Science
Scientific discoveries and research
Upconversion materials: A new frontier in solar water-splitting
Solar water splitting is one of the most direct ways to produce green hydrogen using sunlight. However, most photocatalysts and photoelectrodes absorb only a li...
Elephants avoid humans far more than baboons, waterbucks or antelopes
Wild animal species respond very differently to human development, and as a result, they use ecological corridors in agricultural and urban areas in distinct wa...
Soybeans recruit beneficial soil microbes to defend against a major pest
Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is among the most damaging pests affecting soybean crops around the world, with current management strategies relying primarily on a...
Toxic evolution: How wasps and frogs mimic pain molecules to deter predators
Certain species of wasps and frogs share a pain and inflammation peptide similar to one found in vertebrates to help defend against predators—a discovery that c...
Engineers improve infrared devices using century-old materials
After decades of intense research, surprises in the realm of semiconductors—materials used in microchips to control electrical currents—are few and far between....
Tracking the toxic metals left behind by wildfires
Between 2023 and 2025, more than 30 million hectares burned in Canada due to wildfires. The threat from increasingly frequent and intense wildfires goes beyond...
New research warns charities against 'AI shortcut' to empathy
A new report from the University of East Anglia (UEA) warns that the potential reputational damage of charities using AI-generated images in their campaigns is...
Plant cell structure could hold key to cancer therapies and improved crops
Can the bend of a banana give us insight into cancer? What does the shape of a rice grain have to do with infertility? The proteins that give plants their shape...
AI-designed diffractive optical processors pave the way for low-power structural health monitoring
A team of researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has introduced a novel framework for monitoring structural vibrations using diffractiv...
Amazon fish contaminated with toxic metals threaten riverine communities' health
For riverside communities along the Amazon, fish is not a menu choice—it is a lifeline. Millions of people in the Brazilian Amazon depend on fish as their prima...
Making mini-lightning in a block of plastic
Lightning formation and the conditions triggering it have long been shrouded in a cloud of mystery, but new research led by Penn State scientists is lifting the...
Toward practical laser-driven light sails using photonic crystals
Most space missions rely on chemical rockets for propulsion. Rockets must carry fuel, which increases spacecraft mass and limits their speed and travel distance...