Science

For billions of years, life has used long molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, to store information and solve problems. Today engineers are putting their own spin on DNA computing, to both record data and serve as biological computers, yet until now they’ve struggled to design a synthetic system that can store and perform tasks … Read more

A new study suggests that neighborhoods with fewer educational, health, environmental, and socioeconomic resources may increase one’s risk for preterm birth and contribute to the racial gap in preterm birth in the Commonwealth. Preterm birth, defined as a live birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy, is the second-leading cause of infant mortality in the United … Read more

Inspired by the architecture of human bone’s tough outer layer, engineers at Princeton have developed a cement-based material that is 5.6 times more damage-resistant than standard counterparts. The bio-inspired design allows the material to resist cracking and avoid sudden failure, unlike conventional, brittle cement-based counterparts. In a Sept. 10, article in the journal Advanced Materials, … Read more

Researchers have discovered an effective method of getting people to drink less alcohol: Highlight the increased risk of cancer that comes with imbibing and pair that with counting each and every drink. This particular combo of ‘why to reduce’ and ‘how to reduce’ messaging can be useful for promoting good health in a population, the … Read more

New research co-led by Cornell University examines thousands of years of Arctic sled dog ancestry and reveals when and how Siberian and Alaskan sled dogs’ DNA mixed. “There was a real concern from Siberian breeders — who were mostly racing their dogs — that they were sending out their dogs’ DNA samples for analysis, more … Read more

When modern humans emerged from Africa, they explored far more than just new places. They encountered other human species, and in the Zagros Mountains of Iran, they did a heck of a lot more than just say hello. New research suggests this is where Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis interbred, changing the fate of at … Read more

When surgeons perform brain surgery on people with brain tumors or epilepsy, they need to remove the tumor or abnormal tissue while preserving parts of the brain that control language and movement. A new Northwestern Medicine study may better inform doctors’ decisions about which brain areas to preserve, thereby improving patients’ language function after brain … Read more

September 16, 2024 2 min read The Brain Really Does Choke Under Pressure Study links choking under pressure to the brain region that controls movement By Jude Coleman & Nature magazine Basketball star Isaiah Thomas reacts after missing a crucial shot. Hector Amezcua/Sacramento Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images Have you ever been in a … Read more

Holes at the top of this image are vertical shafts to underground aqueducts called qanats Nazarij Buławka et al Most of the ancient underground aqueducts that enabled humans to settle in the world’s hottest and driest regions have been lost over time. Now, archaeologists are rediscovering them by using artificial intelligence to analyse spy satellite … Read more

For the past few years, a series of controversies have rocked the well-established field of cosmology. In a nutshell, the predictions of the standard model of the universe appear to be at odds with some recent observations. There are heated debates about whether these observations are biased, or whether the cosmological model, which predicts the … Read more