As with many natural phenomena, scientists look to past climate to understand what may lie ahead as Earth warms.
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Paper-thin solar cell can turn any surface into a power source
MIT researchers developed a scalable fabrication technique to produce ultrathin, flexible, durable, lightweight solar cells that can be stuck to any surface. Glued to high-strength fabric, the solar cells are only one-hundredth the weight of conventional cells while producing about 18 times more power-per-kilogram.
Primordial germ cells made from northern white rhino stem cells
In its race to advance assisted reproduction and stem cell associated technologies to save the northern white rhinoceros from extinction, researchers announce a major breakthrough: the creation of primordial germ cell-like cells (PGCLSs) from induced pluripotent stem cells of the northern white rhino Nabire. Now there is one last step...
Epigenetic emergency switch improves defense against infections
During infections, the hematopoietic system switches from normal to emergency mode. This improves the defense against the pathogens. Scientists have now found an epigenetic switch in blood stem cells and progenitor cells of mice that can trigger the switch from one mode to the other.
Researchers shed (laser) light on emerging water treatment technique
Assuring that a growing global population has access to clean water will require new water treatment methods. One of these next-generation methods involves a form of iron called ferrate, which creates fewer toxic byproducts than chemicals like chlorine and is potentially cheaper and easier to deploy than complex ozone treatment...
Hubble Detects Ghostly Glow Surrounding Our Solar System
The researchers say that one possible explanation for this residual glow is that our inner solar system contains a tenuous sphere of dust from comets that are falling into the solar system from all directions, and that the glow is sunlight reflecting off this dust.
La Niña Times Three
In December 2022, Earth was in the grips of La Niña—an oceanic phenomenon characterized by the presence of cooler than normal sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific.
Mount Etna Stands Above the Dust
Dust briefly clouded the skies over Sicily in early December 2022, yet the Italian island’s iconic volcano still managed to put on a show.
Microbial miners could help humans colonize the moon and Mars
The biochemical process by which cyanobacteria acquire nutrients from rocks in Chile's Atacama Desert has inspired engineers at the University of California, Irvine to think of new ways microbes might help humans build colonies on the moon and Mars.
Dinosaur teeth reveal what they didn’t eat
Scratches on dinosaur teeth could reveal what they really ate. Dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) has now been used to infer the feeding habits of large theropods, including Allosaurus and T. rex. By taking 3D images of individual teeth and analyzing the pattern of marks scratched into them, researchers could...