Category: Science

Plastic pollution clogs river systems for considerably longer than previously thought, new research shows. …read more

Researchers have found that older adults may benefit from a specific diet called the MIND diet even when they develop these protein deposits, known as amyloid plaques and tangles. …read more

Scientists have developed a method using machine learning to better analyze data from a powerful scientific tool: nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). One way NMR data can be used is to understand proteins and chemical reactions in the human body. NMR is closely related to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for medical diagnosis. …read more

Researchers seek to point a way toward a unified theory for how DNA changes shape when expressing genes. The scientists use an approach called statistical mechanics to explore the phenomenon of so-called expression waves of gene regulation. The group hopes to reconcile a long-standing gulf between the two scientific fields most involved in the topic, using concepts common to biology and physics. …read more

Our subjective experience appears to us in a continuous stream of integrated information, and researchers now explore the question: Which characteristics should brain activity have to support this type of conscious experiences? The group searched for integrated structures that encompass most of the brain but change configuration from time to time. Their hypothesis was these structures should vanish during states of deep unconsciousness, such as deep sleep or while under general anesthetics. …read more

A lidar mapping study shows ancient residents of Teotihuacan moved astonishing quantities of soil and bedrock for construction and reshaped the landscape in a way that continues to influence the contours of modern activities in this part of Mexico. The paper also shows how Teotihuacan’s engineers re-routed two rivers to align with points of astronomical significance, identified hundreds of previously unknown architectural features, and documented over 200 archaeological features that have been destroyed by mining and urbanization since the 1960s. …read more

New research aims to ease the process of chemical recycling — an emerging industry that could turn waste products back into natural resources by physically breaking plastic down into the smaller molecules it was originally produced from. …read more

The networks of predator fish and their prey found on coral reefs all over the world are remarkably similar, and those predator fish are pickier eaters than previously thought. These delicate ecosystems become even more vulnerable when these specialized hunters go extinct. …read more

Researchers watched fragments of two meteors as they ramped up the heat from room temperature to the temperature it reaches as it enters Earth’s atmosphere and made a significant discovery. The vaporized iron sulfide leaves behind voids, making the material more porous. This information will help when predicting the weight of a meteor, its likelihood to break apart, and the subsequent damage assessment if it should land. …read more

Light has no mass, but Europe’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) can convert light’s energy into massive particles. Physicists studied matter-generating collisions of light and showed the departure angle of their debris is subtly distorted by quantum interference patterns in the light prior to collision. Their findings will help physicists accurately interpret future experiments aimed at finding ‘new physics’ beyond the Standard Model. …read more