What even is an AI kill switch?
Amid renewed calls to slow frontier AI, experts are considering what an emergency stop would entail—and who would decide when to use it
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How a pathogen turns flowers into leaves
Scientists have found how a protein produced by bacteria disrupts the mechanism that controls flower development in plants, turning reproductive organs into leaf-like structures. These findings shed light on a plant disease that is expected to…
Smart nanoparticles deliver antibiotics directly to H. pylori
Helicobacter pylori bacteria infect around half the global population and are a leading cause of stomach ulcers and gastric cancer. While antibiotics remain the standard treatment, they often fail to reach bacteria hidden beneath the stomach's…
Adaptive crystal can selectively capture CO₂ and recognize similar molecules
Chemical separation can be energy-intensive when molecules have similar sizes and properties. Researchers from Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan, have now developed an interlayer adaptive crystal that changes its spacing to recognize specific…
Magnets could help quantum computers talk to each other, says researcher
Xufeng Zhang is using magnets to make computers more power efficient at the quantum level. The Northeastern professor of electrical and computer engineering recently published two papers highlighting small-scale magnetic systems he and his team…
Home advantage or pastures new? High-Arctic shorebirds rarely return to the same breeding area
Shorebirds are capable of some of the longest migrations on Earth, yet most return year after year to the same area to breed. Coming back has distinct advantages, including knowing the best spots to feed or roost, having information about where…
Great Salt Lake's ancient past reveals how quickly fresh water can disappear
From a mountainside overlooking Utah's Great Salt Lake, a time traveler turning back the clock 20,000 years would watch a dramatic transformation of the landscape. The shallow, salty lake below would swell into an immense body of fresh water, at…
New peanut genome map uncovers hidden gene, boosts dense-planting yields 20%
An international team that includes researchers from Murdoch University's Centre for Crop and Food Innovation (CCFI) has built the most comprehensive genetic map of the peanut yet and used this new genomic resource to breed a higher-yielding dwarf…
Not all roads lead to Rome: Research challenges what we think we know about Roman roads
A multidisciplinary team of researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark, Queen Mary University of London and other European institutions analyzed a data set representing almost 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) of Roman roads across the former…
NASA Invites Media to International Observe the Moon Night
NASA will host an International Observe the Moon Night celebration from 5:30 to 8 p.m. CST on Saturday, Sept. 19, at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, the official visitor center for NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama…
Drought-flood alternation under climate change
Climate change is increasing the frequency of both droughts and floods, meaning back-to-back extreme events are also on the rise. These rapidly alternating crises can harm people in complex ways. For example, back-to-back climate extremes can…
Mitotic chromosomes may assemble from pre-existing chromatin 'building blocks' during cell division
Inside each human cell, about 2 meters (6.6 feet) of genomic DNA must be accurately copied and equally transmitted to two daughter cells during cell division. To achieve this, the copied DNA is condensed into thick, short structures called mitotic…
Is science journalism dying? Comparing a 'science crash' 40 years ago to today
When two popular science magazines—out of about 17 in circulation—ceased publication in the same year, one commentator said, "The science magazines didn't shake out. They fell apart." The general manager of one of the failed magazines said, "There…
Record-breaking levels of plastic found in seabirds, with almost 900 pieces found in one bird alone
For more than a decade, it was thought that the world's most plastic-polluted birds couldn't get any more contaminated by the man-made material. But then, from 2023–2026, the record was broken every single year.
3D food printing of balanced vegetarian dishes from rice and lentil flours
Rice and lentils are a pairing that goes a long way back, whether as khichdi in India or mujaddara in the Middle East. On its own, each is a source of incomplete protein, short on certain essential amino acids—but paired together, they fill each…
Greenhouse gas benefits of agricultural irrigation far outweigh emissions costs, study finds
Irrigating U.S. crops prevents higher greenhouse gas emissions by avoiding land conversion, new research by Colorado State University shows. Agricultural irrigation allows the United States to grow more food on less land. If irrigation were…
Heat-stable enzyme from deep-sea microbe turns nitrogen gas into ammonia
Microorganisms can do remarkable things—for example, nitrogen fixation, the conversion of nitrogen gas (N₂) into a form that organisms can use. Although nitrogen gas makes up around 78% of Earth's atmosphere, plants and animals cannot directly use…
How advertising turns our insecurities into profit—and how you can resist the manipulation
Have you ever bought something not because you wanted it, but because you were afraid of what might happen if you didn't? Maybe you worried about looking older, falling behind at work or simply not fitting in.
How pizza can solve this unusual math puzzle
Moser’s circle problem can be used to divide a pizza into one, two, four, eight, 16 or 31 slices. It’s a perfect example of how the numbers in a sequence aren’t as clear-cut as they may first appear
The U.S. has weapons in space
A high-ranking official announced yesterday that the U.S. military has deployed weapons into orbit to counter threats from Russia and China
Artemis III Crew Visits NASA Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building
NASA/Kim Shiflett NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik (left) and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Luca Parmitano view progress on the solid rocket booster integration in High Bay 3 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center…
We may finally have a way to rate a quantum computer’s usefulness
Determining how useful different quantum computers are has been a long running challenge – now researchers appear to have the answer
Which million-dollar math problem could AI solve next?
After an OpenAI model presented a possible solution to the Navier-Stokes problem, mathematicians are speculating about which major unsolved question could be resolved next
Do universal free lunch programs affect students' academic performance?
Experts say free lunch for every child improves academic performance. Whether it does is murky, according to a Scientific American analysis, but there are definite financial and social benefits