/ en-us Â鶹ÒùÔº internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Â鶹ÒùÔºics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Mortalities at poisoned carcasses significantly contribute to the population decline of many vulture species. As vultures employ social strategies and follow each other in their search for food, one poisoned carcass can kill hundreds of individuals of endangered species such as the white-backed vulture. /news/2025-08-tagging-vultures-reveal-carcass-poisoning.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 26 Aug 2025 16:15:05 EDT news675443701 A new Arizona State University study reveals the extent to which sewage pollution threatens the fragile coral reef ecosystems of west HawaiÊ»i Island. /news/2025-08-airborne-field-sampling-expose-sewage.html Environment Tue, 26 Aug 2025 16:10:01 EDT news675442885 A research team headed by the University of Zurich has developed a powerful new method to precisely edit DNA by combining cutting-edge genetic engineering with artificial intelligence. The work has been published in Nature Biotechnology. /news/2025-08-ai-crispr-precise-gene.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 12 Aug 2025 11:23:04 EDT news674216581 In medicine and biotechnology, the ability to evolve proteins with new or improved functions is crucial, but current methods are often slow and laborious. Now, Scripps Research scientists have developed a synthetic biology platform that accelerates evolution itself—enabling researchers to evolve proteins with useful, new properties thousands of times faster than nature. /news/2025-08-scientists-evolution-rapidly-reprogram-proteins.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 08 Aug 2025 08:27:05 EDT news673860421 Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) is a stealthy threat. It infects more than 500,000 people in the United States each year, and kills up to 30,000. It is a leading cause of health-care-associated infections, particularly in hospitals and long-term care facilities. But not everyone who harbors C. diff gets sick—as many as 30–40% of the population carries this bug in their guts. /news/2025-08-hidden-killer-diff.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 06 Aug 2025 11:00:15 EDT news673602961 A smartphone-controlled ingestible capsule that can control and allow for two-way communication with gut bacteria in pigs is reported in Nature Microbiology. The findings could lay the foundation for new diagnostic and treatment strategies for diseases such as colitis. /news/2025-07-gut-bugs-app.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 29 Jul 2025 16:04:28 EDT news673023834 Florida's Avon Park bombing range is teeming with life. Over 40 at-risk species occupy this 106,000-acre expanse used by the U.S. Air Force for training exercises. /news/2025-07-translocated-woodpeckers-florida-range-boosting.html Plants & Animals Ecology Mon, 28 Jul 2025 16:10:01 EDT news672937296 Quantum batteries (QBs) are energy storage devices that could serve as an alternative to classical batteries, potentially charging faster and enabling the extraction of more energy. In contrast with existing batteries, these batteries leverage effects rooted in quantum mechanics, such as entanglement and superposition. /news/2025-07-scheme-mitigates-discharging-quantum-batteries.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 24 Jul 2025 07:00:01 EDT news672491889 Using more than 2.8 billion fungal sequences sampled from 130 countries, scientists map the biodiversity of Earth's underground mycorrhizal fungal communities. /news/2025-07-underground-reveal-mycorrhizal-fungal-biodiversity.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 23 Jul 2025 11:00:11 EDT news672467737 Giving pedestrians a 7-second head start at traffic lights—known as Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPIs)—is associated with a 33% reduction in total pedestrian injuries—both fatal and non-fatal—at New York City intersections, according to a new study from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. /news/2025-07-york-city-intersections-pedestrian-injuries.html Social Sciences Fri, 18 Jul 2025 11:20:05 EDT news672056334 Researchers are creating new moiré materials at the nanometer scale using advanced DNA nanotechnology. DNA moiré superlattices form when two periodic DNA lattices are overlaid with a slight rotational twist or positional offset. This creates a new, larger interference pattern with completely different physical properties. /news/2025-07-programmable-dna-moir-superlattices-material.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 17 Jul 2025 11:52:25 EDT news671971940 New international research led by Professors Willy Baeyens and Yue Gao of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), published in One Earth, demonstrates that plankton is not only the basis of the marine food chain but also a crucial natural ally in combating global warming. /news/2025-07-phytoplankton-southern-ocean-combat-global.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 09 Jul 2025 12:41:04 EDT news671283661 With around 5,000 different ethno-linguistic and religious groups, India is one of the most culturally and genetically diverse countries in the world. Yet, it remains underrepresented in genomic surveys, even when compared to other non-European groups, such as East Asians and Africans. /news/2025-06-scientists-analysis-india-genetic-diversity.html Evolution Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 26 Jun 2025 11:00:05 EDT news670137937 Researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University have produced fertile adult mice from embryos constructed entirely with male genetic material. Mice carrying only paternal DNA developed into fertile adults following precision editing of seven imprinting control regions, revealing genomic imprinting as a core barrier to uniparental mammalian development. /news/2025-06-mice-born-dads-reveal-hidden.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 25 Jun 2025 10:20:03 EDT news670065510 Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics have developed a novel synthetic micropeptide termed the "killswitch" to selectively immobilize proteins within cellular condensates, unveiling crucial connections between condensate microenvironments and their biological functions. /news/2025-06-synthetic-killswitch-uncovers-hidden-world.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Mon, 23 Jun 2025 09:44:59 EDT news669890694 Thalidomide, a drug once used to alleviate morning sickness in pregnant women, exhibits distinct properties due to its optical isomers in the body: one isomer has a sedative effect, while the other causes severe side effects such as birth defects. As this example illustrates, precise organic synthesis techniques, which selectively synthesize only the desired optical isomer, are crucial in new drug development. /news/2025-06-ai-drug-simultaneous-analysis-chemical.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 16 Jun 2025 11:00:04 EDT news669290401 Understanding how drug delivery systems distribute in vivo remains a major challenge in developing nanomedicines. Especially in the lung, the complex and dynamic microenvironment often limits the effectiveness of existing approaches. /news/2025-06-nanogrid-drug-delivery-precise-lung.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 13 Jun 2025 11:21:06 EDT news669032452 Tools that offer early and accurate insight into plant health—and allow individual plant interventions—are key to increasing crop yields as environmental pressures increasingly impact horticulture and agriculture. /news/2025-06-gentle-robot-gripper-shot-sensors.html Biotechnology Agriculture Wed, 11 Jun 2025 15:56:51 EDT news668876205 In red wines, ciders and dark chocolate, just to name a few, complex plant compounds called procyanidins contribute to the taste and mouthfeel of a food or beverage—its perceived astringency and bitterness. But while food scientists have been able to assess the total content of procyanidins in a food or drink, they have not yet identified which specific procyanidins are present and correlate to specific perceptions. /news/2025-06-fingerprinting-compounds-food.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Wed, 11 Jun 2025 12:44:03 EDT news668864641 A team at EPFL and the University of Arizona has discovered that making molecules bigger and more flexible can actually extend the life of quantum charge flow, a finding that could help shape the future of quantum technologies and chemical control. Their study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. /news/2025-06-bigger-molecules-quantum-longer.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 04 Jun 2025 10:19:28 EDT news668251155 Malaria remains a persistent public health burden, with Plasmodium falciparum causing the most dangerous form of malaria and the most lethal infections. Its capacity to develop resistance to current treatments underlines the urgency of identifying new molecular targets. /news/2025-05-disrupting-malaria-parasite-protein-key.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 30 May 2025 12:33:04 EDT news667827181 In Nature Communications the Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI) has released results on the growth regulation mechanisms of core human gut microbiota. The growth regulation mechanisms among microbial groups of Akkermansia muciniphila, a top candidate for microbiome-based therapeutics, have been elucidated. /news/2025-05-gut-bacterium-akkermansia-muciniphila-vesicles.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Fri, 30 May 2025 11:19:02 EDT news667822741 Researchers have developed the world's first near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent nanosensor capable of real-time, non-destructive and species-agnostic detection of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA)—the primary bioactive auxin hormone that controls the way plants develop, grow and respond to stress. /news/2025-05-universal-nanosensor-enables-real-destructive.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 20 May 2025 11:19:04 EDT news666958741 Ask scientists which gene-editing tool is most needed to advance gene therapy, and they'd probably describe a system that's now close to realization in the labs of Samuel Sternberg at Columbia University Vagelos College of Â鶹ÒùÔºicians and Surgeons and David Liu at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. /news/2025-05-advanced-gene-editor-enables-precise.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 15 May 2025 17:03:04 EDT news666547381 Research into chemical discovery, testing optimization and analysis can be a labor-intensive and time-consuming process. With many of the stages requiring manual preparation, sampling, and analysis, this can lead to increased time scales, higher costs and the potential for human error, and can limit the scope of exploration. /news/2025-05-labs-enable-faster-smarter-polymer.html Polymers Analytical Chemistry Mon, 12 May 2025 10:14:04 EDT news666263641 A Soviet-era spacecraft plunged to Earth on Saturday, more than a half-century after its failed launch to Venus. /news/2025-05-soviet-era-spacecraft-plunges-earth.html Space Exploration Sun, 11 May 2025 07:23:05 EDT news666166974 Scientists at the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, in collaboration with the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, have developed a new nanoparticle therapy that tackles obesity through two complementary mechanisms: converting energy-storing white fat into calorie-burning beige fat while simultaneously reducing obesity-related inflammation. /news/2025-04-dual-action-nanoparticle-therapy-obesity.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 09 Apr 2025 15:22:03 EDT news663430921 Scientists have revealed how tiny swimming cells—such as sperm and bacteria—are able to move faster when traveling as a group, and the research could accelerate the development of microscopic robots that deliver drugs to specific regions of the body. /news/2025-03-scientists-uncover-microswimmers-faster-groups.html Bio & Medicine Nanophysics Fri, 28 Mar 2025 11:43:04 EDT news662380981 The parasite that causes malaria requires precise control of gene expression to progress through the various stages of its complex life cycle. A new study, by a multinational team of researchers, including Penn State scientists, has gained critical insights into these regulatory control mechanisms in Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest of the malaria parasites. /news/2025-02-disrupting-parasite-gene-reveals-malaria.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 19 Feb 2025 15:02:04 EST news659199721 Schools of fish are mesmerizing examples of collective animal behavior. Thousands of individuals move in near-perfect synchrony, despite each fish having only a limited view of their surroundings. How do they achieve such effortless coordination with minimal local information? And what visual cues does an individual fish actually perceive within the shifting, dynamic group? /news/2025-02-fish-vision-3d-eye-tracking.html Ecology Biotechnology Mon, 10 Feb 2025 12:07:04 EST news658411622