Science & Technology

An extensive field study into air quality along a road lined with buildings has confirmed that hedges can help mitigate traffic-related pollution up to 1.7m, reducing the pollutants breathed by pedestrians, young children and cyclists.

To fully grasp and plan for climate impacts under any scenario, researchers and policymakers must look well beyond the 2100 benchmark. Unless CO2 emissions drop significantly, global warming by 2500 will make the Amazon barren, the American Midwest tro…

Based on the most comprehensive winter study to date, conducted in the Southern Ocean during July and August 2017, scientists were able to show that phytoplankton were indeed active during the icy cold and dark winter months. These findings are importa…

Not all ice is the same. The solid form of water comes in more than a dozen different – sometimes more, sometimes less crystalline – structures, depending on the conditions of pressure and temperature in the environment. Superionic ice is a special cry…

More than a third of all medicines available today are based on active substances from nature and a research team has developed a procedure to identify small active substance molecules much more quickly and easily.

In May 2020, a hole a little smaller than the state of Rhode Island opened up for two weeks in the Last Ice Area, a million-square-kilometer patch of sea ice north of Greenland and Ellesmere Island that’s expected to be the last refuge of ice in a rapi…

Hydropower is the dominant source of energy in the Amazon region, the world’s largest river basin and a hotspot for future hydropower development. However, a new study warns that in the coming decades, climate change-driven reductions in precipitation …

Researchers have developed a simple spatial light modulator made from gold electrodes covered by a thin film of electro-optical material that changes its optical properties in response to electric signals.

Researchers have described a new antibiotic that appears to have the potential to cure Lyme disease.

A new study found that the environmental lifestyle that bacteria possess reveal why some go rogue and turn deadly while others remain harmless to humans. The findings focus on Vibrio vulnificus, better known as the flesh-eating bacteria. However, what …

A recent statistical study has revealed some of the constraints and directions in the evolution of the structure and function of proteins. Better models of protein structural dynamics may allow researchers to understand more of this fundamental mystery…

Food Compass, a new nutrient profiling system, rates the healthfulness of foods, beverages, and mixed meals on a score of 1-100 based on a wide range of science-based attributes. This adaptable tool aims to encourage healthier choices, spur industry re…

Consumption of ultra-processed foods has increased over the past two decades across nearly all segments of the U.S. population, according to a new study.

Scientists have known for a century that female animals become more active just as they are about to ovulate, a behavior that evolved to enhance their chances of mating when they are fertile.

While gobies aren’t the only fish with camouflage abilities, new research shows that their colour change is influenced by their social context: they transform faster and better when alone. This is likely an adaptive, stress response to perceived threat…

A cell-based influenza vaccine has effectively provided protection against the flu in children and adolescents, according to a new study.

A new report finds more than 46,000 cancer cases annually in the United States could be prevented if Americans met the 5 hours per week of moderate-intensity recommended physical activity guidelines.

A new discovery about osteoporosis suggests a potential treatment target for that brittle-bone disease and for bone loss from rheumatoid arthritis.

Sunscreen that includes zinc oxide, a common ingredient, loses much of its effectiveness and becomes toxic after two hours of exposure to ultraviolet radiation, according to scientists.

Sustainable agriculture will not be achieved by one universal solution. A meta-analysis shows that the current focus on no-till farming does not achieve the desired results. A sustainable system of agriculture must be designed for local needs and in di…