Category Science

A category of synthetic organisms dubbed “mirror life,” whose component molecules are mirror images of their natural counterpart, could pose unprecedented risks to human life and ecosystems, according to a perspective article by leading experts, including Nobel Prize winners. The…

New research has uncovered a surprising and often-overlooked limitation in giraffe mobility, one that challenges long-held perceptions of their adaptability to vast landscapes. The study reveals that steep terrain, particularly slopes exceeding 20 degrees, poses an insurmountable barrier to these…

During the summer of 2023, residents of Baltimore watched their skies turn dark as smoke from massive Canadian wildfires drifted thousands of miles across the continent. Now, researchers have documented a stark reality: this distant smoke triggered a significant surge…

A common food flavoring compound could hold the key to preventing ulcerative colitis, a debilitating inflammatory bowel disease. New research reveals that β-ionone, a naturally occurring substance found in various plants, demonstrates remarkable potential in protecting the gut barrier and…

Rachel Feltman: Who here grew up loving animals? Personally, I had a five-foot-long [one-and-a-half-meter-long] iguana who taught himself to use the cat’s litter box. That dude was the best. But, of course, there are plenty of furry and scaly friends…

In a remarkable shift from long-standing trends, new research reveals that US adult obesity rates decreased in 2023 for the first time in more than ten years. The study, which analyzed over 47 million body mass index measurements from more…

As someone who has spent thousands of hours observing the night sky, I like to think that I’m pretty familiar with it and able to navigate my way around with some ease. That’s certainly true on the large scale: bouncing…

THIS ARTICLE IS republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. The number of people who read for fun appears to be steadily dropping. Fifty percent of UK adults say they don’t read regularly (up from 42 percent in…

A groundbreaking surgical innovation has emerged from Japan, offering a beacon of hope for patients facing the daunting challenges of complex head and neck reconstruction. By achieving an unprecedented success rate through meticulous tissue repositioning while preserving critical blood supply,…

IN GOUGH’S cave in Cheddar Gorge, south-west England, archaeologists have found the remains of at least six individuals. Many of the bones were intentionally broken and the fragments are covered in cut marks, the result of people using stone tools…