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Researchers have used quantum physics and machine learning to quickly and accurately understand a mound of data – a technique, they say, could help extract meaning from gargantuan datasets. Their method works on groundwater monitoring, and they’re trialling it on other fields like traffic management and medical imaging. “Machine learning and artificial intelligence is a […]

The most comprehensive global analysis of genetic diversity has shown that plant, animal and fungi species are losing genetic diversity. Conservation efforts, however, are helping to safeguard species. High genetic diversity is crucial for species to adapt to environmental changes and pressures, as well as to avoid inbreeding. The study, published in Nature, includes data […]

Hard, durable thermoset plastics appear everywhere from aircraft coatings to hip replacements. But they’re extremely difficult to recycle, and  millions of tonnes end up in landfill, or incinerated into the atmosphere, each year. Now a team of researchers has made a plastic which boasts the tough properties of a thermoset, but which can be recycled. […]

A unique study, led by Monash University, has found that when a woman’s or man’s spouse dies, their loneliness and grief persist regardless of whether they are isolated or supported socially, are self-reliant or healthy. The study, published in the journal Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, and led by world-leading loneliness expert Dr Rosanne Freak-Poli from Monash University, […]

Would you give up your sense of smell to keep your hair? What about your phone? A 2022 US study compared smell to other senses (sight and hearing) and personally prized commodities (including money, a pet or hair) to see what people valued more. The researchers found smell was viewed as much less important than […]

Researchers have developed a technology that they say could make more efficient and eco-friendly refrigerators. While it can only nudge things a degree or two right now, the researchers believe their method could easily be scaled up. The technique, described in a paper in Joule, uses a tool called a thermogalvanic cell. “Thermogalvanic technology is […]

A new study suggests that, beneath its cold and dormant exterior, the moon is more dynamic than previously thought. “Knowing that the moon is still geologically dynamic has very real implications for where we’re planning to put our astronauts, equipment and infrastructure on the moon,” says Jaclyn Clark, an assistant research scientist at the University […]

Tens of thousands of fish have died off northwestern Australia, as a large and long-lasting marine heatwave intensifies. The fish kill at Gnoorea Beach near Karratha is concerning our team of scientists, as the hot mass of water heads south towards Ningaloo Reef and the seagrass gardens in Shark Bay. That’s because we’ve seen this […]

A 700-year-old fresco found in an Italian church has provided more evidence of the presence of Islamic art in medieval European Christianity. The fresco, which depicts a tent used to cover the high altar, is thought to be the only surviving picture of its kind. “At first, it seemed unbelievable and just too exciting that […]

A new genetic study has mapped out the 11,000-year history of the close relationship between humans and sheep. The earliest sheep-herding practices were discovered Aşıklı Höyük in central Turkey, detailed in a 2014 study. It showed that these ancient people of the northwestern part of the “Fertile Crescent” had penned wild sheep in about 9000 […]

Archaeologists have found more than 850 artefacts on the surface of a dried lake bed in Iraq’s Western Desert including hand axes dating to 1.5 million years ago. The discoveries were made by a team led by Ella Egberts from the Free University of Brussels in Belgium. “The fieldwork was a huge success,” Egberts says […]

Ultrathin lightsails using lasers to propel probes to the nearest star systems at high speeds are a step closer. The idea of lightsails is something out of science fiction. As early as the 1950s and ‘60s, science fiction writers John Campbell, Arthur C. Clarke and others were toying with the idea of “solar sails” for […]

While some humans have the hilarious ability to wiggle their ears, most cannot move their auricular muscles at will. But new research suggests we unconsciously engage these muscles when listening very intently. Some species, such as cats and dogs, can change the shape of the pinna – the shell of the ear – to help […]

Global planetary defence procedures have been triggered after NASA scientists’ prediction that an asteroid has a 1.3% chance of hitting Earth in 2032. The rock, dubbed 2024 YR4, was first spotted on 27 December last year. It is 40–100m wide and about 220 million kg. 2024 YR4 isn’t big enough to wipe out humanity. For […]

Chinese startup DeepSeek made waves this week, releasing its new open source chatbot DeepSeek-R1 instantly disrupting the field of artificial intelligence. DeepSeek claims it was able to achieve similar or equivalence performance as OpenAI’s latest model – OpenAI-o1-1217 – but took a fraction of the cost to develop. “…$5.6 million compared to the undisclosed billions […]

As the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus continues to devastate populations of birds and mammals around the world, new research on antibody immune therapy is helping to bridge the gap from animal studies to humans. Researchers have now discovered that one antibody known to be broadly protective against influenza A viruses in mice and […]

Scientists have designed a small drone with a “bird-like” ability to fly quickly and safely through unfamiliar environments. The Hong Kong University team say their new micro air vehicle, dubbed SUPER, could assist first responders during disaster relief efforts or search and rescue missions into unknown areas. “Unfamiliar environments can present many dangers to a […]

Scientists studying asteroid grains scooped from asteroid Bennu and returned to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, have found so many precursors to life that they have a new question: why didn’t life form on Bennu billions of years ago, when conditions seemed ripe for it? “What did Bennu not have that Earth did have?” asked […]

The first samples returned from an asteroid to Earth have revealed that one – Bennu – had an ancient brine with minerals crucial to life. Research published today in Nature shows that water evaporated on Bennu leaving behind a briny broth which would have allowed the ingredients for life to mix and create more complex […]

The tallest living tree in Australia is a Tasmanian giant ash hundreds of years old named Centurion, according to a survey decades in the making. The tree was 99.6m tall when researchers and citizen scientists first measured it, but it has since lost a branch and a few metres of height – now rearing 96.5m […]

The longest Greek papyrus ever found in the Judaean Desert has been published, revealing forgery and tax fraud in from the Roman empire. The nearly 2,000-year-old papyrus has 133 lines of text. It was initially misclassified as Nabataean – the language of an ancient Arab people that lived in the southern Levant and northern Arabia. […]

In research that might one day lead to solutions to some rare genetic abnormalities, scientists in China have successfully raised offspring from 2 male mice. The stem cell scientists introduced mutations in a particular set of genetic locations to overcome the hurdles preventing unisexual reproduction in mammals. They created offspring from 2 male mice by […]

A team at the University of Barcelona in Spain has designed experimental equipment to help undergraduate students familiarise themselves with complex quantum physics. The researchers say the project, described in a paper published in the journal EPJ Quantum Technology, will help students who want to pursue research into quantum technologies as the field enters a […]

Dwarf planet Ceres has a smattering of organic material on its surface. New research suggests these organic compounds came from impacting asteroids from the outer asteroid belt. Ceres was the first asteroid to be discovered in 1801. It is the largest object in the asteroid belt which sits between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. […]