Category Archives: Research

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – June 20, 2024

Volume 630 Issue 8017

Nature Magazine – June 19, 2024: The latest issue features ‘Soar Point’ – Air sacs below the wings help soaring birds to glide…

Ancient graves reveal taxes’ sharp bite nearly 3,000 years ago

Buried items show that the poor got poorer as the Assyrian empire and its bureaucracy swelled.

CRISPR improves a crop that feeds billions

The gene-editing system, normally used to disrupt a gene, is applied to improve the function of a gene in rice.

How cutting-edge computer chips are speeding up the AI revolution

Engineers are harnessing the powers of graphics processing units (GPUs) and more, with a bevy of tricks to meet the computational demands of artificial intelligence.

Research Preview: Science Magazine – June 14, 2024

Current Issue Cover

Science Magazine – June 13, 2024: The new issue features ‘Follow The Leader’ – A surface layer ensures photoactive perovskite growth….

Hubble telescope down to last gyroscopes, limiting science

Despite failing hardware, NASA has no plans to pursue a servicing mission to the aging, iconic instrument

Astronauts face health risks—even on short trips in space

New studies include health data collected from space tourists on first privately funded orbital mission

Sacrificed Maya boys tied to myth of ‘Hero Twins’

Ancient DNA shows continuity between living and ancient Maya communities

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – June 13, 2024

Volume 630 Issue 8016

Nature Magazine – June 12, 2024: The latest issue features ‘Complex System’ – AlphaFold 3 powers predictions of protein molecule interactions…

Mystery of huge ancient engravings of snakes solved at last

The depictions along South America’s Orinoco River are some of the biggest rock art known.

AI finds huge cache of anti-bacterial peptides hidden in genomic data

Machine-learning technique uncovers nearly 900,000 microbe-fighting peptide sequences in genomes collected from soils and other sources.

‘Sugar world’ sweetens the Solar System’s remote reaches

The icy body Arrokoth has a sugary coating that gives the body its distinctive red appearance.Research Highlight03 Jun 2024

A huge outbreak of butterflies hit three continents — here’s why

Swarms of painted ladies that descended on the Middle East, northern Africa and Europe have been traced to their source.

Research Preview: Science Magazine – June 7, 2024

Current Issue Cover

Science Magazine – June 6, 2024: The new issue features ‘Cellular Deformation’ – Rapidly stretching Protists snag a snack…

Little-known virus is on the rise in South America

Deforestation and climate change may be helping Oropouche virus spread far beyond the Amazon Basin

‘Google for DNA’ indexes 10% of world’s known sequence data

Achievement demonstrates feasibility of making all of life’s code easily searchable, researchers say

The evolution of thermogenesis in mammals

Comparative genomics elucidates the steps enabling heat production in fat tissue

Research Preview: Science Magazine – May 31, 2024

Current Issue Cover

Science Magazine – May 230, 2024: The new issue features ‘Cuckoo Coevolution’ – Host matching drives lineage divergence…

After crisis in interstellar space, stream of Voyager 1 data resumes

Before its computer crashed, venerable NASA probe may have entered mysterious new region beyond the Solar System

Theory of sleep as a brain cleanser challenged

Mouse study contradicts landmark finding, but some question its methodology

Mysterious sea urchin plague is spreading rapidly

Pathogen that kills victims within days leaps from Caribbean to Red Sea

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – May 30, 2024

Volume 629 Issue 8014

Nature Magazine – May 22, 2024: The latest issue cover features ‘Vision Mixing’ – Image chip combines cognition and action to sense the real world…

How does ChatGPT ‘think’? Psychology and neuroscience crack open AI large language models

Researchers are striving to reverse-engineer artificial intelligence and scan the ‘brains’ of LLMs to see what they are doing, how and why.

Found at last: long-lost branch of the Nile that ran by the pyramids

Geological survey reveals the remains of a major waterway that ancient Egyptian builders could have used to transport materials.

Pig-organ transplants: what three human recipients have taught scientists

As researchers mark the loss of the first living recipient of a pig kidney, they share what they’ve learnt about xenotransplantation.

Research Preview: Science Magazine – May 24, 2024

Science Magazine – May 23, 2024: The new issue features ‘Decoding the Brain’ – A cell-by-cell exploration of neuropsychiatry; Does a breakdown in the body’s internal chatter drive aging…

Decoding the Brain

A cell-by-cell look at neuropsychiatric diseases

Mapping the brain’s gene-regulatory maze

DNA sequences are connected to genes and functions in the developing and adult brain

How the German cockroach conquered the world

DNA study implicates medieval warfare and colonial trade

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – May 23, 2024

Volume 629 Issue 8013

Nature Magazine – May 22, 2024: The latest issue cover features ‘Moment In The Sun’ – Near-surface instabilities drive the solar magnetic dynamo…

How cheesemaking could cook up an antidote for alcohol excess

A gel made from a milk protein reduces alcohol levels in the blood of intoxicated mice.

Organoids merge to model the blood–brain barrier

Combining a brain organoid with a blood-vessel organoid yields a system similar to a protective mesh in the brain.

Africa’s lush tropical forests face a surprising threat: fire

Climate change and deforestation have increased the frequency of blazes in the humid forests of West and Central Africa.

Scientific American Magazine – June 2024

Readers Respond to the February 2024 Issue | Scientific American

Scientific American (May 15, 2024)The June 2024 issue features:

Grizzly Bears Will Finally Return to Washington State. Humans Aren’t Sure How to Greet Them

BENJAMIN CASSIDY

Lifting the Veil on Near-Death Experiences

RACHEL NUWER

Research Preview: Science Magazine – May 10, 2024

Science Magazine – May 9, 2024: The new issue features ‘Volcanic Moon’ – Billions of years of activity on Jupiter’s moon Io…

Australia bets big on optical quantum computing

In AU$940 million deal, PsiQuantum will build “utility scale” facility

Report offers harsh verdict on global polio vaccine switch

Draft evaluation calls 2016 decision to change oral vaccines a “failure”

To probe outbreak, BSL-3 labs plan to infect cows with flu virus

Novel effort comes as study finds key receptor for avian flu virus in udders, where the virus flourishes