Science News

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Scripps Research scientists discovered antibodies that protect against a host of lethal snake venoms.

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Though artificial intelligence decreases human error in experimentation, human experts outperform AI when identifying causation or working with small data sets. To capitalize on AI and researcher strengths, ORNL scientists, in collaboration with colleagues at National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, developed a human-AI collaboration recommender system for improved experimentation performance.

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Neanderthals created stone tools held together by a multi-component adhesive, a team of scientists has discovered.

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Following ignition demonstrations at the National Ignition Facility, the prospect of developing a fusion energy source using lasers looks brighter than ever. Here, SLAC experts weigh in on what it will take to develop the science and technology toward that aim and how the lab and its partners will contribute.

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Analyzing DNA is routine in health care, but some genetic samples come from wilder places. Argonne National Laboratory’s Environmental Sample Preparation and Sequencing Facility has the skills to study nature’s weirdest, rarest genetic material.

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Kun Luo is combining his experience in materials experimentation and theoretical simulations to explain the atomic mechanisms that create special properties in high-performance materials.

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The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention. These advances are made possible through seamless collaboration between MD Anderson’s world-leading clinicians and scientists, bringing discoveries from the lab to the clinic and back. Recent developments at MD Anderson offer insights into drug-drug interactions for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes; patient-derived xenograft models as a viable translational research tool in early-phase clinical trials; a novel gene expression signature to stratify patients with bladder cancer; a potential therapeutic target to overcome treatment resistance in multiple myeloma; a role for mutant p53 in protecting against ferroptosis in triple-negative breast cancer; and diet modifications to improve treatment outcomes in FLT3-mutated AML.

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A Princeton-led team composed of engineers, physicists, and data scientists from the University and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have harnessed the power of artificial intelligence to predict — and then avoid — the formation of a specific plasma problem in real time.

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Dr. Phillip Ligrani, Eminent Scholar in Propulsion at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), has won the 2024 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Henry R. Worthington Medal for developing innovative micro, millimeter and macro-scale pumping devices. Ligrani’s innovations are beneficial to a variety of applications, such as transporting biological samples without significant alteration or destruction of cells, and supplying coolant to maintain the temperatures of components subject to thermal loading, like lasers.

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s managing contractor, UT-Battelle, presented a donation of $186,000 to Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development, or SEEED, to support the nonprofit’s third green solar home as part of their Green Construction Program.

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RUDN University ecologists and a professor from the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) have shown that the combustion of landfill gas in flares continues to pose a danger to the health of the environment and humans. Moreover, it is likely that the situation only gets worse after flaring

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KIER has achieved advancements in the stability and efficiency of semi-transparent perovskite solar cells.

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Recent research offers a fresh perspective on the revitalization of rural China through an in-depth analysis of the interconnected development of population, land, and industry in 2020. This study shines a light on the spatial dynamics and underlying factors contributing to rural disparities, providing a critical foundation for crafting scientific, effective, sustainable development strategic plan.

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Researchers evaluated the prevalence, concentration and tissue distribution of essential and non-essential trace elements, including heavy metal toxicants in tissue (blubber, kidney, liver, skeletal muscle, skin) and fecal samples. Findings reveal how toxicant levels relate to their sex, breed, age and other demographic factors.

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Drugs for treating osteoporosis can be expensive and have side effects. In the search for alternative drug candidates, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have discovered and fully replicated a compound from female ginseng that had potent anti-osteoporotic activity in cellular tests.

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Tuna can build up high levels of methylmercury from feeding on contaminated prey. Despite efforts to reduce mercury emissions, researchers report in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters that levels in tuna appear to be unchanged.

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Historically "redlined" areas – neighborhoods with primarily Black or immigrant communities – are exposed to more air pollution than other urban neighborhoods. According to research published in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology, the cause could relate to nearby highways or industrial parks.

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Exposure to diesel exhaust particles triggers higher levels of inflammation, especially during a respiratory infection.

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Weedy rice is an agricultural pest with a global economic impact. It is an aggressive weed that outcompetes cultivated rice and causes billions of dollars in yield losses worldwide. A study from Washington University in St. Louis offers new insights into genetic changes that give weedy rice its edge over cultivated rice in tropical regions of the world.

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Biologists have discovered a breeding population of a Cantor's Giant Softshell Turtle, as part of conservation efforts in the south of India.

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Membranes of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VaCNT) can be used to clean or desalinate water at high flow rate and low pressure. Recently, researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and partners carried out steroid hormone adsorption experiments to study the interplay of forces in the small pores. They found that VaCNT of specific pore geometry and pore surface structure are suited for use as highly selective membranes. The researchers report in Nature Communications. (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44883-2)

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In a world where human activities have left an indelible mark on ecosystems, the preservation of species and natural landscapes has become an urgent global concern.

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A team of scientists on location with a film crew in the remote Amazon has uncovered a previously undocumented species of giant anaconda.

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The recent approval of a CRISPR-Cas9 therapy for sickle cell disease demonstrates that gene editing tools can do a superb job knocking out genes to cure hereditary disease.

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Published today in Nature Climate Change, the study found that exported used vehicles generate at least 13-53% more emissions per mile than those that are scrapped or on the road in Great Britain.

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Fish exposed to some pesticides at extremely low concentrations for a brief period of time can demonstrate lasting behavioral changes, with the impact extending to offspring that were never exposed firsthand, a recent study found.

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Scientists at the University of California San Diego and CEA-Leti have developed a ground-breaking piezoelectric-based DC-DC converter that unifies all power switches onto a single chip to increase power density. This new power topology, which extends beyond existing topologies, blends the advantages of piezoelectric converters with capacitive-based DC-DC converters.

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Microalgae in water are responsible for roughly 50% of the photosynthesis that converts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into organic carbon. Researchers have now quantified the activity in the microbiome associated with these microalgae to investigate how the microbiome’s members process and exchange carbon and nitrogen from algal cells. They used isotopes and high-resolution imaging mass spectrometry to quantify these exchanges at the single-cell level.

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Two teams of engineers led by faculty in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis will work toward developing products to monitor drinking water quality and to detect explosives with an electronic nose with one-year, $650,000 Convergence Accelerator Phase 1 grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

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Middle Tennessee State University’s Quantum Science Initiative is taking more giant leaps with two new grants — totaling more than $1 million — from the National Science Foundation to expand research, education and inclusivity in quantum education.