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Forty years after the Chornobyl disaster, tiny radioactive particles still linger in the soil, carrying a dangerous legacy. Using powerful X-rays, scientists discovered that some of these particles have remained surprisingly stable, trapping radioactive substances inside instead
New research suggests that replacing polyethylene (PE) packaging with paper, glass, aluminum or steel often does not reduce environmental impacts across a product's life cycle.
What, exactly, is a plant made of? Scientists have a good understanding of the essential nutrients plants need to grow. But what plants need and what they contain are not necessarily the same.
New research is shedding light on the diversity of deep-sea siphonophores. A team of scientists from MBARI, the University of Gdańsk, New York University and Yale University conducted a comprehensive examination of Bargmannia siphonophores using museum material, submersible obser
A polymer science revelation about how liquid mixtures separate could have major implications for human health, metabolism and disease, new research indicates. In a brief report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of Chicago Pritzker Schoo
Say you buy shares in a company. The price climbs and months later you sell for a healthy profit. Ask why it worked, and the answer is often some version of "I made a good call." Now imagine the trade had lost money instead. Would you be as quick to blame your own judgment? Many
When a climate disaster happens, people thousands of miles away may encounter it through numbers: how many people died, how many were displaced, how many homes were destroyed and how much infrastructure was damaged. But for the people living through it, the disaster is not a data
Only a percentage of avocados ever make it to harvest, but CSIRO research is working on ways to combat what is called immature fruit abscission or early fruit drop, a major challenge faced by growers.
We've all done it: convinced ourselves that if we can't donate enough money to a cause, it's better not to give at all. But new research led by Jean Zhang, now a postdoctoral researcher at the Wharton School, suggests we're setting the bar for generosity far too high.
U.S. adults appear increasingly likely to view stress as an unavoidable part of daily life, according to the 2026 Stress in America survey by the American Psychological Association.
Scientists have uncovered a strange pattern in urban bird behavior: Across five European countries and 37 species, birds consistently fled sooner when approached by women than men. Researchers have no clear explanation for the difference, raising intriguing questions about how bi
A generous parental leave reform was introduced in Estonia in 2004. This increased the likelihood of a second or third child being born into the family and also shortened the interval between births, according to Sanan Abdullayev's doctoral thesis, defended at Tallinn University.
A mother bat has one crucial challenge: find her own babies among hundreds of other bats in the colony. Making sure she cares for and nurses only her own offspring is important to ensuring their survival. Among Japanese house bats, mothers keep track of their pups using the babie
Forty years after the Chornobyl disaster, tiny radioactive particles still linger in the soil, carrying a dangerous legacy. Using powerful X-rays, scientists discovered that some of these particles have remained surprisingly stable, trapping radioactive substances inside instead
Have you ever left a polling place feeling that your mark on the ballot didn't quite say what you wanted it to? Perhaps you liked two candidates but had to drop one, or backed the one who might actually win over the one you preferred.
A massive analysis of 2,884 exploding stars has uncovered new evidence that dark energy, the mysterious force accelerating the universe’s expansion, may change over time. The findings challenge a cornerstone of modern cosmology and could reshape our understanding of how the unive
About six years ago, hearing researcher Dr. Kelly Miles had a stroke just a week after having a baby.
Cambridge researchers have created a groundbreaking $10 optical sensor that delivers the precision of laboratory equipment in a device small enough for wearable technology. It identified foods, plastics, and medicines with 100% accuracy in tests and demonstrated the ability to mo
International pressure intended to encourage democratic reform can sometimes strengthen the very governments it seeks to hold to account, according to new research from The University of Manchester.
A technique for detecting potentially harmful metals in regenerated cellulose food packaging is discussed in the International Journal of Environment and Pollution. The new tool can be used for safety assessments of materials increasingly used as alternatives to conventional plas
Private companies are getting better at launching more mass into space with larger rockets. But there is still a major constraint on the size of objects we can get into orbit—fairing size. This places physical constraints on the overall shape of what we can launch and severely li
Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are loop-shaped molecules that can influence gene regulation through interactions with microRNAs (miRNAs). This matters because circRNAs can exist as different full-length isoforms, and their back-splice junction (BSJ) connects the two ends of the RNA. Tr
Previous accounts of the scientific relationship between communist China and the Soviet Union have depicted it as one of subordination, with the Russians exporting knowledge to the Chinese or scavenging from their bodies of knowledge. A new article in Isis, however, posits that t
Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is a versatile chemical feedstock whose industrial production relies predominantly on an energy-intensive process with a substantial environmental footprint. One alternative is to produce it using a catalyst activated by light. In an international researc
