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The extraordinary life of Alfred Nobel

The Nobel prizes may be one of the most famous and prestigious awards in the world—but who was the man behind them? As I explain in my lectures about Alfred Nobel, the inventor and entrepreneur has left a lasting legacy ...

Winning the Nobel 'an earthquake', says Ruvkun

US scientist Gary Ruvkun, who on Monday won the Nobel Prize in Medicine with fellow American Victor Ambros for their discovery of microRNA, said winning the honor was like "an earthquake".

Publisher Springer Nature makes stock market debut

Leading academic publisher Springer Nature made its stock market debut Friday, one of the few initial public offerings in Frankfurt this year despite the exchange's strong performance.

2024 Nobels offer glimmer of hope as global crises mount

Next week's Nobel Prize announcements will crown achievements that made the world a better place, a glimmer of optimism amid a spiraling Middle East conflict, war in Ukraine, famine in Sudan and a collapsing climate.

Will AI one day win a Nobel Prize?

Artificial intelligence is already disrupting industries from banking and finance to film and journalism, and scientists are investigating how AI might revolutionize their field—or even win a Nobel Prize.

Researchers unpack sign language's visual advantage

Linguists have long known that sign languages are as grammatically and logically sophisticated as spoken languages—and also make greater use of "iconicity," the property by which some words refer to things by resembling ...

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Study looks at funded partnerships between nonprofit organizations and researchers
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Saturday Citations: Permian-Triassic mystery solved; cute baby sighted; the nine-day 2023 seismic event
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Backside breathing and pigeon bombers studies win Ig Nobel prizes
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Studies on pigeon-guided missiles, swimming abilities of dead fish among Ig Nobels winners
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First publication of J.R.R. Tolkien's collected poems offers new insights into author's personality
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This year's $890,000 Balzan Prizes awarded for research on aging, restorative justice, climate crisis
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Saturday Citations: Teen seals photobomb research site; cell phones are safe; serotonin and emotional resilience
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A mural honoring scientists hung in Pfizer's NYC lobby for 60 years. Now it's up for grabs
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US disinformation researcher laments 'incredible witch hunt'
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Researchers propose framework for contextual metadata
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First Nations people are three times more likely to die on the road. Here's how to fix Australia's transport injustice
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Saturday Citations: Corn sweat! Nanoplastics! Plus: Massive objects in your area are dragging spacetime
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Claw machine games are Rio de Janeiro's new public enemy
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Best of Last Week—How humans really killed mammoths, making AI systems smarter, mitochondria fling their DNA
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Saturday Citations: Tarantulas and their homies; how mosquitoes find you; black holes not mysterious at all
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World's second largest diamond found in Botswana
Mathematics
New research analyzes 'Finnegans Wake' for novel spacing between punctuation marks
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Saturday Citations: Citizen scientists observe fast thing; controlling rat populations; clearing nanoplastic from water
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Study sheds light on creative thinking
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Flood of 'junk': How AI is changing scientific publishing

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Environment
The transition to a circular bioeconomy requires getting prices right, study says
Biochemistry
Scientists discover novel series of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitors for potential new COVID-19 treatments
Cell & Microbiology
Cryo-electron microscopy provides new insights into the cell's repair system
Earth Sciences
Researchers link El Niño to accelerated ice loss in tropics
Evolution
New seed fossil sheds light on wind dispersal in plants
Archaeology
With advanced scanning technique, confiscated Iron Age Iranian swords proven to be pastiches
General Physics
Nobel Prize in physics awarded to 2 scientists for discoveries that enabled machine learning
Earth Sciences
Research suggests Earth's oldest continental crust is disintegrating
Archaeology
Experimental archaeology sheds light on skill and technique in Bronze Age spear combat
General Physics
Physics team uncovers a quantum Mpemba effect with a host of 'cool' implications
Astrobiology
Ryugu sample analyses show asteroids may have delivered compounds needed to start life on Earth
Planetary Sciences
Webb allows researchers to use new method of finding atmospheres in distant planets
Nanomaterials
New insights into bubble interference could enhance electrode design
Astronomy
Anti-glitches detected in gamma-ray pulsar PSR J1522-5735
Plants & Animals
Study suggests elephants remember zookeepers after many years
Plants & Animals
Male locusts serve as parasols for females during egg laying in the hot sun
Environment
New research shows legal challenges to climate action on the rise
Earth Sciences
New global database of dams and reservoirs could transform water management
Biochemistry
Researchers design a drug capable of acting simultaneously against three different therapeutic targets
Molecular & Computational biology
Key molecule in wound healing identified through mapping of long non-coding RNA molecules

Study shows a '15-minute city' within reach for Vancouver

According to a new study published by Simon Fraser University researchers, 79 percent of residents in the City of Vancouver have access to a grocery store within a 15-minute walk and 99 percent had at least on grocery store ...

The Loch Ness monster: A modern history

Reports of Loch Ness monster sightings keep coming. The latest report, accompanied by a video, is of a 20–30ft long creature occasionally breaking the water's surface. Although the video clearly shows a moving v-shaped ...

'The Rock' diamond dazzles in Geneva

The biggest white diamond ever to be sold at auction, dubbed "The Rock," will go under the hammer in Geneva on Wednesday and could fetch up to $30 million—or more.

A motif perched within the Gilgameš Epic

Birds call forth a myriad of meanings in the Gilgameš Epic. Winged creatures convey abundance and revelry, enhance the narrative's soundscape, and foretell events in the story. In the article "Soundscapes, Portentous Calls, ...

The women scientists forgotten by history

French doctor and researcher Marthe Gautier, who died over the weekend, was one of a long line of women scientists who greatly contributed to scientific discovery only to see the credit go to their male colleagues.