Sustainability has become something of a buzzword over the years. From the clothes we wear and the energy that powers our homes to the way we live our lives, the idea of sustainable production and consumption has become commonplace.
Tropical rainforests are home to almost two-thirds of all vertebrate species and three-quarters of all tree species: they are the most species-rich terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. However, over half of these diverse rainforests have already been cleared, and their area continues to decline drastically, primarily for agricultural purposes. Is there a chance of regeneration, and can not only trees but also the unique diversity of thousands of animal species return to cleared areas?
Musicians around the world agree on one thing: streaming platforms are essential for their careers. Most also agree on another: they don't pay enough. A new report from the Oxford Internet Institute and the University of Groningen captures this contradiction across five countries—Brazil, Chile, the Netherlands, Nigeria and South Korea.
Excavation of a council house at the major Lowland Maya center of Ucanal, Guatemala, reveals how the public gained some influence over Maya politics more than 1,000 years ago. These colonnaded, open halls were likely council houses, where political leaders met to deliberate on governmental decisions. The open structures contrast with previous Classic period palaces, where "divine" rulers made political decisions in more private spaces. This shows the increasing importance of consensus-based politics from c. 810–950 AD onward.
Every day, fish caught in oceans and seas around the world pass through a long journey before reaching supermarkets, restaurants, and home kitchens. Along the way, their freshness steadily declines, often in ways that are difficult to detect. Now imagine being able to measure how fresh a fish is at any point along this journey. Researchers at Hokkaido University have developed a mathematical model that can do exactly this. The latest development could help reduce food waste and improve seafood quality.
From space, Earth's populated areas glow on the otherwise "black marble" of the planet at night. For decades, scientists assumed this glow was steadily increasing as the world developed. However, a new study published in Nature flips this narrative.
An international team of researchers, led by scientists from the University of California, Irvine, has demonstrated a fundamentally new way to make silicon emit light—overcoming one of the most persistent limitations in modern electronics and photonics. In their work appearing in Nano Letters, the scientists show that silicon, long considered an inefficient light emitter due to its indirect bandgap, can be transformed into a bright, broadband source. The researchers produced emissions from silicon in its conventional bulk form, without modification to its composition or structure. Instead, the breakthrough comes from modifying the properties of light itself.
A specific protein controls mRNA transport in fungi and distinguishes important from unimportant binding sites in the transported mRNAs. Researchers from Würzburg and Düsseldorf have discovered this mechanism.
Earlier this year, I published a paper on the ethics of researching military populations. The core argument was straightforward: the standard rules researchers follow to protect participants—for example, informed consent and voluntary participation—don't work the same in an institution built on hierarchy and obedience.
A study of nearly 200,000 Amazon reviews shows that the usefulness of online product reviews depends not only on what is said, but on how the information is structured. The researchers, from the Universities of Cambridge and Queensland, studied Amazon reviews for products ranging from clothing to food to electronics. They found that how the information is organized matters as much as what is said, and that different review structures are more or less helpful, depending on how highly the reviewer has rated the product.
