SciGlow | All Science News In One Place
SciGlow is a newsletter of science stories from the major research labs. Headlines link to in-depth articles and editorials. SciGlow keeps scientists and others up-to-date on current research.
The Komodo dragons are the largest lizards in the world. These predators weighing up to 200 pounds can detect their prey from up to 7.5 miles away. And although they are cold-blooded, they can ramp up their metabolism to near mammalian levels, which gives them great speed and endurance. However, scientists have understood little about … Read more
A plethora of physicochemical processes must have created the conditions that enabled living systems to emerge on the early Earth. In other words, the era of biological evolution must have been preceded by a – presumably protracted – phase of ‘prebiotic’ chemical evolution, during which the first informational molecules capable of replicating themselves were assembled … Read more
A University of Oklahoma-led study generated improved annual maps of tropical forest cover in the Brazilian Amazon in 2000-2017 and provided better characterization on the spatio-temporal dynamics of forest area, loss and gain in this region. The Amazon basin has the largest tropical forests in the world. Rapid changes in land use, climate and other … Read more
Already the Inca used knots in cords in their ancient writing “Quipu” to encode and store information. The advantage: Unlike ink on a sheet of paper, the information stored in the knots is robust against external destructive influences such as water. Novel quantum computers should also be able to store information robustly in the form … Read more
Climate action without careful planning and reform can be costly – but a new study shows that the benefits of global action on climate largely outweigh the hazards. Researchers found that there are approximately four times fewer trade-offs than synergies between climate action and the targets of the UN’s global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Published … Read more
Scientists have used precisely tuned pulses of laser light to film the ultrafast rotation of a molecule. The resulting “molecular movie” tracks one and a half revolutions of carbonyl sulphide (OCS) – a rod-shaped molecule consisting of one oxygen, one carbon and one sulphur atom – taking place within 125 trillionths of a second, at … Read more
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, president: Byung-gwon Lee) announced that Dr. Hyunjung Yi of the Post-Silicon Semiconductor Institute and her research team developed a transfer-printing** technology that uses hydrogel* and nano ink to easily create high-performance sensors on flexible substrates of diverse shapes and structures. *Hydrogel: a three-dimensional hydrophilic polymer network that … Read more
A major greenhouse gas, CO2 produced from burning fossil fuels is still mostly released into the atmosphere, adding to the burden of global warming. One way to cut down on it is through a carbon capture: a chemical technique that removes CO2 out of emissions (“postcombustion”), preventing it from entering the atmosphere. The captured CO2 … Read more
Evolution is actually a Sadie Hawkins dance, as new research shows females not only determine whether male animals develop bright colors, but also how fast new species develop. Research led by David Reznick, a UC Riverside biology professor, used fish often seen in pet stores, like guppies and swordtails, to test a hypothesis proposed by David … Read more
A panel of investigators assembled by the National Advisory Eye Council (NAEC) calls for large-scale collaborative research to address dry macular degeneration – the leading cause of blindness among the elderly – for which there is currently no effective treatment. The NAEC – a 12-member panel that helps guide the National Eye Institute – recognized … Read more