For The Better

Human-caused bird extinctions are driving losses of functional diversity on islands worldwide, and the gaps they leave behind are not being filled by introduced (alien) species, finds a new study.

Comparing features of a common laboratory fruit fly with its rarer cousin collected from Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, researchers used CRISPR technology to uncover clues about how high-level control genes called Hox genes shape our appearance.

Researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences are closer to developing a safe and effective non-opioid pain reliever after a study showed that a new compound they created reduces the sensation of pain by regulating a biological channel linke…

Researchers have developed a new approach in which robotic exosuit assistance can be calibrated to an individual and adapt to a variety of real-world walking tasks in a matter of seconds. The bioinspired system uses ultrasound measurements of muscle dy…

Researchers have found a new way to detect the virus that causes COVID-19 by testing the air passing through building ventilation systems. The discovery could lead to earlier detection of the virus, improved quarantine protocols, reduced transmission a…

Scientists have developed a scalable, low-cost method to improve the joining of materials in solid-state batteries, resolving one of the big challenges in the commercial development of safe, long-lived energy storage systems.

Usually diagnosed in children, teens and young adults, type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks and destroys insulin-secreting beta-cells in the pancreas. As a result, people with type 1 diabetes can’t regulate their …

Uncovering the mechanisms of learning via synaptic plasticity is a critical step towards understanding how our brains function and building truly intelligent, adaptive machines. Researchers propose a new approach in which algorithms mimic biological ev…

A doctoral student has confirmed that the cross-polar jet, a well-known wind in the upper atmosphere, sometimes inexplicably stops or is deflected or reversed when it reaches the region above Alaska. The finding upends previous understanding.

Life isn’t always easy for small primates in the Soutpansberg Mountains of South Africa — foraging for food, contending with cold temperatures and fighting off rivals. A new study explores how they may weather the environmental changes ahead.

A gene-silencing therapy protected against Zika virus transmission from pregnant mice to the mouse fetuses, finds a new study. The treatment, which harnesses nanoparticles called small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) for drug delivery, crossed the placen…

Cognitive training designed to focus on what’s important while ignoring distractions can enhance the brain’s information processing, enabling the ability to ‘learn to learn,’ finds a new study on mice.

Research shows a 31 percent increased risk for hospitalization and mortality in patients with sleep-disordered breathing and sleep-related hypoxia.

By triangulating data from linguistics, archaeology and genetics, a new study by an international team of researchers proposes a ‘Farming Hypothesis’ for the spread of Transeurasian languages, tracing the origins of Japonic, Koreanic, Tungusic, Mongoli…

Aiming to emulate the quantum characteristics of materials more realistically, researchers have figured out a way to create a lattice of light and atoms that can vibrate — bringing sound to an otherwise silent experiment.

An effort to reconstruct Earth’s climate since the last ice age, about 24,000 years ago, highlights the main drivers of climate change and how far out of bounds human activity has pushed the climate system.

Human neurons have a lower density of ion channels than expected, compared to neurons of other mammals, according to a new study. The researchers hypothesize that a lower channel density may have helped the human brain evolve to operate more efficiently.

Next generation vaccines for COVID-19 should aim to induce an immune response against ‘replication proteins’, essential for the very earliest stages of the viral cycle, researchers say.

By the end of the century, Louisiana and Florida could be twice as likely to experience two tropical storms that make landfall within nine days of each other, according to new model estimates. Being hit by two storms in quick succession gives communiti…

A needle-free technology that would allow people with diabetes to measure blood sugar levels without having to stick a needle into their fingertips is a step closer to reality.