Analysis of fossilised rocks known as stromatolites from more than two-and-a-half billion years ago has provided new insights into the conditions on Earth before the evolution of oxygen. Led by Northumbria University researcher, Dr Ashley Martin, an international team with expertise in geology, microbiology, and geochemistry, worked in partnership to investigate nitrogen cycling patterns within ancient stromatolites, preserved in southern Zimbabwe. Nitrogen is vital for all life on Earth but must first be converted into useable, bioavailable, forms as it passes through the atmosphere, soil, plants and animals in the nitrogen cycle. The team believe the unusual nitrogen ...

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications received funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to renew its annual Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, the Future of Discovery: Training Students to Build and Apply Open Source Machine Learning Models and Tools (FoDOMMaT). Housed in NCSA’s Center for Artificial Intelligence Innovation (CAII), the 10-week on-site experience brings about 10 undergraduate students each year from a variety of academic backgrounds to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus to engage in cutting-edge machine learning and deep learning projects, developing ...

TAMPA, Fla. (Embargoed until Feb. 24, 2025) – A new study led by the University of South Florida highlights the urgent need to protect marine ecosystems in shallow water near the shore – an area that many beachgoers don’t realize is highly important to fish populations. Known as tidal flats, these coastal waters are critical to global seafood supplies, local economies and overall marine health. The findings from a team of interdisciplinary marine experts, “Habitat management and restoration as missing ...

It is no strange sight to see icebergs break off of the Antarctic ice cap and drift away, like the gigantic sheet of ice that is currently heading for the island of South Georgia. But climate change is making it happen more frequently, with ever-larger icebergs in the waters around Antarctica. Researchers from Utrecht University are studying the routes that icebergs followed during geological periods of rapid ice cap deterioration, such as the ends of ice ages. That provides crucial information about the effect of melting icebergs on the oceans, and its consequences for the future. In the process, ...

Peatlands, a type of wetland found around the globe at all latitudes – from the Arctic to the tropics – are important ecosystems that store vast amounts of carbon. In fact, peatlands hold about one-third of the world’s soil carbon, despite covering only about 3% of the Earth’s land surface. When peatlands are disturbed or altered, they can release that carbon back into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases like methane. Peatlands are valuable ecosystems both for their biodiversity and for their role in regulating climate.  Researchers ...

Korean researchers will begin collaborating in earnest with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) on semiconductor technology research. Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) announced on Jan. 6 (local time) that it has agreed to establish a mutual cooperation system to develop semiconductor technologies with Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, USA. ETRI has possessed the technology to develop and manufacture silicon detectors for high-energy particle detectors since the early 2000s ...

The gut bacteria of giraffes are not primarily determined by what they eat, but by the species they belong to. This is shown in a new study from Uppsala University and Brown University in which researchers have analysed the link between diet and gut flora in three giraffe species in Kenya. The study also provides new knowledge that can help secure the food supply of endangered giraffe species. In a new study published in Global Ecology and Conservation, researchers have analysed the relationship between the diet and microbiome, or gut flora, of giraffes in Kenya. By sequencing plant and bacterial DNA from faecal samples, they were able to investigate both the bacterial composition ...

A group of Berlin researchers in collaboration with international scientists have found differences in heart inflammation caused by COVID-19, anti-COVID-19 vaccination, and non-COVID-19 myocarditis. The find paves the way for more personalized therapies, they report in “Nature Cardiovascular Research.” Heart inflammation, or myocarditis, differs depending on its cause. A collaborative study led by Dr. Henrike Maatz, a scientist in the Genetics and Genomics of Cardiovascular Diseases lab of Professor Norbert Hübner at the Max Delbrück ...

A new service aimed at supporting older people who are starting to become frail, could reduce emergency hospital admissions by more than a third and save the NHS money, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The results from the clinical trial, published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), evaluated the effect and cost-effectiveness of a new service, consisting of six personalised home-based visits from a support worker, tailored to each person to identify what they need to stay well and independent. Interventions ...

Physical activity may help colon cancer survivors achieve long-term survival rates similar to those of people in the general population, according to a recent study published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Individuals with colon cancer face higher rates of premature mortality than people in the general population with matched characteristics such as age and sex. To assess whether exercise might reduce this disparity, investigators analyzed data from two posttreatment trials in patients with stage 3 colon cancer, with a total of 2,875 patients who self-reported ...

NEW YORK, NY (Feb. 24, 2025)--A new study, led by researchers at Columbia University, suggests it is easy for youths to purchase cannabis from unlicensed dispensaries in New York City, despite state laws that bar access to recreational cannabis to those under age 21.  “Regulation to restrict access in this age group is based on evidence that cannabis affects working memory, brain development, and increases addiction risk when used at an early age,” says Ryan Sultán , an assistant professor ...

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have carried out an unprecedentedly detailed survey of pumice rafts in the aftermath of the 2021 Fukutoku-Oka-no-Ba volcanic eruption in Japan. Using samples from 213 different locations, they considered raft density, the size and roundness of individual pumice, and biological species attached. Their findings revealed three phases in the evolution of drift pumice, involving rounding, fragmentation, and the diversification of attached biological organisms over time. It is said that 85% of volcanic eruptions happen underwater. While their cousins on land might seem more vivid, the effects of underwater eruptions can be just as ...

Historically, access to geothermal energy has hinged on real estate’s famously three most important factors: location, location, and location. Because conventional geothermal power plants require hot, permeable rocks and plenty of underground fluid, use of the technology has been limited mostly to places with recent volcanism, such as Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, Kenya, El Salvador, Iceland, and the western United States. Over the past 50 years, however, techniques originally developed for oilfields and adapted for “enhanced geothermal systems” (EGS) have offered the promise ...

Many Medicare patients with advanced cancer receive potentially aggressive treatment at the expense of supportive care, according to a study that analyzed Medicare records.    The study, published in JAMA Health Forum, examined the quality of end-of-life care among 33,744 Medicare decedents. The study involved patients of diverse ethnic backgrounds, age 66 or older who died from breast, prostate, pancreatic or lung cancers.     Overall, claims records showed that 45% of the patients experienced potentially ...

As traditional candles burn, they can contribute to indoor air pollution by emitting volatile compounds and smoke, which may pose inhalation risks. Scented wax melts are often marketed as safer alternatives to candles because they’re flame- and smoke-free. But in a study in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters, researchers describe how aroma compounds released from the melted wax can react with ozone in indoor air to form potentially toxic particles. Previous research has shown that scented wax melts emit more airborne scent compounds than traditional candles. The ...

ITHACA, N.Y. –Using underwater microphones and machine learning (ML), Cornell University researchers have developed a new method to estimate North Atlantic right whale numbers — offering a potentially safer and more cost-effective way to monitor this critically endangered species. Their study, published in Endangered Species Research, demonstrates how microphones combined with ML and traditional aerial survey methods can help track right whale populations in Cape Cod Bay, a crucial feeding ground where the whales gather each spring. To track this endangered species, researchers rely on costly and dangerous ...

For nearly two decades, scientists have tried to understand how negatively polarized platinum electrodes corrode, a costly mystery that plagues water electrolyzers, a promising energy technology for making hydrogen, as well as electrochemical sensors using platinum electrodes. Now, a close collaboration between researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the Leiden University has finally identified the culprit, potentially paving the way for cheaper hydrogen energy production and more reliable electrochemical sensors. The results were published in Nature Materials. Electrolyzers ...

Agricultural fertilizers are critical for feeding the world’s population, restoring soil fertility and sustaining crops. Excessive and inefficient use of those resources can present an environmental threat, contaminating waterways and generating greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Agricultural Science & Technology have addressed those challenges with glass fertilizer beads. The beads control nutrient release, and the researchers say they’re environmentally compatible. “The results show that glass fertilizers can be tailored to plant needs, slowly and sustainably releasing ...

Researchers at Stockholm University have developed a fully biobased hair conditioner using lignin gel emulsions, offering a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional haircare products. Hair conditioners typically contain 20–30 ingredients, many derived from petroleum and oleochemicals, raising concerns about sustainability and environmental impact. A new study published in Science Advances, demonstrates that micellar lignin gels can effectively stabilize emulsions with natural oils, reducing the need for synthetic surfactants and complex stabilizers commonly used in commercial formulations. The research team, led by Mika Sipponen at Stockholm University, ...

Perovskite solar cells are highly efficient and low cost in production. However, they still lack stability over the decades under real weather conditions. An international research collaboration led by Prof. Antonio Abate has now published a perspective on this topic in the journal Nature Reviews Materials. They explored the effects of multiple thermal cycles on microstructures and interactions between different layers of perovskite solar cells. They conclude that thermal stress is the decisive factor in the degradation of metal-halide perovskites. Based on this, they derive the most promising strategies to increase the long-term stability of perovskite solar cells.   Perovskites ...

University of Houston professors Birol Dindoruk, Megan Robertson and Francisco Robles Hernandez have joined the prestigious list of Senior Members of the National Academy of Inventors. The University of Houston now has 39 faculty members in the NAI. “We congratulate these three esteemed colleagues on being named NAI Senior Members,” said Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice president for energy and innovation at UH. “This recognition is a testament to their dedication, research excellence and pursuit of real-world impact by knowledge and technologies. Their achievements continue to elevate the University as a leader in innovation and entrepreneurship.” NAI Senior Members ...

Only two blue whale births have ever been recorded in human history, both decades ago. This remains an extraordinary mystery given there used to be hundreds of thousands of blue whales before whaling started — even today blue whales number around 10,000 to 25,000­ — and they give birth every two to three years. Not only are births very stealthy, but calves are also only rarely sighted — far less than would be expected from their pregnancy rates. Calves closely follow their moms and are sighted as mother-calf pairs, but why are so few detected? A new University ...

The University of Texas at Arlington is joining forces with the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) to operate the new National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing Satellite Campus at Pegasus Park (NCTM2) in Dallas. UTA’s Institute of Biomanufacturing and Precision Medicine (IMPRINT) is partnering with TEES on NCTM2, an extension of the National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing (NCTM) in College Station. The collaboration will expand UTA’s biomanufacturing capabilities and provide NCTM2 with access to financial ...

Kennesaw State University researcher Chen Zhao has earned the 2025 American Heart Association Institutional Research Enhancement Award (AIREA) for his unique research on non-invasive blood flow prediction in cardiovascular disease diagnosis. The $194,032 award will allow Zhao to continue developing technology aimed at evaluating Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR), a measurement used to diagnose coronary artery disease (CAD). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CAD is the leading cause of death in the United States, with an average of 375,000 to ...

Researchers of photonics from Tampere University, Finland, and Kastler-Brossel Laboratory, France, have demonstrated how self-imaging of light, a phenomenon known for nearly two centuries, can be applied to cylindrical systems, facilitating unprecedented control of light’s structure with great potential for advanced optical communication systems. In addition, a new type of space-time duality is explored for powerful analogies bridging different fields of optics. In 1836, Henry F. Talbot performed an experiment, where ...