/ 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. Fungi are vital to natural ecosystems by breaking down dead organic material and cycling it back into the environment as nutrients. But new research from the University of Utah finds one species, Marquandomyces marquandii, a ubiquitous soil mold, shows promise as a potential building block for new biomedical materials. /news/2025-10-soil-fungus-durable-hydrogels-potential.html Biochemistry Polymers Wed, 01 Oct 2025 17:24:04 EDT news678558241 You might think that glass has no business acting as a replacement for bone, but it turns out the two materials have many similarities. For a new study published in ACS Nano, researchers developed a 3D printable bio-active glass that served as an effective bone replacement material. In rabbits, it sustained bone cell growth better than regular glass and a commercially available bone substitute. /news/2025-09-bone-substitute-3d-glass.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Tue, 23 Sep 2025 14:07:44 EDT news677855261 When Anil Menon launches into space aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket next June, he'll bring two decades of experience as a physician, engineer, military pilot, and NASA flight surgeon—and a highly personal understanding of risk. /news/2025-09-astronaut.html Space Exploration Thu, 18 Sep 2025 12:22:04 EDT news677416921 A flash of pink breaks the muddy surface of the Amazon River as scientists and veterinarians, waist-deep in the warm current, patiently work a mesh net around a pod of river dolphins. They draw it tighter with each pass, and a spray of silver fish glistens under the harsh sun as they leap to escape the net. /news/2025-09-endangered-pink-river-dolphins-mercury.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 16 Sep 2025 13:20:01 EDT news677246359 A new study from North Carolina State University identifies vertebrate hemoglobin in bone extracts from two dinosaurs and shows that this molecule is original to those animals. The work also shows how heme, a small molecule that gives hemoglobin the ability to transport oxygen in blood, degrades over time. The study both adds to the body of evidence that biological remains can and do persist across deep time in some fossils and provides further insight into the process of fossilization. /news/2025-09-precise-imaging-technique-hemoglobin-dinosaur.html Molecular & Computational biology Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 10 Sep 2025 12:11:04 EDT news676725061 If biomolecules were people, heparin would be a celebrity. Best known as a powerful blood thinner with a global market of more than $7 billion, heparin is used during and after surgery and is essential to kidney dialysis. Most of today's heparin comes from pigs, but the Food and Drug Administration is encouraging the use of alternative sources, including cows and synthetic forms of heparin, to diversify the supply chain. /news/2025-09-insight-blood-thinners-bone-builders.html Biochemistry Thu, 04 Sep 2025 14:28:57 EDT news676214932 The pelvis is often called the keystone of upright locomotion. More than any other part of our lower body, it has been radically altered over millions of years to allow us to accomplish our bizarre habit of walking on two legs. /news/2025-08-evolutionary-makeover-big-evolution-human.html Evolution Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 27 Aug 2025 11:00:02 EDT news675353821 In 2020, the Hayabusa2 uncrewed spacecraft successfully returned small fragments from the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu, providing the first pristine samples from a carbonaceous asteroid. Grains from those samples were studied at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), revealing new details into the asteroid's composition and origin. This insight could ultimately help answer big questions about how water and organic matter came to exist on early Earth, forming the building blocks of life. /news/2025-08-ryugu-asteroid-reveals-mineral-history.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 25 Aug 2025 13:41:42 EDT news675348096 One percentage point of feed conversion loss in large-scale poultry production can cause millions in lost revenue, so even small improvements — like fine-tuning a single nutrient in feed — can make a big difference. /news/2025-08-calcium-poultry-chance-efficiency.html Agriculture Fri, 22 Aug 2025 14:50:01 EDT news675092838 Almost three decades ago, the chert mining area in Krumlov Forest was discovered. Since then, much has been written about the mining activity that took place here. While chert mining occurred here from as early as the beginning of the Holocene until the Early Iron Age, it was not a particularly widespread activity. /news/2025-08-prehistoric-female-miners-multidisciplinary-approach.html Archaeology Social Sciences Tue, 19 Aug 2025 07:00:01 EDT news674736254 Apatite. Rhymes with appetite, and fittingly, plays a vital role in the very act of eating. Found in teeth and bones, apatite provides the structural strength behind every bite and step we take. /news/2025-08-apatite-mineral-insight.html Earth Sciences Fri, 15 Aug 2025 11:34:25 EDT news674476462 Near the Syrian city of Afrin, an international research team, including researchers from the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment at the University of Tübingen, has discovered a previously unknown fossil sea turtle. /news/2025-08-fossil-syria-unknown-sea-turtle.html Paleontology & Fossils Fri, 15 Aug 2025 08:56:04 EDT news674466961 Living in cities exposes people to all sorts of chemical pollutants. Many are harmful even at low concentrations. But it is hard to know what the risks and consequences might be. /news/2025-08-canary-concrete-jungle-polluted-towns.html Ecology Thu, 14 Aug 2025 12:15:51 EDT news674392548 Advances in artificial intelligence for porous materials design could impact a wide variety of fields, from orthopedic implants to next-generation batteries. /news/2025-08-pressure-ai-porous-materials.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Tue, 12 Aug 2025 10:42:20 EDT news674214133 Despite the fact that much of the current research in paleontology focuses on trying to find traces of organic remains in fossils, dinosaur DNA has unfortunately never been recovered. /news/2025-08-physicist-blood-vessels-world-largest.html Paleontology & Fossils Mon, 11 Aug 2025 15:54:03 EDT news674146441 Fossils are the backbone—oftentimes literally—of researching the far past. And because most of human evolution took place throughout Africa, the fossils the continent holds are vital to piecing together early human history. The fossils there also tell other stories of ancient ecological history, and how humans fit into the lives of the animals and plants around them. /news/2025-08-south-african-caves-fossil-clues.html Paleontology & Fossils Mon, 11 Aug 2025 12:20:37 EDT news674133634 Around the world, kangaroos and wallabies are well-recognized symbols of Australia, but a new discovery highlights the deeply linked environmental identities of Australia and New Guinea. /news/2025-08-aussie-guinea-forest-wallaby.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 07 Aug 2025 07:10:06 EDT news673769402 If you slipped back through time to taste a dish from the Roman Empire, you'd likely be sampling some fermented fish sauce. /news/2025-07-fish-salt-vats-sun-months.html Archaeology Wed, 30 Jul 2025 11:00:08 EDT news673091777 At the Roman settlement of A Cibdá de Armea in northwestern Spain, archaeologists uncovered evidence suggesting that ancient Romans adorned their amulets with fossils of extinct marine arthropods, like trilobites, possibly rooted in the belief that these specimens carried magical or protective powers. /news/2025-07-ancient-romans-extinct-sea-creature.html Archaeology Mon, 28 Jul 2025 08:46:57 EDT news672911213 The largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth was sold for just over $5 million at an auction of rare geological and archaeological objects in New York on Wednesday. But a rare young dinosaur skeleton stole the show when it fetched more than $30 million in a bidding frenzy. /news/2025-07-largest-piece-mars-earth-meteoric.html Space Exploration Wed, 16 Jul 2025 16:26:11 EDT news671901966 A new study has uncovered evidence that a giant marine reptile from the Early Jurassic period used stealth to hunt its prey in deep or dark waters—much like owls on land today. /news/2025-07-fossil-discovery-reveals-ancient-giant.html Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 16 Jul 2025 13:01:41 EDT news671889691 Photo-induced force microscopy began as a concept in the mind of Kumar Wickramasinghe when he was employed by IBM in the early years of the new millennium. After he came to the University of California, Irvine in 2006, the concept evolved into an invention that would revolutionize research by enabling scientists to study the fundamental characteristics of matter at nanoscale resolution. /news/2025-07-revolutionizing-photo-microscopy-globe-celebrated.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 14 Jul 2025 10:10:01 EDT news671703676 For sale: A 54-pound (25-kilogram) rock. Estimated auction price: $2 million to $4 million. Why so expensive? It's the largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth. /news/2025-07-biggest-piece-mars-earth-auction.html Space Exploration Sun, 13 Jul 2025 04:55:52 EDT news671601343 Sharks have been evolving for more than 450 million years, developing skeletons not from bone, but from a tough, mineralized form of cartilage. These creatures are more than just fast swimmers—they're built for efficiency. Their spines act like natural springs, storing and releasing energy with each tailbeat, allowing them to move through the water with smooth, powerful grace. /news/2025-05-sharkitecture-nanoscale-blacktip-shark-skeleton.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Tue, 20 May 2025 11:01:04 EDT news666957661 According to UNESCO, plastic waste makes up 80% of all marine pollution, with 8–10 million metric tons of plastic making its way into our oceans each year. USC Viterbi School of Engineering researchers have discovered a mineral commonly found in seashells could be the key to a safer plastic alternative. /news/2025-04-eco-friendly-plastic-mineral-seashells.html Biochemistry Polymers Wed, 16 Apr 2025 11:22:03 EDT news664021321 A new study by archaeologist Xingtao Wei and his colleagues, published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, provides insights into some of the earliest forms of humans processing bones into powder for cooking, dating back nearly 8,000 years (6,085 and 6,369 BC). /news/2025-01-archaeologists-reveal-year-bone-powder.html Archaeology Wed, 15 Jan 2025 07:30:01 EST news656071193 A pilot study from North Carolina State University shows that nanoscopic 3D imaging of ancient bone not only provides further insight into the changes soft tissues undergo during fossilization, it also has potential as a fast, practical way to determine which specimens are likely candidates for ancient DNA and protein sequence preservation. The work appears in iScience. /news/2024-07-nanoscopic-imaging-aids-protein-tissue.html Biotechnology Paleontology & Fossils Mon, 22 Jul 2024 15:12:02 EDT news640879921 The latest dinosaur being mounted at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles is not only a member of a new species—it's also the only one found on the planet whose bones are green, according to museum officials. /news/2024-07-gnatalie-green-boned-dinosaur-planet.html Paleontology & Fossils Sun, 14 Jul 2024 10:08:20 EDT news640170494 Inspired by nature, the researchers developed a piezocatalytically-induced controlled mineralization strategy using piezoelectric polymer poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) fibers with ordered micro-nano structures to prepare biomimetic tissue engineering scaffolds with a bone-like microenvironment (pcm-PLLA), in which PLLA-mediated piezoelectric catalysis promoted the in-situ polymerization of dopamine and subsequently regulated the controllable growth of hydroxyapatite crystals on the fiber surface. /news/2024-06-piezocatalytically-mineralization-scaffold-bone-microenvironment.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 12 Jun 2024 15:33:03 EDT news637425182 Several similar large, fossilized bone fragments have been discovered in various regions across Western and Central Europe since the 19th century. The animal group to which they belonged is still the subject of much debate to this day. A study carried out at the University of Bonn could now settle this dispute once and for all: The microstructure of the fossils indicates that they come from the lower jaw of a gigantic ichthyosaur. These animals could reach 25 to 30 meters in length, a similar size to the modern blue whale. /news/2024-04-mysterious-bones-gigantic-ichthyosaurs.html Evolution Paleontology & Fossils Tue, 09 Apr 2024 16:50:01 EDT news631899620