Science & Technology

Scientists have discovered a new form of biological reproduction — and created self-replicating living robots. Made from frog cells, these computer-designed organisms gather single cells inside a Pac-Man-shaped ‘mouth’ — and release Xenobot ‘babies’ …

Researchers have developed a new approach to machine learning that ‘learns how to learn’ and out-performs current machine learning methods for drug design, which in turn could accelerate the search for new disease treatments.

A decline in metabolism and endurance of skeletal muscle is commonly observed in obese patients, but the underlying mechanism is not well-understood. A research team uncovers a new mechanism to explain how obesity jeopardizes the functions of skeletal …

Polymers, the basis of all plastics, usually do not have an ordered structure, in contrast to biopolymers such as proteins. A team of researchers has now developed a polymer that can be differentiated into folded (ordered) and unfolded (disordered) dom…

Recent research compared the genetic expression profiles of a nonlethal canine tumor and the rare, devastating human oral tumor it resembles, laying the groundwork for potential translational medicine down the road.

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), the only ocean current that circumnavigates the planet, is speeding up. For the first time, scientists are able to tell that this is happening by taking advantage of a decades-long set of observational records.

Alternative-energy research is charting a path toward the mass adoption of clean cars powered by direct-ethanol fuel cells.

A new international study shows how near-term mitigation can help to prevent an overshoot in global temperatures, thereby reducing climate risks and bringing long-term economic gains.

Organic materials could soon be utilized for glow-in-the-dark products, which has the potential to diversify and expand the already US$400 million industry, thanks to new research.

A recent study in mice has uncovered that during chronic viral infection, a protein called BMI-1 gets turned on too early in B cells and messes up the delicate balance of gene expression, resulting in antibodies that are unsuccessful in their endeavor …

Research has long strived to develop computers to work as energy efficiently as our brains. A study has now succeeded in combining a memory function with a calculation function in the same component. The discovery opens the way for more efficient techn…

Curtin University researchers have helped unravel the enduring mystery of the origins of the Earth’s water, finding the Sun to be a surprising likely source.

A simple change in the way donor cells are processed can maximize a single cell’s production of extracellular vesicles, which are small nanoparticles naturally secreted by cells, according to new research.

A new study has identified serpentinite — a green rock that looks a bit like snakeskin and holds fluids in its mineral structures — as a key driver of the oxygen recycling process, which helped create and maintain the sustaining atmosphere for life o…

Microplastics are everywhere, even in the most remote places. Where do these tiny pieces of plastic come from? Researchers have shown that it takes precise analysis to answer this question.

Snow monkeys living in one of the world’s coldest regions survive by ‘going fishing’ — scooping live animals, including brown trout, out of Japanese rivers and eating them to stay alive, a new study reveals.

Waterfalls have a specific threshold of water flow that must be maintained to preserve their characteristic sound and appearance, according to research that used audio recordings and images to monitor waterfalls in Europe. With this new method, scienti…

The world’s eight most extreme wildfire weather years on record have occurred in the last decade, according to a new study that suggests extreme weather is being driven by a decrease in atmospheric humidity coupled with rising temperatures.

Researchers have developed an ultracompact camera the size of a coarse grain of salt. The new system can produce crisp, full-color images on par with a conventional compound camera lens 500,000 times larger in volume.

New research provides interdisciplinary support for the ‘Farming Hypothesis’ of language dispersal, tracing Transeurasian languages back to the first farmers moving across Northeast Asia beginning in the Early Neolithic — roughly between 8-10 thousand…