A single atom layer of gold: Researchers create goldene
For the first time, scientists have managed to create sheets of gold only a single atom layer thick. The material has been termed goldene. According to researchers, this has given the gold new...
View ArticleMaking crops colorful for easier weeding
To make weeding easier, scientists suggest bioengineering crops to be colorful or to have differently shaped leaves so that they can be more easily distinguished from their wild and weedy counterparts....
View ArticleData-driven music: Converting climate measurements into music
A geo-environmental scientist from Japan has composed a string quartet using sonified climate data. The 6-minute-long composition -- entitled 'String Quartet No. 1 'Polar Energy Budget'-- is based on...
View ArticleNew research shines a light on how expert mapmakers see the world differently
Researchers have found differences between experienced Ordnance Survey (OS) mapmakers and novices in the way that they interpret aerial images for mapmaking, which could lead to improved training...
View ArticleLemur's lament: When one vulnerable species stalks another
What can be done when one threatened animal kills another? Scientists studying critically endangered lemurs in Madagascar confronted this difficult reality when they witnessed attacks on lemurs by...
View ArticleFrog species evolved rapidly in response to road salts
When we think of evolution, we think of a process that happens over hundreds or thousands of years. In research recently published, a species of frog that has evolved over the course of merely 25...
View ArticleHow do birds flock? Researchers do the math to reveal previously unknown...
How do birds fly in a coordinated and seemingly effortless fashion? Part of the answer lies in precise, and previously unknown, aerodynamic interactions, reports a team of mathematicians. Its...
View ArticleAncient Maya blessed their ballcourts
Using environmental DNA analysis, an international team of researchers identified a collection of plants used in ceremonial rituals in the ancient Maya city of Yaxnohcah in Mexico. The plants, known...
View ArticleFixin' to be flexitarian: Scrap fish and invasive species can liven up...
Greening the way we eat needn't mean going vegetarian. A healthy, more realistic solution is to adopt a flexitarian diet where seafoods add umami to 'boring' vegetables. A gastrophysicist puts...
View ArticleFading lights: Multiple threats to North America's firefly populations
Scientists have applied a data-driven approach to understanding firefly population dynamics on a continental scale. Key findings from this new study indicate that fireflies, part of the beetle order,...
View ArticleDid a magnetic field collapse trigger the emergence of animals?
Researchers uncovered compelling evidence that Earth's magnetic field was in a highly unusual state when the macroscopic animals of the Ediacaran Period -- 635 to 541 million years ago -- diversified...
View ArticleIconic baobabs: The origin and long-distance travels of upside down trees
The research cracks the code on the iconic baobab tree's origin story, revealing their surprising origins in Madagascar and incredible long-distance dispersals to Africa and Australia. The study...
View ArticleJet-propelled sea creatures could improve ocean robotics
Scientists have discovered that colonies of gelatinous sea animals swim through the ocean in giant corkscrew shapes using coordinated jet propulsion, an unusual kind of locomotion that could inspire...
View ArticleOtters, especially females, use tools to survive a changing world
Sea otters are one of the few animals that use tools to access their food, and a new study has found that individual sea otters that use tools -- most of whom are female -- are able to eat larger prey...
View ArticleAncient arachnid from coal forests of America stands out for its spiny legs
The spiny legged 308-million-year-old arachnid Douglassarachne acanthopoda was discovered the famous Mazon Creek locality.
View ArticleAlaska's rusting waters: Pristine rivers and streams turning orange
Dozens of Alaska's rivers and streams are turning orange. The staining could be the result of minerals exposed by thawing permafrost and climate change, finds a new study.
View Article'Fossilizing' cracks in infrastructure creates sealing that can even survive...
In a new study, a team of researchers used research on fossilizing techniques to create a new method for sealing cracks and fractures in rocks and bedrock using a 'concretion-forming resin'. This...
View ArticleAustralian study proves 'humans are planet's most frightening predator'
A new study demonstrates that kangaroos, wallabies and other Australian marsupials fear humans far more than any other predator.
View ArticleSexual parasitism helped anglerfish invade the deep sea during a time of...
Members of the vertebrate group including anglerfishes are unique in possessing a characteristic known as sexual parasitism, in which males temporarily attach or permanently fuse with females to mate....
View ArticleEntomologist sheds light on 250-year-old mystery of the German cockroach
Entomologists have solved the 250-year-old origin puzzle of the most prevalent indoor urban pest insect on the planet: the German cockroach. The team's research findings, representing the genomic...
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