Science
Scientific discoveries and research
Plants growing higher across the Himalaya region as climate warms
A new study led by the University of Exeter examined the alpine "vegetation line" (the upper limit of continuous plants) in six regions across the Himalaya, fro...
Smart cable sharing gives quantum computers a big boost
A major obstacle in the development of powerful quantum computers is the growing number of cables required to control a computer as the number of qubits increas...
Saltwater is closing in on coastal groundwater, putting billions and food supplies at risk
Coastal groundwater is a key source of drinking water in many regions of the world. However, it is threatened by overabstraction and the potential for salinizat...
Webb redefines the dividing line between planets and stars
Planets, like those in our solar system, form in a bottom-up process where small bits of rock and ice clump together and grow larger over time. But the heftier...
Phospholipid asymmetry helps explain extracellular vesicle surface charge and therapeutic quality
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanoscale lipid bilayer particles secreted by cells that mediate intercellular communication by transporting biomolecules such...
A silicon-compatible path toward scalable quantum systems
Beginning in the 1950s, silicon transformed the electronics industry by enabling smaller and faster devices that could be reliably manufactured at scale. More t...
Some lake bacteria survive by slashing half their genome and never looking back
Researchers at the University of Zurich have analyzed the genome of bacteria living in Lake Zurich to conclude that microbes employ two different strategies to...
Climate warming may reduce urban vitality
Mobile phone data on 13 million people in Spain—more than a quarter of the population—show that hot days reduce individual mobility, thereby reducing social mix...
Shredded stars reveal how black holes ignite trillion-sun flares
Supermassive black holes are among the most enigmatic objects in the universe. They typically weigh millions or even billions of times the mass of the sun and s...
Picky methane-consuming microorganisms prefer carbon monoxide, opening the door to more greenhouse gas release
Research by microbiologists Reinier Egas and Cornelia Welte of Radboud University shows that many methane-consuming microorganisms actually prefer carbon monoxi...
Hidden damage in stony corals revealed using 3D imaging and AI
Florida's coral reefs are under siege. Since 2014, Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) has spread rapidly across the Florida Reef Tract and Caribbean, killi...
Andean volcanic eruptions during the Late Miocene likely drove global cooling
Mark Clementz, a professor in the University of Wyoming Department of Geology and Geophysics, and colleagues have produced a compelling study that shows that an...