Using advanced technology to understand natural reef resilience, and boost it.
Cul-De-Sac Effect: Why Mediterranean Regions Are Becoming More Prone to Extreme Floods in a Changing Climate
By analyzing the devastating floods that affected Emilia-Romagna, Italy, in 2023 and 2024, a team of researchers from CMCC – the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change – describes for the first time how a particular orographic configuration makes certain regions particularly prone to extreme flooding.
After Distractions, Rotating Brain Waves May Help Thought Circle Back to the Task
To get back on track after a distraction, the cortex appears to employ a rotating traveling wave, a new study by MIT neuroscientists finds.
2.7-million-year-old tools reveal humanity’s first great innovation
Researchers uncovered a 2.75–2.44 million-year-old site in Kenya showing that early humans maintained stone tool traditions for nearly 300,000 years despite extreme climate swings. The tools, remarkably consistent across generations, helped our ancestors adapt and survive. The discovery reshapes our understanding of how early technology anchored human evolution.
5,500-year-old site in Jordan reveals a lost civilization’s secrets
After the collapse of the Chalcolithic culture around 3500 BCE, people in Jordan’s Murayghat transformed their way of life, shifting from domestic settlements to ritual landscapes filled with dolmens, standing stones, and megalithic monuments. Archaeologists from the University of Copenhagen believe these changes reflected a creative social response to climate...
Sunflowers may be the future of “vegan meat”
A collaboration between Brazilian and German researchers has led to a sunflower-based meat substitute that’s high in protein and minerals. The new ingredient, made from refined sunflower flour, delivers excellent nutritional value and a mild flavor. Tests showed strong texture and healthy fat content, suggesting great potential for use in...
Plastic-eating bacteria discovered in the ocean
Beneath the ocean’s surface, bacteria have evolved specialized enzymes that can digest PET plastic, the material used in bottles and clothes. Researchers at KAUST discovered that a unique molecular signature distinguishes enzymes capable of efficiently breaking down plastic. Found in nearly 80% of ocean samples, these PETase variants show nature’s...
Scientists in Japan create a new wine grape with a wild twist
Okayama scientists have crafted a new wine grape, Muscat Shiragai, merging the wild Shiraga and Muscat of Alexandria. The variety is part of a larger collaboration between academia, industry, and local government to boost regional identity through wine. Early tastings revealed a sweet, smooth flavor, and wider cultivation is planned.
Ancient fish with human-like hearing stuns scientists
Long ago, some saltwater fish adapted to freshwater — and in doing so, developed an extraordinary sense of hearing rivaling our own. By examining a 67-million-year-old fossil, researchers from UC Berkeley discovered that these “otophysan” fish didn’t evolve their sensitive Weberian ear system in rivers, as long thought, but rather...
Rain in the Sahara? UIC Researchers Predict a Wetter Future for the Desert
The Sahara Desert is one of the driest areas in the world.