Science & Technology

An international team of scientists has revealed high levels of toxic metals in global phosphate fertilizers using a isotopic variants of the element strontium as a tracer to uncover metals in soil, groundwater and possibly the food chain.

Physicists revealed a microscopic phenomenon that could greatly improve the performance of soft devices, such as agile flexible robots or microscopic capsules for drug delivery.

A study has found that repeat vaccination with updated versions of the COVID-19 vaccine promotes the development of antibodies that neutralize a wide range of variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, as well as related coronaviruses.

A team explored the influence the spatial extent of research — the geographical coverage of data collected — has on evaluating the sensitivity of different fish species to climate change.

The sweet-taste receptor might be the first stop in a metabolic surveillance system for sugar. The receptor is also expressed in certain intestinal cells, where it may facilitate glucose absorption and assimilation, as part of this system. A team found…

A paper describes how the moving parts of a particular plant protein control whether plants can grow and make energy-intensive products such as oil — or instead put in place a series of steps to conserve precious resources. The study focuses specifica…

A team of scientists and physicians have discovered that the immune checkpoint protein VISTA can directly turn off tumor-fighting T-cells during immunotherapy and resist treatment. The study explains that VISTA can bind to a protein called LRIG1 in T c…

Horses crossed the Baltic Sea in ships during the Late Viking Age and were sacrificed for funeral rituals. Studies on the remains of horses found at ancient burial sites in Russia and Lithuania show that they were brought overseas from Scandinavia util…

Researchers have found that a strain of gut bacteria can boost immune responses and enhance cancer immunotherapy to fight sarcoma tumors in mice.

The basis of the marine food web in the Arctic, the phytoplankton, responds to heatwaves much differently than to constantly elevated temperatures. This has been found by the first targeted experiments on the topic. The phytoplankton’s behavior primari…

Scientists have the first direct evidence that the powerful magnetic fields created in off-center collisions of atomic nuclei induce an electric current in ‘deconfined’ nuclear matter. The study used measurements of how charged particles are deflected …

Recognizing and respecting the different ways nature is valued can enable better environmental decision-making, according to new research.

A new commentary paper puts forth a transformative solution to the unsustainable reliance on fossil resources by the chemical industry: catalysis to leverage sustainable waste resources, ushering the industry from a linear to a circular economy.

Researchers have developed a groundbreaking data-driven model to predict the dehydrogenation barriers of magnesium hydride, a promising material for solid-state hydrogen storage. This advancement holds significant potential for enhancing hydrogen stora…

Using DNA origami, researchers have built a diamond lattice with a periodicity of hundreds of nanometers — a new approach for manufacturing semiconductors for visible light.

Marine microbes control the flux of matter and energy essential for life in the oceans. Among them, the bacterial group SAR11 accounts for about a third of all the bacteria found in surface ocean waters. A study now reveals that at times nearly 20% of …

Plants have special corrective molecules at their disposal that can make retrospective modifications to copies of genes. However, it would appear that these ‘Tipp-Ex proteins’ do not have permission to work in all areas of the cell, only being used in …

A new AI tool to more quickly and accurately classify brain tumors has been developed.

The brain modulates visual signals according to internal states, as a new study by neuroscientists reveals.

The deep-sea Venus flower basket sponge can filter feed using only the faint ambient currents of the ocean depths, no pumping required, new research reveals. This discovery of natural ‘zero energy’ flow control could help engineers design more efficien…