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A new collaboration study between NASA and Harvard University found that climate change is breaking an important link between droughts and the grape harvests in France and Switzerland.
Faced with the underwhelming speed at which the scientific community studies and describes fungi, a group of researches put together a list of the 50 "Most Wanted Fungi" -- and re-vamped the UNITE database to put the spotlight on the least-known strains.
We judge our planet's biological past by using geological evidence - fossils. Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past.
Sitting down is killing you, in more than one way.
Some stars go out with a bang -- a supernova explosion! Using optical images recorded by the now defunct Kepler telescope, astronomers witnessed for the very time the shockwave that follows a star's implosion once it runs out of fuel.
What does a weird tendon on your inner wrist have to do with evolution? This video explains.
Fungi were thought to have a minimal impact on minerals' bioweathering. A recent study suggests that fungi are a lot more aggressive than meets the eye. These use acid to access precious nutrients like iron and burrow deep into rocks using mechanical force to further their reach.
On the heels of the warmest winter on record, a Gallup poll found a record number of Americans perceive global warming as a serious threat. It doesn't sound like a coincidence.
Scientists have developed a graphene patch that can monitor sugar levels in diabetic patients as well as deliver metformin - a drug used to treat diabetes - through the skin.
About 55.8 million years, the rate of carbon emissions grew abruptly, leading to a period of massive warming. But today's rate of emissions is ten times higher.
Los Alamos is always blowing stuff up. The Lab burst into the public consciousness 70 years ago with the biggest explosion known to humanity—the world’s first atomic bomb. Since then, Los Alamos has continued to lead the nation in explosives science and engineering. Now, some of the researchers working there went to answer questions on […]
If you’re like me, then you still use the old Kindle model because hey – if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. Also, if you’re like me, you’re usually pressing the ‘Skip’ button whenever updates are in store. If this is the case, then you should know that your old Kindle will be disconnected from […]
A study into a strain of red bread mold could revolutionize our rechargeable battery technology. The paper's findings could be the first step towards producing sustainable electrochemical materials.
Five new studies describe Pluto and its atmosphere, showing that Pluto is much more active and complex than previously thought, and still has more surprises to be discovered. Pluto’s surface exhibits a wide variety of landscapes, some significantly different from its largest moon Charon. Whether or not we agree on Pluto’s planet status, we all have […]
The European Meteorological Satellite Organization (EUMETSAT) in collaboration with the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a time-lapse 4K video of the weather of 2015 -- and it's awesome.
Astronomers have discovered a new species of galaxies in the cosmic wilderness.
It takes some hardcore survival skills to make it to the frozen wastelands of Alaska - and this butterfly has what it takes.
UK has announced the introduction of a tax on sugary drinks, based on the amount of sugar in the beverages. The main goal is to “help tackle childhood obesity, by incentivising companies to reduce the sugar in the drinks they sell [and] to fund a doubling of the primary schools sports premium to £320 million […]
The relationship between ancient humans and Neanderthals was proven to be much more intricate than previously believed.
Ceres is the largest body in the asteroid belt – too big to really be an asteroid, but too small to be a planet, it’s trapped in the “minor planet” classification. But Ceres might be much more interesting than other similar bodies, with its mysterious bright spots being a constant source of amazement. We’ve written […]
With the Zika virus running rampant through South America, outbreaks could pop up in several US cities. A study from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) estimated this hazard in the largest cities in the US, finding that the south and especially the southeast is quite vulnerable to the threat posed by Zika. Key […]
Recovering memories lost after Alzheimer’s can be as simple as flipping a switch – at least for mice. According to a new research, these memories aren’t lost, it’s just the retrieval of the retrieval mechanism that is impaired. Loss of long-term memory and some learned experiences is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s diseases. Despite the disease affecting millions of […]
The town of Albertville in southeastern France has begun using cheese to generate electricity. Their power plant, build in the Savoie region, uses the byproduct of the local Beaufort cheeses as the base for its biogas power generation system.
Heavy marijuana users react to anxiety-inducing stimuli similarly to people diagnosed with anxiety disorders, a new study found. The results could help improve the accuracy of anxiety disorder diagnostics in the future.
The International Renewable Energy Agency claims doubling worldwide renewable energy capacity fifteen years from now would provide savings which far exceed the costs.
Despite solar cells made with perovskite recently crossed the 20 percent efficiency mark, researchers say there's still room to improve if only they knew how charge flows at the nanometer scale. They just had to ask.
Exactly six decades ago, an amateur fossil hunter called Francis Tully came across an usual find some 50 miles south of Chicago. Only recently was this peculiar creature been thoroughly described and given its rightful place in the evolutionary tree.
Whenever I see a glint in the grass, it’s either a penny or nothing at all. But when Israeli hiker Laurie Rimon found a coin, it was such a rare find that archaeologists only found a single one similar to it. Israeli scientists believe the coin is part of a series made by the Roman Emperor […]
A new type of metamaterial that can grow when stretched, with possible applications for medical equipment and satellites, was inspired by an unlikely source -- ancient Islamic art.
The sounds you make while chewing have a significant effect on the amount of food you eat, a new study has found. The results suggest that people are likely to consume less if they can hear themselves eating.
Scientists trained healthy volunteers with good eyesight to read Braille and found the visual cortex was connected to the tactile cortex. Somehow, they supercharged their brains proving its extraordinary plasticity.
A lot of company nowadays offer genetic kits directly to consumers who can then have their genome sequenced on the cheap and get informed about any risk of contacting a genetic disease. If a person's genome suggests a risk of developing diabetes, would that person change his diet to reduce this risk? Oppositely, would that person think there's no use in changing behaviour since it's all 'written in stone'? University of Cambridge surveyed all the relevant studies they could find on the matter and found personal genetic information does little to nothing to alter behaviour.
What's the most important resource on the planet? Water of course.
Evidence suggests mindfulness meditation reduces both emotional and physical pain. Concerning the latter, we still don't know the underlying mechanisms that cause meditation to have painkiller-like effects, but we're getting there.
The machine uses a high-velocity beam of electrons to cut through virtually any metal at least 15 times faster than any technique.
. University of East Anglia researchers say storks prefer to live in Spain and Portugal because there's plenty of junk food lying around landfill sites. The latest surveys suggests the birds now live and nest there all year long.
Researchers working in Spain have made a surprising finding: Neanderthals emerged much earlier than previously believed, perhaps as far as half a million years ago.
If we want to ensure food security for humanity in the future, then curbing out food waste is essential. Tesco is taking steps in the right direction, agreeing to a deal to donate all unsold food from its stores to charity.
A virus similar to SARS has been identified in Chinese horseshoe bats that may be able to infect humans without prior adaptation. Overcoming this genetic barrier could be the first step for an outbreak, according to a study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Morgan Beeby and his colleagues at the Imperial College London used electron microscopy to image these biological motors in high resolution and three dimensions for the first time.
The health benefits of beer are well documented, and much of these are owed to the properties of hops.
A new study analyzing sea level rise forecasts as well as population growth projections found that we've underestimated just how many people would be impacted by rising waters. Anywhere from 4.3 to 13.1 million people from the US alone will face the risk of inundation by 2100, according to their estimate.
T. Rex grew its way to the top of the food chain. To get there though, the dinosaur first had to evolve a big brain with keen senses, a new research suggests.
Lithium, the stuff the battery in your smartphone or notebook are made of, is a toxic substance and in short supply. It's pretty clear it's not a sustainable solution to our mobile power generation needs. One alternative explored by researchers at MIT uses carbon nanotubes, which are non-toxic and non-metallic.
Inspired by ants, researchers mimicked the insects' individual super strength and collective hive mind in tiny robots. Each weighs only 0.2 pounds, but six were enough to tow a 3,900 pound-car, with one of the researchers seated as well.
It's easy to understand why climate change deniers want to cut NASA's climate research funding - because it keeps proving them wrong.
Kannan Soundararajan and Robert Lemke Oliver of Stanford University published a paper recently that is leaving mathematicians scratching their heads. Their work exposed a mathematical bias of prime numbers in which a prime repels other would-be primes that end in the same digit. The researchers found some digits are 'preferred' in the detriment of others with various predilections. For instance, a prime ending in 9 is 65 percent likelier to be followed by a prime ending in 1 than one ending in 9.
Most of us know Alan Alda for his iconic portrayal of Hawkeye Pierce, the sharp-tongued but kind-hearted field doctor from the series M.A.S.H. But Alda is increasingly involved in science communication, being a visiting professor at the Alan Alda Centre for Communicating Science, at Stony Brook University in New York. This is a recent interview with […]
It's been a tough run for Go champion Lee Se-dol who lost game after game in what could very well be the match of the century, against Google's AlphaGo algorithm.
Spiders' diets aren't limited to juicy insect bits. They spice up their menus with vegetarian courses too, zoologists from the US and UK have found.
