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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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Planetary Sciences
Jupiter's Great Red Spot shows unexpected size changes
Astronomy
Astronomers race to capture image of exoplanet near star
Planetary Sciences
Hubble and New Horizons offer dual perspectives on Uranus to inform exoplanet research
Paleontology & Fossils
Scientists recreate the head of this ancient 9-foot-long bug
Plants & Animals
Team uncovers the complex social life of rats, with potential implications for human psychiatry
Bio & Medicine
Making micelles more effective for dye and drug dispersion through well-defined core-shell structures
Polymers
Low-temperature synthesis technique uses upcycled textile waste to create green, safe waterproof coating
Cell & Microbiology
Detailed images of key protein complexes provide new insights into bacterial photosynthesis
Archaeology
Underwater caves yield clues that may help explain early expansion of Homo sapiens into Mediterranean islands
Astronomy
Black hole destroys star, goes after another
Nanomaterials
Novel etching technique enhances absorptivity of powders for metal 3D-printing
Biotechnology
Microplastic-free carrier system for pesticides shows potential for sustainable agriculture
Mathematics
In double breakthrough, mathematician helps solve two long-standing problems
Earth Sciences
Scientists uncover details of a catastrophic volcanic eruption and flood over 1,000 years ago
Earth Sciences
Arctic river erosion linked to permafrost thaw
Paleontology & Fossils
Earliest known fossil examples of predatory birds discovered: New species may have hunted like modern hawks and owls
Cell & Microbiology
Calcium-mediated effect plays key role in cell disposal, researchers discover
Archaeology
Microscopic study of milk teeth reveals mystery of Iberian culture newborns buried inside homes
Cell & Microbiology
Symbiotic bacterium affects reproduction of pest-controlling insect, study reveals
Plants & Animals
Scientists study elephant wrinkles to understand their purpose

Crews pause search for 1887 Confederate statue time capsule

Crews have ended their daylong search for the 1887 time capsule they believe is buried in the pedestal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that had towered over Richmond after being unable to locate it Thursday.

Is the nature of academic research changing?

An analysis in Learned Publishing indicates that the number of academic research articles using surveys and questionnaires has dramatically risen in the past 20 years; however, the quality of some of these articles (and ...

Bangladeshi vaccine scientist wins Asia's 'Nobel Prize'

A Bangladeshi scientist who helped develop a cheap oral vaccine against cholera, a Pakistani microfinance pioneer and a Filipino fisherman were among Tuesday's winners of Asia's equivalent to the Nobel Prize.