Galaxy clusters offer clues to dark matter and dark energy
It's a cosmic irony: the biggest things in the universe can also be the hardest to find.
Astronomy
Aug 28, 2017
77
62
Boston University
Why scientists want to solve an underground mystery about where microbes live
Though it might seem inanimate, the soil under our feet is very much alive. It's filled with countless microorganisms actively breaking down organic matter, like fallen leaves and plants, and performing a host of other functions ...
Ecology
Jun 4, 2021
1
904
Measuring the true cost of conservation
For decades, scientists have been warning about potential future effects of global climate change, including more frequent wildfires, longer periods of drought, and sharp increases in the number, duration, and intensity of ...
Ecology
Nov 13, 2020
0
144
Reimagining our solar system's protective bubble, the heliosphere
You are living in a bubble. Not a metaphorical bubble—a real, literal bubble. But don't worry, it's not just you. The whole planet, and every other planet in the solar system, for that matter, is in the bubble too. And, ...
Astronomy
Mar 17, 2020
19
581
A single evolutionary road may lead to Rome
A well-known biologist once theorized that many roads led to Rome when it comes to two distantly related organisms evolving a similar trait. A new paper, published in Nature Communications, suggests that when it comes to ...
Evolution
Sep 8, 2014
1
0
A new view of the solar system: Astrophysical jets driven by the sun
As the sun skims through the galaxy, it flings out charged particles in a stream of plasma called the solar wind, and the solar wind creates a bubble extending far outside the solar system known as the heliosphere. For decades, ...
Astronomy
Feb 19, 2015
76
107
Beyond synthetic biology, synthetic ecology boosts health by engineering the environment
There's a lot of interest right now in how different microbiomes—like the one made up of all the bacteria in our guts—could be harnessed to boost human health and cure disease. But Daniel Segrè has set his sights on ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 4, 2021
1
260
Ants don't get Alzheimer's
It's a poignant fact of life: no matter how much we exercise, or how many wheatgrass smoothies we slurp, our bodies still age. As the years pass, skin wrinkles, eyesight falters, hearing fades. It's called senescence—the ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 3, 2016
0
54
Self-directed robot can identify objects
"That is a ball." "I do believe that is a cone." "Seems like a wonderful book." The voice is mechanical and flat, and anyone offering such banal commentary and sounding so bored would surely bomb in a job interview. But in ...
Robotics
Feb 23, 2016
1
478
Could artificial intelligence make life harder for hackers?
As the volume of digital information in corporate networks continues to grow, so grows the number of cyberattacks, and their cost. One cybersecurity vendor, Juniper Networks, estimates that the cost of data breaches worldwide ...
Computer Sciences
Feb 1, 2019
0
57
