Science
Scientific discoveries and research
New technology reveals hidden DNA scaffolding built before life 'switches on'
For decades, scientists viewed the genome of a newly fertilized egg as a structural "blank slate"—a disordered tangle of DNA waiting for the embryo to wake up a...
For Northeast blizzard, everything was just right to roll up a monster snowfall
The nor'easter smacking much of the Northeast with nearly 3 feet of snow in places is as classic and powerful a blizzard as you can get, the strongest in a deca...
Image: Curiosity rover surveys boxwork region of Mars
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this panorama of boxwork formations—the low ridges seen here with hollows in between them—using its Mastcam on Sept. 26, 20...
Probability underlies much of the modern world—an engineering professor explains how it actually works
Probability underpins AI, cryptography and statistics. However, as the philosopher Bertrand Russell said, "Probability is the most important concept in modern s...
Staple crops are a major contributor to global deforestation, says study
Rice, maize, and cassava crops cumulatively account for approximately 11% of total global deforestation—exceeding that of cocoa, coffee, and rubber—according to...
Sunlight-powered process turns plastic waste into acetic acid without added emissions
Researchers at the University of Waterloo have discovered a way to turn plastic waste into acetic acid, the main ingredient of vinegar, using sunlight. The brea...
Big broods, better manners: What a fish study suggests about siblings and social skills
For many animals, siblings are a key component of their social environment during early life. Previous research has shown that the early social environment is i...
Iron Age massacre targeted women and children, new research reveals
New research has revealed that women and children were deliberately targeted in one of the largest prehistoric mass killings discovered in Europe. Archaeologica...
Multinational companies could drive climate action better than governments
With the current U.S. federal administration abandoning its leadership role in the fight against climate change, international efforts by governments to mitigat...
System isolates single extracellular vesicle surface proteins to map function
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are tiny biological bubbles that carry nucleic acids and proteins between cells, playing an essential role in tissue repair, neurop...
How natural language processing and AI can help policymakers address global food insecurity
NLP offers powerful opportunities to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—including SDG2 (Zero Hunger). In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the...
Accelerating next generation medicine with new drug delivery platform
Scientists have developed an adaptable materials platform that can safely and efficiently deliver a wide range of genetic medicines, an advance that could accel...