Science
Scientific discoveries and research
Fragmented environmental policies risk costly failures, experts warn
Current climate and nature policies are working at cross-purposes, wasting public funds and causing unintended damage to ecosystems, according to a major new re...
Economist finds financial inequity distorted centuries-old Spanish water inequality
For generations, economists have viewed markets as the gold standard of efficiency, assuming resources naturally flow to the people who value them most. But new...
Astronomers find a four-carbon sugar in deep space
The space between stars may seem like a barren desert, but over the past few decades scientists have been finding all sorts of interesting chemicals in it. From...
Radar data can help protect birds from wind turbines
Wind turbines generate climate-friendly electricity, but they can pose a danger to migratory birds. A study led by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow...
Galaxy-killing wind discovered in the early universe
Astronomers have discovered a "galaxy-killing wind" that may explain why there are far more massive "dead" galaxies than expected in the early universe. This wi...
Parents helping kids enjoy math may boost achievement as much as content support
How do children learn math? It's shaped by what they know as well as their motivation and engagement. Historically, research on children's math learning has bee...
War on drugs or war on the poor? How bandit hunting formed a cover for Mexico's counterinsurgency campaign
If the drug trade has helped define the modern Mexican state, writes the author of a new article in The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs, so too have wars on...
Majorana modes withstand disorder in atomic chains, boosting fault-tolerant quantum computing
Quantum computers—systems that process information and perform computations by leveraging the principles of quantum mechanics—could solve some tasks faster and...
How cultural backgrounds shape financial forecasts
There's a funny thing about facts. Two people can look at the same ones but interpret them very differently, depending on their styles of thinking. On Wall Stre...
Quantum witness technique reveals spinons in quantum spin liquid candidate
Physicists at University College Cork have developed a new approach in the search for a quantum spin liquid, a long-sought state of quantum matter resembling a...
People have an inherent preference for counterclockwise motion, study reveals
Researchers in Spain and Japan tested a broad range of pedestrians in varying group sizes to see whether there were any patterns in their turning behaviors, and...
Why plastic lingers: Water chemistry slows nature's cleanup
Scientists have long known that sunlight helps break down plastic. So, why do plastic products linger for decades and even centuries in rivers, lakes, and ocean...