For The Better

In a surprising discovery, an international team of scientists found that deformations in quantum materials that cause imperfections in the crystal structure can actually improve the material’s superconducting and electrical properties.

How do apples grow that distinctive shape? Now, a team of mathematicians and physicists have used observations, lab experiments, theory and computation to understand the growth and form of the cusp of an apple.

Researchers have experimentally demonstrated, for the first time, that an assembly of quantum computing pieces — a logical qubit — can be better than the worst parts used to make it. The team shared how they took this landmark step toward reliable, p…

Physicians have successfully treated a patient with severe depression by tapping into the specific brain circuit involved in depressive brain patterns and resetting them using the equivalent of a pacemaker for the brain.

While most of the largest U.S. wildfires occur in the Western U.S., almost three-quarters of the smoke-related deaths and visits to the emergency room for asthma occur east of the Rocky Mountains. A new study finds that smoke contributes to a larger pe…

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been much uncertainty about how long immunity lasts after someone who is unvaccinated is infected with SARS-CoV-2. Now scientists have an answer. Strong protection following natural infection is short-lived.

Researchers have made a key breakthrough in droplet manipulation. They have discovered an innovative way to navigate liquids on a surface in the absence of external force or energy.

Scientists have boosted the sensitivity of their decade-old frequency comb breathalyzer a thousandfold and can detect additional biomarkers of disease — four now, with the potential for six more. When validated and engineered into a portable design, t…

Amber researc has produced the first definite identification of grass in fossilized tree resin from the Baltic region, home to the world’s most well-known amber deposits.

A new ‘sandwich-style’ fabrication process placing a semiconductor only one atom thin between two mirrors has allowed Australian researchers to make a significant step towards ultra-low energy electronics based on the light-matter hybrid particles exci…

A previously unknown virus that can infect humans and cause disease has been identified by scientists in Japan. The novel infectious virus, named Yezo virus and transmitted by tick bites, causes a disease characterized by fever and a reduction in blood…

Patients with psoriasis have reported that glycerin, an inexpensive, harmless, slightly sweet liquid high on the list of ingredients in many skin lotions, is effective at combating their psoriasis and now scientists have objective evidence to support t…

A new study examined the development of a glioblastoma cancerous tumor in animal models with a normal immune system, in order to best simulate the development of the tumor in humans.

New research has revealed a direct link between fatty tissue and Crohn’s disease.

Almost one-in-three people around the world will still be mainly using polluting cooking fuels and technologies– a major source of disease and environmental destruction and devastation — in 2030, new research warned.

Palaeobiologists have unearthed the earliest evidence yet of hippos in the UK. Excavations at Westbury Cave in Somerset have uncovered a million-year-old hippo tooth which shows the animal roamed Britain much earlier than previously thought.

Researchers have just elucidated structures of a sugar transport protein that drives transport of sugar in plants. The study provides a comprehensive insight into sugar uptake into plant organs such as flowers, seeds and fruit. Future research can bene…