Before rain begins to fall, scientists and engineers can predict where a storm might cause flooding thanks to advanced modeling and digital simulations that help guide billion-dollar decisions involving infrastructure design, emergency response, land-use planning, insurance, agriculture, water quality, and public safety.
A pioneering research-industry partnership has used advances in indoor farming technology to grow pea shoots fortified with vitamin B12, opening an exciting route to market for farmers and addressing a major public health need. The partnership between the John Innes Centre and the Quadram Institute, based at the Norwich Research Park, the University of Bristol, and indoor farm specialists LettUs Grow, harnessed the latest aeroponic techniques to successfully deliver the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin B12 within a 15-gram portion of pea shoots.
Scientists at the University of Cambridge have developed a new way to alter complex drug molecules using light rather than toxic chemicals—a discovery that could accelerate and improve how medicines are designed and made. Published in Nature Synthesis, the study introduces what the team calls an "anti-Friedel–Crafts" reaction.
A Kobe University study shows that small aquatic beetles survive catfish attacks by resisting ingestion inside the catfish's mouth and being spat out alive. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of size-dependent predator-prey relationships in aquatic insects and fish.
An old NASA science satellite plunged uncontrolled from orbit and reentered over the Pacific on Wednesday.
Researchers have uncovered evidence for our sun joining a mass migration of similar "twins" leaving the core regions of our galaxy, 4 to 6 billion years ago. The team created and studied an unprecedentedly accurate catalog of stars and their properties using data from the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite. Their discovery sheds light on the evolution of our galaxy, particularly the development of the rotating bar-like structure at its center.
More than 3 million years ago, when our ancient ancestors embodied by the iconic Lucy were roaming the African landscape, they would have feared a big, bad crocodile with a prominent lump on its head, patiently lurking in rivers and lakes to attack them. According to a research team led by the University of Iowa, that crocodile is a new species.
We all know cats represent a major threat to native animals and birds. Australia's 5.3 million domestic cats kill a total of 546 million animals each year in Australia. What's less well known is allowing your domestic cat to roam outside exposes them to considerable danger—and the risk of a short life.
In 1974, philosopher Thomas Nagel posed a deceptively simple question: "What is it like to be a bat?" His point wasn't really about bats. He was offering a provocative challenge about the limits of understanding another mind: no matter how much we try, we cannot access what it feels like to experience the world as another.
