Learning without a brain—how bacteria store memories and remember the past like artificial neural networks
Learning is often thought to require a brain. But learning is a broad concept that does not necessarily depend on neurons.
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Himalayan glacial lakes are growing—and so is the downstream flood risk
Dozens of glacial lakes have formed across northern India in the last three decades, while existing lakes have expanded rapidly, highlighting the need to monitor a landscape reshaped by climate change.
'CRISPR-Combo' system speeds regeneration of hard-to-breed perennial crops
Editing a plant's genes is only half the battle. Before a new, improved trait can ever reach a farmer's field, scientists must be able to grow a whole plant from just a few edited cells—a process that can be slow, unreliable and, for some plant species, impossible.
Portland report maps complex journeys through homelessness
A new report from Portland State University's Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative (HRAC) and the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health offers an in-depth examination of how individuals navigate, survive and attempt to exit homelessness in Multnomah County. Titled "Without a Map: A Lived Experience Study of the Paths People Create Through Homelessness," the publication serves as the second and final part of the Pathways study.
New genomic tool for clams boosts sustainable aquaculture
An international team of researchers, including CIIMAR, has developed a new tool that could help produce clams that are more resistant to disease and climate change while also strengthening the conservation of these species' genetic diversity. The study, published in the journal Aquaculture, represents a significant step forward for sustainable aquaculture and the management of two of the most economically important clam species: the Japanese clam (Ruditapes philippinarum) and the good clam (Ruditapes decussatus).
Global study reveals hidden nutritional value of shellfish and other aquatic invertebrates
The nutritional value of aquatic invertebrates such as oysters, mussels and crabs has been significantly overlooked, according to a new study led by researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). The findings provide one of the most comprehensive assessments to date of the nutritional contribution of aquatic invertebrates, along with new evidence to better understand their role in human nutrition and help inform more sustainable fisheries, aquaculture and food-system planning.
Unveiling how nanoparticles create iridescence in ancient ceramics
Scientists led by the Universitat Politècnica de Barcelona and the ESRF, the European Synchrotron, have revealed the chemical reactions in nanoparticles that created a unique, shimmering effect in the painting on ninth-century Islamic ceramics. The results are published in Science Advances.
How sex with multiple mates can help save species from extinction
Allowing females to mate with multiple males, rather than just one, could help make species more resistant to extinction, University of East Anglia research shows. A new study reveals that when females have multiple males to mate with, their offspring inherit significantly fewer harmful genetic mutations. This, in turn, makes the entire population healthier and less likely to die out.
Supercomputer simulations reveal how the molecular motor kinesin steers itself along tracks
Kinesin is a molecular motor responsible for hauling essential cargoes within cells by walking step by step along filamentous tracks known as microtubules. To move efficiently and avoid falling off, the motor's two feet must coordinate their stepping in a precise direction. Scientists have known that a connecting segment called the neck region is crucial for coordinating this motion. However, its exact three-dimensional structure and how it physically interacts with the microtubule track have remained a mystery because of the limitations of current imaging techniques.
Water isotopes reveal early drought signals in Central Amazon rainfall
The historic droughts of 2023 and 2024 in the Amazon reduced river flows and altered the region's rainfall composition. Daily monitoring in Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, revealed these changes through the use of isotopes, which act as a kind of water "fingerprint." This method demonstrated how El Niño and warming in the North Atlantic affected the origin of moisture and precipitation dynamics.
Ancient Swedish Goths had surprisingly accurate calendars
On a mostly flat plain an hour north of Stockholm lies a collection of large burial mounds dating from an ancient culture at least 2,500 years old. These people were not Vikings; they were northern Germanic Goths, pagan polytheists worshiping the precursors of Odin, Freyr and Thor.
An unusual bacterium that penetrates and lives inside human cells may offer a new drug target
Research underway in the lab of Rebecca Alexander, a professor in Wake Forest University's Department of Chemistry, is shedding light on an unusual human bacterium, Mycoplasma penetrans. Alexander's work to understand how and why this unique pathogen acts as it does could one day lead to new classes of drugs that better target illnesses associated with this particular pathogen, as well as others that act similarly.
What small insects can tell us about ancient textiles
Anna Sheinberg, Ph.D. candidate in chemistry, is working with fellow researchers in Trinity College's Chemistry Department and at the Nasher Museum of Art to uncover new information about some of the ancient dyed textiles in the Nasher's collection.
Rethinking how household income needs are assessed for welfare support
How much more income does a two-person household need than a person living alone? The answer is not simply twice as much. Two people need more food and other necessities, but they can also share expenses such as housing. This means that as a household grows, the income needed to maintain the same standard of living increases—but usually by less than the number of people in the household.
From flower to fruit: A tug-of-war between growing tissues
Unlike an animal cell, a plant cell can't crawl or migrate. It's locked inside a rigid wall, cemented to its neighbors for life. A cell born at the center of a young fruit will still be there when that fruit ripens.
Climate hazards disrupted schooling for more than 171 million students in 2025
More than 171 million students globally—or 1 in 10—from preprimary to upper secondary age had their schooling disrupted by climate hazards in 2025, according to a new analysis released by UNICEF today.
Kids' brains are built for distraction. Sometimes that's a good thing.
Parents often learn the hard way that to make it anywhere on time, they should calculate how much time they think they need to get ready—and double it.
Tightly guided atoms could enable low-power quantum navigation when GPS fails
Within tiny halos of light clinging to a vanishingly thin wisp of optical fiber, scientist Jongmin Lee guides atoms like marbles through a narrow pipe. Rock the fiber and the atoms shift side by side; they just don't fall off. But don't be deceived by the seemingly delicate nature of his experiment. Lee is exploring how to measure motion precisely in rough-and-tumble environments.
Two previously unknown saucer bugs species discovered
An entomologist at the University of Missouri has discovered two saucer bug species previously unknown to science, adding to our understanding of Earth's biodiversity.
First PLP-dependent enzyme that influences bacterial protein production discovered
Researchers from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research & Technology's (SMART) Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) interdisciplinary research group, alongside collaborators from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore), and institutions in the United States, Poland and France, have discovered aminovaleramididine synthetase (AvaS), the first identified pyridoxal phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme responsible for producing a chemical modification linked to how bacteria respond to metabolic stress.