For The Better

Although many people lose their nerve and panic when they see a spider, only very few of the creatures are actually dangerous. The black widow, however, is a force to be reckoned with: it catches its prey by means of nerve poison — to be precise, latr…

Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a growing global health challenge and poses a substantial economic burden. A large-scale epidemiologic study has identified links between long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and MAFLD. These l…

Scientists in recent years have developed ways to measure biological age by tracking chemical changes in DNA that occur naturally as people age but occur at different times in different people. These so-called ‘epigenetic clocks’ have proved to be bett…

Scientists have developed a new sodium metal anode for rechargeable batteries that resists the formation of dendrites, a common problem with standard sodium metal anodes that can lead to shorting and fires.

An engineer is changing what we know about when water freezes as he pushes the limit and gets the best look yet at tiny drops of water as they freeze.

A sodium-sulfur battery solves one of the biggest hurdles that has held back the technology as a commercially viable alternative to the ubiquitous lithium-ion batteries that power everything from smartphones to electric vehicles.

Managing the United States’ growing wild pig population has become a significant challenge over the past few decades, but new research may help landowners and government agencies fine-tune their strategies for limiting crop and property damage caused b…

If you can’t stop saying or doing things that you later regret, here’s a diagnostic test for you: Researchers have pioneered a way to better determine when acting on one’s worst impulses verges on pathological. Turns out, acting more recklessly when yo…

Wildfire smoke contains microparticles that cross the blood-brain barrier, triggering neurotoxic effects.

CRISPR is widely used to target specific cell types, but only one at a time. Researchers have now developed methods to edit genes in multiple organisms within a diverse community of microbes simultaneously, a first step toward editing microbiomes such …

New research has led to a promising potential therapy for neonatal jaundice that’s more safe, simple and convenient than the blood transfusions currently given to babies suffering from the most dangerous forms of the condition.

Iron is an essential nutrient that almost all life requires to grow and thrive. Iron’s importance goes all the way back to the formation of the planet Earth, where the amount of iron in the Earth’s rocky mantle was ‘set’ by the conditions under which t…

In a discovery that could one day benefit people suffering from traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer’s disease, and schizophrenia, researchers have identified the characteristics of more than 100 memory-sensitive neurons that play a central role in how me…

A recent phase II clinical trial results suggest that the monoclonal antibody hu14.18K322A could help change treatment of children with high-risk neuroblastoma.

A pair of researchers have taken a process-based modeling approach to understand how much CO2 rivers and streams contribute to the atmosphere. The team focused on the East River watershed in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, and found that their new approach…