/ 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. In a twist worthy of a detective novel, a long-misidentified fossil at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) has emerged as a key discovery in early animal evolution. /news/2025-07-fossil-thought-caterpillar-oldest-nonmarine.html Evolution Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 23 Jul 2025 05:00:02 EDT news672381997 Understanding how ancient species arranged themselves in space is a key puzzle in paleoecology, but direct evidence of how prehistoric organisms used their body structures to regulate spacing has long eluded scientists. Now, researchers in China have uncovered the first direct evidence: Approximately 436-million-year-old brachiopods from the early Silurian period used tiny, bristle-like structures called setae to maintain orderly, "checkerboard" spacing—ensuring they had enough room to thrive on the ancient seafloor. /news/2025-07-prehistoric-social-distancing-million-year.html Ecology Paleontology & Fossils Tue, 22 Jul 2025 07:00:02 EDT news672386135 Scientists use scanning tunneling microscopy to understand how a material's electronic or magnetic properties relate to its structure on the atomic scale. When using this technique, however, they can normally investigate only the uppermost atomic layer of a material. /news/2025-07-scanning-tunneling-microscopy-reveals-subsurface.html Nanophysics Fri, 18 Jul 2025 11:20:06 EDT news672056312 A new method turns noise into valuable data to enhance understanding of chemical reactions and material properties with unprecedented detail at the atomic level. The results of this research are now published in Nature. /news/2025-07-nobel-prize-idea-super-resolution.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 16 Jul 2025 13:30:12 EDT news671890832 Imagine going through a surgery where the doctor proposes the use of a temporary implant that dissolves by itself with time in the human body, thereby avoiding a painful second surgery. As great as that would sound, the challenges are plenty when it comes to designing an implant that has mechanical properties close to that of the human bone, is biocompatible and degrades at an appreciable rate till the bone heals. /news/2025-07-retarding-corrosion-magnesium-alloy-polymer.html Polymers Materials Science Fri, 11 Jul 2025 09:07:42 EDT news671443656 Electrons play many roles in solid materials. When they are weakly bound and able to travel—i.e., mobile—they can enable electrical conduction. When they are bound, or "heavy," they can act as insulators. However, in certain solid materials, this behavior can be markedly different, raising questions about how these different types of electrons interact. /news/2025-07-heavy-electrons-cooperate-magic-angle.html Superconductivity Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 07 Jul 2025 08:45:04 EDT news671096702 If you have ever looked closely into a rockpool along the U.K. coastline, you may have been lucky enough to find a tiny hermit crab scuttling about. What you might not realize is that hermit crabs are constantly monitoring their environment for changes and threats. /news/2025-07-hermit-crabs-sensitive-claws-bolder.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 02 Jul 2025 09:24:03 EDT news670667041 What if electricity and magnetism, usually considered as separate or even competing forces in materials, could actually work together in harmony? /news/2025-06-coupling-room-temperature-2d-ferromagnetic.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 26 Jun 2025 14:57:46 EDT news670168662 Research from the University of St Andrews has set a new benchmark for the precision with which researchers can explore fundamental physics in quantum materials. The work has implications extending from materials science to advanced computing, as well as confirming a nearly 100-year-old prediction. /news/2025-06-quantum-materials-year.html Condensed Matter Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 17 Jun 2025 13:52:07 EDT news669387119 A team of researchers from Tohoku University, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST), and Cambridge University have demonstrated a new way to make a unique material called tin sulfide (SnS), which can help build better and more compact electronic devices. Their findings are published in Nano Letters. /news/2025-06-simple-solution-yields-ultra-thin.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Fri, 13 Jun 2025 09:34:44 EDT news669026079 Single-atom catalysts (SACs) are materials consisting of individual metal atoms dispersed on a substrate (i.e., supporting surface). Recent studies have highlighted the promise of these catalysts for the efficient conversion and storage of energy, particularly when deployed in fuel cells and water electrolyzers. /news/2025-06-approach-reversibly-configures-heteronuclear-dual.html Nanomaterials Fri, 13 Jun 2025 06:50:01 EDT news668947073 The Apollo astronauts didn't know what they'd find when they explored the surface of the moon, but they certainly didn't expect to see drifts of tiny, bright orange glass beads glistening among the otherwise monochrome piles of rocks and dust. /news/2025-06-moon-shimmers-shiny-glass-beads.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 11 Jun 2025 16:55:03 EDT news668879701 Researchers at the Institute of Â鶹ÒùÔºics in Zagreb, Croatia, in collaboration with international partners, have showcased new methods for visualizing atomic-scale changes in advanced materials. /news/2025-06-revealing-hidden-2d-materials-atomic.html Nanomaterials Wed, 04 Jun 2025 10:58:03 EDT news668253481 The calcitic layers of the eggshells of archosaurs (including crocodilians and birds) and turtles are composed of distinctive crystalline structures known as eggshell units. Those growing from the shell membrane are called primary eggshell units (PEUs), while those forming within the calcitic layer are called secondary eggshell units (SEUs). Although rare in modern bird eggs, SEUs are common in dinosaur eggs. Due to the lack of in-depth research on this structure, however, scientists are uncertain whether they are biogenic or abiogenic in origin. /news/2025-05-dinosaur-eggshell-biogenic-secondary.html Evolution Paleontology & Fossils Fri, 30 May 2025 14:16:02 EDT news667833361 New techniques used to analyze soft tissue in dinosaur fossils may hold the key to new cancer discoveries, according to a study published in the journal Biology. /news/2025-05-dinosaurs-key-cancer-discoveries-highlights.html Molecular & Computational biology Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 29 May 2025 10:12:03 EDT news667732321 In March 2022, Stellenbosch University (SU) student Rohan Barnard was out on a farm in the Swartberg Mountains between Calitzdorp and Oudtshoorn, flipping over rocks looking for ants, reptiles and other critters, when he stumbled upon the finding of a lifetime. /news/2025-05-fossil-velvet-worm-species-south.html Evolution Ecology Wed, 28 May 2025 15:28:07 EDT news667664872 In the depths of the San Lázaro rock-shelter in Segovia, Central Spain, archaeologists from the Complutense University of Madrid and collaborators have uncovered a compelling trace of Neanderthal symbolic cognition: a pigment-marked granite stone bearing a human fingerprint, and the deliberate placement of red ocher in relation to three mostly natural indentations, creating the potential image of a human face. /news/2025-05-red-dot-year-fingerprint-stone.html Archaeology Wed, 28 May 2025 09:30:01 EDT news667642425 In the tangled darkness of Southeast Asian mangrove forests, one crab species appears to have evolved a structure that functions like a miniature car headlamp. Researchers at the National University of Singapore have discovered that the facial bands of Parasesarma eumolpe crabs are shaped to concentrate reflected light, making signals between individuals brighter and more effective. /news/2025-05-mangrove-crabs-optical-geometry-conspecific.html Evolution Ecology Tue, 27 May 2025 10:20:02 EDT news667557688 Researchers have demonstrated that by using a semiconductor with flexible bonds, the material can be molded into various structures using nano containers, without altering its composition. The discovery could lead to the design of a variety of customized electronic devices using only a single element. /news/2025-05-mind-band-gap-nanoscale-elementary.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 21 May 2025 11:00:15 EDT news667035962 Grasses have evolved a wide variety of inflorescences, in which the seeds are arranged in many different ways: Some types form complex, branched inflorescences with multiple seeds, while others—such as barley—have much simpler inflorescences. In barley, each individual grain forms on a short axis called a "rachilla." /news/2025-05-barley-grain-production-linked-peptide.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Tue, 20 May 2025 14:35:03 EDT news666970501 An international research team studying fossilized oyster shells has revealed substantial annual temperature variation in sea water during the Early Cretaceous. The finding overturns the assumption that Earth's greenhouse periods are marked by universally warmer and uniformly stable temperatures. /news/2025-05-oyster-fossils-shatter-myth-weak.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 13 May 2025 09:29:20 EDT news666347351 As demand for energy-intensive computing grows, researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a new technique that lets scientists see—in unprecedented detail—how interfaces move in promising materials for computing and other applications. The method, now available to users at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at ORNL, could help design dramatically more energy-efficient technologies. /news/2025-05-dynamic-visualizations-expose-domain-walls.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 12 May 2025 12:49:32 EDT news666272963 Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have uncovered an unexpected interface layer that may be hindering the performance of superconducting qubits, the building blocks of quantum computers. /news/2025-05-scientists-reveal-hidden-interface-superconducting.html Superconductivity Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 06 May 2025 10:00:04 EDT news665743815 Altermagnets, which exhibit momentum-dependent spin splitting without spin–orbit coupling (SOC) or net magnetization, have recently attracted significant international attention. /news/2025-04-era-magnetization-future-applications-spintronics.html Condensed Matter Sat, 03 May 2025 18:00:01 EDT news665139627 What if there were a fabric that, like Superman, could take a bullet and self-heal? Such a super-dynamic, action-powered polymer might actually help protect real-life flyers in space. /news/2025-05-polymer-quality-scale.html Polymers Materials Science Thu, 01 May 2025 11:36:05 EDT news665318161 Found in everything from kitchen appliances to sustainable energy infrastructure, stainless steels are used extensively due to their excellent corrosion (rusting) resistance. They're an important material in many industries, including manufacturing, transportation, oil and gas, nuclear power and chemical processing. /news/2025-04-ultrasonic-nanocrystal-surface-modification-stainless.html Nanomaterials Fri, 25 Apr 2025 11:53:04 EDT news664800782 Hidden within sphagnum moss, commonly known as peat moss, is an adsorbent material that can help us combat oil spills. A study by researchers from China presents a new bio-based oil adsorbent derived from sphagnum moss that can selectively soak up oil. /news/2025-04-reusable-moss-based-adsorbent-oil.html Biochemistry Materials Science Fri, 18 Apr 2025 06:30:01 EDT news664103596 A new study published in Nature Communications April 7 could reshape the future of magnetic and electronic technology. Scientists at Rice University have discovered how a disappearing electronic pattern in a quantum material can be revived under specific thermal conditions. The finding opens new doors for customizable quantum materials and in-situ engineering, where devices are manufactured or manipulated directly at their point of use. /news/2025-04-scientists-method-electronic-patterns-quantum.html Condensed Matter Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 09 Apr 2025 15:06:40 EDT news663429995 A research team from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has identified a fossil acanthocephalan, Juracanthocephalus, from the 160-million-year-old Daohugou Biota in Inner Mongolia, China. This finding was published in Nature. /news/2025-04-jurassic-fossil-evolutionary-thorny-worms.html Evolution Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 09 Apr 2025 11:00:24 EDT news663408361 New research reveals that PET-based glitter microplastics can actively influence biomineralization processes in marine environments, raising fresh concerns about the long-term environmental impact of microplastic pollution on marine ecosystems. /news/2025-04-microplastics-pollution-glitter-disrupt-marine.html Environment Tue, 01 Apr 2025 12:30:00 EDT news662729393