Science
Scientific discoveries and research
Predictive tools can confuse rare mutations with dangerous ones
When a patient's DNA is read, it is compared with a reference version of the human genome. This allows geneticists and rare disease experts to look at a list of...
Ig Nobel Prize winners reveal why babies smell better than teenagers
Babies smell wonderful—at least to their parents. An international research team of Ilona Croy, Tomasz Frackowiak, Thomas Hummel and Agnieszka Sorokowska invest...
Traces of nearly 4 million coins reveal how Rome achieved economic integration
For centuries, the study of ancient history relied primarily on interpreting classical texts and examining inscriptions and archaeological remains at their site...
'Green thumb' molecule helps leaf stalks grow in crowded conditions
Potassium (K) is one of the three essential nutrients for plants. It plays a critical role in a wide range of processes, including cell growth, photosynthesis a...
A molecular brake that keeps muscle architecture in check
Every movement we make, from blinking to sprinting, depends on the ability of muscle fibers to contract in a rapid and coordinated way. Achieving this precision...
How a plant's refusal to self-pollinate could help India grow more of its own cooking oil
Most people assume plants reproduce through whatever pollen happens to land on them. This is not true. A collaborative research initiative involving the Indian...
Hot subdwarfs come into focus as AI scans thousands of stars in Gaia data
There are myriad ways of "being a star," and scientists spend years trying to uncover and understand them. One unusual type is the so-called hot subdwarf—small...
Perseverance rover watches Earth vanish behind Martian moon
Earth and the Martian moon Phobos dance together in a series of images recently acquired by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. Earth appears as a point of light in...
Antarctic expedition reveals why Southern Ocean clouds remain one of climate science's greatest challenges
The Southern Ocean plays a pivotal role in regulating Earth's climate, yet the clouds that blanket this remote region remain among the least understood features...
Early mammals weren't all loners—some may have lived in pairs alongside the dinosaurs
About 200 million years ago, furry, little egg-laying creatures evolved the ability to feed their offspring with a secretion from special glands: milk. Their ev...
Rapid simulation of heat propagation through multiple rods
There is an elegant mathematical equation behind many different natural phenomena. From the fractal pattern of a romanesco cauliflower sitting on a grocery stor...
Photo: NASA's Hubble spies superbubble scene
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a sprawling cosmic vista in the Large Magellanic Cloud, or LMC, the largest of the small galaxies that orbit...