Science News

A Pacific-wide tsunami triggered by a magnitude 8.8 Kamchatka earthquake gave scientists their first detailed satellite view of a major tsunami in motion. The observations revealed unexpected wave behavior and helped unc...

An extensive computational analysis of over 380,000 songs spanning 1960 to 2023 has revealed that popular music lyrics have become increasingly negative, showcasing a steady historical decline in language related to mora...

A new study reveals bodily inflammation alters brain function, driving the profound sickness behavior and depression experienced during both acute infections and chronic autoimmune diseases.

An instrument on the Perseverance rover has identified large, complex carbon compounds alongside unusual patterns on the surface of rocks that resemble traces of microbial activity

A new study has proven that the human endogenous circadian clock independently drives a 24-hour rhythm in diet-induced thermogenesis, causing calorie burning after meals to peak in the biological morning and hit its lowe...

Deep inside gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn, hydrogen and helium coexist under pressures millions of times greater than Earth's atmosphere. Under those conditions, helium may separate from hydrogen and influence a...

Although the efficiency of organic solar cells has now risen to more than 20%, there are physical limits that make it difficult to further increase their performance. A research team from Linköping University in Sweden,...

We have developed genetic technologies that could wipe out entire species of pests that are harmful to us. Columnist Michael Le Page says the flesh-eating screwworm is the most likely first target

A functional whole-brain imaging study reveals that blind Mexican cavefish evolved an inverted behavioral response to light by repurposing existing neurons in the posterior tuberculum and modifying conserved dopamine pat...

Magnetic fields are generally known to destroy superconductivity in a material. However, in exceptional cases, they can lead to what is known as "re-entrant superconductivity"-where superconductivity disappears a...

Sci-fi columnist Emily H. Wilson rounds up her favourite reads of the year to date - and highlights one particular book as her top pick

The first six months of the year have brought us popular science reads on everything from consciousness to cosmology. Liz Else rounds up her favourites

From the age of legal adulthood to the concept of "profound autism", policy-makers are turning to neuroscience to help shape laws and policies, but the science simply isn't ready

Scientists at NPL have demonstrated the best-reported laser frequency stability achieved with an optical reference cavity operating at room temperature, marking a major advance in ultrastable laser technology. The team&#...

A new study has bypassed traditional lab bottlenecks by collecting cybersickness data from 250 remote Meta Quest users in just 15 days, aiming for a 2,000-person cohort to map individual tracking differences.

Since the 1980s, researchers have sought to use laser light to control chemical reactions relevant to photochemistry, catalysis and light-responsive materials. But this technique, known as coherent control, has a blind s...

Shank3 mutant laboratory Beagles could bridge the 90% failure gap in autism drug development, as their uniquely co-evolved social architecture allows them to mirror human-like social withdrawal, gaze aversion, and sensor...

Average daytime light exposure above 1,000 lux reduces dementia risk by 16%, and that getting less than 42 minutes of bright daily light is a stronger predictor of dementia than six traditional clinical risk factors.

For decades, scientists suspected water secretly behaves like two different liquids. A new AI-powered study has finally caught it happening at the molecular level.

An analysis of tooth proteins suggests all 23 Homo naledi individuals found in the Rising Star cave in South Africa were female, which strengthens the case that they were placed there deliberately

Jessica Atkin knows more than anyone else about what it would take to supply food for a moon base. She reveals how to build a lunar farm and what astronauts can expect to dine on

Genetic analysis of Neanderthals in north-western Europe reveals that this population was surprisingly genetically diverse, hinting that inbreeding didnt lead to the species' demise