Science
Scientific discoveries and research
Underwater architects: Nest-building in cichlids reveals more than hardwired instinct
We associate nests with shelter, warmth, and a safe retreat—and usually picture a bird's nest made out of twigs, grass and feathers. Yet many other animals take...
Chang'e mission samples reveal how exogenous organic matter evolves on the moon
Elements essential to life, such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur, were "delivered" to Earth and the moon during the early stages of the sola...
Universal surface-growth law confirmed in two dimensions after 40 years
Crystals, bacterial colonies, flame fronts: the growth of surfaces was first described in the 1980s by the Kardar–Parisi–Zhang equation. Since then, it has been...
Highway widening may be heating cities faster; here's what could curb it
U.S. cities are rapidly becoming urban heat islands, where these cities are significantly warmer than their surrounding area. Vast expanses of asphalt and concr...
How bromoform wrecks ozone: Ultrafast 'roaming' step captured in 150 femtoseconds
The halomethane compound bromoform (CHBr3) has devastating effects on the ozone layer. In the upper layers of the atmosphere, bromoform reacts with UV radiation...
Camera-tagged Adélie penguins caught eating sea snails in East Antarctica
There are many poorly understood links in the food web, often referred to as trophic relationships. Out in East Antarctica, a previously unconfirmed link betwee...
Scientists discover f-block metals yield new oxygen-binding chemistry
Iron and oxygen bind together throughout the body. Most famously, iron binds dioxygen, or two oxygens paired with each other, in hemoglobin that transports oxyg...
Subaru Telescope sheds light on Jupiter Trojan asteroids' color mystery
Observations conducted with the Subaru Telescope and its first-generation wide-field camera, Suprime-Cam, have revealed new insights into the relationship betwe...
From teeth to thorns: Coincidences shape the universal form of nature's pointed tips
We thought it was evolution, but an experiment with pencils shows that tips like teeth and thorns may owe their rounded shape to mechanical wear. Most of us hav...
SNIPE bacterial defense system shreds phage DNA before infection can begin
What if the Trojan horse had been pulled to pieces, revealing the ruse and fending off the invasion, just as it entered the gates of Troy? That's an apt descrip...
How science is rewriting the rules of marine taxonomy, one seaweed at a time
Along the southern coastline, researchers dive deep to collect seaweed from kelp forests and rocky platforms, taking small samples and the location of each samp...
Tropical trees are more neighborly than trees further from the equator, study finds
Tropical trees are better neighbors than trees in temperate forests, according to a study published in the journal Nature by researchers from 29 different insti...