For The Better

Ant colonies use fluids passed mouth-to-mouth to create a colony-wide metabolism, shows a new study.

High or low blood pressure in patients during surgery to repair a spinal cord injury may contribute to poorer outcomes, suggests a study published in eLife.

Observational data shows air pollution in India decreased drastically in the first COVID-19 lockdown when emissions from vehicles naturally declined, but researchers say those numbers only tell part of the story — blue skies and an absence of visible …

Researchers have pioneered a new method to track the progression of prostate cancer in mice, from its birth to its spread into other tissues. This approach allows researchers to study the origins of prostate cancer in a more realistic context than trad…

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and rising air pollution levels, incidence of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is anticipated to rise, urgently increasing the need for strong model systems. Researchers describe a 3D cell culturing platform that allows study of…

Researchers have engineered a portable electronic nose (e-nose) that’s almost as sharp as a human nose at sniffing out the stink of wastewater treatment plants. Coupled with a drone, the lightweight e-nose can measure the concentration of different sme…

North America’s freshwater mussels are both impressively diverse and highly imperiled. Nearly 300 species occur in the United States and Canada, and up to 40 species of the hard-shelled bottom dwellers can be found on a single stretch of a clean, swift…

Researchers have used a nanoantenna to focus light onto a single semiconductor nanobox. This approach will enhance the utility of quantum repeater technology currently under development for advanced communication and data storage. Such technology is es…

Researchers have modeled that pollutant emissions from the shipping sector increased significantly in major international seaports during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Why are some animals good at learning sounds? Did this skill appear when animals started ‘faking’ their body size by lowering calls? In a new study on a wide range of mammals,researchers revisit this question. Surprisingly, many animals who are skilled…

Scientists are turning to genomics to better understand the epidemiology of malaria and to inform control and elimination interventions and strategies. In the Lake Victoria region of Kenya, malaria burden remains very high despite more than a decade of…

Since 2015, researchers have been tracking emissions from oil and gas wells and report that, over that time, emissions from the region have fallen by half. But more analysis of leak rates shows that the oil and gas industry has a ways to go in stopping…

Solar energy plays an important role in the fight against climate change as a substitute for fossil fuels. Dye-sensitized solar cells promise to be a low-cost supplement to the photovoltaic systems we know today. Their key feature is the dye sensitizer…

A husband-and-wife team of astronomers joined forces for the first time in their scientific careers during the pandemic to develop a new method to look back in time and change the way we understand the history of galaxies.

Computer scientists have discovered an inexpensive way for tech companies to implement a rigorous form of personal data privacy when using or sharing large databases for machine learning.

A study comparing the impact of diet versus drugs on the inner workings of our cells has found nutrition has a much stronger impact.

In an unusual study, researchers found that bats that interacted closely with one another shared much more than body heat.

When the pro-inflammatory pair, a receptor called CCR2 and its ligand CCL-2, get together, it increases the risk of developing type 1 diabetes, scientists report.