News

Researchers at Heriot-Watt University have made a discovery that could pave the way for a transformative era in photonic technology. For decades, scientists have theorized the possibility of manipulating the optical properties of light by adding a new dimension—time. This once-elusive concept has now become a reality thanks to nanophotonics experts from the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences in Edinburgh, Scotland.

When astronauts return from a prolonged visit to space, they are often carried out of their capsules and placed on stretchers for a medical examination. The 'stranded' astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will be no exception. Here's why.

When light interacts with metallic nanostructures, it instantaneously generates plasmonic hot carriers, which serve as key intermediates for converting optical energy into high-value energy sources such as electricity and chemical energy. Among these, hot holes play a crucial role in enhancing photoelectrochemical reactions. However, they thermally dissipate within picoseconds (trillionths of a second), making practical applications challenging.

For decades, atomic clocks have been the pinnacle of precision timekeeping, enabling GPS navigation, cutting-edge physics research, and tests of fundamental theories. But researchers at JILA, led by JILA and NIST Fellow and University of Colorado Boulder physics professor Jun Ye, in collaboration with the Technical University of Vienna, are pushing beyond atomic transitions to something potentially even more stable: a nuclear clock.

For cattle fattened in fields instead of feedlots, the grass may be greener, but the carbon emissions are not.

In the summer of 2020, researchers from the University of Manitoba set up a time-lapse camera overlooking the Churchill River Estuary. The goal of their research was to understand the interactions between beluga whales and marine vessels. However, what they captured was unexpected—a group of bowhead whales, a phenomenon never before documented in the area.

There is a trial of strength at the cellular level. Cells are in constant competition with each other and so eliminate diseased or unwanted cells. Cell competition is therefore a central principle for maintaining the health of tissues and organs.

E. coli bacteria could be used to create biodegradable plastics, reports a paper published in Nature Chemical Biology. The engineered bacterial system described in the study may help in the production of plastics with desirable thermal and mechanical properties, using renewable resources, the authors suggest.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) scares many people as neural networks, modeled after the human brain, are so complex that even experts do not understand them. However, the risk to society of applying opaque algorithms varies depending on the application.

In an Australian first, researchers have described a new species of 15-million-year-old fossilized freshwater fish, Ferruaspis brocksi, that shows preserved stomach contents as well as the pattern of coloration.

Researchers at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, have shed light on the structure of supercritical water. In this state, which exists at extreme temperatures and pressures, water has the properties of both a liquid and a gas at the same time. According to one theory, the water molecules form clusters, within which they are then connected by hydrogen bonds.

A new analysis of 105-year-old data on the effectiveness of "dazzle" camouflage on battleships in World War I by Aston University researchers Professor Tim Meese and Dr. Samantha Strong has found that while dazzle had some effect, the "horizon effect" had far more influence when it came to confusing the enemy.

By unraveling the complex choreography of cellular machinery, Michigan State University researchers are helping identify the next generation of drug targets and cancer therapies.

DNA recovered from archaeological remains of ancient humans who lived in what is now Tunisia and northeastern Algeria reveals that European hunter-gatherers may have visited North Africa by boat around 8,500 years ago.

About 100 million metric tons of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), one of the world's most commonly used plastics, are produced annually, using more than 15 times the energy needed to power New York City for a year and adding enormous amounts of plastic waste to landfills and oceans.

Iguanas have often been spotted rafting around the Caribbean on vegetation and, ages ago, evidently caught a 600-mile ride from Central America to colonize the Galapagos Islands. But for long-distance travel, the Fiji iguanas can't be touched.

It has long been thought that only nerve and heart cells use electric impulses to communicate, while epithelial cells—which compose the linings of our skin, organs and body cavities—are mute, serving mostly as protective barriers that can absorb and secrete various substances.

"Epithelial cells do things that no one has ever thought to look for."

Modern birds are the living relatives of dinosaurs. Take a look at the features of flightless birds like chickens and ostriches that walk upright on two hind legs, or predators like eagles and hawks with their sharp talons and keen eyesight, and the similarities to small theropod dinosaurs like the velociraptors of "Jurassic Park" fame are striking.

Ancient iguanas sailed around 5,000 miles from North America to Fiji by clinging to floating vegetation, new research suggests.

At the center of most large galaxies, including our own Milky Way, sits a supermassive black hole. Interstellar gas periodically falls into the orbit of these bottomless pits, switching the black hole into active galactic nucleus (AGN)-mode, blasting high-energy radiation across the galaxy.

On first inspection, the Cuban blue-headed quail dove doesn't look like much: drab brown feathers, a slender beak, and a pronounced strut in its walk, typical of most other doves. You'd be forgiven for overlooking it in favor of Cuba's prismatic parrots. But looks aren't everything. For decades, this unassuming bird has perplexed biologists, who have no idea where it came from, how it got to the island or what it's related to.

A research team led by Rice University's Yang Gao has uncovered new insights into the molecular mechanisms of ADAR1, a protein that regulates ribonucleic acid (RNA) induced immune responses. Their findings, published in Molecular Cell March 17, could open new pathways for treating autoimmune diseases and enhancing cancer immunotherapy.

A group of Carnegie Mellon University researchers recently devised a method allowing them to create large amounts of a material required to make two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors with record high performance. Their paper, published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces in late December 2024, could lead to more efficient and tunable photodetectors, paving the way for the next generation of light-sensing and multifunctional optoelectronic devices.

A previously unknown protein in a family of bacteria found in soil and the human gut microbiome has been discovered—which could help drug delivery in cancer treatment.