Silver nanoparticles provide a more efficient way to cut and assemble DNA, improving recovery rates and boosting DNA joining efficiency for future gene engineering applications. DNA is made of long chains that carry the instructions living things need to grow and function. In genetic engineering, researchers cut DNA at chosen locations and attach the pieces [...]

Scientists have reported the first-ever live observations of the elusive goblin shark in its natural deep-sea habitat, capturing footage at two remote locations in the Central Pacific. Few sharks are as strange—or as elusive—as the goblin shark. With its elongated snout, protrusible jaws, and ancient lineage stretching back nearly 125 million years, the deep-sea predator [...]

Researchers have uncovered a molecular pathway that appears to block kidney regeneration after injury. The body’s ability to repair damaged organs is surprisingly limited, especially after serious injuries to the heart or kidneys. Now, UCLA researchers have found that a drug originally developed to help heart tissue regenerate after a heart attack may also accelerate [...]

Electrostatic forces enable low-voltage actuation without relying on rare earth materials. Nearly every electric motor in modern life, from the fan on your desk to the motor in an electric vehicle, relies on magnetism. For more than a century, magnetic fields have dominated motor design because electrostatic forces were considered too weak for practical machines. [...]

Astronomers have found that interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS contains an unusually large amount of methanol. Every interstellar object that passes through our solar system offers a rare chance to sample material forged around another star. Now, new observations of comet 3I/ATLAS using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have revealed a chemical surprise: the comet is [...]

The discovery of all five nucleobases on Ryugu strengthens the idea that life’s molecular ingredients formed in space before reaching Earth. A new study reports that samples from the asteroid Ryugu contain all five fundamental nucleobases, the molecular “letters” of life. Tiny asteroid grains can preserve chemical clues about the ingredients that may have helped [...]

A newly identified Archimedes Palimpsest leaf could help recover lost ancient mathematics using modern imaging techniques. A page from one of the world’s most important ancient manuscripts has resurfaced after being missing for decades. Researchers have identified a long-lost leaf from the Archimedes Palimpsest at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Blois, France, a discovery that [...]

A new study of the ancient Indus city of Mohenjo-daro challenges a long-held view of history by suggesting that prosperity did not lead to greater inequality. Unlike ancient Egypt, with its pyramids and powerful pharaohs, or Mesopotamia, with its ruling elites and monumental palaces, the Indus city of Mohenjo-daro left behind few obvious signs of [...]

Falling birth rates reveal a deeper social problem: many people who want children feel blocked by economic, housing, gender, and climate pressures. Birth rates have been falling around the world since the height of the baby boom that followed the Second World War. In many places, including Australia, they are now below replacement level. In [...]

Foreign veterans fighting in Ukraine face intense combat, serious mental health challenges, and limited access to care, leaving many without adequate support. Drone strikes, trench combat, and constant frontline danger have become defining features of the war in Ukraine. Now, a new UK study suggests that foreign military veterans who volunteered to fight in the [...]

Early childhood diets higher in ultra-processed foods were associated with more behavioral and emotional challenges two years later. The preschool years are a critical period for both brain development and the formation of lifelong eating habits. New research led by the University of Toronto suggests that what children eat during this window may be associated [...]

Older adults who knowingly took placebo pills showed significant gains in memory, physical performance, and stress reduction, highlighting the mind’s role in healthy aging. Can the mind help slow some of the effects of aging? A new study suggests it can. Researchers at Università Cattolica in Milan found that older adults who took a placebo [...]

A confirmed sighting of the critically endangered Cozumel dwarf fox has renewed calls for urgent research and conservation to prevent the disappearance of this unique island species. For more than two decades, the Cozumel dwarf fox existed almost as a biological ghost. Known primarily from ancient subfossil remains and a handful of unconfirmed reports, the [...]

Camera traps are revealing that the Amazon’s “ghost dog” is less rare than feared but still depends on protected forests. For decades, the short-eared dog (Atelocynus microtis) has ranked among the least understood carnivores in Latin America, and perhaps among the least understood canids anywhere. Its secretive behavior, sharp hearing, and powerful sense of smell [...]

Stored sperm may age faster than reproductive medicine has assumed, suggesting that shorter abstinence periods could benefit fertility outcomes. For decades, men undergoing fertility testing or treatment have often been advised to abstain from ejaculation for several days beforehand, based on the assumption that longer storage allows sperm counts to build up. But a major [...]

A new study suggests Antarctic ice loss may be reliably projected over the next several decades. Scientists say the next 30 to 50 years could be a crucial period for understanding and preparing for Antarctic ice loss and its impact on rising sea levels. A new study published in Nature and led by Monash University [...]

Coastal farmland in the Mid-Atlantic is being overtaken by rising seas faster than forests, revealing an overlooked rural front in climate-driven marsh migration. Ghost forests, the eerie stands of dead trees left behind when saltwater moves inland, have become a stark sign of sea level rise along the Mid-Atlantic coast. Yet a new Nature Sustainability [...]

A decade-long search through Taiwan’s remote forests led to the discovery of East Asia’s tallest tree and hundreds of other towering giants. An 84-meter-tall tree is surprisingly easy to miss. Hidden within Taiwan’s steep mountains and dense old-growth forests are some of the tallest trees on Earth, including giant conifers that rise higher than a [...]

The first direct measurements of exoplanet magnetic fields reveal that ultra-hot Jupiters possess strong magnetism that shapes their atmospheres and may provide new insights into planetary habitability. Astronomers have achieved a major advance in the study of worlds beyond our Solar System by estimating the strength of the magnetic fields surrounding seven ultra-hot Jupiters. The [...]

Researchers have identified the most distant dormant black hole known, dating back to the universe’s early history. Astronomers have long relied on brilliant quasars, supermassive black holes actively feeding on surrounding matter, to study the early universe. Yet these luminous objects reveal only part of the story. Now, researchers have detected the most distant dormant [...]