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
Saturday Citations: Football metaphors in physics; vets treat adorable baby rhino's broken leg
Other
'The data on extreme human aging is rotten from the inside out,' says Ig Nobel winner
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 news

General Physics
Study proposes that proteins can compartmentalize and form droplets inside cells
Ecology
Hidden in the teeth: DNA study finds these 19th century lions preyed on humans and giraffes
Plants & Animals
Bat data study reveals conservation priorities in San Diego County
Evolution
Evolution in real time: Scientists predict—and witness—evolution in a 30-year marine snail experiment
Plants & Animals
One-third of European plant species could be in trouble due to declining seed disperser populations
Astrobiology
How did the building blocks of life arrive on Earth? Zinc fingerprints in meteorites offer clues
Molecular & Computational biology
Targeting 'undruggable' diseases: Researchers reveal new levels of detail in targeted protein degradation
Other
New study reveals key players in global transshipment, boosting seafood transparency
Condensed Matter
Physicists reveal nonlinear transport induced by quantum geometry in planar altermagnets
Social Sciences
Analysis of approximately 75 million publications finds those employing AI are more likely to be a 'hit paper'
Nanophysics
Engineering perovskite materials at the atomic level paves way for new lasers, LEDs
Plasma Physics
Researchers uncover role of plasma waves in mysterious heating of sun's corona
Earth Sciences
Novel algorithms detect precursory scale increase to help forecast big quakes
Astrobiology
Mars analog stations investigate lichen biodiversity during simulated missions
Plants & Animals
Mountain chickadees songs provide real-time evidence for Darwin's character displacement theory
Ecology
Eastern Pacific study highlights severe cold-water bleaching as an additional threat to deep reef ecosystems
Space Exploration
'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
Cell & Microbiology
Scientists discover how innate immunity envelops bacteria
Earth Sciences
Machine learning could improve extreme weather warnings
Nanophysics
A quantum material could be the future of high-energy X-ray imaging and particle detection

Quicker and cooler is best for clothes

Groundbreaking research into the impact washing machines have on clothes and the environment shows that shorter, cooler washes help clothes look better for longer and release fewer microfibers.

Time-to-death of Roman emperors followed distinct pattern

Roman emperors faced a high risk of violent death in their first year of rule, but the risk slowly declined over the next seven years, according to an article published in the open access journal Palgrave Communications. ...

Reproduction of historical trombones

There is a scholarly trend of playing ancient music as it was conceived by the composer. But where can rare historical instruments be found? One solution is fabricating exact copies of the originals. A team of Empa researchers ...

Research participation goes virtual with new online platform

Two recent Queen's University graduates are addressing a problem that has plagued clinical researchers for years—how to make it easy and convenient for members of the public to get involved in research. Luc Pelletier and ...

CRISPR, gravity waves, water on Mars: A decade of discoveries

From finding the building blocks for life on Mars to breakthroughs in gene editing and the rise of artificial intelligence, here are six major scientific discoveries that shaped the 2010s—and what leading experts say could ...