Science & Technology

Neuropeptides play fundamental roles in modulating cellular and circuit functions within the brain. One such signaling molecule — orexin — regulates arousal and wakefulness, and its failure can lead to constant daytime sleepiness (narcolepsy). Resear…

Rare genetic diseases can sometimes be recognized through facial features, such as characteristically shaped brows, nose or cheeks. Researchers have now trained software that uses portrait photos to better diagnose such diseases. The improved version “…

Researchers have discovered a new way of producing and stabilizing a rare form of sulfur that functions in carbonate electrolyte — the energy-transport liquid used in commercial Li-ion batteries. This development would not only make sulfur batteries c…

After injury, plants make a trade-off between repairing damaged tissue and ramping up their defenses, according to a new study. Understanding how plants regulate these responses enabled the researchers to nudge wounded plants toward repair instead of d…

A simple eye test may make diagnosing the earliest stages of ‘diseases of old age’ possible when people are much younger, researchers hope.

European scientists have achieved a major success on the road to energy production through fusion plasmas: They produced stable plasmas with 59 megajoules of energy output at the world’s largest fusion facility, JET, in Culham near Oxford, UK.

Astronomers have found evidence of another planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our Solar System. This candidate planet is the third detected in the system and the lightest yet discovered orbiting this star. At just a quarter of Earth’…

FMRP, a protein whose loss causes intellectual disability, may regulate a neuron’s synaptic response by establishing a feedback loop between the cell’s nucleus and its faraway dendrites.

Studies have shown that Aboriginal Australians living in remote areas of the country are disproportionately affected by dementia, with rates approximately double those of non-Indigenous people. A new study shows that Aboriginal Australians living in ur…

The moment that debris from destroyed planets impacts the surface of a white dwarf star has been observed. Astronomers saw X-rays from planetary debris heated to a million degrees as it fell onto the dead core of its host star.

New research reveals that sex differences in learning and memory mechanisms are triggered by biological events occurring during puberty. Findings show prepubescent female rodents have much better hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) and spatial lea…

Babies and children sitting in bicycle trailers breathe in more polluted air than the adults riding the bikes that pull them — but trailer covers can help halve air pollution levels.

One out of three people in a large survey showed signs of exposure to a pesticide called 2,4-D, according to a new study. This novel research found that human exposure to this chemical has been rising as agricultural use of the chemical has increased, …

A new study found that measuring the time it takes for a radar pulse to travel from a satellite to the sea surface and back again can reveal the thickness of river ice and dates when it is safe to travel on ice roads and bridges in Arctic regions.

Whether Guard Cells (GCs) carry out photosynthesis has been debated for decades. Earlier studies suggested that guard cell chloroplasts (GCCs) cannot fix CO2 but later studies argued otherwise. Until recently, it has remained controversial whether GCCs…

Many North American migratory birds are shrinking in size as temperatures have warmed over the past 40 years. But those with very big brains, relative to their body size, did not shrink as much as smaller-brained birds, according to new research. The s…

A new study has shown that the effects of pollutants can be transmitted over many generations in water fleas and may persist long enough to influence the evolutionary process. The research adds new evidence to the debate on whether environmental influe…

Although recreational and medicinal marijuana (cannabis) is increasingly available across the U.S., public and professional awareness that cannabis use may adversely affect brain health is critical, according to the American Heart Association’s first s…

Hitting a material with laser light can produce a flash of superconductivity — the ability to carry electric current with no loss — and may offer a path toward room-temperature conductivity.