Tag Archives: Science Magazines

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – July 11, 2024

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Nature Magazine – July 10, 2024: The latest issue features Frog Sauna – Sun-warmed refuge helps amphibians fight deadly fungal infection…

The surprising driver of Amazon deforestation

Demand from Brazil itself accounts for more than half of the demand for crops and livestock from the Amazon and the savannah that surrounds it.

Fake jewellery from the Stone Age looks like the real deal

‘Amber’ beads dating to the Neolithic period, lasting from the fifth to the third millennium BC, are actually mollusc shells coated with resin and natural pigments.

Killer immune cells pile on the pressure to slay their foes

Immune-system assassins called killer T cells compress target cells, forming a destructive crater.

Ants amputate their nest-mates’ legs to save lives

The location of an injury determines whether ants bite off or preserve a damaged limb.

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – June 27, 2024

Volume 630 Issue 8018

Nature Magazine – June 26, 2024: The latest issue features ‘Popcorn Planet’ – Tidal heating puffs up exoplanet’s atmosphere…

‘Smart’ fabric protects against heat of city streets

Textile keeps its cool even when surrounded by urban surfaces that absorb and release heat.

How huge black holes sprouted just after the Big Bang

Hubble observations of faint galaxies suggest that such objects could have been the seeds of very early supermassive black holes.

Autoimmune antibodies tied to lower malaria risk in kids

Findings support one idea about why self-directed immune responses are more common in some populations.

A mighty river’s radical shift changed the face of ancient Egypt

Samples taken near a capital of the pharaohs reveal an overhaul of the Nile 4,000 years ago.

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: 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: 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: Nature Magazine – Feb 29, 2024

 and Bo Xia

Volume 626 Issue 8001

Nature Magazine – February 28, 2024: The latest issue cover features ‘Tale of the Tails’ – How a genetic element aided tail loss in humans and apes; RNA-editing therapies for genetic diseases have in the past few months gained approval for clinical trials, raising hopes for safer treatments…

Move over, CRISPR: RNA-editing therapies pick up steam

Two RNA-editing therapies for genetic diseases have in the past few months gained approval for clinical trials, raising hopes for safer treatments.

200 years of naming dinosaurs: scientists call for overhaul of antiquated system

Some palaeontologists want more rigorous guidelines for naming species, along with action to address problematic historical practices.

MEGA-CRISPR tool gives a power boost to cancer-fighting cells

A system that edits RNA rather than DNA can give new life to exhausted CAR T cells.

Research: New Scientist Magazine – Feb 24, 2024

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New Scientist Magazine (February 22, 2024): This issue features ‘The Human Brain’ – How it works, why it fails and the secrets to using it better…

New evidence finally reveals how male and female brains really differ

The strange truth about why thinking hard makes you feel exhausted

Why the brain’s microbiome could hold the key to curing Alzheimer’s

Supercommunicators review: Learning how to change deeply held beliefs

Are you truly healthy? These new tests provide the ultimate check-up

How we will discover the mysterious origins of life once and for all

With privacy concerns rising, can we teach AI chatbots to forget?

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – Feb 22, 2024

Volume 626 Issue 8000

Nature Magazine – February 21, 2024: The latest issue cover features ‘Smoke Alarm’ – How smoking alters the immune response even years after quitting…

Great ‘Stone Age’ wall discovered in Baltic Sea

Megastructure stretching nearly 1 kilometre long is probably one of the oldest known hunting aids on Earth.

The immune markers that predict who can keep SARS-CoV-2 in check

People infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 cleared the virus more quickly if they had high levels of certain immune cells.

Introducing meat–rice: grain with added muscles beefs up protein

The laboratory-grown food uses rice as a scaffold for cultured meat.

American Scientist Magazine – March 2024

Current Issue

American Scientist (February 15, 2024): The latest issue features “Deconstructing DNA Beyond the Helix” – science educator and artist Caryn Babaian explores through illustration the molecular details and interactions that can affect DNA’s structure. She contends that for people to fully understand DNA, it must be shown in relationship to water. 

Deconstructing DNA Beyond the Helix

BY CARYN BABAIAN

An artist’s experimental approach to Rosalind Franklin’s Photo 51 reveals the molecule’s intricate biochemistry.

When Sharks Eat an Angler’s Haul

BY DAVID SAMUEL SHIFFMAN

Tensions are rising as the ocean’s great predators nab fish on the line, inciting a major new challenge in human–wildlife conflict.

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – Feb 15, 2024

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Nature Magazine – February 14, 2024: The latest issue cover climate and land-use stresses could push the rainforest past a tipping point as early as 2050. The researchers probed five causes of water stress — global warming, annual rainfall, seasonal intensity of rainfall, length of the dry season and deforestation — using palaeorecords,  climate models and observational data.

First passages of rolled-up Herculaneum scroll revealed

Researchers used artificial intelligence to decipher the text of 2,000-year-old charred papyrus scripts, unveiling musings on music and capers.

Deepfakes, trolls and cybertroopers: how social media could sway elections in 2024

Faced with data restrictions and harassment, researchers are mapping out fresh approaches to studying social media’s political reach.