Science & Technology

Electric cars — and their continued sales growth — are expected to have a greener, cleaner influence on air pollution and reduce early human mortality in most, if not all, U.S. metropolitan areas.

Researchers have developed a computational optimization pipeline that can automatically design a fluidic device to meet specific objectives, without requiring a user to make assumptions about the device’s shape in advance. This could make the design pr…

Investigators have found that even subtle forms of liver disease directly impact heart health. The findings help further clarify the relationship between liver disease and heart disease beyond their shared risk factors.

A team presents a new, direct way to produce unsymmetrically constructed vicinal diamines. These structures are relevant for the function of biologically active molecules, natural products and pharmaceuticals.

Modern Papuans’ immune system likely evolved with a little help from the Denisovans, a mysterious human ancestor who interbred with ancient humans, according to a new study.

In rural Bangladesh, areas with high levels of arsenic contamination in drinking water, compared to areas with less contamination, have a higher prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli in both water and child stool samples, according to a n…

Agriculture is driving rapid evolutionary change, not just on farms but also in wild species in surrounding landscapes, new research has found.

Polymer chains twist and turn in complex and unexpected ways, now visible with a new measurement technique. The new technique, which shows 3D molecular orientation at a 400 nm resolution, will help researchers understand the structure/function relation…

New research findings could help scientists control the emerald ash borer, an invasive pest ravaging native ash trees in North America.

A new study reveals how a selfish gene in yeast uses a poison-antidote strategy that enables its function and likely has facilitated its long-term evolutionary success. This strategy is an important addition for scientists studying similar systems incl…

Researchers have linked the artificial sweetener aspartame to anxiety-like behavior in mice. Along with producing anxiety in the mice who consumed aspartame, the effects extended up to two generations from the males exposed to the sweetener, according …

Kelp forests are one of the most diverse and productive natural ecosystems on the planet, but in the past 50 to 100 years significant swaths have been lost and many of the remaining systems show a declining trajectory.

Researchers have been studying the effects of the sudden decrease in global temperatures that occurred about 8,200 years ago, the so-called 8.2-kiloyear event, with the help of mineral deposits present in White Moon Cave in Northern California. New ind…

Using new machine learning techniques, researchers have developed a virtual molecular library of thousands of ‘command sentences’ for cells, based on combinations of ‘words’ that guided engineered immune cells to seek out and tirelessly kill cancer cel…

Argentine ants have been able to displace native ant species in large part because of their aggressive foraging for sugar and other carbohydrates. However, when they’ve been deprived of food and competitors are present, they significantly limit their f…

Delirium is common among women with urinary tract infections (UTIs) — especially those who have experienced menopause. Investigators, working with laboratory mice, have been able to prevent symptoms of the condition with estrogen, which is commonly us…

The researchers looked closer into the possibility of reprograming inner ear cells to repair long-term hearing loss.