Today's Science News
January 7, 2025
You’re Made of Carbon that Took a Journey into Intergalactic Space - I’ve used this fact a gazillion times; every atom in your body has been through the core of a star!January 6, 2025
You Are What Your Ancestors Didn’t Eat - The impact of famine may be written in the bodies of future generations The post You Are What Your Ancestors Didn’t Eat appeared first on Nautilus .1st deadly case of H5N1 bird flu reported in US - The patient in Louisiana who contracted a severe case of bird flu has died, officials announced.
Top Ten Cultural Practices From Around The World and The Scientific Explanations Why They Make Sense. - Cultural practices, rooted in history, demonstrate health benefits that align with modern science, validating their relevance in contemporary wellness.
What's the best way to kill norovirus, the 'stomach bug'? - Only certain cleaners kill norovirus, a leading cause of vomiting, diarrhea and foodborne illness.
India delays 1st space docking of SpaDeX satellites, 'further validation' needed - India postponed its first attempt to dock two SpaDex satellites in Earth orbit from Jan. 6 until Jan. 9, to allow more time for tests.
How US-Indian NISAR Satellite Will Offer Unique Window on Earth - A Q&A with the lead U.S. scientist of the mission, which will track changes in everything from wetlands to ice sheets to infrastructure damaged by natural disasters.
This Superbacteria can Withstand Enough Radiation to Kill a Person - Nature is filled with examples of extreme life (aka.
Ancient Lead Poisoning May Have Contributed to the Roman Empire’s Downfall - Learn how researchers examined lead levels in ice cores dating back to the Roman Empire, and found concentrations high enough to affect IQs.
An Early Supermassive Black Hole Took a Little Break Between Feasts - In the last couple of decades, it’s become increasingly clear that massive galaxies like our own Milky Way host supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in their centres.
NASA Names Adam Schlesinger as Commercial Lunar Payload Services Project Manager - NASA has selected Adam Schlesinger as manager for CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services).
Springtime on Mars brings frost avalanches, gas geysers and explosions (photos) - It’s time to ring in the Martian New Year with a variety of strange sights on the planet’s Northern Hemisphere.
Scientists discover ancient 'hotspot' that birthed the Great Lakes 300 million years ago - A hotspot that now lies in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean was once under the Great Lakes, and may explain why they formed where they did.
Defying Gravity - In this Dec. 11, 1963, image, technicians prepare a test subject for studies on the Reduced Gravity Walking Simulator at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.
Engineers discover new “all-optical” nanoscale sensors of force - Mechanical force is an essential feature for many physical and biological processes.
Evidence of a 517-million-year-old “arms race” in the ocean - The oldest-known fossil evidence of a predator-prey arms race has been discovered in shells dating back to the early Cambrian.
US Space Force broke its launch record in 2024 with 93 liftoffs - An impressive 93 launches lifted off from Florida’s coast in 2024, setting a new Space Force record for the second year in a row.
What is thundersnow? The weird weather phenomenon rumbling through the East Coast and Midwest - The conditions needed to create thunderstorms are very rare, and can be dangerous, meteorologists warn.
Mysterious climate-changing eruption that turned the sun blue traced to remote Pacific island - Zavaritskii volcano in the Kuril Islands was responsible for the mysterious 1831 volcanic eruption that cooled the climate and turned the sun different colors, a new study finds.
Will Comet G3 ATLAS Perform at Perihelion? - Comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS may put on a quick show this month.
Pluto May Have Formed From the Newly Discovered Kiss and Capture Mechanism - Learn more about how this new mechanism may have shaped Pluto and its largest moon, Charon.
A Dragon Reveals Individual Stars From A Time When the Universe Was Half Its Present Age - It's nearly impossible to identify individual stars billions of light years away.
A Pill That Mimics The Benefits Of Fasting WIthout Diets Or Mimetic Mumbo-Jumbo? - No one wants to diet, everyone wants a miracle pill, and that is why supplements are a $35 billion industry in America, despite being mostly placebos.
Yellowstone's 'queen of the wolves' killed by rival pack after living to 11 years old and having 10 litters of pups - Record-breaking Wolf 907F, the alpha of the Junction Butte pack, died after a confrontation with a rival pack at Yellowstone River on Christmas Day.
New equation refines vapor pressure calculations for diverse conditions - The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology has introduced a vapor pressure equation.
Antarctica ice melt could cause 100 hidden volcanoes to erupt - More than 100 volcanoes lurk beneath the surface in Antarctica.
Scientists create vast library of compounds to target disease proteins - Over the past two decades, large genetic studies have linked tens of thousands of DNA variants to thousands of human traits and diseases.
BluShift Aerospace hopes to launch 1st suborbital rocket from Maine in 2025 - Maine-based bluShift Aerospace is planning for its next big milestone: a suborbital flight test toward the end of 2025.
The Blaze Star Will Soon Explode After 80 Years of Waiting - Learn how T Coronae Borealis, a recurrent nova known as the Blaze Star, will likely light up in the night sky later in 2025 after last doing so in 1946.
Biden Awards Three Climate Experts Nation’s Highest Science Honor - Richard Alley, Lawrence Edwards and David Tilman were among the two dozen honorees who received the National Medal of Science or the National Medal of Technology and Innovation last week
Government Golden Fleece: Acupuncture And Music Therapy For Cancer Patients? - Senator Tom Coburn used to do an annual report of the most ridiculous abuses of taxpayer money and it always got attention because his Wastebook didn't care if the party behind it was Republican or Democrat, he was a towering figure in fiscal conservatism.You work hard for your money and he wanted you to know when government squandered it.
SpaceX's Starship Flight 7 test flight will deploy simulated Starlink satellites for 1st time - SpaceX aims to launch the seventh Starship flight test on Jan. 10.
Pluto and moon formed through “kiss and capture” - New research challenges decades of assumptions about how Pluto and its largest moon Charon formed on the fringes of our solar system.
How Pluto captured its largest moon Charon with a 10-hour icy 'kiss' - Pluto may have got romantic to capture its largest moon, colliding and engaging in a passionate but icy 10 hour kiss with Charon billions of years ago.
Pushing A Probe To Alpha Centauri Using A Relativistic Electron Beam - Getting a spacecraft to another star is a monumental challenge.
Scientists identify 11 genes affected by PFAS, shedding light on neurotoxicity - Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) earn their "forever chemical" moniker by persisting in water, soil and even the human brain.
Freely accessible database maps protein-lipid interactions for research and education - From combating cancer and infections to storing energy, lipid-protein interactions are critical to biological processes in cells.
Microbes Can Colonize Space, Produce Drugs, and Create Energy - Genome-scale metabolic models capture the complex chemical reactions that allow cells to function.
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) - The SBIR/STTR programs provide an opportunity for small, high technology companies and research institutions (RI) to participate in Government sponsored
How a single nitrogen atom could transform the future of drug discovery - Researchers at the University of Oklahoma have developed a breakthrough method of adding a single nitrogen atom to molecules, unlocking new possibilities in drug research and development.
The Ocean Teems With Networks of Interconnected Bacteria - Nanotube bridge networks grow between the most abundant photosynthetic bacteria in the oceans, suggesting that the world is far more interconnected than anyone realized.
Astronomers have pinpointed the origin of mysterious repeating radio bursts from space - Innew research, we have for the first time tracked a fast radio burst back to its source: a common kind of lightweight star called a red dwarf.
Travel - The NSSC provides travel reimbursement services for all authorized Agency travel including: domestic, foreign, local, ETDY, and Change of Station (COS).
DAILY DOSE: Meta Removes AI-Generated Accounts Amid Controversy Over Deception; Study Shows Persistent COVID Symptoms and Depression in Young Adults. - META REMOVES AI GENERATED ACCOUNTS AMID CONTROVERSY OVER DECEPTION Meta recently deleted several of its AI-generated accounts after users exposed issues with the bots’ sloppy imagery and deceptive interactions.
Climate Shifts May Bring New Apple Growing Areas - Climate has always shifted but concerns about faster changes brought on by the modern world have led the authors of a new paper to worry that current high-volume sources of apples could lose their apex status to other areas.The paper in the pay-to-publish journal Environmental Research Letters analyzed over 40 years of climate conditions they
Electron microscopy captures enzyme step in antibiotic production - Nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) enzymes are essential in creating important medications, such as penicillin and cyclosporine.
Climate extremes in 2024 'wreaking havoc' on the global water cycle - 2024 was another year of record-breaking temperatures, driving the global water cycle to new climate extremes and contributing to ferocious floods and crippling droughts, a new report shows.
Floods linked to rise in US deaths from several major causes - Over the last 20 years, large floods were associated with up to 24.9 percent higher death rates from major mortality causes in the U.S. compared to normal conditions.
Tuberculosis strains resistant to new drugs are transmitted between patients - Tuberculosis (TB) is the world's biggest infectious disease killer with multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) posing a particular threat to global health.
Tiny plants reveal big potential for boosting crop efficiency - Scientists have long sought ways to help plants turn more carbon dioxide (CO2) into biomass, which could boost crop yields and even combat climate change.
Non-opioid pain relievers beat opioids after dental surgery - Researchers find an over-the-counter combo is more effective for wisdom tooth extraction pain.
Gen Z In France Hates Alcohol - And That's Good For Public Health - The Biden administration issued a report showing alcohol's causal link to cancer.
Buoy-Based Solutions: Strengthening Kentucky’s Emergency Response Efforts - When Kentucky’s Emergency Response Team has to act quickly in response to chemical spills in the Commonwealth, they rely on small, easily deployable buoys for critical data.
Research Brief: Understanding the Influence of Changing Ice Penology on Under-Ice Temperature Dynamics - Mohonk Lake on the Shawangunk Ridge in New York has been monitored for nearly a century by a local family, providing annual ice-on and ice-off observations since 1932.
Dark Energy Camera captures thousands of galaxies in stunning image - Astronomers have captured a breathtaking new image of the Antlia Cluster of galaxies.
SpaceX launches 1st Starlink satellites of 2025 (video, photos) - SpaceX launched the first batch of its internet satellites this year from Florida's Space Coast today (Jan. 6).
Foldable molecular paths mimic paper folding at nanoscale - The elegant simplicity of folding paper has inspired researchers to explore the possibility of replicating this flexibility at the molecular level.
The Real Reason People Don’t Trust in Science Has Nothing to Do with Scientists - Propaganda works, is the real upshot of a survey showing lingering post-pandemic distrust of science
They're Adorable. And Endangered. Meet the World's Smallest Monkey: the Pygmy Marmoset - The cute creatures are chatty, family oriented—and facing a shrinking habitat in the remote forests of Ecuador
Virtual chemistry synthesizes 25 variations of a plant compound that could treat brain diseases - Among the hundreds of thousands of chemical compounds produced by plants, some may hold the key to treating human ailments and diseases.
Water-based zinc-iodine batteries a step closer - Zinc-ion batteries, which use abundant zinc in their electrodes, promise to be safer, cheaper, and more sustainable alternatives to modern batteries.
How do mosquito repellents work? A chemistry expert explains - It's summertime, and for many of us that means plenty of time outside—and, unfortunately, mosquitoes.
Scientists synthesize single-crystal sp² carbon-linked covalent organic frameworks - Chinese scientists proposed a novel imine-to-olefin transformation strategy to synthesize single-crystal sp² carbon-linked covalent organic frameworks (sp²c-COFs).
Dancing dwarf: A 2,300-year-old ancient Egyptian statue of a godlike man with a muscular 6-pack - This marble statuette is emblematic of Ptolemaic-era art: a mishmash of styles with a decidedly Egyptian twist.
Desert planets like those in 'Dune' and 'Star Wars' unlikely to host life, NASA says - "Even if a planet is in the habitable zone, if it has too small a water inventory, it transitions to an uninhabitable state."
High School Aerospace Scholars Launches Dreams, Inspires the Artemis Generation - To put boots on the Moon—and keep them there—will require bold thinkers ready to tackle the challenges of tomorrow.
New study uncovers key insights into protein interactions in Duchenne muscular dystrophy - A study reveals dystrophin and dystrobrevin interactions, offering insights for developing effective treatments for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
AI diagnostics can ease health crisis in war-torn Sudan - AI is being used to interpret x-rays in Sudan where almost two years of fighting has led to the loss of scores of medics.
Chimps choose stone tools like our ancient human ancestors did - Scientists have found that today’s chimpanzees select stones to use as tools in a similar way to human ancestors who lived about 2.5 million years ago.
Study traces Ebola’s route to the skin surface - Researchers identified skin cells infected by the Ebola virus, revealing mechanisms for its transmission through skin contact in a new study.
A Protein That Converts Fat-Storing Cells into Calorie-Burning Cells - Suppressing a transcription factor induced energy burning in fat cells, offering therapeutic targets to treat obesity and metabolic diseases.
NIH officials assess threat of H5N1 - HPAI H5N1 poses low public risk; vigilance, collaboration, research, and precautions are essential for controlling outbreaks effectively.
If We Want to Live on Other Worlds, We're Going to Need New Clocks - Between NASA, other space agencies, and the commercial space sector, there are some truly ambitious plans for humanity’s future in space.
Brain cells seem to mature faster in space - New research using organoids has found that brain cells in space remain healthy, but mature faster than they would on Earth.
Saving a species: The slow return of the Iberian lynx - After edging close to extinction, there are now some 2,000 Iberian lynxes in Spain and Portugal.
January 5, 2025
Our ancient primate ancestors mostly had twins — humans don't, for a good evolutionary reason - Twins are pretty rare, accounting for just 3% of births in the U.S. these days.AI placenta analyser might improve postnatal safety - A new AI tool almost instantly analyses the placenta after birth and might reduce infections in low-resource settings and for home births.
Why time slows down in altered states of consciousness - In "time expansion experiences," time typically appears to expand by many orders of magnitude.
Honda promises solid-state batteries that could double EV range to 620 miles by 2030 - Honda's new facility could drive breakthroughs in solid-state batteries for electric cars, ultimately leading to batteries with more than double the range of existing EVs.
Roman Empire grew after catastrophic volcanic eruption, study finds - Research shows that A.D. 536 was not the worst year to be alive.
Panasonic Leica DG Elmarit 200mm f/2.8 POWER O.I.S lens review - The Panasonic Leica DG Elmarit 200mm f/2.8 POWER O.I.S delivers professional image quality and functionality in a compact and lightweight package.
'Humans are all they know' - Fate of whales uncertain as marine zoo shuts - Campaigners, politicians and zoo managers disagree on where Wikie and her son Keijo should be sent.
AI could crack unsolvable problems — and humans won't be able to understand the results - AI promises to accelerate scientific discovery, but if scientists aren't careful public trust may be left behind.
2,100-year-old coin hoard dating to dynasty of Jewish kings discovered in Jordan Valley - A coin hoard dating back about 2,100 years, during the time of the Jewish Hasmonean kings, has been discovered at a site in the Jordan Valley.
Cold Words: the making of a polar dictionary - Travelling to the ends of the Earth is an extreme experience thanks to the environment… and the language.
How do DNA tests tell if two people are related? - How can DNA from a cheek swab determine if someone is closely related to you?
Science breakthrough using plants as biofuel without impacting food security - An Australian-led scientific breakthrough to increase oil yield from plants will help advance the production and use of biofuels, such as sustainable aviation fuel.
January 4, 2025
Hypnosis is real — and it can help with IBS, poor sleep and anxiety, experts say - Hypnosis is safe and can work as both a standalone or a complementary treatment with other therapies.Never smile at a crocodile, admire its folded skin instead - Scientists have known for a while that the scale patterns found on the skin of a crocodile’s face and jaws doesn’t form due to genetic mechanisms.
This Week In Space podcast: Episode 142 —2025 in Space - On Episode 142 of This Week In Space, Rod and Tariq talk about 2025 in space!
New Diet in 2025? Basic Nutrition Is the Best Place to Start - Learn how understanding basic nutrition can help you achieve a healthier and more enjoyable New Year’s resolution.
Hawke Endurance ED 10x42 monocular review - Will the striking design of the Hawke Endurance be matched by its performance?
Quantum computers that are actually useful 1 step closer thanks to new silicon processor that could pack millions of qubits - We've just hit a 'critical inflection point' on the road to scalable quantum computers.
'Silo' Season 2, 'The Book of Quinn': Juliette suffers, Walker snitches, and Lukas decodes Quinn's letter - A recap of "Silo" Season 2 Episode 8, "The Book of Quinn"
Why are bed bugs virtually unkillable? It might be genes - Bed bugs are notoriously difficult to remove once they’ve moved in – and they’re getting more difficult, thanks to their evolving resistance to insecticides.
Peter Parker battles a rogue alien hunter in Marvel's 'Predator vs. Spider-Man' - A preview of Marvel Comics' "Predator vs. Spider-Man #1"
Holiday Chess Riddle - During Christmas holidays I tend to indulge in online chess playing a bit too much, wasting several hours a day that could be used to get back on track with the gazillion research projects I am currently trying to keep pushing.
NASA will announce update to Mars sample return plans on Jan. 7. Here's how to listen in - NASA's beleaguered Mars Sample Return program currently faces extreme costs of up to $11 billion and a timeline that could reach 2040.
Orange dwarf cave crocodiles: The crocs that crawled into a cave, ate bats, and started mutating into a new species - Dwarf crocodiles in Gabon found living in a cave, with their skin turning orange from swimming in guano.
Small satellite constellation could reveal black holes like never before - A constellation of small satellites could help researchers view processes in close vicinity of supermassive black holes like never before.
Just 2 hours is all it takes for AI agents to replicate your personality with 85% accuracy - Researchers from Google and Stanford have created accurate AI replicas of more than 1,000 people.
Chinese 'robot dog' that moves like a cat could revolutionize space exploration and asteroid mining - Using AI training, researchers designed a "robot dog" that moves like a cat, and has no trouble navigating low-gravity environments
Squawk: our favourite parrot stories from 2024 - Spending your spare time watching lorikeets or rosellas?
What I learned from a black hole in Los Angeles - PST: Art and Science Collide exhibits are on view across Los Angeles.
There Were Over 260 Orbital Launches in 2024. A New Record - The launch of a rocket into orbit should never become routine.
Are cats and dogs smarter than babies? - It's possible to compare some aspects of animal and human intelligence, but not all researchers like to.
The Era of Organoids: Disease Modeling, Developmental Research, and Drug Response Prediction - Acting as mini organs in a dish, organoids fuel diverse research areas, from cancer to evolutionary biology.
Science news this week: Polar vortices and volcanoes undersea - Jan. 3, 2025: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.
Mineral from the outback helps unlock secrets of planets - A mineral found in abundance in outback South Australia is being researched as part of the process which might help humans colonise other planets.
January 3, 2025
Too many men or too few women?—new study finds how the gender gap is framed affects perceptions of it - To many, Vice President Kamala Harris’s loss in the 2024 presidential election was a sobering reminder of a larger and continuous gender gap across leadership positions in not only government, but also in business, higher education, and the military.One less thing to worry about in 2025: Yellowstone probably won’t go boom - There's not enough melted material near the surface to trigger a massive eruption.
'Single crystal' electrodes could power EVs for millions of miles - Single crystal electrodes in lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries enable them to last several times longer than existing technology.
Blue Origin is expected to launch its 1st New Glenn rocket next week, but when? - The first launch of New Glenn could occur between Jan. 6 and Jan. 12, according to the FAA.
Dinosaur Highway of Sauropod Footprints Provides Snapshot of Middle Jurassic Life - Learn what this dinosaur highway can teach us about life 166 million years ago.
Ancient volcanic ash on Mars could offer new clues in search for extraterrestrial life - Researchers believe dark rocks at the site of a future Mars rover landing mission may be left over from ancient volcanic eruptions, and may be protecting signs of life — if there ever was life on Mars.
1,500 ancient European genomes reveal previously hidden waves of migration, study finds - Researchers developed a more precise method of understanding ancestry from ancient DNA and used it to identify previously unknown waves of migration.
'Silo' Season 2: Steve Zahn sees his enigmatic character Solo as a 'curious, delightful kid' (exclusive) - Accomplished actor Steve Zahn lifts the layers on Solo, how he got the "Silo" job, and what it's like working with Rebecca Ferguson.
Grieving orca mom carries dead calf around on her head for a 2nd time - An orca famous for carrying a dead calf around has once again been spotted with a deceased newborn on her head in Puget Sound, but there's some good news for her endangered southern resident killer whale pod.
NASA to Host Media Call Highlighting Mars Sample Return Update - NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST, Tuesday, Jan. 7, to provide an update on the status of the agency’s Mars Sample Return Program.
New Study Explains How Mars Dust Storms Can Engulf the Planet - Mars is well-known for its dust storms, which occur every Martian year during summer in the southern hemisphere.
1,700-year-old oil lamp found in Jerusalem shows a rare Jewish menorah, even though the Romans tried to suppress the religion - The lamp depicts Jewish motifs from a time when Jewish worship was suppressed under the Romans.
Superfast diamond-laced computer chips now much closer to reality thanks to 'quantum breakthrough' - Scientists have vastly reduced the temperatures and conditions needed to grow special diamonds for computing, making faster and more efficient computing chips a more realistic proposition.
Breaking a Cycle of Apocalypse - John Larison’s new novel The Ancients suggests some societies are built for cataclysm
The post Breaking a Cycle of Apocalypse appeared first on Nautilus .
Scent Makes a Place - How the desert taught me to smell
The post Scent Makes a Place appeared first on Nautilus .
Five technologies that are changing running forever - Running a race is often seen as one of the purest forms of sport.
Viral disease HMPV is on the rise among kids in China — what is it? - Health officials have reported a rise in human metapneumovirus (HMPV) infections among children ages 14 and under in China, but the exact magnitude of this uptick is unclear.
Delve into the physics of the Hula-Hoop - It's not the gyrating motion of the hips that keeps the hoop aloft; it's a body type with a sloping surface as "hips."
Massive piece of space junk crashes into village in Kenya — and officials still have no idea where it came from - A 1,100-pound metal ring from a rocket smashed in to a Kenyan village, where it startled residents and flattened trees
How a new generation of 'smart windows' could keep you warm in winter and cool in summer - Windows that can be darkened at the touch of a button are already reducing the need for aircon.
A Dazzling Burst of Radio Waves Ignited Near a Dead Star - Learn how researchers have interpreted the story of one particular fast radio burst that emerged from a neutron star 200 million light-years away.
Everyone Knows Alcohol Causes Cancer - The US Government Finally Says It - Cigarette smoking is in steady decline because the evidence became overwhelming that cigarette smoke causes cancer.
Student Team Designs 2U CubeSat with Big Ambitions - CubeSats can be used in many different scenarios, and one of their most important uses is providing an easy path to understanding how to design, plan, and launch a mission.
Sun erupts with powerful X1.2 solar flare, causes radio blackouts (photo) - The sun fired off an X1.2-class solar flare on Friday (Jan. 3), triggering radio blackouts throughout parts of the South Atlantic ocean, Africa and South America.
Saturn will disappear behind the moon for skywatchers in Europe on Saturday. Here's how to see it. - One of the last easily visible lunar occultations of Saturn until 2037 will occur on Jan. 4.
SpaceX launches 1st Falcon 9 rocket of 2025, sends Thuraya 4 communications satellite to orbit (video) - SpaceX launched its first Falcon 9 rocket of 2025 as it sent the Thuraya 4 communications satellite to orbit from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Friday (Jan. 3).
The carbon in our bodies probably left the galaxy and came back on cosmic 'conveyer belt' - Scientists recently discovered that the giant 'conveyer belt' currents that push star-forged material out of our galaxy and pull it back in can also transport carbon atoms.
Nikon 5x15 HG monocular review - The Nikon 5x15 HG Monocular is tiny, but it promises the same high-quality build and lens of Nikon's other optical devices.
Weird bumps in UK quarry turn out to be 166 million-year-old dinosaur 'highway' for some of Jurassic's biggest dinosaurs - Researchers have excavated the largest dinosaur footprint site in the U.K. after a quarry worker found tracks left by two of Britain's biggest Jurassic dinosaurs.