests that land management policies focused solely on drier regions overestimate the resilience of forests in wetter areas.
Researchers develop a new approach to volumetric 3D printing using ultrasound waves, enabling fast and high-quality printing in opaque media. The technique, called deep-penetrating acoustic volumetric printing (DAVP), has promising applications in minimally invasive medicine and manufacturing.
Researchers have successfully demonstrated controlled quantum entanglement of calcium fluoride molecules using a reconfigurable optical tweezer array. This breakthrough paves the way for developing new versatile platforms for quantum technologies.
African honeyguide birds understand and respond to culturally distinct signals made by local human honey hunters, indicating a rare interspecific mutualism. The study found that birds are more likely to respond to signals of their local culture than another culture or arbitrary sounds.
A new study has clarified the origin of modern maize by revealing evidence of wild admixture during its initial domestication and dispersal. The findings suggest that a wild relative of teosinte, Zea mays mexicana, contributed genetic traits beneficial for domestication, including photoperiodicity and flowering time.
A newly discovered Neptune-mass exoplanet orbits a very low-mass M dwarf star, LHS 3154, in just 3.7 days, defying theoretical predictions that smaller stars shouldn't host massive planets. The discovery highlights the need for revised planet formation models.
A study on chinstrap penguins found that they accumulate over 11 hours of sleep per day through thousands of 4-second microsleeps. This breaks traditional notions of prolonged sleep bouts and suggests an incremental approach to sleep accumulation.
Researchers discovered 188 rare and previously unknown CRISPR-linked gene modules using the FLSHclust algorithm. This expands CRISPR diversity and offers opportunities for harnessing novel biotechnologies.
A team of researchers has detected an extremely energetic cosmic ray with an energy exceeding ~240 exa-electron volts (EeV), but its arrival direction shows no obvious source. The detection was made by the Telescope Array experiment's surface detector, which is located in Utah, USA.
A new study estimates that over 460,000 US deaths were attributed to air pollution from coal-burning power plants between 1999 and 2020. The findings highlight the increased mortality risks from coal electricity generation, while also showing that emission-reduction policies have been effective in preventing excess death.
Researchers have discovered that dolomite crystal growth requires cycling of saturation conditions, resolving the 'dolomite problem' that has puzzled scientists for nearly two centuries. This process can speed up dolomite growth by up to 10 million times, which may be crucial for producing large amounts of dolomite on Earth's surface.
Researchers developed a GRAB sensor toolkit for detecting several neuropeptides, including SST, CRF, CCK, NPY, NTS, and VIP. The sensors are highly sensitive and can detect specific neuropeptide release with high spatiotemporal resolution.
A new study reveals how mussels create a dynamic biointerface that can be quickly released on demand, inspired by the connection between their byssus stem root and foot. This interface is mediated by neurotransmitters and features billions of motile cilia.
Scientists have identified a novel class of molecular glue degraders, which can hijack cellular machinery to control disease-causing proteins. These glues bridge the gap for undruggable proteins and could lead to new treatments for cancer and other diseases.
Researchers develop a solid-state electrocaloric cooling device that generates a 20 kelvin temperature difference with high efficiency, competing with other solid-state cooling strategies. The new heat pump achieves 64% of Carnot's efficiency, exceeding many vapor-compression and caloric cooling devices.
A new study from Google DeepMind reveals a machine learning-based weather forecasting model, GraphCast, which achieves better and faster 10-day forecasts than existing approaches. The model performed well even on extreme events not directly trained for, marking a significant turning point in weather forecasting.
Researchers have shrunk a mode-locked laser to the size of an optical chip using a novel integrated platform. The device generates ultrashort pulses with high peak power and coherence properties.
The US has seen a significant increase in wildfire risk, especially in the wildland-urban interface, where houses and vegetation are close proximity. Over 55,000 homes have been lost due to rapid increases in wildfires and new housing expansion in fire-prone areas.
The 2023 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards recognized outstanding reporting on the impact of scientific racism, habitat restoration, and climate change. The winners included Ashley Smart and Ilan Goodman for their in-depth pieces on these topics.
The COVID Moonshot Consortium has discovered novel noncovalent and nonpeptidic inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease, with promising bioavailability and antiviral activity. The open-science project has yielded a wealth of data on the virus's main protease, paving the way for future therapeutics.
Researchers have developed microporous glass and ceramic coatings that exhibit passive daytime radiative cooling and high solar reflectance, with the potential to reduce air conditioning demands and mitigate climate change. The materials maintain their properties even under harsh environments, making them suitable for large-scale outdo...
The monkeypox virus is rapidly diverging into several lineages due to sustained human transmission, characterized by APOBEC3 mutations. This evolution suggests the virus has been circulating in humans since at least 2016.
A new meta-analysis of over 600 global studies found that herbivores reduce vegetation abundance by 89% and suppress plant diversity at restoration sites. Excluding or reintroducing predators may aid restoration efforts, increasing vegetation abundance by 93-372%.
Researchers have observed a dense gas inflow feeding a supermassive black hole at the heart of the Circinus galaxy. The study reveals that only a small portion of this gas is consumed by the black hole, with the majority being expelled as outflows that drive AGN-driven feedback.
Global land water availability declined from 2001 to 2020, primarily driven by Southern Hemisphere climate variability. The region experienced a significant decrease in water availability over the last 20 years, contributing 95% of global variance.
Researchers propose retroelement-based gene editing as a safer alternative to CRISPR-Cas systems due to reduced risk of DNA double strand breaks and unwanted chromosomal modifications. This approach leverages endogenous mobile genetic elements, which can be programmed for targeted genomic engineering without generating DSB.
The hypothalamus is a complex structure that coordinates neuronal signals to maintain physiological homeostasis. Recent research has elucidated its structural and functional complexity, revealing potentially thousands of distinct cell types forming redundant circuits.
Researchers discovered signs of menopause in female chimpanzees in Uganda, surviving past reproductive ability. The study's findings provide insights into the evolution of this trait and may shed light on why it occurred in humans but not other long-lived primates.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science suggests that AI-operated corporate entities should be recognized as a new 'species' in the legal system. This would involve developing interspecific legal frameworks to address rights and obligations, allowing AI systems to function autonomously without human oversight.
Researchers introduce NorthPole, a brain-inspired chip architecture that integrates computation and memory for efficient low-energy AI processing. It achieves higher performance, energy-efficiency, and area-efficiency compared to other architectures, making it suitable for real-time AI applications.
The 2021 Brood X cicada emergence caused community-wide shifts in bird predation, leading to a measurable decline in bird predation on oak-feeding caterpillars. This resulted in doubling of both caterpillar densities and herbivory rates on oak saplings during the emergence year.
A bright fast radio burst has been detected at a high-redshift galaxy, providing new insights into the distant universe. The findings suggest that the burst was unusually energetic and challenged models of FRB emission mechanisms.
Birds in agricultural landscapes face reduced nesting success by nearly 50% during extreme heat due to increased temperature extremes. In contrast, forested areas exhibit increased reproductive success despite rising temperatures, possibly due to cooling effects from tree canopies.
A new resource has been developed to characterize over 3,000 human brain cell types, revealing features that distinguish humans from other primates. This atlas will aid in pinpointing cellular roots of neurological diseases and offer a deeper understanding of the human species.
New research reveals boom-and-bust cycles in eastern North Pacific grey whales, driven by changes in Arctic ice cover and prey availability. The study suggests that climate change will further impact the population's stability due to its narrow dietary niche.
A new study reveals that Homo Erectus produced both Oldowan and Acheulean tools 2 million years ago in the Ethiopian highlands. The findings confirm that a fossilized infant mandible discovered in 1981 belonged to H. erectus, dating back around 2 million years.
A new probiotic-guided chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T platform uses engineered bacteria to infiltrate and produce synthetic antigen targets, enabling CAR-T cells to find and destroy tumor cells in situ. The approach expands the scope of CAR-T cell therapy to include solid tumors, which are poorly infiltrated by T cells.
Recent advances in ancient DNA have greatly expanded our knowledge of evolutionary history, including the study of non-European regions. Finer-scale investigations can provide insights into past histories of neglected communities and inform conservation efforts.
Ancient human footprints discovered in White Sands National Park have been confirmed to be over 20,000 years old. Multiple independent age estimates from radiocarbon and optically simulated luminescence methods support the previous study's claims, showing humans inhabited southern North America during the Last Glacial Maximum.
The planned releases of radioactive wastewater from Fukushima Daiichi will have negligible effects on the environment, according to a study published in Science. The predicted radiation doses from the discharges are smaller than exposure to natural radiation or medical x-rays, posing no real threat to local seafood consumers.
A new study estimates over 10,000 pre-Columbian archaeological sites remain undiscovered in the Amazon basin. Remote sensing data and predictive modeling identified relationships between human-made earthworks and domesticated tree species, highlighting the importance of indigenous forest management practices.