For The Better

Certain small RNAs called tDRs can be found inside and outside cells during stress responses to different diseases. Researchers have created an atlas of the stress signatures for tDRs that might be used as markers of disease and identify new disease-ca…

The concept of ecosystem services allows researchers to quantify the benefits that nature contributes to people into monetary units. A new study suggests that trees provide greater economic value when used to regulate climate and air quality than the v…

Analysis presents a first-of-its-kind framework to design the most efficient mix of urban buildings along with integrated systems to supply power and water services. The approach could significantly reduce costs and pollution compared to traditional sy…

They are part of the brain of almost every animal species, yet they remain usually invisible even under the electron microscope.

Rice University chemists treat waste plastic to absorb carbon dioxide from flue gas streams more efficiently than current processes.

Scientists have developed a treatment for pulmonary fibrosis by using nanoparticles coated in mannose — a type of sugar — to stop a population of lung cells called macrophages that contribute to lung tissue scarring. The cell-targeting method holds p…

Researchers have found that geosmin is made by certain kinds of bacteria that are known toxin producers. This acts as a warning to C. elegans, a common type of worm, that the bacteria they are about to graze on is poisonous. The chemical is an aposemat…

Researchers report that two seemingly opposing theories of language processing are both correct. The study shows that greater left-brain asymmetry can predict both better performance and average performance on a foundational measure of reading ability,…

Pregnancy, long reproductive span, and older age at menopause are associated with a lower risk of dementia in women, according to a new study. Inversely, hysterectomy, younger age of first birth, and younger or older than average age at first period we…

Faces and voices are more likely to be judged as male when they are angry, and as female when they are happy, new research has revealed. The study found that how we understand the emotional expression of a face or voice is heavily influenced by perceiv…

Scientists have built instruments to give humans eyes and a nose on Mars — and now they are helping add ears as well.