Science

12/09/2024

The December issue of Science Robotics is out!

This month's cover features a robotic spacecraft simulator using SETS, a real-time planning algorithm, to assist with autonomous decision-making in a simulated frictionless environment. Learn more: https://scim.ag/4ghz8Gd

12/09/2024

Pregnancy comes with a slew of check-ups and screenings to monitor both the health of the fetus and maternal complications.

But a routine prenatal test for chromosomal abnormalities in the developing baby can, in rare cases, also turn up a surprising variety of preexisting maternal cancers.

A new study found lymphomas, colon cancer, and breast cancer following rare fetal test result during pregnancy

12/09/2024

This electronic chip’s circuit board was made from a polymer-coated magnolia leaf.

Scientists take inspiration from trees to make electronics greener

12/09/2024

“[Latin America has] shown there is an alternative, that it is possible to publish science without selling out our knowledge for others’ profit.”

SciElo, other platforms work to help journals reach readers around the world

12/09/2024

"I stopped seeing my accent as a problem and started to embrace it."

This week's Working Life. https://scim.ag/3BiiQhs

“My ideas matter more than how I sound,” this postdoc writes

12/08/2024

In 1995, officials began to reintroduce wolves to northern Yellowstone National Park, restoring a symbol of wilderness and seemingly triggering an ecological transformation. Elk had been overrunning the park, because most of their predators had been hunted out. But the few dozen returning wolves apparently had an outsize impact. They created a “landscape of fear,” scaring elk away from their favorite dining spots of aspen stands and willow thickets. Elk ate worse diets, had fewer offspring—and trees, rivers, grasses, even songbirds returned, in a glorious example of a revitalized ecosystem. Or so the story went.

Now, 29 years later, a detailed study challenges that tale.

Study challenges idea that a “landscape of fear” allows aspen and willows to grow

12/08/2024

A new dietary analysis of 76 ancient canids in Science Advances complicates the tale of dog domestication by humans in Beringia. https://scim.ag/3OGXwpc

12/08/2024

On 9 October 2022, high energy photons from a gigantic explosion 1.9 billion light-years away toasted one side of Earth as never before observed.

The effects of this explosion show how a closer blast could harm life on Earth, researchers say.

Effects of brightest ever gamma ray burst show how a closer blast could harm life

12/07/2024

Mary’s long, luxurious baths have drawn so much attention that an envious elephant at the Berlin Zoo has figured out how to shut the water off on her supersoaking rival—a type of sabotage rarely seen among animals.

Learn more: https://scim.ag/4f7MC6u

12/07/2024

Blasting your favorite playlist can energize your workout. The same is true of fungus—but its tastes in tunes might be quite different from yours. https://bit.ly/3Aog5uN

12/07/2024

In remote Siberia, hunter-gatherers built complex defenses 8000 years ago.

In remote Siberia, hunter-gatherers built complex defenses 8000 years ago

12/06/2024

New research of the Clovis culture in North America presents stable isotope analyses of the Anzick child, representative of the earliest—and only—continent-wide archaeological culture, providing direct and quantitative measures of diet.

Learn more in this week's issue of Science Advances: https://scim.ag/4ij4fmy

12/06/2024

Hotter temperatures could cause a 32% increase in deaths of people younger than 35, predicts new Science Advances research. https://scim.ag/4iiXdym

12/06/2024

Saber-toothed cats are iconic creatures often seen in museum dioramas, displays of fossil skeletons, and even the movie Ice Age.

Now, for the first time one of these extinct predators has been spotted in the flesh: https://scim.ag/4giTO0v

12/06/2024

This anthropologist systematically measures the total energy used per day by animals and people in various walks of life—with some surprising results.

The work of evolutionary anthropologist Herman Pontzer shows why humans are the fattest, highest energy apes

12/06/2024

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has chosen billionaire businessman and pilot Jared Isaacman as the next NASA administrator.

The founder and CEO of Shift4, a payment processing company, Isaacman has twice paid to fly in space aboard capsules built by SpaceX, a rocket company led by Elon Musk, a close Trump ally.

Jared Isaacman has twice flown in space in capsules made by Elon Musk’s rocket company

12/05/2024

The work of Diana H. Wall (1943–2024), founder of the field of soil biodiversity, "led to improved understanding of the role of soils in climate change and a global campaign for soil health."

“Through her insights on nematodes and soil ecosystems, Diana became a guardian of the hidden universe of soil biodiversity. Her energy, kindness, mentoring, and leadership are precious gifts relished by everyone who knew and worked with her. Her contributions to the understanding of soil ecology and health will continue to benefit humanity and the planet in the future.”⁠

Read about her life on : https://scim.ag/3OCkFcj

12/05/2024

An engineered T cell (center) is designed to deliver therapies to the brain. This T cell displays orange synthetic receptors on its surface, which recognize components of extracellular matrix fibers that are only found in the brain. Within the cell, downstream signaling pathways are programmed to initiate transcription and release a therapeutic payload—shown as light blue protein secretions.

Learn more in this week's issue of Science: https://scim.ag/3ZDJTx1