Ground-breaking research will help to make one of the most versatile of bacteria even more useful to society and the environment. Though it lives naturally in the soil, the bacterium Bacillus subtilis
Researchers asked why spiders do not stick to their own sticky webs. Repeating old, widely quoted but poorly documented studies with modern equipment and techniques, they discovered that spiders' legs
New research points to two important roles for bacteria that live in the underground fungal gardens of leafcutter ants: they help decompose leaves that ants bring to the gardens and play a major role
A new method for creating nanofibers made of proteins promises to greatly improve drug delivery methods, aid in regenerating human tissue, and pave the way to an organic method of building nanofibers
Researchers have developed a method for inducing magnetic sensitivity in an organism that is not naturally magnetic -- yeast. Their technology could potentially be used to magnetize a variety of diffe
The famous Iceman mummy known as Ötzi was genetically predisposed to cardiovascular diseases, according to recent studies. Not only was this genetic predisposition demonstrable in the 5,000-y
We know since the dawn of modern physics that although events in our everyday life can be described by classical physics, the interaction of light and matter is down deep governed by the laws of quant
Not all that glitters is gold. Sometimes it is just bacteria trying to get ahead in life. Many sea creatures glow with a biologically produced light. This phenomenon, known as bioluminescence, is obse
When one fish gets injured, the rest of the school takes off in fear, tipped off by a mysterious substance known as "Schreckstoff" (meaning "scary stuff" in German). Now, researche
In the war between parasite and host, the parasitic wasp and the pea aphid are locked in a battle for survival. New research shows that this cunning parasite sniffs out differences between protected a
Neither births nor deaths stop the flocking of organisms. They just keep moving, says a theoretical physicist. The notion, he says, has implications in biology and eventually could point to new cancer
Scientists have developed a process for creating glass-based, inorganic light-emitting diodes that produce light in the ultraviolet range. The work is a step toward biomedical devices with active comp
Engineers have developed a one-step, low-cost method to fabricate a polymer that is rainbow-colored, reflecting many different wavelengths of light when viewed from a single perspective. The colors wo
Engineers have developed a one-step, low-cost method to fabricate a polymer that is rainbow-colored, reflecting many different wavelengths of light when viewed from a single perspective. The colors wo
Superconductivity is a rare physical state in which matter is able to conduct electricity -- maintain a flow of electrons -- without any resistance. This phenomenon can only be found in certain materi
Astronomers using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have, for the first time, discovered buckyballs in a solid form in space. Prior to this discovery, the microscopic carbon spheres had been fo
Pain? Just turn it off! It may sound like science fiction, but researchers have now succeeded in inhibiting pain-sensitive neurons on demand, in the laboratory. The crucial element in their strategy i
Researchers have developed a new injectable hydrogel that could be an effective and safe treatment for tissue damage caused by heart attacks.
Researchers has detected the element tellurium for the first time in three ancient stars. Tellurium is rare on Earth.
A new robotic device made from DNA could potentially seek out specific cell targets and deliver important molecular instructions, such as telling cancer cells to self-destruct. Inspired by the mechani
By using some of light's "spooky" quantum properties, researchers have created images of objects that might otherwise be hidden from view.
Scientists have tested nearly 700 wild yeast strains isolated from diverse environments for the presence of known and unknown prion elements, finding them in one third of all strains. All the prions a
Over their 3.8 billion years of evolution, living organisms have developed countless strategies for monitoring their surroundings. Chemists have adapted some of these strategies to improve the perform
Chemists have created a molecule that's so good at tangling itself inside the double helix of a DNA sequence that it can stay there for up to 16 days before the DNA liberates itself, much longer than
The innermost secrets of champagne bubbles are about to be unveiled by a scientist tackling champagne bubbles from both a physics and a
Chemistry perspective. To understand what appears to be a harmle
Researchers in California report that they have significantly enhanced polymer solar cells' performance by building a device with a new "tandem" structure that combines multiple cells with d
Top-heavy structures are more likely to maintain their balance while hovering in the air than are those that bear a lower center of gravity, researchers have found. Their findings are counter to commo
A new study has shown that boosting the estrogen levels of male garter snakes causes them to secrete the same pheromones that females use to attract suitors, and turned the males into just about the s
Microscopic channels of gold nanoparticles have the ability to transmit electromagnetic energy that starts as light and propagates via "dark plasmons," according to researchers.
A technique for creating a new molecule that structurally and chemically replicates the active part of the molybdenite catalyst paves the way for developing catalytic materials that can serve as effec
Scientists are reporting development of a new form of buckypaper, which eliminates a major drawback of these sheets of carbon nanotubes -- 50,000 times thinner than a human hair, 10 times lighter than
Researchers have developed a relatively fast, easy and inexpensive technique for inducing nanorods to self-assemble into aligned and ordered macroscopic structures. This technique should enable more e
Scientists have demonstrated an alternative pathway to life-essential sugars called the glyoxylate scenario, which may push the field of pre-life
Chemistry past the formose reaction hurdle.
The large changes in the carbon isotopic composition of carbonates which occurred prior to the major climatic event more than 500 million years ago, known as "Snowball Earth," are unrelated
Wonder material graphene has revealed another of its extraordinary properties Scientists have now found that it is superpermeable with respect to water. Graphene is one of the wonders of the science w
A kitchen gadget that vacuum seals food in plastic inspired a physicist to improve the performance of organic transistors for potential use in video displays.
Wonder material graphene has revealed another of its extraordinary properties Scientists have now found that it is superpermeable with respect to water. Graphene is one of the wonders of the science w
A new study, using genetic analysis to look for clues about human migration over sixty thousand years ago, suggests that the first modern humans settled in Arabia on their way from the Horn of Africa
Scientists are reporting the first 3-D images of an individual protein ever obtained with enough clarity to determine its structure.
Scientists have created the shortest, purest X-ray laser pulses ever achieved, fulfilling a 45-year-old prediction and opening the door to a new range of scientific discovery. The researchers aimed SL
Chemists have taken an important step in making artificial life forms from scratch. Using a novel chemical reaction, they have created self-assembling cell membranes, the structural envelopes that con
Organic chemists have made a significant advance towards establishing the origin of the carbohydrates (sugars) that form the building blocks of life. The researchers have re-created a process which co
Scientists have developed a soap, composed of iron rich salts dissolved in water, that responds to a magnetic field when placed in solution. The soap’s magnetic properties were shown to resu
Scientists have long seen evidence of social behavior among many species of animals. Dolphins frolic together and lions live in packs. And, right under our feet, it appears that nematodes are having t
The beauty of an electron’s spin is that it responds very rapidly to small magnetic fields. Such external magnetic fields can be used to reverse the direction of spin. In this way, informati
Minuscule amounts of ethanol can at least double the life span of a tiny worm used as a model for aging studies, biochemists report. "This finding floored us; it's shocking" said the senior
Since the discovery of the microscope, scientists have tried to visualize smaller and smaller structures to provide insights into the inner workings of human cells, bacteria and viruses. Now, research
A disease-fighting protein in our teardrops has been tethered to a tiny transistor, enabling scientists to discover exactly how it destroys dangerous bacteria. The research could prove critical to lon
Scientists have described the Darwinian evolution of functional TNA molecules from a large pool of random sequences. This is the first case where such methods have been applied to molecules other than
Similar to the way pavement, softened by a hot sun, will slow down a car, graphene slows down an object sliding across its surface. But stack the sheets and graphene gets more slippery, say theorists