Science
Scientific discoveries and research
Better together? Coral fusion could throw bleached reefs a lifeline
When corals are stressed by pollution, high water temperatures or other environmental changes, they can lose the microscopic algae living inside them and on whi...
Lion tracks from the ice age: How two ways of seeing brought ancient animals to life
The coastline near the southern tip of Africa looked vastly different between about 400,000 years ago and 70,000 years ago, compared with today. At times it lay...
New DNA sequencing methods detect rare mutations acquired as bodies grow and age
Somatic mutations, the DNA changes that occur as our bodies grow and age, not only hold an important key to cancer but are emerging as the seeds of a wide range...
How COVID reshaped college grading
Twenty-three Indiana University undergraduates are co-authors on a new study examining how the pandemic reshaped college grading, the result of a semester-long...
Nearly 600 California earthquakes help validate models that forecast next-day seismic risk
The University of Bristol–led study, published in Nature Communications, could help millions of people living in earthquake-prone countries make better-informed...
Plants use a molecular measuring tape to tell fungal friend from foe
Chitin, a chain of repeating sugar molecules, is the main building block of fungal cell walls. When fungi grow or are broken down, fragments of chitin chains of...
Study reveals how young adults' work lives affect their parents' mental health
Earlier this fall, researchers Sara Kalucza (Department of Sociology) and Anna Baranowska-Rataj (Center for Demographic and Aging Research, CEDAR) at Umeå Unive...
In plants, sense of time is connected with sense of danger
Salty soil is a growing threat to crops worldwide. Hotter, drier weather has increased evaporation rates, drawing moisture from the soil and leaving behind conc...
Global ice-cliff survey tests disputed theory behind projections of accelerated sea level rise
A new study led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) provides the most comprehensive observational analysis yet of the towering ice cliffs that fr...
We're surprisingly close to conserving 30% of the world's land
In an effort to conserve the world's plants and animals, governments have pledged to conserve 30% of the planet by 2030. Official figures suggest that attempts...
Americans who go to church and trust science are also more likely to believe in ghosts and curses, research shows
Americans who trust science and reason more than their churches' teachings, but still believe in God or attend services, are also more likely to believe in magi...
India's cobras share genetic ties across the mainland, while Sri Lankan cobras form a distinct genetic lineage
The spectacled cobra (Naja naja) is one of India's "big four" snakes responsible for most serious snakebite cases. It is currently considered one species, which...