For The Better

A noninvasive treatment may help to counter ‘chemo brain’ impairment often seen in chemotherapy patients: Exposure to light and sound with a frequency of 40 hertz protected brain cells from chemotherapy-induced damage in mice, researchers found.

The gastrointestinal tract is already known to researchers as a major storage site for micro- and nanoplastic particles (MNPs) in the human body. A research consortium has now investigated the effects of the tiny plastic particles on cancer cells in th…

Early experiences in an animal’s life can have a significant impact on its capacity to thrive, even years or decades later, and DNA methylation may help record their effects. In a study of 256 wild baboons, researchers found that resource limitation du…

Entropy is often associated with disorder and chaos, but in biology it is related to energy efficiency and is closely linked to metabolism, the set of chemical reactions that sustain life. An international research team has now developed a novel method…

At present, viscose textiles are made of biomass from the forest, and there is no such thing as fully recycled viscose. Researchers have now succeeded in making new viscose — from worn-out cotton sheets.

New research has found that rubisco — the enzyme that fuels all life on Earth — is not stuck in an evolutionary rut after all. The largest analysis of rubisco ever has found that it is improving all the time — just very, very slowly. These insights …

More than 70% of American Indian young adults aged 20-39 and 50% of American Indian teens have cholesterol levels or elevated fat in the blood that put them at risk for cardiovascular disease, a new study suggests. In some cases, these levels — specif…

Scientists have discovered the gene that enables marine algae to make a unique type of chlorophyll. They successfully implanted this gene in a land plant, paving the way for better crop yields on less land.

According to a new study, there is mounting evidence that nature can help humans address the time pressure of contemporary urban lifestyles by contributing to the regulation of human sense of time. A better understanding of the relationship between nat…

Global change is altering the physiology of the hibernation and behavior of bats, according to a study carried out over a twenty year period. Given the milder winters we are having, bats are accumulating less fat reserves in autumn, they shorten their …

Natural history museums have entered a new stage of scientific discovery and accessibility with the completion of openVertebrate (oVert), a five-year collaborative project among 18 institutions to create 3D reconstructions of vertebrate specimens and m…

Axons that are regularly stimulated do not pass on increases in performance to their neighbors, study on mice reveals.

Physicists are developing a method that could enable the stable exchange of information in quantum computers. In the leading role: photons that make quantum bits ‘fly’.

A research team has reported a groundbreaking development in efficient hydrogen storage.

Researchers have discovered that nanoscale devices harnessing the hydroelectric effect can harvest electricity from the evaporation of fluids with higher ion concentrations than purified water, revealing a vast untapped energy potential.

While ‘peer pressure’ is often linked to experiences of children or teenagers, researchers say young adults continue to succumb to similar pressures of social conformity in everyday situations.

Scientists are taking a more detailed look at how children’s language development is influenced by the number of people in their households, evaluating the impact of the adult-to-child ratio within each residence. American demographics have shifted sig…

Neutron star mergers are a treasure trove for new physics signals, with implications for determining the true nature of dark matter, according to physicists.