Science
Scientific discoveries and research
Cyclone Gabrielle-style storms may unleash tens of thousands more North Island landslides
In 2023, Cyclone Gabrielle triggered an estimated 800,000 landslides across the North Island, making it one of the most extreme landslide events ever recorded....
Smuggled dinosaur fossils return to Mongolia after two decades
Mongolia has recovered a rare dinosaur skeleton and a trove of fossils illegally exported two decades ago, authorities said Wednesday, concluding years of effor...
This is how supermassive black holes feed themselves
How supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the centers of galaxies accrete material, how they feed back into the surrounding region, and how they regulate these pr...
Indoor urban agriculture isn't necessarily low carbon, study shows
Growing lettuce indoors in Canadian cities can be as climate-friendly as conventional farming, but only in regions where electricity comes from renewable source...
First global map of mycorrhizal fungi reveals true scale of underground networks across the planet
Mycorrhizal fungi form underground networks that sustain plant life and help regulate Earth's climate by drawing carbon into soils. In a study published in Scie...
Organic molecule with ultranarrow emission spectrum could lead to better LEDs
Over the past several decades, light sources have gradually transitioned to light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, and inorganic LEDs are now used across a wide range...
Physicists introduce phase contrast to electron microscopy, delivering sharper images of our body's tiniest proteins
Nearly 100 years ago, a seemingly simple discovery revolutionized the microscope. The introduction of phase contrast, which garnered a Nobel Prize in 1953, brou...
Prescribed fires can cut smoke pollution for years, miles beyond burn areas
A new study finds that burning 500,000 acres (202,000 hectares) of California conifer forests each year with prescribed fire could cut deadly pollution from wil...
Overlooked pollutants are responsible for about 15% of current global warming, study shows
In a new paper published in Science, leading scientists and climate policy experts show that 15% of current global warming (0.3°C) from human emissions stems fr...
Wasp spider reveals rapid genetic adaptation during decades-long march into northern Europe
It has taken only a few decades: The wasp spider (Argiope bruennichi) has expanded its range from the Mediterranean region to northern Europe—even as far as sou...
Rare deep-sea goblin sharks filmed in natural habitat for first time
The first published live observations of the rare goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) in its natural deep-ocean habitat were reported in a new paper by a Univers...
AI doesn't just help us think, it thinks instead of us: What this means for the process of learning
Deep in Book VII of Plato's Republic, Socrates describes prisoners chained inside a cave, mistaking shadows cast on a wall by firelight for reality itself. They...