Last update:

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 ...

More news

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

Other news

Plants & Animals
Scientists study elephant wrinkles to understand their purpose
Evolution
A peculiar algae's genome reveals clues to reef-building and climate adaptation
Analytical Chemistry
Chirality determines the strength of a coupling between nuclear spins, study finds
Bio & Medicine
Nanobody capable of limiting the side effects of opioids discovered
Earth Sciences
Heavy metals in the ocean become more toxic: How climate change impacts contaminants in the sea
General Physics
Accelerator studies propel quantum research into a higher energy orbit
Analytical Chemistry
Researchers discover atomic-level mechanism in polycrystalline materials
Earth Sciences
Professor helps discover global gap in geologic record
Biotechnology
Bioengineered enzyme can produce synthetic genetic material, advancing development of new therapeutic options
Plants & Animals
Light pollution disturbs moths—even in the dark, study shows
Environment
Modeling study finds mercury pollution from human activities is declining
Molecular & Computational biology
Plants save energy when absorbing potassium, study shows
Biotechnology
One-step nanoscale expansion microscopy: From molecule to 3D structure with a conventional microscope
Optics & Photonics
Quantum physicists tap into entanglement to improve the precision of optical atomic clocks
Earth Sciences
New study reveals growing weather extremes in Indo-Pacific region driven by shifts in tropical weather patterns
Astronomy
Team discovers three new magnetic and helium-enriched hot subdwarf stars
Other
Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded to 3 scientists for work on proteins, building blocks of life
Nanophysics
Peptides and plastics combine for energy-efficient materials
Molecular & Computational biology
The hidden virosphere: AI helps discover more than 160,000 new virus species
Plants & Animals
The bright and dark sides of Pacific salmon biotransport: Study tracks migration trends over 40 years

How do we keep on eating meat if we wish animals no harm?

While Greta Thunberg, the climate activist, laments that animal products are 'stealing' her future, humanity keeps consuming meat. In fact, approximately between 90-97% of us eat meat, with worldwide meat consumption currently ...

Science journalists under pressure amid COVID-19

COVID-19 has thrown science and science journalism into the spotlight like never before. Now a global survey turns the lens on some of the working conditions and practices of the people trying to report on it.

The disappearance of women researchers in times of pandemic

When an article is published in a scientific journal, three authorship positions indicate who the study's principal researchers are: first author, last author and corresponding author. These positions are used for decision-making, ...