Science

An international team of researchers from Austria and the UK has shown that Goffin’s cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana) can manufacture and use stick-type tools of appropriate shape and length out of three different materials, suggesting that the birds can anticipate how the tools will be used. Goffin’s cockatoos can cut out …

A new study published in the journal Cell Reports reveals that a protein called Piezo 1 is directly responsible for sensing touch. Knowledge about Piezo 1 could be relevant for designing better pain medications and exploring future therapies for blood disorders, hypertension and more. Piezo proteins transduce physical forces and …

Scientists have discovered a new type of photoreceptor protein that is about 50 times more efficient at capturing light than the rhodopsin, a protein that resides in cell membranes in the retina of the human eye. Caenorhabditis elegans. Image credit: Bob Goldstein / University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. …

DNA makes up only half of the material inside chromosomes, according to a new study published in the journal Molecular Cell. Up to 47% of their structure is a mysterious sheath that surrounds the genetic material. Booth et al. develop a microscopy method called 3D-CLEM. Using this approach, they find …

Bathochordaeus charon — an extremely rare species of giant larvacean — has been rediscovered, more than a century after the only previous known specimens of the species were found. Bathochordaeus charon and its ‘house’ in Monterey Bay: giant larvaceans use their oikoplastic cells to secrete complex filters or ‘houses’ that …

New research confirms that the hen harrier (Circus cyaneus), a medium-sized bird of prey found in parts of North America and Eurasia, is two different species of bird that are only distantly related. The northern harrier (Circus hudsonius). Image credit: Simon Richards. The study, led by Dr. Graham Etherington of …

According to a team of researchers led by Gerald Wright, a professor of biochemistry and biomedical sciences at McMaster University, Lechuguilla Cave — an underground ecosystem that has been isolated from the surface for over 4 million years — is home to a remarkable prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Lechuguilla Cave, …

Nihonium (Nh), moscovium (Mc), tennessine (Ts) and oganesson (Og) are the new names of chemical elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 on the periodic table. Periodic table of the elements. Image credit: International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry / Sci-News.com. “It is a pleasure to see that specific places …

Through new experiments involving the Schrödinger’s cat state paradox, physicists at Yale University have shown that the famous cat can be in two separate locations at the same time. Chen Wang and co-authors have given Schrödinger’s cat a second box to play in. Image credit: Michael S. Helfenbein / Yale …

An international team of scientists has identified a second gravitational wave event in the data from the twin detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). This image depicts two black holes just moments before they collided and merged with each other, releasing energy in the form of gravitational waves. …