We’ve all heard it: Put a frog in boiling water, and it will jump out. But put the same frog in lukewarm water and heat it gradually, and you’ll cook the frog.
Once a favored food of grazing dinosaurs, an ancient lineage of plants called cycads helped sustain these and other prehistoric animals during the Mesozoic Era, starting 252 million years ago, by being plentiful in the forest understory. Today, just a few species of the palm-like plants survive in tropical and subtropical habitats.
In the background of image recognition software that can ID our friends on social media and wildflowers in our yard are neural networks, a type of artificial intelligence inspired by how own our brains process data.
In 1973, physicist Phil Anderson hypothesized that the quantum spin liquid, or QSL, state existed on some triangular lattices, but he lacked the tools to delve deeper. Fifty years later, a team led by researchers associated with the Quantum Science Center headquartered at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has confirmed the presence of QSL behavior in a new material with this structure, KYbSe2.
Researchers from UC San Diego have developed an easily-implemented toolkit for genomics researchers that simplifies the process of analyzing data with deep learning, a type of artificial intelligence capable of improving itself with limited user input.
For decades, the standard reference tool for ultraprecise timekeeping has been the atomic clock. Scientists have known that an even more precise and reliable timepiece was possible, but technical limitations kept it only a theoretical prospect.Now, researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, Texas A&M University and several European institutions are turning theory into practice.
Many songbirds are nesting earlier in spring because of warmer temperatures brought about by climate change. But the shift brings another danger that is especially deadly for nestlings: greater exposure to temperature variability in the form of cold snaps and heat waves.
With 3D inkjet printing systems, engineers can fabricate hybrid structures that have soft and rigid components, like robotic grippers that are strong enough to grasp heavy objects but soft enough to interact safely with humans.
Working laser-powered quantum computers will need a system that can accurately and reliably count and distinguish 50 or more photons every few nanoseconds.
Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital showed that a fusion oncoprotein can drive molecularly indistinguishable rhabdomyosarcomas arising from both muscle and blood vessel cells.
Researchers performed complementary experiments showing that inhibiting a specific enzyme in a mouse model protects the dopamine-producing neurons that are normally lost as Parkinson's disease progresses, effectively halting the progression of the disease. The findings open the door to the development of novel therapeutics targeting the enzyme that may slow or prevent the progression of Parkinson's disease in people—a major unmet need.
Susanna Stroik, PhD, and Dale Ramsden, PhD, in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the UNC School of Medicine, have learned more about an enzyme found to be overly expressed in patients with hereditary breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and prostate cancer.
New research appearing today in the journal Nature shows that a cocktail of drugs already approved to treat high blood pressure quickly reduces brain swelling and improves outcomes in animal models of brain injury.
One University of Kentucky researcher has helped solve a 60-year-old mystery about one of the body’s most vital organs: The heart.
The research team has microscopically mapped out part of the heart. To put this microscopic level into perspective, if the heart is a continent, UK's Kenneth S. Campbell and fellow researchers are looking at single strands of hair.
An international team has for the first time researched the longevity of neutralizing antibodies in HIV-1-infected people. Currently, it is assumed that an HIV-1 vaccine can only be effective if it produces these antibodies in vaccinated humans.
Glaucoma remains one of the most common causes of vision loss and blindness in the U.S. and much of the world, disproportionately affecting older people, African Americans, and Hispanics and Latinos.
One University of Kentucky researcher has helped solve a 60-year-old mystery about one of the body’s most vital organs: The heart. Kenneth S. Campbell, Ph.D., the director of translational research in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine in the UK College of Medicine, helped map out an important part of the heart on a molecular level. The study titled “Cryo-EM structure of the human cardiac myosin filament” was published online in the prestigious journal Nature earlier this month.
Microbial communities, or microbiomes, are essential for safeguarding human and environmental health through the most widely used biotechnological process on our planet: biological wastewater treatment
An international research team at DTU has increased the shelf life of electrolyzers that convert CO2 from half a day to 100 hours. This is good news for companies working with the process. The findings were recently published in Nature Catalysis
Far from being stiff and pointy, a coronavirus’s infectious spikes are shaped like chicken drumsticks with the meaty part facing out, and the meaty part can tilt every which way on its slender stalk. A tiny hinge makes that bendiness possible, and scientists say disabling that hinge could be a good way to thwart infection.
A study of newly created databases of medulloblastoma has found that patients with tumors containing circular extrachromosomal DNA—loops of DNA found outside of regular chromosomes—are twice as likely to relapse and three times as likely to die within five years of diagnosis.
Scientists know very little about conditions in the ocean when life first evolved, but new research published in Nature Geoscience has revealed how geological processes controlled which nutrients were available to fuel their development.
Researchers at Gladstone Institutes have discovered that a rare genetic variant known as the “Christchurch mutation” can block detrimental effects of apolipoprotein E4, the best-established risk factor for the most common form of Alzheimer’s disease.
In a paper published today in Nature Climate Change, an international team of academics explore the ways in which research has shown that a changing environment affects how our brains work, and how climate change could impact our brain function in the future.
In a recent publication in Nature Communications, a joint research team of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), the University of Cologne, and the University of Oldenburg has presented their findings on the functioning of an atypical cryptochrome protein (Cry).
The team reduced the amount of expensive platinum group metals needed to make an effective cell and found a new way to test future fuel cell innovations.
Today an international research team, including scientists from the University of Vienna’s Environment and Climate Hub, introduces a unique approach in fighting the climate crisis.
An international team led by scientists from the University of Liège has observed, for the first time in the visible range, a glow on the night side of the planet Mars. These new observations provide a better understanding of the dynamics of the upper atmosphere of the Red Planet and its variations throughout the year.
Roughly two decades ago, a community-wide reckoning emerged concerning the credibility of published literature in the social-behavioral sciences, especially psychology.
Physicists from the University of Luxembourg together with experts from Avant-garde Materials Simulation (AMS) and seven pharmaceutical companies have redefined the state-of-the-art in modeling and predicting the free energy of crystals.
Michigan State University researchers have solved the mystery of a poorly understood sperm structure called the cytoplasmic droplet, or CD. The CD is an expanded cytoplasm — watery, gel-like cell contents enclosed by cell membrane — found close to the head, at the neck of the sperm, in all mammals, including humans. This new genetic model is the first of its kind.
A multicenter study led by researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center shows how interactions between tumor cells and immune components of the microenvironment can impact treatment responses and outcomes in patients newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma who undergo combination treatments that include targeted immunotherapy.
Making decisions is hard. Even when we know what we want, our choice often leaves something else on the table. For a hungry mouse, every morsel counts. But what if the decision is more consequential than choosing between crumbs and cheese?
Off Barbados, researchers from Bremen have investigated how bacteria inadvertently release methane in order to obtain phosphorus – with significant effects on atmospheric greenhouse gases.
Researchers found that one of the most promising electrolytes for designing longer lasting lithium batteries has complex nanostructures that act like micelle structures do in soaped water.
Research consortium investigators analyzed over 314,000 cells from rheumatoid arthritis tissue, defining six types of inflammation involving diverse cell types and disease pathways
Un equipo de astrónomos consiguió capturar en imágenes los restos erosionados de más de un centenar de galaxias enanas que se están transformando en galaxias enanas ultra compactas, es decir, en objetos con masas mayores que la de los cúmulos estelares, pero mucho más pequeñas que las galaxias enanas. Los hallazgos fueron realizados utilizando el telescopio de Gemini Norte, la mitad boreal del Observatorio Gemini que opera NOIRLab de NSF y AURA, y confirman que muchas galaxias enanas ultra compactas son probablemente los fósiles de galaxias enanas normales cuyas capas exteriores se desprendieron.