For The Better

Men and women were good at judging their own attractiveness, and tended to partner up with people who were similarly attractive.

If there’s one thing we humans are good at, it’s producing heat. Significant amounts, and in many cases most of the energy we generate and put into our systems we lose as heat, whether it be our appliances, our transportation, our factories, even our e…

The Supreme Court ruled last year that rivers that only flow in response to weather events — called ephemeral streams — do not fall under the protection of the Clean Water Act. New research suggests that this now leaves many U.S. waterways vulnerable…

What happens when measles virus meets a human cell? The viral machinery unfolds in just the right way to reveal key pieces that let it fuse itself into the host cell membrane.

Researchers have described some of the best-preserved three-dimensional trilobite fossils ever discovered. The fossils, which are more than 500 million years old, were collected in the High Atlas of Morocco and are being referred to by scientists as ‘P…

Researchers have discovered a new way to drive chemical reactions that could generate a wide variety of azetidines — four-membered nitrogen heterocycles that have desirable pharmaceutical properties.

Researchers have studied the cell membranes of ctenophores (‘comb jellies’) and found they had unique lipid structures that allow them to live under intense pressure.

Scientists have developed a gene-silencing tool that shows promise as a therapy against fatal prion diseases. The tool, a streamlined epigenetic editor, paves the way for a new class of genetic approaches to treat certain diseases.

Chemists detail a new porous material that is less expensive and more sustainable.

Synthetic biology combines principles from science, engineering and social science, creating emerging technologies such as alternative meats and mRNA vaccines; Deconstructing synthetic biology across scales gives rise to new approach to uniting traditi…

Why did multicellularity arise? Solving that mystery may help pinpoint life on other planets and explain the vast diversity and complexity seen on Earth today, from sea sponges to redwoods to human society. A new article shows how specific physical con…

Dementia risk factors associated with cardiovascular health may have increased over time compared to factors such as smoking and having less education, finds a new study.

Children who are not considered ‘school ready’ by their teachers are more than twice as likely to become persistently absent at some point in their education, according to a new study.

Older coastal cities, like Philadelphia, New York and Boston are at risk of being inundated by untreated sewage during floods. Due in part to the design of their combined sewer systems and in part due to sea level rise, these cities could be facing a g…