Clouds, however, naturally reflect the sun (it’s why Venus – a planet with permanent cloud cover – shines so brightly in our night sky). Marine stratocumulus clouds are particularly important, covering around 20% of the Earth’s surface while reflecting 30% of total solar radiation. Stratocumulus clouds also cool the ocean surface directly below. Proposals to Read more about How artificially brightened clouds could cool down the earth[…]

The DNA of life on Earth naturally stores its information in just four key chemicals — guanine, cytosine, adenine and thymine, commonly referred to as G, C, A and T, respectively. Now scientists have doubled this number of life’s building blocks, creating for the first time a synthetic, eight-letter genetic language that seems to store Read more about Four new DNA letters double life’s alphabet[…]

The remarkable properties of a recently-discovered squid protein could revolutionize materials in a way that would be unattainable with conventional plastic, finds a review published in Frontiers in Chemistry. Originating in the ringed teeth of a squid’s predatory arms, this protein can be processed into fibers and films with applications ranging from ‘smart’ clothes for Read more about Squid could provide an eco-friendly alternative to plastics[…]

A team of chemists at Purdue may have found a partial solution to our plastic woes. As detailed in a paper published this week in Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, the chemists discovered a way to convert polypropylene—a type of plastic commonly used in toys, medical devices, and product packaging like potato chip bags—into gasoline and Read more about Researchers Developed a Technique to Turn Nearly a Quarter of Our Plastic Waste into Fuel[…]

Scientists from ITMO in collaboration with international colleagues have proposed new DNA-based nanomachines that can be used for gene therapy for cancer. This new invention can greatly contribute to more effective and selective treatment of oncological diseases. The results were published in Angewandte Chemie. Gene therapy is considered one of the promising ways of treating Read more about Nanomachines taught to fight cancer[…]

The Zooniverse is the world’s largest and most popular platform for people-powered research. This research is made possible by volunteers — hundreds of thousands of people around the world who come together to assist professional researchers. Our goal is to enable research that would not be possible, or practical, otherwise. Zooniverse research results in new Read more about Zooniverse – crowd sourced classification of real scientific questions[…]

Scientists a Hokkaido University have found a way to create materials that actually get stronger the more you use them. By mimicking the mechanism that allows living muscles to grow and strengthen after exercise, the team led by Jian Ping Gong developed a polymer that breaks down under mechanical stress, then regrows itself into a Read more about Muscle-inspired materials that get stronger after stretching[…]

A distinct pathway in the white matter part of the brain known as the cingulum bundle can be used to alleviate stress and anxiety during awake brain surgery, according to new research published today in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. When electrically stimulated, this pathway triggers instantaneous laughter in the patient. But unlike previous experiments, Read more about Doctors Zap the Brains of Awake Brain Surgery Patients to Make Them Laugh and Have Fun[…]

If you bled when you brushed your teeth this morning, you might want to get that seen to. We may finally have found the long-elusive cause of Alzheimer’s disease: Porphyromonas gingivalis, the key bacteria in chronic gum disease. That’s bad, as gum disease affects around a third of all people. But the good news is Read more about We may finally know what causes Alzheimer’s – and how to stop it[…]

A team of researchers based at the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh have recreated for the first time the famous Draupner freak wave measured in the North Sea in 1995. The Draupner wave was one of the first confirmed observations of a freak wave in the ocean; it was observed on the 1st of January Read more about Famous freak wave recreated in laboratory mirrors Hokusai’s ‘Great Wave’[…]

[…] today most of us have indoor jobs, and when we do go outside, we’ve been taught to protect ourselves from dangerous UV rays, which can cause skin cancer. Sunscreen also blocks our skin from making vitamin D, but that’s OK, says the American Academy of Dermatology, which takes a zero-tolerance stance on sun exposure: “You Read more about Is Sunscreen the New Margarine?[…]

A method for fooling breast cancer cells into fat cells has been discovered by researchers from the University of Basel. The team were able to transform EMT-derived breast cancer cells into fat cells in a mouse model of the disease – preventing the formation of metastases. The proof-of-concept study was published in the journal Cancer Read more about Converting Cancer Cells to Fat Cells to Stop Cancer’s Spread[…]

Millions of Americans might be mistaken about their self-professed food allergy, suggests a new survey. It found that while nearly 20 percent of people said they had a food allergy, only half as many people reported the sort of symptoms you’d expect from eating something you’re allergic to. Researchers surveyed more than 40,000 adults via Read more about Millions of Americans Are Wrong About Having a Food Allergy: about 1/2 who think they have don’t, but have never seen a doc about it[…]

There’s a big molecule, a protein, inside the leaves of most plants. It’s called Rubisco, which is short for an actual chemical name that’s very long and hard to remember. Amanda Cavanagh, a biologist and post-doctoral researcher at the University of Illinois, calls herself a big fan of Rubisco. “It’s probably the most abundant protein Read more about Scientists Have ‘Hacked Photosynthesis’ In Search Of More Productive Crops: 40% bigger, growing faster[…]

An extraordinarily promising new technique using ultrasound to clear the toxic protein clumps thought to cause dementia and Alzheimer’s disease is moving to the first phase of human trials next year. The innovative treatment has proven successful across several animal tests and presents an exciting, drug-free way to potentially battle dementia. The ultrasound treatment was Read more about Breakthrough ultrasound treatment to reverse dementia moves to human trials[…]

A team of researchers from Austria, Italy and Sweden has successfully demonstrated teleportation using on-demand photons from quantum dots. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group explains how they accomplished this feat and how it applies to future quantum communications networks. Scientists and many others are very interested in developing truly Read more about Researchers demonstrate teleportation using on-demand photons from quantum dots[…]

MIT researchers have invented a way to fabricate nanoscale 3-D objects of nearly any shape. They can also pattern the objects with a variety of useful materials, including metals, quantum dots, and DNA. “It’s a way of putting nearly any kind of material into a 3-D pattern with nanoscale precision,” says Edward Boyden, an associate Read more about Team that invented way to enlarge objects now invents method to shrink objects to the nanoscale, decreasing their volume 100x[…]

The Earth is far more alive than previously thought, according to “deep life” studies that reveal a rich ecosystem beneath our feet that is almost twice the size of all the world’s oceans. Despite extreme heat, no light, minuscule nutrition and intense pressure, scientists estimate this subterranean biosphere is teeming with between 15bn and 23bn Read more about Scientists identify vast underground ecosystem containing billions of micro-organisms[…]

Twin girls born earlier this month had their DNA altered to prevent them from contracting HIV, according to an Associated Press report. If confirmed, the births would signify the first gene-edited babies in human history—a stunning development that’s sparking an outcry from scientists and ethicists. Professor He Jiankui of Shenzhen, China, made the announcement earlier Read more about Reports of First Genetically Enhanced Babies Spark Outrage[…]

EXPLORER, the world’s first medical imaging scanner that can capture a 3-D picture of the whole human body at once, has produced its first scans. The brainchild of UC Davis scientists Simon Cherry and Ramsey Badawi, EXPLORER is a combined positron emission tomography (PET) and X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanner that can image the entire Read more about Human images from world’s first total-body scanner unveiled[…]

TimeTree is a public knowledge-base for information on the evolutionary timescale of life. Data from thousands of published studies are assembled into a searchable tree of life scaled to time. Three search modes are possible: Node Time – to find the divergence time of two species or higher taxa Timeline – to drill back through Read more about TimeTree :: The Timescale of Life: information on evolution[…]

Two days before Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, the NASA-Japan Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory satellite captured a 3-D view of the storm. At the time Maria was a Category 1 hurricane. The 3-D view reveals the processes inside the hurricane that would fuel the storm’s intensification to a category 5 within 24 hours. For Read more about Inside Hurricane Maria in 360°[…]

For the first time, an international team of researchers has used a quantum computer to create artificial life—a simulation of living organisms that scientists can use to understand life at the level of whole populations all the way down to cellular interactions. With the quantum computer, individual living organisms represented at a microscopic level with Read more about Researchers Created ‘Quantum Artificial Life’ For the First Time[…]