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By studying tomato varieties that produce fruit in exceptionally hot growing seasons, biologists at Brown University identified the growth cycle phase when tomatoes are most vulnerable to extreme heat, as well as the molecular mechanisms that make the plants more heat tolerant. The discovery, detailed in a study in Current Biology, could inform a key […]
Astronomers are watching two unusual black holes, each presenting phenomena that challenge current understanding of these cosmic giants. One, a “serial killer” black hole, is about to devour its second star within five years, while the other, part of the newly discovered triple system V404 Cygni, has disrupted long-held theories of black hole formation. The […]
Getty Images UN biodiversity summits happen every two years – this year in Cali, Colombia Scientists say there has been an alarming lack of progress in saving nature as the UN biodiversity summit, COP 16, draws to a close. The scale of political ambition has not risen to the challenge of reducing the destruction of […]
World Weather Attribution said climate change is the most likely explanation for extreme downpours in southern Spain, as a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, leading to heavier downpours. Human-caused climate change made Spain’s rainfall about 12% heavier and doubled the likelihood of a storm as intense as this week’s deluge of Valencia, according to […]
For the first time, a team of researchers in China has reversed type 1 diabetes by converting a woman’s own fat cells into insulin-producing cells. Led by Dr. Hongkui Deng at the Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences at Peking University, the team is reported to create new insulin-producing pancreatic cells that freed her from needing […]
Scientists from UiT The Arctic University of Norway have raised concerns about Arctic sea-ice melt affecting global ocean circulation. The study shows that melting ice in the Arctic is sending large amounts of freshwater into the Nordic Seas, a key area for ocean heat transfer, which could lead to a drop in temperatures across northern […]
A team of scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has developed grain-sized soft robots that can be controlled using magnetic fields for targeted drug delivery, paving the way to possible improved therapies in future. The new soft robot developed by engineers at NTU’s School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) was reported in […]
British scientists have spotted something fascinating in the depths of space – a packed ridge of planets that nobody knew existed before now. The University of Warwick team found this special area while studying planets similar to Neptune that exist beyond our solar system. They noticed an interesting pattern: a dense band of planets sitting […]
Human-caused climate change worsened floods that have killed hundreds of people and displaced millions in Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan this year, according to a study published on Wednesday. The intense rainy season has unleashed a humanitarian crisis across large areas of the Sahel region bordering the Sahara desert. A new analysis by the […]
A confrontation between stalk-eyed flies. Image by Gerald Wilkinson. Credit: Gerald Wilkinson In stalk-eyed flies, longer eyestalks attract the ladies. Females prefer males with longer eyestalks, and other males are less likely to fight them for access to females. But some males have a copy of the X chromosome which always causes short eyestalks. Scientists […]