Science & Technology

Many Dutch ships passed the West Australian coast while enroute to Southeast Asia in the 1600s — and the national heritage listed shipwreck, Batavia, has revealed through its timbers the history of the shipbuilding materials that enabled Dutch East In…

Honeybees increase social distancing when their hive is under threat from a parasite, finds a new study.

Unlike meerkats that take individual turns watching for predators while the rest forage, Barbary ground squirrels found off the coast of Africa stand sentry together — a behavior called synchronous vigilance, according to a new study.

Researchers have demonstrated the first experimental cross-sectional medical image that doesn’t require tomography, a mathematical process used to reconstruct images in CT and PET scans. The work could lead to cheaper, easier and more accurate medical …

The loss of seagrass habitat caused a dramatic shift in fish species in Morro Bay. Areas once covered with lush seagrass meadows and unique fish species are now home to muddy-seafloor-loving flatfish. The research team saw decreasing numbers of seagras…

Quantum physicists are reporting an international achievement for Denmark in the field of quantum technology. By simultaneously operating multiple spin qubits on the same quantum chip, they surmounted a key obstacle on the road to the supercomputer of …

A new nationwide study suggests that living in neighborhoods with higher availability of fast-food outlets across all regions of the United States is associated with higher subsequent risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Researchers have investigated the performance capability of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as a communication platform with autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for ocean and seafloor monitoring research. Studies suggest that UAVs exhibit suitable co…

Researchers used transcriptomics (a type of gene sequencing) calibrated using information from the fossil record to create the first phylogenetic reconstruction of the insect order Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies), covering 105 species. This recon…

The relatively narrow human birth canal presumably evolved as a ‘compromise’ between its abilities for parturition, support of the inner organs, and upright walking. But not only the size of the birth canal, also its complex, ‘twisted’ shape is an evol…

Researchers take advantage of quantum entanglement to generate an incredibly large bandwidth using a thin-film nanophotonic device that could lead to advances in metrology, sensing and quantum networks for information processing and communications.

Spiking neural networks, which mimic the structure and function of a natural nervous system, are powerful, fast, and energy-efficient. One key challenge is how to train such complex systems. An interdisciplinary research team has now developed and succ…

River beds that can shift naturally are more efficient carbon sinks than straightened rivers.

A study finds that changing the biochemistry of parts of brain cells abolished the formation of amyloid beta plaques in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. The finding might eventually lead to treatments that prevent the memory-robbing condition in h…

Scientists suggest that reliance on modern irrigation technologies as a water-use efficiency strategy is a ‘zombie idea’ — one that persists no matter how much evidence is thrown against it. Technology adoption as a water-saving method for improving i…

Pioneering research shows that acinar cells in the pancreas form new cell types to mitigate injury but are then susceptible to cancerous mutations.

Researchers report that a recently discovered inflammatory mediator, interleukin-26, appears to have an important role in pneumonia and contribute to the killing of bacteria.

Mechanical engineers have discovered a method of manipulating orbiting space debris with the use of spinning magnets, allowing agencies more dexterous movement in clearing out space junk or repairing satellites.

A decade ago, genome sequencing revealed a big surprise: about 50 percent of human cancers are linked to mutations in what are known as epigenetic regulators, which control the activity of genes. Medical researchers have now developed a new drug-like m…

Rivers flowing from the Tibetan Plateau and the surrounding high Asian mountains which support one-third of the world’s population have experienced rapid increases in annual water and sediment runoff since the 1990s, and the volume of sediment washed d…