Intense ivory poaching during the Mozambican Civil War (1977-1992) resulted in the rapid evolution of tusklessness in female African elephants amid a precipitous population decline, researchers report, resulting in a phenotype far more likely to survive in the face of poaching. The findings shed new light on the powerful selective forces human harvesting can exert … Read more
Cell culture studies show increased lung cell entry of the SARS-CoV-2 variants Delta and Delta Plus and reduced inhibition by antibodies. The emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants that can spread rapidly and undermine vaccine-induced immunity threatens the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The delta variant (B.1.617.2) emerged in India and subsequently spread globally within a … Read more
If they exist, alien lifeforms probably won’t look anything like this. Do aliens exist? Extraterrestrial life has never been discovered, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. At NASA, astrobiologists like Lindsay Hays are trying to answer one of the most profound questions ever: Is there life beyond Earth? Do aliens exist? This is a … Read more
New research provides strong evidence that COVID-19 is a seasonal infection linked to low temperatures and humidity, much like seasonal influenza. A new study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), an institution supported by “la Caixa” Foundation, provides robust evidence that COVID-19 is a seasonal infection linked to low temperatures and humidity, much like … Read more
Schematic of optically levitating a nanoparticle with a metalens in a vacuum. The metalens focuses a laser beam to create chip-based optical tweezers. Credit: Kunhong Shen, Purdue University Metalens-based design shrinks footprint, making optical traps practical for precision sensing and measurements. Researchers have created tiny chip-based optical tweezers that can be used to optically levitate … Read more
ALMA image of a part of Sgr B2. Distributions of 13CH3CN and propionamide are shown in contours and color scale, respectively. A compact cloud of warm gas, called hot core Sgr B2 (N1), is located At the center of the observing region.Credit: Li et al. “Propionamide (C2H5CONH2): The Largest Peptide-like Molecule in Space,” The Astrophysical … Read more
Life reconstruction of herbivorous dinosaurs based on 220-million-year-old fossil footprints from Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. Credit: Anthony Romilio “Raptor-like” dinosaur discovered in an Australian mine, actually uncovered as a timid vegetarian. 50-year-old findings of the Triassic period’s “largest meat-eating dinosaur” reanalyzed as the long-necked herbivore Prosauropod. Fossil footprints found in an Australian coal mine around 50 … Read more
Credit: ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet Auroras make for great Halloween décor over Earth, though ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet snapped these green smoky swirls of plasma from the International Space Station in August. Also pictured are the Soyuz MS-18 “Yuri Gagarin” (left) and the new Nauka module (right). The Station saw quite some aurora activity that month, … Read more
An artist’s impression of the colliding bubbles that can produce extremely low frequency gravitational waves during a cosmological phase transition in the early Universe. Credit: Riccardo Buscicchio New methods of detecting ultra-low frequency gravitational waves can be combined with other, less sensitive measurements to deliver fresh insights into the early development of our universe, according … Read more
Illustration highlighting the three forms of catalysis described in the new study. Credit: Graphic by Jason Drees, The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University With each passing day, the dark side of our addiction to fossil fuels becomes more apparent. In addition to slashing emissions of carbon dioxide, society must find sustainable alternatives to power … Read more