Science
Scientific discoveries and research
Queen bumblebees can breathe underwater for days. We discovered how
In most bumblebee species, the queens spend their winters buried underground in a tiny cavity the size of a grape. For six to nine months, they enter a deep sle...
Atomic-level simulations reveal rotational mechanism behind a critical biomolecular motor
The way a key cellular motor works at an atomic level has been uncovered by simulations conducted by RIKEN biophysicists. This finding, published in the journal...
What's driving Salt Lake City's downward emissions trends?
Emissions of two major pollutants have steadily decreased on Salt Lake City roads over the past two decades, while levels of carbon dioxide emissions, a related...
Superconductivity switched on in material once thought only magnetic
Superconductivity—the ability of a material to conduct electricity without any energy loss to heat—enables highly efficient, ultra-fast electronics essential fo...
Book explores small talk and big silence in evangelical communities
In a new book, University of Mississippi sociologist Amy McDowell says small talk can be used as a tool to block meaningful conversation in the evangelical chur...
Accuracy test for protein language models shines light into AI 'black box'
AI language models, used to generate human-like text to power chatbots and create content, are also revolutionizing biology by treating complex biological data...
Social roles are neither predetermined nor set in stone, study in mice suggests
In animal societies as in human ones, some individuals regularly produce resources while others appropriate them. Contrary to what evolutionary theories had pre...
Why subduction zones act as the Earth's 'gold kitchens'
Earth's "gold kitchen" lies deep beneath the seafloor. Island arcs, whose volcanoes form above subduction zones where one oceanic plate sinks beneath another, a...
Helical liquid crystals can flip light's chirality under ultralow electric fields
The direction in which the electromagnetic field of circularly polarized light rotates can be easily reversed by applying a voltage, RIKEN researchers have demo...
Study suggests platforms invite third-party analytics to raise seller prices
As artificial intelligence and data-driven analytics rapidly transform online retail, a surprising dynamic is emerging: some e-commerce platforms deliberately a...
Free software lets laptops simulate how aging evolves under selection
Why do some species live for only weeks while others survive for centuries? Researchers at the Leibniz Institute on Aging—Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) in Jena...
Inclusive schools see fewer young people drop out and become 'NEET'
More inclusive secondary schools see fewer students dropping out of education and becoming "not in education, employment or training" (NEET), according to new r...