Science & Technology

Citizen scientists are increasingly playing crucial roles in understanding fish populations, according to a new study. Over the past 20 years, volunteers have helped monitor more than half of the total fish species known to occur in the Salish Sea.

Mechanical engineers are using two electronic ‘voices’ singing a harmonic duet to control suspended particles and cells in new and valuable ways. Their prototype device can form and rotate a single-layer crystal from a group of particles, create arbitr…

A new study using neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in zebrafish found that certain activities may help strengthen muscles affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a severe type of muscular dystrophy that affects young boys. The researchers d…

Scientists have long puzzled about a critical way that cells communicate with one another, but researchers have now used a simple roundworm to solve the mystery.

A new study introduces a breakthrough in making nanocrystals function together electronically. The research may open the doors to future devices with new abilities.

Newly discovered Fermi arcs that can be controlled through magnetism could be the future of electronics based on electron spins. During a recent investigation of the rare-earth monopnictide NdBi (neodymium-bismuth), researchers discovered a new type of…

A nitrogen doped carbon-coated nickel anode can catalyze an essential reaction in hydrogen fuel cells at a fraction of the cost of the precious metals currently used, researchers have found.

Researchers have developed a novel method to identify aggressive early-stage lung cancers and target drugs known as aurora kinase inhibitors to tumors that are especially likely to respond to them. The findings could lead to great advances in treatment…

Understanding how the brain functions, particularly how information is processed during different activities, is difficult without knowing how many axons are in the brain and how many connect different functional regions. A new study shows that despite…

Chemists have developed an organic catalyst that can drive reactions using pyruvate — a key biomolecule in many metabolic pathways — that are difficult and complicated to achieve using conventional industrial techniques. The research is an important …

Researchers have built the world’s first physics-based computer simulation of oxygen transport on Europa, finding that it’s possible for oxygen to drain through the moon’s icy shell and into its ocean of liquid water — where it could potentially help …

Over one in four women (or 27 per cent) experience intimate partner violence before the age of 50, according to a worldwide analysis. The largest of its kind, the analysis covers 366 studies involving more than 2 million women in 161 countries.

Artificial sweeteners reduce added sugar content and corresponding calories while maintaining sweetness. A new study suggests that some artificial sweeteners are associated with increased cancer risk.

Restricting supermarket placement of less healthy items and increasing the availability of healthier alternatives in these stores may be promising interventions to encourage healthier purchasing behaviors, according to two new studies.

Piezoelectric materials convert mechanical stress into electricity, or vice versa, and can be useful in sensors, actuators and many other applications. But implementing piezoelectrics in polymers — materials composed of molecular chains and commonly u…

In mice, the immune response mounted against tuberculosis prevents them from developing COVID-19, according to a new study.

Octopuses can solve complex puzzles and show a preference for different individuals, but whether they, and other animals and invertebrates, have emotions is being hotly debated and could shake up humans’ moral decision-making, says an expert in animal …

Researchers have created a gas of light particles that can be extremely compressed. Their results confirm the predictions of central theories of quantum physics. The findings could also point the way to new types of sensors that can measure minute forc…

When we initiate an action in our everyday lives—chasing after a runaway napkin or getting out of the car—the brain releases a chemical messenger called dopamine that helps regulate the brain area that controls this action.

Researchers have experimentally caused electrons to bend in bilayer graphene with the use of light. The way electrons flow in materials determine its electronic properties. For example, when a voltage is sustained across a conducting material, electron…