For The Better

Biologists establish the origin date of the earliest tetrapods and discover they acquired several of the major new adaptive traits that enabled vertebrate life on land at accelerated evolutionary rates.

A new scoring method to identify the risk of forced labor in fruits and vegetables sold in the U.S. has been developed by researchers. Limited, scattered data serve as a call to action to build evidence base and address accompanying equity issues.

A team of scientists has conducted a comprehensive analysis reconstructing how kidneys form their filtering units, known as nephrons. The team studied hundreds of human and mouse nephrons at various points along their typical developmental trajectories…

The elephant proboscis (trunk) exhibits an extraordinary kinematic versatility as it can manipulate a single blade of grass but also carry loads up to 270 kilograms. Using motion-capture technologies developed for the movie industry, a team of scientis…

Scientists have discovered that extensive chains of volcanoes have been responsible for both emitting and then removing atmospheric carbon dioxide over geological time. This stabilized temperatures at Earth’s surface.

Scientists have harnessed the natural ability of wood to faintly glow to develop a new sustainable phosphorescent material that could potentially be used in a wide number of applications, from medical imaging and optical sensing to ‘glow in the dark’ d…

We are collectively failing to conserve the world’s biodiversity and to mobilize natural solutions to help curb global warming. A new study shows that managing a strategically placed 30% of land for conservation could safeguard 70% of all considered te…

Ocean deoxygenation during the Mesozoic Era was much more rapid than previous thought, with CO2 induced environmental warming creating ocean ‘dead zones’ over timescales of only tens of thousands of years. The research paints a new picture of severe oc…

A little understood species of shark, known for taking cookie cutter-shaped bites out of everything from white sharks and whales to the rubber coated sonar sensors on submarines and even underwater electrical cables, is the subject of a new study. Whil…

Amyloid plaques found in the retinas of eyes may be an indicator of similar plaques in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, and may provide a more visible biomarker for detecting disease risk.

In a finding that could help pave the way toward cleaner fuels and a more sustainable chemical industry, researchers have used machine learning to predict how the compositions of metal alloys and metal oxides affect their electronic structures.

A nationwide US study has shown that the rate of opioid-related cardiac arrests has steeply risen and is now on par with the rate of cardiac arrest from other causes. Opioid use disorder, which includes dependence and addiction, affects more than two m…

Magnesium rechargeable batteries show immense promise for a greener future because of their energy density, safety, and cost. But the lack of high-performance cathode materials has impeded their development. Now, a research team has developed liquid-su…

Researchers have developed a mathematical model that can predict the optimum exercise regime for building muscle.