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Results for " scientist " 6,825 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle

Scientists Solved the 150 Year-Old Mystery of Why Most of Your Molecules Are Right-Handed

The shape of life’s building blocks is the result of biology, chemistry, and quantum physics colliding.

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May 20 • 2:00 PM EDT • Science • popularmechanics.com
Common asthma drug helps fight hard-to-treat cancers, including aggressive breast cancers, early study finds

Scientists found that blocking a protein best known for its role in asthma enhances cancer immunotherapy in preclinical models.

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May 20 • 1:23 PM EDT • Science • livescience.com
Can we harness quantum effects to create a new kind of healthcare?

Experiments hint that quantum mechanisms are vital to the machinery of life. Now researchers are exploring if these effects help to explain the success of an array of puzzling health treatments

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May 20 • 1:00 PM EDT • Health • newscientist.com
Scientists uncover vast energy source underground—why this breakthrough changes everything - Futura-Sciences

The Unexpected Rise of White Hydrogen For a long time, it was believed that hydrogen (H2) does not naturally exist on Earth. However, traces of natural hydrogen started appearing here and there—some even detected in France as early as the beginning of the 20th century. Starting in the 1970s, researchers...

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May 20 • 1:00 PM EDT • Science • futura-sciences.com
Scientists Warn Many Insects May Not Survive a Warming World

A sweeping study of tropical insects found that many species may struggle to survive rising global temperatures.

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May 20 • 12:18 PM EDT • Science • scitechdaily.com
A Physical Warp Drive Was Supposed to Be Impossible. Then These Scientists Found a Loophole.

Scientists proposed a physical warp drive model that may avoid exotic negative energy in some cases, but faster-than-light travel remains far from buildable.

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May 20 • 12:04 PM EDT • Science • yahoo.com
A Physical Warp Drive Was Supposed to Be Impossible. Then These Scientists Found a Loophole.

Humans are one (small) step closer to traveling at faster-than-light speeds.

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May 20 • 12:04 PM EDT • Science • popularmechanics.com
When Did Crabs Evolve Their Iconic Sideways Scuttle? Scientists Traced It to a 200-Million-Year-Old Common Ancestor

The findings suggest that their famous lateral movement evolved just once. It may have helped the animals rapidly spread and diversify because traveling in two directions meant they could easily escape predators

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May 20 • 11:57 AM EDT • Science • smithsonianmag.com
6,000-year-old humans with unique DNA are puzzling scientists - Futura-Sciences

The original hunter-gatherer group has no known modern descendants and no close ancient relatives. A study published in Science Advances details this isolated lineage. Led by Kim-Louise Krettek and senior author Cosimo Posth at the University of Tübingen, the project included collaboration with Andrea Casas-Vargas at the Universidad Nacional de...

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May 20 • 10:00 AM EDT • Science • futura-sciences.com
Scientists bring crop protection research to local science classes

As the world’s population continues to grow, farmers across the globe are working hard to feed more than 8 billion humans. Agriculture at that scale requires interventions, including herbicides and pesticides to keep crops healthy and free from disease and insect infestations. Chemical herbicides and pesticides were, and are, a common solution...

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May 20 • 9:30 AM EDT • Science • news.osu.edu
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‘Morbid’ doesn’t want you to fall for antiaging hype

Scientist Saul Justine Newman debunks high-profile longevity research and antiaging “medicine” in a new book.

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May 20 • 9:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencenews.org
Are You Right-Handed? Scientists Just Figured Out Why.

Bipedalism and larger brains drove our unusually strong preference for being righties.

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May 20 • 8:30 AM EDT • Science • popularmechanics.com
Scientists discover massive natural hydrogen source beneath Canada

Scientists in Canada have discovered that ancient underground rocks are naturally producing hydrogen gas — and lots of it. Measurements from mine boreholes in Ontario show the gas can flow continuously for years, offering a potential new source of clean energy called “white hydrogen.” Researchers say this hidden resource could help power industries and remote communities while cutting carbon emissions and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

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May 20 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Scientists found a hidden Alzheimer’s trigger and shut it down

A newly identified enzyme called IDOL could become a major new target in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers found that removing it from neurons sharply reduced amyloid plaques and improved key brain processes linked to resilience and communication between cells. The discovery may lead to future treatments that go beyond slowing Alzheimer’s — potentially helping protect the brain from further decline.

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May 20 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Scientists discover why Alzheimer’s risk hits women so much harder

Women may be especially sensitive to the effects of common dementia risk factors, according to a new UC San Diego study of over 17,000 adults. Researchers say tailoring prevention strategies specifically for women could be key to reducing Alzheimer’s risk.

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May 20 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Scientists Discovered A Population Developed a Genetic Superpower—Thanks to Potatoes

A new DNA study found that Peruvian Andeans possess a high number of salivary amylase genes, or AMY1, for digesting starchy foods like the native potato.

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May 20 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • popularmechanics.com
Iowa State scientists have helped pinpoint the origin of cotton

Scientists, including Iowa State researchers, pinpointed where upland cotton was first domesticated in Mexico thousands of years ago.

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May 20 • 7:02 AM EDT • Science • desmoinesregister.com
Scientists Discover a Fat-Burning 'Dial' That Could Help Strengthen Bones

"Opens the door to a new kind of treatment."

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May 20 • 7:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencealert.com
How China and Russia could team up to shift global science ‘centre of gravity’

Scientists say they hope Xi-Putin summit will bring more support for collaboration as Moscow and Beijing sign deals on tech and innovation.

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May 20 • 6:11 AM EDT • Science • scmp.com
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China Has Outspent The U.S. On Research For The First Time. 3,375 American Scientists Are Telling Congress To Pay Attention

China outspent the U.S. on R&D for the first time in 2024. 3,375 scientists, including 48 Nobel laureates, just filed formal testimony with the Senate.

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May 20 • 6:00 AM EDT • Science • forbes.com
Sharks are helping scientists improve weather forecasts

Forecasters already rely on satellites, buoys and hurricane hunter aircraft to monitor ocean conditions. Sharks, however, may offer a way to fill gaps in places where traditional tools are sparse or expensive.

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May 20 • 6:00 AM EDT • Science • latimes.com
WHO expert: ‘Declaring climate change a global public health emergency would be a turning point’

Air pollution, heat waves and infectious diseases: climate change is a health crisis that requires action now to save millions of lives, warn scientists and former health ministers.

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May 20 • 4:27 AM EDT • Health • genevasolutions.news
New ‘AI scientists’ are improving – but reveal their fundamental limits

More ‘natural’ collaboration between scientists and computers won’t necessarily be more effective.

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May 20 • 2:26 AM EDT • Science • theconversation.com
Two Whales Just Broke a Migration Record Scientists Didn't Expect

"Challenges what we thought we knew."

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May 19 • 10:09 PM EDT • Science • sciencealert.com
Scientists finally uncover why old buildings feel creepy, and it has nothing to do with haunted spirits

Many of us have felt an odd sensation when entering an old building. It's not ghosts. In fact, there's a very cool scientific explanation.

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May 19 • 8:15 PM EDT • Science • yahoo.com
Materials scientist gains valuable research experience

The opportunities at the College of Engineering and Applied Science are what attracted Ananth Balasubramanian to the University of Cincinnati. He came to UC as a master's student and after two years, transitioned to a direct PhD program in materials science and engineering. Here, he works in the Digital Fabrication Laboratory and recently was named Graduate Student Engineer of the Month by CEAS.

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May 19 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • uc.edu
Scientists found a giant magnetic “twist” hidden inside the Milky Way

Astronomers have uncovered a strange magnetic “flip” hidden inside the Milky Way. Using a new radio telescope, researchers mapped the galaxy’s magnetic field in unprecedented detail and discovered that a mysterious reversal in the Sagittarius Arm cuts diagonally across space. The finding could reshape how scientists understand the structure and future evolution of our galaxy.

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May 19 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Lost for 150,000 years: Rainforest discovery upends human history

For decades, scientists believed ancient humans avoided dense rainforests, treating them as nearly impossible environments for early survival. But a groundbreaking discovery in West Africa is rewriting that story. Researchers uncovered evidence that humans were living deep within rainforest environments in present-day Côte d'Ivoire around 150,000 years ago — far earlier than anyone thought possible.

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May 19 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Scientists use light to create tiny molecules that could transform medicine

Researchers have developed a light-driven method for creating tiny, high-energy “housane” molecules that are valuable for drug development and materials science. These compact ring-shaped structures are difficult to produce because of the intense internal strain they contain. By using photocatalysis and carefully tuning the starting molecules, the team managed to guide the reaction into a clean and efficient pathway.

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May 19 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Africa should treat entrepreneurial science as a lifeline, not a ...

Synchronised action from universities, policymakers and scientists is needed to bridge the gap from ideas to impact

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May 19 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • chemistryworld.com
T. rex’s tiny arms may have evolved for a surprisingly brutal reason

Why did T. rex have such tiny arms? Scientists now think it’s because its giant head became the ultimate hunting tool. Across multiple dinosaur groups, stronger skulls and crushing jaws evolved alongside shrinking forelimbs, especially in predators hunting enormous prey. In other words, once the bite became deadly enough, the arms may have stopped mattering.

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May 19 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Scientists use DNA from poop to save the world’s rarest marsupial

Scientists in Australia are using cutting-edge DNA techniques to help save one of the world’s rarest marsupials — the critically endangered Gilbert’s potoroo, with fewer than 150 left in the wild. By analyzing tiny traces of DNA in the animals’ scat, researchers uncovered clues about the elusive fungi the potoroos depend on for survival. The findings could help conservationists identify safer new habitats and establish backup populations before disasters like bushfires wipe them out.

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May 19 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Scientists found a fat-burning switch that affects bone strength

Scientists have discovered a previously unknown mechanism that helps burn fat and could strengthen bones through new treatments.

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May 19 • 7:31 PM EDT • Science • earth.com
Visualizing sound: Scientists reveal hidden behaviors of sound waves

An international team of scientists has developed a new analysis of how sound waves behave, revealing surprising effects that have largely been overlooked for decades. In the new paper in Scientific Reports, ...

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May 19 • 3:40 PM EDT • Science • phys.org
Scientists spur growth of implanted liver tissue

Researchers developed a way to control the growth of lab-grown liver tissue after it was implanted into mice.

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May 19 • 3:18 PM EDT • Science • nih.gov
Effects of early exposure to toxic metals

Scientists found that toxic metal exposures during specific time windows increased the risk of brain and mental health symptoms a decade later.

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May 19 • 1:52 PM EDT • Health • nih.gov
Artificial eggshell comes first in attempt to revive giant flightless moa

De-extinction company hopes artificial incubation system can be scaled up but other scientists are sceptical

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May 19 • 1:05 PM EDT • Science • theguardian.com
UT Health San Antonio researcher awarded $2.1M award to study cellular structures - UT Health San Antonio

Like a busy restaurant kitchen, our cells depend on well-organized working spaces to assemble the “recipes” that keep the body healthy. When these spaces are disrupted, important functions like gene regulation and DNA repair can go awry, promoting diseases such as cancer and neurodegeneration. UT San Antonio scientist David Libich, PhD, associate professor in […]

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May 19 • 12:00 PM EDT • Health • news.uthscsa.edu
There's a hidden 'third eye' buried in your skull – and scientists think they've finally worked out why | BBC Science Focus Magazine

Far from a spiritual metaphor, a new theory is shedding light on the bizarre evolutionary quirks that gave us a hidden third eye

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May 19 • 12:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencefocus.com
Liberty Science Center honors AI pioneer, physician-innovator and de-extinction scientist at Genius Gala

The 14th Annual Genius Gala was held on Monday at the Jersey City center

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May 19 • 11:08 AM EDT • Science • yahoo.com
‘Foolish’ CSIRO job cuts will mean Australia unable to provide climate projections to global reports, scientists warn

Exclusive: Science agency is planning to sack a third of the team working on the national climate model, sources say

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May 19 • 11:00 AM EDT • Science • theguardian.com
Curiosity-driven research explained: Basic science lays the foundation for life-saving discoveries - Morgridge Institute for Research

When scientists ask fundamental questions about life, biomedical breakthroughs follow — often at a distance. Why should we embrace the long, unpredictable path from curiosity to cure?

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May 19 • 10:58 AM EDT • Science • morgridge.org
Oral spray may cure your dog's nasty breath once and for all, scientists say

It'll take their breath away.

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May 19 • 10:42 AM EDT • Science • nypost.com
Neanderthal Dentistry, and the Scientist Glad Not to Have Experienced It

The prehistoric hominins “apparently were very adept at what we would consider invasive medicine,” said the anthropologist John Olsen.

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May 19 • 10:35 AM EDT • Science • nytimes.com
Scientists solve 200-year-old puzzle of how tobacco plants make nicotine

Scientists have uncovered how tobacco plants naturally make nicotine, solving a mystery that has puzzled researchers for nearly two centuries. The discovery, published in Nature Communications, could ...

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May 19 • 10:20 AM EDT • Science • phys.org
Scientists discover over 1,100 new marine species

Scientists have named 1,121 new marine species in a single year - from deep-sea ghost sharks to cave shrimp off Marseille.

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May 19 • 9:52 AM EDT • Science • oceanographicmagazine.com
Scientists revise global warming projections, say small gains not enough

Both the old best and worst case future scenarios in the fight against climate change are being jettisoned by the world’s top scientists as they prepare the next series of huge United Nations reports.

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May 19 • 9:05 AM EDT • Science • apnews.com
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Scientists call for stewardship practices to be integrated into biodiversity conservation frameworks

A new article in the journal BioScience argues that the stewardship practices of Indigenous Peoples and other place-based knowledge holders have been systematically underrepresented in both conservation ...

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May 19 • 9:00 AM EDT • Science • phys.org
Scientists Discovered a Mutation in Our Genes from an Ancient Species

A rare look inside Homo erectus genes revealed a mutation that we still share.

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May 19 • 9:00 AM EDT • Science • popularmechanics.com
Self-censorship, more stress, tougher recruiting – we asked US researchers how the Trump administration’s science policies have affected them

What do US researchers make of all the Trump administration science-related policy changes? A survey of 280 academic scientists asked them.

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May 19 • 8:23 AM EDT • Science • theconversation.com
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Scientists stunned by new Yellowstone discovery: what it means for the next eruption - Futura-Sciences

Yellowstone: The Supervolcano That Never Sleeps Yellowstone is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. Why? It’s a supervolcano, known for its potential to unleash absolutely colossal eruptions. The last time it blew was around 70,000 years ago, but make no mistake—the volcano is far...

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May 19 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • futura-sciences.com
Scientists boosted one protein and aging mice became stronger and healthier

Scientists have identified a protein that appears to put the brakes on the chronic inflammation linked to aging. Older mice with boosted levels of the protein were stronger, more energetic, and had healthier bones than untreated mice. Researchers say the findings could eventually lead to therapies that help people stay healthier and more independent later in life.

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May 19 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Scientists were wrong about this “rule-breaking” particle

Scientists spent decades chasing signs of a mysterious new force hidden inside the muon, one of nature’s strangest particles. But after years of supercomputer calculations, researchers discovered the apparent anomaly was likely a calculation error — and the Standard Model still reigns supreme.

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May 19 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Scientists Are Building Artificial Brains from Living Cells

Artificial neural networks built with biological cells promises massive energy savings.

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May 19 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • popularmechanics.com
Will AI cause mass political polarization? Maybe not

Dartmouth political scientist Brendan Nyhan says fears of AI-driven political persuasion may be overstated.

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May 19 • 8:00 AM EDT • Politics • fastcompany.com
From ‘ghost sharks’ to ‘death ball’ sponges: Scientists find more than 1,100 wild and unusual ocean species

The Ocean Census project says scientists have discovered 1,121 previously unknown species in a single year. The rush is on to save them as risks to the world’s oceans multiply

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May 19 • 7:50 AM EDT • Science • cnn.com
Scientists Simulated 30 Million Different Routes To The Moon From Earth And Found The Most Efficient One Yet

Astronauts have been taking short routes to the Moon, but there’s a more efficient way.

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May 19 • 6:23 AM EDT • Science • iflscience.com
DNA floating in seawater is now enough to let scientists monitor the health of America's dolphin populations

DNA is everywhere in the world's oceans—not only packaged inside cells from skin, scales, mucus, feces, and blood, but also floating freely. Sequencing such "environmental DNA" (eDNA) from open water ...

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May 19 • 12:00 AM EDT • Science • phys.org
Scientists Challenge a Long-Held Belief About Why Human Childbirth Is So Difficult

A new study suggests that difficult childbirth is not exclusive to humans.

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May 18 • 11:14 PM EDT • Science • scitechdaily.com
Scientists found a smarter Mediterranean diet that slashes diabetes risk by 31%

A large European study revealed that a lower-calorie Mediterranean diet paired with exercise and coaching dramatically reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes. Participants who made these lifestyle changes were 31% less likely to develop the disease over six years. They also lost more weight and trimmed their waistlines compared to those following a standard Mediterranean diet alone.

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May 18 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
DNA floating in seawater is now enough to let scientists monitor the health of America’s dolphin populations

Sequencing environmental DNA in seawater shows the local presence or absence of species, but until now could give little information about those measures of biodiversity that are the most useful in conservation. As a proof-of-principle, scientists in the US have now shown that mitochondrial DNA in water sampled near schools of dolphins contains enough information to measure their local effective population size and monitor the health of these populations.

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May 18 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • eurekalert.org
Scientists Discover Over A Thousand New Ocean Species In Landmark Deep Sea Exploration

From deep sea ghost sharks to symbiotic worms and unusual crustaceans, scientists have identified 1,121 new marine species in a single year through the Ocean Census initiative.

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May 18 • 7:15 PM EDT • Science • forbes.com
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Photos reveal strange sea creatures that scientists have never seen before

Scientists say they’ve found more than 1,100 new marine species over the last year, emphasizing how unexplored the ocean really is.

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May 18 • 7:01 PM EDT • Science • vox.com
Scientists found stardust trapped in Antarctic ice. What could it tell us about our solar system?

"This dust can penetrate the shielding of the solar system and end up on Earth."

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May 18 • 5:00 PM EDT • Science • space.com
Scientists Tweaked the Global Warming Outlook. So Trump Weighed In.

Renewable energy has helped make the worst-case scenario a bit less bad. The president said, falsely, it shows that climate scientists were wrong all along.

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May 18 • 4:24 PM EDT • Science • nytimes.com
Scientists May Have Finally Solved Why Most Humans Are Right-Handed

Walking upright and bigger brains may explain our unusual handedness.

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May 18 • 4:23 PM EDT • Science • zmescience.com
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Suckerfish Slip Through Manta Ray Buttholes and Scientists Aren't Sure How Bad That Is

Scientists spent 15 years piecing together rare footage that captured remoras disappearing inside giant manta rays.

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May 18 • 3:54 PM EDT • Science • zmescience.com
How scientists developed a hantavirus PCR test in a weekend Inside the race to develop a hantavirus PCR test

Researchers at the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory worked round the clock to develop a test for the Andes virus at the center of the deadly cruise ship outbreak

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May 18 • 1:45 PM EDT • Science • scientificamerican.com
NASA’s MAVEN Makes 1st Discovery of Atmospheric Effect at Mars

In December 2023, scientists looking at Mars data stumbled across something completely unexpected — observations of an atmospheric effect never before seen in

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May 18 • 1:09 PM EDT • Science • science.nasa.gov
Scientists claim our dreams are real in another dimension

You know those dreams that feel way too real? The ones with full storylines, familiar places, recurring people like you didn’t imagine them but went there.

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May 18 • 1:04 PM EDT • Science • geekspin.co
NASA Selects Next Class of Space Health Postdoctoral Fellows

The NASA-funded Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) has selected two early‑career scientists for its next class of postdoctoral fellows.

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May 18 • 1:00 PM EDT • Health • nasa.gov
MoMI announces the 2026 season of 'Open Worlds: Science' Programs

With themes ranging from walking for brain health, infinity day, NYC wildlife, and more May–October 2026 Astoria, New York, May 18, 2026 — The wildlife of New York City, walking and brain health, the nature of infinity, and alien encounters are some of the subjects explored in the second season of Open Worlds: Science, science-focused programs presented as part of Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI)’s free Open Worlds initiative. Running through October, Open Worlds: Science features scientist-led talks, screenings, and hands-on activities that all relate to science and the moving image to help illuminate and excite visitors of all ages about the ways science affects daily life.

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May 18 • 1:00 PM EDT • Science • iloveny.com
Meet Dr. Claw: The open-source AI assistant revolutionizing the research workflow

Lehigh University researchers have built the first “AI for Science” software tool designed to support the entire project workflow for research scientists. Dr. Claw is an open-source, full-stack AI research assistant that helps users refine ideas, conduct literature reviews, run experiments, draft and review papers, write grant proposals, and build presentations. It eliminates the need to toggle between specialized AI tools—such as deep research agents for source evaluation or code generators for data analysis—by unifying these capabilities within a single interface.

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May 18 • 12:28 PM EDT • Science • eurekalert.org
Could A Simple Lab Mistake Lead Scientists to Over-Estimate Microplastics?

While microplastics are a very real issue, one new study suggests that the numbers might not be quite as bad as we've feared.

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May 18 • 11:30 AM EDT • Science • yahoo.com
Could A Simple Lab Mistake Lead Scientists to Over-Estimate Microplastics?

While microplastics are a very real issue, one new study suggests that the numbers might not be quite as bad as we've feared.

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May 18 • 11:30 AM EDT • Science • extremetech.com
New MatterChat Model Helps AI to ‘See’ the Language of Science

From writing emails to generating computer code, much of the artificial intelligence prevalent in our daily lives has succeeded by mastering one domain: text. However, this leaves a major blind spot in the physical sciences, where models depend on the high-resolution, three-dimensional data of the physical world, like the intricate lattice of atoms in a crystal. Delivering on the promise of using AI for science requires teaching these data-driven text models to seamlessly “talk to” physics-based models. Now, a new AI framework from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), called MatterChat, solves this problem by creating a specialized “bridge.” It connects the conversational power of a Large Language Model (LLM) with a physics-based AI that models “interatomic potentials”: the complex physical forces between atoms. The resulting system already significantly outperforms general-purpose AI tools like GPT-4 at predicting material properties, and the team hopes it can accelerate scientific discovery by serving as a robust research partner that provides grounded insights and generates step-by-step instructions for synthesizing novel materials. A paper describing this work was recently published in Nature Machine Intelligence. “Traditional simulations can provide the physical rigor required for materials science, yet their computational cost remains prohibitive for high-throughput screening. Conversely, while LLMs excel at rapid knowledge synthesis, they inherently lack the ‘structural vision’ to interpret materials directly from their underlying atomic coordinates,” said Yingheng Tang, a postdoctoral researcher in Berkeley Lab’s Applied Math and Computational Research Division (AMCR) and lead author on the paper. “MatterChat was built to solve this dilemma, empowering LLMs with a structural ‘vision’ that allows researchers to leverage their full potential for solving complex, real-world materials challenges.” Empowering language models to solve complex challenges in materials science To build MatterChat, the Berkeley Lab team drew inspiration from technologies like Vision Question Answering (VQA) and Text-to-Image (T2I) generation. In these tasks, AI must translate high-level text concepts into visual images, or vice versa. Doing so requires developers to build tools that “bridge” two fundamentally different forms of data. The researchers adapted this concept to the physical sciences. With MatterChat, they created a “bridge model” that successfully connects an LLM’s general knowledge with the deep understanding of the atomic-scale world encoded in scientific interatomic potentials. Until now, researchers using LLMs to solve materials problems usually had to feed them raw data files as if they were just strings of text. It’s like asking an AI to understand a complex 3D engine based only on a parts list: the LLM can read the names, but it can’t “see” how the atoms fit together in space. MatterChat solves this by training a specialized AI bridge model, pre-trained on millions of crystal structures and an LLM, to align the LLM’s representation of the world with the interatomic potential’s representation of the world. The bridge model can translate physical insights into a format the LLM can actually understand. By giving the LLM these “scientific eyes”— a scientific “inductive bias” in the terminology of AI — the Berkeley Lab team has transformed it into a robust research tool capable of providing grounded scientific insights into complex materials challenges, such as predicting thermal stability or analyzing electronic band gaps. “We think of atoms as living in a physical space, but from a machine learning perspective, they are just vectors living in some very non-trivially structured manifold in a high-dimensional Euclidean space; and, of course, the same is true for the sentences and paragraphs that we use to express our ideas about those atoms,” said co-author Michael Mahoney, Berkeley Lab’s Scientific Data Division (SDD) AI Initiative Research Lead. “The bridge model basically gets those two structures to ‘talk with’ each other.” As a proof-of-concept of this general approach, the team trained their bridge model on a dataset curated by pairing nearly 143,000 stable atomic structures from the Materials Project with their corresponding physical properties. This training data was automatically assembled using the Materials Project’s API and deliberately enriched with properties fundamental to microelectronics design — like formation energy and bandgap — allowing MatterChat to learn the complex patterns connecting a material’s atomic blueprint to its functional performance. To validate their model, the researchers benchmarked MatterChat against a suite of other AI systems, from general-purpose LLMs to other specialized scientific AI methods. The results show that MatterChat consistently outperformed its competitors across a range of tasks. The model was more accurate in classifying material types and demonstrated superior precision in predicting numerical properties. For example, it excelled at predicting a material’s bandgap, a property critical for designing new electronics from high-capacity energy storage to next-generation computer chips. “Our design is significantly more efficient because we don’t have to build a massive AI model from the ground up,” said co-author Zhi (Jackie) Yao, a research scientist in Berkeley Lab’s AMCR. “Instead, we take two powerful, pre-trained models — a structural encoder for materials physics and an open-source LLM — and use them off-the-shelf. The only component we actually train is the lightweight ‘bridge model’ that translates between them. It’s the difference between building an entire car factory and simply designing a smart adapter that connects a world-class engine to a world-class navigation system. This approach is not only computationally efficient, but also makes the system modular, so we can easily upgrade components or adapt the bridge for other scientific domains in the future.” Crucially, this modular design highlights exactly how institutions like Berkeley Lab and the Department of Energy are carving out a highly valuable niche in the booming AI landscape. Rather than competing with Silicon Valley tech giants to build ever-larger language models from scratch, the lab is focusing on the specialized connective tissue that makes commercial AI useful for hardcore science. Because the bridge model approach underlying MatterChat is forward-compatible, it is perfectly positioned to leverage these parallel tracks of innovation. As Mahoney pointed out, “We expect that industry will continue to develop improved LLMs, and we expect domain scientists and facilities will continue to generate new data. An important part of scientific machine learning is not simply to solve problems on today’s data, but instead to develop general methods that will be forward-compatible with orders of magnitude more data, whether from scientific domains or from LLMs.” According to Yao, the MatterChat project, which was initially developed and enhanced with funding from a Berkeley Lab Laboratory Directed Research & Development (LDRD) Program, will now expand its capabilities. In a collaboration with Fermilab, MatterChat is already contributing to a U.S. Department of Energy Genesis Mission project — called Accelerating eXtreme Environment Specs-to-Silicon (AXESS) — that aims to speed up the development of next-generation, high-speed, radiation-hardened detectors for challenging particle physics experiments by using advanced 3D integrated circuits (chiplets) and AI-driven data analysis. In addition to the LDRD support, the team also credits supercomputing resources at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), located at Berkeley Lab, with MatterChat’s success. “We are incredibly grateful to NERSC; this research simply would not have happened without access to the Perlmutter supercomputer through their AI for Science program,” said Tang. Wenbin Xu, a NERSC postdoctoral fellow at the time, was also a major co-author of the work, as was Benjamin Erichson, a research scientist in Berkeley Lab’s SDD, highlighting the benefits of AMCR-SDD collaboration on AI for science. ### Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to groundbreaking research focused on discovery science and solutions for abundant and reliable energy supplies. The lab’s expertise spans materials, chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental science, mathematics, and computing. Researchers from around the world rely on the lab’s world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 17 Nobel Prizes. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.

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May 18 • 11:00 AM EDT • Science • newscenter.lbl.gov
Scientists May Have Found the Blueprint of the Human Body at the Bottom of the Ocean

Scientists discovered that the brainless sea anemone build their bodies with a technique common in bilaterians... which is what humans are.

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May 18 • 10:35 AM EDT • Science • yahoo.com
It's time for Pint of Science

This week is the return of Pint of Science in Urbana. This international festival connects renown scientists with curious local people at bars across the globe to discuss the latest scientific research. Pint of Science ...

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May 18 • 9:00 AM EDT • Science • smilepolitely.com
They Remember Every Moment of Their Lives. Scientists May Have Just Figured Out Why.

The rare people with highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM) might owe it to how they sleep.

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May 18 • 9:00 AM EDT • Science • popularmechanics.com
61 new beetles discovered in China

Turns out, scientists can overlook even flashy species.

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May 18 • 9:00 AM EDT • Science • popsci.com
Scientists Keep Finding Major Discoveries Lurking in Museum Backrooms

Here are six of the best.

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May 18 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencealert.com
Scientists Created a Subatomic Particle That Defies Our Understanding of Physics

The eta prime meson held together without one of the fundamental forces of the universe.

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May 18 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • popularmechanics.com
Scientists studied the DNA of a 117-year-old woman and what they found is changing how we understand ageing

Imagine having a 117th birthday celebration with a sharp mind, a strong heart, and enough energy for the daily walk. If you're Maria Branyas Morera, this was not just a wish; it was her reality.

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May 18 • 7:46 AM EDT • Science • timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Common Cleaning Chemical Could Triple Your Risk of a Dangerous Liver Disease

Scientists are uncovering a possible connection between everyday chemical exposure and serious liver damage.

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May 18 • 6:45 AM EDT • Technology • scitechdaily.com
Kenyan scientist advances energy storage research in Germany

A Kenyan scientist in Germany is using advanced microscopy to study how batteries work at the atomic level—research that could lead to longer-lasting batteries while reducing the need for scarce raw materials.

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May 18 • 6:41 AM EDT • Science • dw.com
Scientists discovered nature’s own “brakes” deep beneath the Pacific Ocean that may have prevented massive megaquakes

For decades, a strange patch of the Pacific Ocean has quietly puzzled earthquake scientists around the world. Deep beneath the seafloor, near the coast of Ecuador, a massive underwater fault has been producing almost identical earthquakes every five to six years.

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May 18 • 2:18 AM EDT • Science • timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Rare earth breakthrough in China’s icy northeast

A new type of deposit in Heilongjiang and Jilin promises easier, cheaper mining than in southern clay-rich areas, say scientists.

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May 18 • 1:00 AM EDT • Science • scmp.com
Science Media Amplifies Male Scientists’ Voices Over Female Ones

Analysis of more than 2,500 science stories revealed that men were quoted more often than women, highlighting systemic gender bias in science communication.

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May 18 • 12:00 AM EDT • Science • the-scientist.com
Scientists Discover Over 1,700 'Dark' Proteins Hidden in Human Cells

A new layer of the human genome has been revealed.

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May 17 • 9:25 PM EDT • Science • sciencealert.com
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Scientists Discover Bizarre 100-Million-Year-Old Insect With Giant Claws

Scientists have discovered a previously unknown species of true bug that has claws.

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May 17 • 8:07 PM EDT • Science • scitechdaily.com
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This popular fermented food may help flush microplastics from the body

Scientists in South Korea have discovered that a probiotic bacterium found in kimchi may help the body flush out tiny plastic particles before they can build up in organs. In lab tests, the kimchi-derived microbe clung tightly to nanoplastics even under conditions designed to mimic the human intestine, where other bacteria quickly lost their grip.

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May 17 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Scientists think they’ve cracked the mystery of human right-handedness

A new study suggests humans became overwhelmingly right-handed because of two major evolutionary shifts: walking on two legs and developing much larger brains. Researchers found that as human ancestors evolved, their right-hand preference steadily intensified — transforming a mild tendency into one of humanity’s most distinctive traits.

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May 17 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Scientists just unlocked a cheaper way to make clean hydrogen fuel

Researchers have developed a durable new catalyst that produces clean hydrogen without relying on expensive platinum metals. The breakthrough could make renewable hydrogen fuel cheaper, more efficient, and easier to scale for real-world energy use.

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May 17 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
The “impossible” LED that could change everything

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have achieved what was once considered impossible by electrically powering insulating nanoparticles to create a completely new kind of LED. Using tiny organic “molecular antennas,” the team found a way to funnel energy into materials that normally cannot conduct electricity, producing ultra pure near infrared light with remarkable efficiency.

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May 17 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
AI reveals the invisible magnetic chaos wasting energy inside electric motors

Electric vehicles are pushing scientists to tackle one of the biggest hidden energy drains inside electric motors: magnetic energy loss. Now, researchers in Japan have developed a powerful AI-driven physics model that can peer into the chaotic “maze-like” magnetic patterns inside motor materials and reveal how heat and microscopic magnetic structures trigger wasted energy.

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May 17 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Scientists reveal more than 1.3 million people may share DNA with Maryland’s earliest colonists

According to new findings by researchers from Harvard University, there could be more than one million three hundred thousand individuals living today who share their genetic material with some of the original colonists of Maryland in the United States, as shown in an innovative genetic study titled ‘The genetic legacy of the 17th-century colonial capital of St. Mary’s City’ in Current Biology.

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May 17 • 4:30 PM EDT • Science • timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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Scientists Discover Ancient “Language Switches” Hidden in Human DNA

Researchers have identified tiny genetic “switches” that appear to play a surprisingly large role in human language ability.

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May 17 • 4:08 PM EDT • Science • scitechdaily.com
10 million bacteria in a thimble — scientists discover 'miniature worlds' floating in fog

A thimbleful of fog water can contain roughly 10 million bacteria.

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May 17 • 2:20 PM EDT • Science • yahoo.com
Galileo Galilei, scientist: “In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual”

Galileo’s warning about scientific consensus still resonates centuries later as modern discoveries continue overturning accepted wisdom.

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May 17 • 1:50 PM EDT • Science • en.as.com
Scientists reveal the sweet spot for sleep, if you get less — or more — you're aging yourself faster
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May 17 • 10:22 AM EDT • Health • nypost.com