NASA challenges K-12 students to design moon-digging robots

NASA seeks young engineers to help design a new robot concept for an excavation mission on the Moon. The Lunabotics Junior Contest is open to K-12 students in U.S. public and private schools, as well as home-schoolers.

Remoteness does not enhance coral reef resilience, according to marine ecologists

There's a widespread hypothesis that links the resilience of coral reefs with their remoteness from human activities—the farther away they are from people, the more likely corals are to bounce back from disturbances.

Citizen scientists help assure quality of coastal biodiversity monitoring

In 2019, history student Rodrigo Gomes found out on social media about a call for volunteers to take part in a scientific project relating to the ocean and conducted by the Federal University of São Paulo's Institute of Marine Sciences (IMAR-UNIFESP) in Santos, on the coast of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. He signed up for the project, took workshops, and trained in the field. "I was very fortunate to have all that contact with professors and learned a great deal about conservation," says Gomes, now a citizen scientist. "It makes a lot of sense to go on with the project and get other people involved."

Changing ocean currents are driving extreme winter weather

Throughout Earth's oceans runs a conveyor belt of water. Its churning is powered by differences in the water's temperature and saltiness, and weather patterns around the world are regulated by its activity.

First artificial scaffolds for studying plant cell growth

As a baby seedling emerges from the depths of the soil, it faces a challenge: gravity's downward push. To succeed, the plant must sense the force, then push upward with an even greater force. Visible growth is proof that the seedling has won against the force of gravity.

Researchers discover first dinosaur era crab fully preserved in amber

Fossils trapped in amber provide a unique snapshot of the anatomy, biology, and ecology of extinct organisms. The most common fossils found in amber, which is formed from resin exuded from tree bark, are land-dwelling animals, mainly insects. But on very rare occasions scientists discover amber housing an aquatic organism.

Gender gap revealed in academic journal submissions during first COVID-19 wave

A study of 2,329 academic journals has found that, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer manuscripts were submitted by women than by men, and this gender gap was especially prominent in the medical field and for women in earlier stages of their careers. Flaminio Squazzoni of the University of Milan, Italy, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on October 13, 2021.

Scientists discover how bacteria use liquid protein droplets to overcome stress

Scientists have revealed how bacteria make tiny liquid droplets from proteins to help them survive harsh environments and thus reduce their chances of being killed by antibiotics.

What drove the invention of military technologies?

Peter Turchin from the Complexity Science Hub Vienna (CSH) and an interdisciplinary team of colleagues set out to test competing theories about what drove the evolution of war machines throughout world history. Their study, published today in the journal PLOS ONE, sees the strongest influence on the evolution of military technology coming from world population size, the connectivity between geographical areas, and advances in critical technologies such as iron metallurgy or horse riding. Conversely, and somewhat surprisingly, state-level factors such as the size of the population, the territory, or the complexity of governance seem not to have played a major role.

Going off the rails: Research reveals ecological impact of rail transport on UK bat species

New research from the University of Sussex has revealed the ecological impact of rail transport on bats in the UK, throwing light on a previously unstudied area.

Zapping untreated water gets rid of more waterborne viruses

Using sophisticated microscopy and computational analysis, Texas A&M University researchers have now validated the merit of a water purification technology that uses electricity to remove and inactivate an assortment of waterborne viruses. They said the yet-to-be-implemented water purification strategy could add another level of safety against pathogens that cause gastrointestinal ailments and other infections in humans.

'Like a magic trick,' certain proteins pass through cell walls

For decades, scientists have wondered how large molecules such as proteins pass through cell walls, also known as plasma membranes, without leaving a trace. That ability is part of what makes certain drugs—including some cancer treatments and the COVID-19 vaccine—work. And it is also how bacterial toxins enter human cells and wreak havoc.

Ocean acidity data affirms predictions of changes to El Nino conditions

Score one for a key climate change prediction.

Predicting famines using rainfall season start

The first rains that signal the beginning of the growing season kick off a flurry of activities in rural, agricultural communities. Farmers decide when to plant, how much labor to allocate, how many resources to devote to that season's crop and so on.

No 'silver bullet' for UK reaching net zero carbon emissions for electricity

CO2 emissions from electricity in the UK fell by two thirds in the last decade due to several factors working together, rather than a single panacea.

Proceeding with Caution: First global guidelines proposed for ancient DNA research

As ancient DNA research sweeps the globe, ballooning from zero genomes sequenced as of 2009 to more than 6,000 as of 2021, those involved in and affected by the genetic analysis of human remains have pressed with ever greater urgency for ethical standards that can be applied wherever such research is carried out.

First large-scale census of coral heat tolerance published

In a first-of-its-kind study, Florida's  critically endangered staghorn corals were surveyed to discover which ones can better withstand future heatwaves in the ocean. Insights from the study, led by scientists at Shedd Aquarium and the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, help organizations working to restore climate-resilient reefs in Florida and provide a blueprint for the success of restoration projects globally. 

When humanlike chatbots miss the mark in customer service interactions

Researchers from University of Oxford published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines the use of chatbots in customer-service roles and finds that when customers are angry, humanlike chatbots can negatively impact customer satisfaction, overall firm evaluations, and subsequent purchase intentions.

Choosing 'good migrants' for 'Global Britain'

The new visa for Hong Kongers is framed as 'a haven' for Britain's former colonial subjects but has 'undoubtedly colonialist overtones' warns a Lancaster University professor.

How Bali could teach the world to manage its limited resources

Water is a limited resource. As such, efficient ways to jointly manage and optimize water reserves are essential for our present and future. But how can a well-balanced system be established? In order to single out the relevant parameters, an international team of scientists, including Stefan Thurner from the Complexity Science Hub Vienna (CSH), applied a method from physics to a system in equilibrium: the century-old rice irrigation practices in Bali.

Termite brains can grow in anticipation of a single moment of flight and light

New research on dampwood termites (Zootermopsis angusticollis and A. nevdensis) shows select members of the colony will experience brain changes in anticipation of cognitive demand.

New insights into heat pathways improve understanding of fusion plasma

A high-tech fusion facility is like a thermos—both keep their contents as hot as possible. Fusion facilities confine electrically charged gas known as plasma at temperatures 10 times hotter than the sun, and keeping it hot is crucial to stoking the fusion reactions that scientists seek to harness to create a clean, plentiful source of energy for producing electricity.

Female mountain lion is 99th to be tracked in Santa Monica Mountains study

The National Park Service has captured its 99th mountain lion for an ongoing study of the community of big cats living in the Santa Monica Mountains.

New tool offers ways to improve CRISPR gene-editing method

The ability to edit the genome by altering the DNA sequence inside a living cell is powerful for research and holds enormous promise for the treatment of diseases. However, existing genome editing technologies frequently result in unwanted mutations or can fail to introduce any changes at all. These problems have kept the field from reaching its full potential.

Europeans in the Americas 1,000 years ago

Columbus was not the first European to reach the Americas. The Vikings got there centuries before, although exactly when has remained unclear. Here, an international team of scientists show that Europeans were already active in the Americas in 1021 AD.