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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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Records show that churches monitored multilingual gossip in Elizabethan London
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The 'publish or perish' mentality is fueling research paper retractions—and undermining science
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Scientists become a source of hope and information on TikTok, Instagram
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Global crises are multiplying: Here's how science can help our public decision-makers
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Saturday Citations: Football metaphors in physics; vets treat adorable baby rhino's broken leg
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'The data on extreme human aging is rotten from the inside out,' says Ig Nobel winner
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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

Other news

Archaeology
'Getting high' in Paleolithic hunting: Elevated positions enhance javelin accuracy but reduce atlatl efficiency
Other
Walking in short bursts found to consume 20% to 60% more energy than walking continuously for same distance
Astronomy
Using gamma-ray bursts to probe origin of star formation excess discovered by Webb
Evolution
Explosive pollen wars: Plants fight for pollen-space on pollinators
Planetary Sciences
Unlocking cosmic origins: Researchers trace 70% of meteorites to 3 asteroid families
Astronomy
It's twins! Mystery of famed brown dwarf solved
Paleontology & Fossils
Fossil unearthed in Brazil is 237-million-year-old sister-group to Dinosauria
Astronomy
Hubble captures intricacies of R Aquarii, a symbiotic binary star roughly 700 light-years from Earth
Plants & Animals
Aquaculture uses far more wild fish than previously estimated, study finds
Astronomy
Astronomer detects eclipses in a candidate cataclysmic variable system
Quantum Physics
Hybrid quantum error correction technique integrates continuous and discrete variables
Quantum Physics
New theoretical framework sets limits for the realization of quantum processes in spacetime
Nanophysics
Adaptive ferroelectric materials show promise for energy-efficient supercomputing
Plants & Animals
Are you tasty to mosquitoes? Study offers clues into when and why they bite
Earth Sciences
Understanding landslides: A new model for predicting motion
Optics & Photonics
Researchers reveal quantum advantage that could advance future sensing devices
Earth Sciences
Plate tectonics drive compositional evolution of the upper mantle, study finds
Planetary Sciences
Audible storm waves could turbocharge Earth's radiation belts
Nanomaterials
The corners where atoms meet may provide a path to new materials for extreme conditions
Cell & Microbiology
The making of the gut—studies connect genetics and physics in embryonic development

When to trust (and not to trust) peer reviewed science

The words "published in a peer reviewed journal" are sometimes considered as the gold standard in science. But any professional scientist will tell you that the fact an article has undergone peer review is a long way from ...

Decision making on the spot

The scientific study of penalty taking suggests that there are unexploited opportunities for footballers.

Five unscientific methods some sports coaches use

Sports coaches are often under pressure to maximise the performance of their athletes and teams. With good intentions, they often turn to the latest hyped psychological techniques and ideas – many of which are not well ...

Japan quake battered most powerful microscopes

Two of the world's most powerful microscopes suffered severe damage from a deadly earthquake that hit the western Japanese city of Osaka, causing delays in cutting-edge cell and atomic-level research, a scientist said Friday.

Harlan Ellison, science fiction master, dies at age 84

Harlan Ellison, the prolific, pugnacious author of "A Boy and His Dog," and countless other stories that blasted society with their nightmarish, sometimes darkly humorous scenarios, has died at age 84