An international team of scientists working with Queensland Museum's CoralBank project has uncovered previously hidden coral diversity on Australia's east coast, revealing that 12 corals once considered variations of other species are distinct species in their own right.
Extra time on assignments. Frequent breaks. A quiet place to work. For students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), these are some of the most common accommodations schools provide to make learning easier. But are they actually helping children succeed? A new study from Florida International University (FIU) suggests that some widely used approaches may be falling short.
Dogs, having lived alongside humans for tens of thousands of years, are keenly tuned in to our emotions. Behavioral experiments, brain studies and even measurements of heart rate all suggest dogs respond differently depending on the emotional expressions they encounter in humans.
They say opposites attract, and many couples do fit this pattern. One is pragmatic and down-to-earth, while the other is a dreamer with their head in the clouds. Yet, these differences make them perfect for each other. According to researchers at ICFO, chemical interactions between atoms are not that different. Ruthenium, for instance, belongs to the "dreamer" class. It is commonly used in single-atom catalysts that speed up water electrolysis, which splits water to obtain green hydrogen. However, on its own, ruthenium tends to over-oxidize and dissolve during operation, like an idealist who takes flight without looking back.
It probably walked on two legs and weighed about 400 kilograms (880 pounds), despite still being a youngster. Meet Nyana rooiwalensis, a newly identified dinosaur species that lived more than 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa.
Mercury contamination presents an obvious challenge: it is invisible. A glass of water or a piece of fruit can seem perfectly normal to the naked eye, even when trace amounts of toxic mercury are present. Detecting such minute levels usually requires specialized laboratory tools and trained experts.
Researchers at University of Tsukuba and collaborating institutions have identified short antimicrobial peptides derived from Nemuri, a sleep-inducing protein in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.
For around 10,000 years, humans have selectively bred sheep for desirable traits. Generation after generation, we have chosen animals for their wool, size and reproductive characteristics and gradually left our mark on their DNA.
Surface rocks can reveal records of regions they occupied millions of years ago, even if those areas were kilometers below ground. On Türkiye's Marmara Sea's southern shores and islands, granitic rocks that are now exposed originated as molten material deep in Earth's crust.
What makes the human brain so much larger and more complex than the brains of many other mammals? Scientists have long sought clues in our DNA. Some discoveries show how genetic changes enable the developing brain to produce more cells. Others help explain how long those cells can continue to multiply.
