Science

Like all the other stars in the universe, our sun was not born in isolation. The same clouds of dust and gas that gave rise to the sun and all the planets coalesced into other star systems that have since drifted away from us. Scientists from Australia have completed the …

An international team of researchers from the United States, UK and Brazil has engineered an enzyme which can digest polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the primary material used in the manufacture of single-use plastic beverage bottles, in some clothing, and in carpets. Electron microscope image of enzyme degrading PET plastic. Image credit: …

Researchers have discovered 124 genes that play a major role in determining human hair color variation. The findings were published online this week in the journal Nature Genetics. Hysi et al identified 123 autosomal and one X-chromosome loci significantly associated with hair color. Image credit: Kristyna Matlachova. In order to …

A team of scientists from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) has identified three new species of bacteria — Lactobacillus micheneri, L. timberlakei and L. quenuiae — that live on both wild flowers and bees. These bacterial species may play a role in preserving the nectar and pollen that female …

One of New Guinea’s dancing birds-of-paradise — the Vogelkop Superb Bird-of-Paradise (Lophorina niedda) — was finally confirmed to be an entirely new species, thanks to its distinctive dance. The Vogelkop Superb Bird-of-Paradise (Lophorina niedda). Image credit: Tim Laman. The Vogelkop Superb Bird-of-Paradise is found only in New Guinea’s far-western Bird’s …

A team of physicists at Aalto University in Finland has successfully created a Bose-Einstein condensate of light coupled with metal (gold) electrons, so-called surface plasmon polaritons. The research is published online in the journal Nature Physics. The wavelength of emitted light grows, that is, the energy decreases, along the gold …

Google has used machine learning to solve a lot of problems like beating humans at Go and spotting exoplanets. Those are noble endeavors, but now Google Research has turned its attention to a problem that has a real impact on individual people. The company is working with doctors to develop …

Paleontologists believe that all non-avian dinosaurs were wiped out when a giant asteroid or comet collided with Earth some 65 million years ago, resulting in huge clouds of dust that blocked the Sun’s rays from reaching Earth’s surface. But the origins of dinosaurs have been less understood. In a new …

According to a new study, published in the April edition of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, taking painkillers such as paracetamol (acetaminophen) and ibuprofen during pregnancy could affect the fertility of the child in later life; these drugs may also affect the fertility of future generations, by leaving epigenetic marks …

A team of researchers at the Cincinnati Children’s Heart Institute used an experimental targeted molecular therapy to block a matrix-forming protein, called fibronectin, in heart cells damaged by heart attack, reducing levels of scarred muscle tissue and saving mouse models from heart failure. Their work appears in the journal Circulation. …