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New Scientist

How to get the right balance of omega-3s and omega-6s in your diet

The balance of omega fatty acids in the food we eat affects our health. But what does the evidence say about claims you should be seeking to reduce omega-6 intake as well as boosting omega-3s?

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Environment

The incredible new tech that can recycle all plastics, forever

These photos show how a warmer climate is damaging Earth's waters

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How the US is preparing for a potential bird flu pandemic

Bowhead whales still harmed from whaling that ended a century ago, rare mutation that causes short stature may shed light on ageing, 5 extraordinary ideas about the mind and what it means to be conscious, alpacas are the only mammals known to directly inseminate the uterus, global warming could make tides higher as well as raising sea levels, science-inspired experiences, we live in a cosmic void so empty that it breaks the laws of cosmology.

New Scientist covers the latest developments in science, technology, health and the environment

The man reinventing economics with chaos theory and complexity science

Early humans spread as far north as siberia 400,000 years ago, why you may have a stealth liver disease and what to do about it, are you languishing in life here’s how to find your purpose again, how ai mathematicians might finally deliver human-level reasoning, five scientific ways to help reduce feelings of anxiety, this week's magazine.

27 April 2024

A radical new book sets out to hunt for 'pure consciousness'

A new kind of experiment at the LHC could unravel quantum reality

How solar eclipses have been revealing cosmic secrets for centuries

Astronomers have found what may be the smallest galaxy ever, there are hints that dark energy may be getting weaker, why we're finally on the cusp of finding exomoons around other planets, popular articles.

Editor's picks

A new understanding of tinnitus and deafness could help reverse both, what are the mysterious continent-sized lumps deep inside earth, how bad is vaping for your health we’re finally getting answers, we may finally know how cognitive reserve protects against alzheimer's, instant expert, uncover everything we know about the nature of matter.

Particle accelerators have also given us evidence to answer other questions, such as what gives objects mass. They’ve also allowed us to explore mysterious particles like quarks and neutrinos. Join six leading experts to find out everything we know about what stuff is made of.

27 Apr 2024

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The shocking extent of latest Great Barrier Reef mass bleaching event

Eclipse chasers: Why NASA jets will pursue solar totality

ESA’s Proba-3 mission will create an eclipse on demand to study sun

Why we study the sun’s corona during a total solar eclipse

Claudia de Rham: In search of the true nature of gravity

Turtle tagging project is helping protect leatherback migratory routes

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Science News

Rain Bosworth smiling and looking at a parent-child pair to her left. She has blonde hair and blue eyes and wearing blue button-up shirt. The parent is looking at an iPad, sitting in front of them on a round table. The iPad is displaying what appears to be a video with a person signing. The parent has black hair and wearing a navy polka dot shirt. The child is sitting on the parent's lap and staring at Bosworth.

Rain Bosworth studies how deaf children experience the world

Deaf experimental psychologist Rain Bosworth has found that babies are primed to learn sign language just like spoken language.

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is illustrated against and blue starry background.

‘Humanity’s spacecraft’ Voyager 1 is back online and still exploring

After five months of glitching, the venerable space probe contacted Earth and is continuing its interstellar mission billions of kilometers away.

An image of a doctor listening to an older woman's heart.

Irregular bone marrow cells may increase heart disease risk

Over time, bone marrow stem cells develop key genetic errors and pass them on to immune cells. This may increase the risk of developing heart disease.

two people shop for milk in a grocery store dairy aisle. A cooler with gallons of white milk with blue labels and lids is in one cooler. The second cooler's door is open. It is lined with milk with red labels and lids. A person with shoulder length brown hair wearing a blue surgical mask and blue, white and black striped fuzzy sweater pulls a gallon of milk with a red lid out of a cooler. They have a white cloth bag with large red dots over their shoulder. A couple of coolers down a person with dark hair wearing a black and white plaid shirt looks over their choices. The photo was taken in 2022. Now people are worried about bird flu fragments showing up in cow milk.

Traces of bird flu are showing up in cow milk. Here’s what to know

We asked the experts: Should people be worried? Pasteurization and the H5N1 virus’s route to infection suggests risks to people remains low.

A nurse's hand drops human blood on a small, white plastic malaria rapid test.

Malaria parasites can evade rapid tests, threatening eradication goals

Genetic mutations are making Plasmodium falciparum, parasites that cause malaria, invisible to rapid tests. New, more sensitive tests could help.

A zebra finch, with bright orange beak and cheek spots, gray head and white belly, perches in a thicket of brambly branches.

Noise pollution can harm birds even before they hatch

Exposing zebra finch eggs and hatchlings to traffic sounds had lifelong health impacts, raising concerns about increased anthropogenic noise.

A photograph of two mice looking in the direction of the camera, one brown mouse on the left and one brown and white mouse on the right.

Rat cells grew in mice brains, and helped sniff out cookies

When implanted into mouse embryos, stem cells from rats grew into forebrains and structures that handle smells.

An illustration of atoms in an altermagnet shows a grid of alternating blue and purple shapes, rotated with respect to one another.

Newfound ‘altermagnets’ shatter the magnetic status quo

The newly discovered type of magnetic material could improve existing tech, including making better and faster hard drives.

A woman with black hair sits on a white hospital bed with her back to the camera. She is wearing a blue hospital gown. Now, people at hospitals must obtain consent prior to intimate exams.

Pelvic exams at hospitals require written consent, new U.S. guidelines say

Hospitals must now get written consent to perform pelvic, breast, prostate and rectal exams on sedated patients or risk losing federal funding.

Four diamonds of varying hues are shown on a black background

A new method of making diamonds doesn’t require extreme pressure

Lab-grown diamonds can form at atmospheric pressure in a liquid of gallium, iron, nickel and silicon.

A honeybee perches on a purple wallflower. The bee is sipping nectar from the flower's yellow anthers. A new bee vaccine may protect against a bacterial and a viral disease.

A vaccine for bees has an unexpected effect

Honeybees vaccinated against a bacterial disease were also protected from a viral disease.

Strands of red coral with blue glowing tips

Glowing octocorals have been around for at least 540 million years

Genetic and fossil analyses shine a light on how long the invertebrates have had bioluminescence — a trait thought to be volatile.

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A nurse prepares to give Steve Young, one of the first patients in the trial, his first jab at UCLH in London

Cancer ‘Real hope’ for cure as personal mRNA vaccine for melanoma trialled

Spiders Exotic spiders flourishing in Britain as new jumping species found in Cornwall

Tractors in the streets of Krakow, Poland, as part of a protest against the EU's nature restoration law.

Europe New nature law will fail without farmers, scientists warn

A zebra finch perches on a branch while looking to the side

Birds Noise from traffic stunts growth of baby birds, study finds

Artist’s impression of Ptychodus, showing two large sharks swimming around other sea creatures including ammonites. One shark is about to eat a turtle

‘An enigma’ Scientists finally learn what giant prehistoric shark looked like

Dairy cattle feeding at a farm as a bird looks on

Science Weekly From birds, to cattle, to … us? Could bird flu be the next pandemic? – podcast

All stories

Women should give up vaping if they want to get pregnant, study suggests

Secret to eternal youth? John Cleese extols virtues of stem cell treatment

Trump will dismantle key US weather and science agency, climate experts fear

An older woman sitting at a table in her home looking depressed

About 2m people have long Covid in England and Scotland, figures show

Coronavirus

female patient being given NHS vaccine injection

Covid boosters are a gamechanger – if they are free for everyone

A cardboard bowl containing a multi-dose vial of the Covid vaccine and five unused needles with lids on

Cheaper private Covid jabs may end up as costly as pricier ones, say experts

An NHS worker prepares a Covid vaccine at a Boots pharmacy in London

Boots to offer Covid vaccines in England for nearly £100 a jab

I helped advise the US government on the next likely pandemic. What I learned is alarming

The media industry is dying – but I can still get paid to train AI to replace me

‘There are currently nearly 10,000 active satellites and companies are working as fast as possible to get … a projected 1m in the next three to four decades.’

Dead satellites are filling space with trash. That could affect Earth’s magnetic field

Yes, total eclipses are very nice. But have you ever smelled bacon?

Ephesus in Turkey. Romeyka is a ‘living bridge’ to the ancient Hellenic world

The Guardian view on endangered languages: spoken by a few but of value to many

Science weekly podcast.

James Magnussen celebrating a win in swimming

Who really wins if the Enhanced Games go ahead? – podcast

A marsh tit perched on a rock (Photgraph: Lisa Geoghegan/Alamy Stock Photo)

Soundscape ecology: a window into a disappearing world – podcast

Anne Mahrer and Rosmarie Wyder-Walti, of the Swiss elderly women group Senior Women for Climate Protection, talk to journalists after the verdict of the court in the climate case

The senior Swiss women who went to court over climate change, and won – podcast

Physics Brian Haywood obituary

Young nurse in medical scrubs and gloves looking at labrador and holding him while veterinarian gives injection

Biology Hardwired to eat: what can our dogs teach us about obesity? – podcast

Space iss review – ariana debose is ace as third world war sparks space station survival race, genetics hardwired to eat: what can our dogs teach us about obesity – podcast, medical research women should give up vaping if they want to get pregnant, study suggests, psychology the personality audit: should we ask friends for their brutally honest feedback on our flaws, alex bellos's monday puzzle, alex bellos's monday puzzle did you solve it art thou smarter than shakespeare.

Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle Can you solve it? Art thou smarter than Shakespeare?

Happy girlfriends women group drinking beer at brewery bar restaurant - Friendship concept with young female friends enjoying time and having genuine fun at cool vintage pub - Focus on left girl

Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle Did you solve it? Best pub quiz questions ever

Alex bellos's monday puzzle can you solve it best pub quiz questions ever.

Millions watch as total solar eclipse sweeps across Mexico, US and Canada – video

people wearing paper eclipse glasses look up at the eclipse

Total solar eclipse over Mexico, US and Canada – in pictures

Observers in Mazatlan were the first to witness a rare solar eclipse as the moon obscured the sun over Mexico

Rare total eclipse of the sun darkens Mexico's skies – video

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Medical research
Infectious diseases

Health & Medicine News

Top headlines, latest headlines.

Advance in Heart Regenerative Therapy
Vitamin D Alters Mouse Gut Bacteria
Identifying a New Liver Defender
Parkinson's and Gene-Pesticide Interactions
Mysteries of Cell Division in Embryos
Neurons Spoil Your Appetite
Nanomaterial for Neurodegenerative Treatments
Mini-Colons and Colorectal Cancer Research
AI and Treatments to Prevent 'Superbugs'
Father's Lineage: Loss of Y-Chromosome Diversity

Earlier Headlines

Thursday, april 25, 2024.

Advance in the Treatment of Acute Heart Failure Identified
RNA Modification Is Responsible for the Disruption of Mitochondrial Protein Synthesis in Alzheimer's Disease
Food in Sight? The Liver Is Ready!
Treatment for Deadly Superbug C. Diff May Be Weakening
AI in Medicine: The Causality Frontier
Advanced Cell Atlas Opens New Doors in Biomedical Research
Using AI to Improve Diagnosis of Rare Genetic Disorders
Circadian Rhythms Can Influence Drugs' Effectiveness
How Immune Cells Communicate to Fight Viruses
National Trial Safely Scaled Back Prescribing of a Powerful Antipsychotic for the Elderly
Early Trauma Cuts Life Short for Squirrels, and Climate Change Could Make Matters Worse

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Solving the Riddle of the Sphingolipids in Coronary Artery Disease
Use of Acid Reflux Drugs Linked to Higher Risk of Migraine
A Closed-Loop Drug-Delivery System Could Improve Chemotherapy
Tumor Cells Evade the Immune System Early On: Newly Discovered Mechanism Could Significantly Improve Cancer Immunotherapies
After Spinal Cord Injury, Neurons Wreak Havoc on Metabolism
Scientists Identify and Show How to Target a Key Tumor Defense Against Immune Attack
Can Climate Change Accelerate Transmission of Malaria? Pioneering Research Sheds Light on Impacts of Temperature
Cells May Possess Hidden Communication System
A Flexible Microdisplay Can Monitor Brain Activity in Real-Time During Brain Surgery
Good Heart Health in Middle Age May Preserve Brain Function Among Black Women as They Age
AI Designs New Drugs Based on Protein Structures
It Takes Two to TANGO: New Strategy to Tackle Fibrosis and Scarring
CAR T Cell Therapy Targeting HER2 Antigen Shows Promise Against Advanced Sarcoma in Phase I Trial
Social Media Can Be Used to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Intake in Young People
A Vaccine to Fight Antibiotic Resistance
Low Intensity Exercise Linked to Reduced Depression
Positive Effect of Midazolam After Cardiac Arrest
Researchers Unveil PI3K Enzyme's Dual Accelerator and Brake Mechanisms
Biophysics: Testing How Well Biomarkers Work
Discovering Cancers of Epigenetic Origin Without DNA Mutation
Understaffed Nursing Homes in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods More Likely to Overuse Antipsychotics
Apply Single-Cell Analysis to Reveal Mechanisms of a Common Complication of Crohn's Disease

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Researching Cancer by Studying Lipids Cell by Cell
Genetics Predict Type 2 Diabetes Risk and Disparities in Childhood Cancer Survivors
New Study Uncovers Lasting Financial Hardship Associated With Cancer Diagnosis for Working-Age Adults in the U.S.
Innovative Microscopy Demystifies Metabolism of Alzheimer's
Study Compares Salmonella Rates in Backyard, Commercial Poultry Farm Samples
In the Brain, Bursts of Beta Rhythms Implement Cognitive Control
Magnetic Microcoils Unlock Targeted Single-Neuron Therapies for Neurodegenerative Disorders
Odor-Causing Bacteria in Armpits Targeted Using Bacteriophage-Derived Lysin
Liver Cancer: Molecular Signaling Pathway of Tumor Development Decoded
Gentle Defibrillation for the Heart
Dengue Fever Infections Have Negative Impacts on Infant Health for Three Years

Monday, April 22, 2024

Bella Moths Use Poison to Attract Mates: Scientists Are Closer to Finding out How
Scientists Discover the Cellular Functions of a Family of Proteins Integral to Inflammatory Diseases
3 in 5 Parents Play Short Order Cook for Young Children Who Don't Like Family Meal
Study Explores Possible Future for Early Alzheimer's Diagnostics
New Approach to Tackle Muscle Loss in Aging
Predicting Cardiac Arrhythmia 30 Minutes Before It Happens
Protein Network Dynamics During Cell Division
Pressure in the Womb May Influence Facial Development
The Enemy Within: How Pathogens Spread Unrecognized in the Body
Breakthrough Rice Bran Nanoparticles Show Promise as Affordable and Targeted Anticancer Agent
Genetically Engineering a Treatment for Incurable Brain Tumors
People Think 'old Age' Starts Later Than It Used To, Study Finds
Despite AI Advancements, Human Oversight Remains Essential
Mosaics of Predisposition Cause Skin Disease
Social Programs Save Millions of Lives, Especially in Times of Crisis

Friday, April 19, 2024

Shoe Technology Reduces Risk of Diabetic Foot Ulcers
Researchers Develop a New Way to Safely Boost Immune Cells to Fight Cancer
Glial Hyper-Drive for Triggering Epileptic Seizures
Toxic Chemicals from Microplastics Can Be Absorbed Through Skin
New Research Defines Specific Genomic Changes Associated With the Transmissibility of the Monkeypox Virus
Signs of Multiple Sclerosis Show Up in Blood Years Before Symptoms
Study Opens New Avenue for Immunotherapy Drug Development
Analyzing the Progression in Retinal Thickness Could Predict Cognitive Progression in Parkinson's Patients
Dietary Treatment More Effective Than Medicines in IBS
Key Protein Regulates Immune Response to Viruses in Mammal Cells

Thursday, April 18, 2024

Why Can Zebrafish Regenerate Damaged Heart Tissue, While Other Fish Species Cannot?
Mutations in Noncoding DNA Become Functional in Some Cancer-Driving Genes
Coal Train Pollution Increases Health Risks and Disparities
A Common Pathway in the Brain That Enables Addictive Drugs to Hijack Natural Reward Processing
Potential New Treatment Path for Lasting Lyme Disease Symptoms
Metabolic Health Before Vaccination Determines Effectiveness of Anti-Flu Response
Perfect Balance: How the Brain Fine-Tunes Its Sensitivity
Scientists Uncover 95 Regions of the Genome Linked to PTSD
AI Tool Predicts Responses to Cancer Therapy Using Information from Each Cell of the Tumor
How Data Provided by Fitness Trackers and Smartphones Can Help People With MS
Siblings With Unique Genetic Change Help Scientists Progress Drug Search for Type 1 Diabetes
New Urine-Based Test Detects High-Grade Prostate Cancer, Helping Men Avoid Unnecessary Biopsies

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Study Identifies New Metric for Diagnosing Autism
Researchers Create New AI Pipeline for Identifying Molecular Interactions
Paper: To Understand Cognition--and Its Dysfunction--Neuroscientists Must Learn Its Rhythms
Protecting Brain Cells With Cannabinol
Does Using Your Brain More at Work Help Ward Off Thinking, Memory Problems?
Guidance on Energy and Macronutrients Across the Lifespan
Calorie Restriction Study Reveals Complexities in How Diet Impacts Aging
Global Study Reveals Health Impacts of Airborne Trace Elements
New Data Identifies Trends in Accidental Opioid Overdoses in Children
Artificial Intelligence Beats Doctors in Accurately Assessing Eye Problems
Researchers Find That Accelerated Aging Biology in the Placenta Contributes to a Rare Form of Pregnancy-Related Heart Failure
Genetic Variant Identified That Shaped the Human Skull Base
Adults With Congenital Heart Disease Faced Higher Risk of Abnormal Heart Rhythms
AI Speeds Up Drug Design for Parkinson's by Ten-Fold
Tracking a Protein's Fleeting Shape Changes
Research Explores How a Father's Diet Could Shape the Health of His Offspring
Novel Robotic Training Program Reduces Physician Errors Placing Central Lines
Researchers Uncover Human DNA Repair by Nuclear Metamorphosis

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Researchers Discover Urine-Based Test to Detect Head and Neck Cancer
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Bioluminescence in Animals 540 Million Years Ago
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Do Cells Have a Hidden Communication System?
Mice Given Mouse-Rat Brains Can Smell Again
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Cancer: Epigenetic Origin Without DNA Mutation

Science News

Find daily science news and interesting science research articles at SciTechDaily, your all-inclusive hub for the latest breakthroughs, discoveries, and innovations from the ever-evolving world of science. We publish the latest science news and breakthroughs made at top universities and research facilities.

Our expertly curated content dives deep into the complexities of scientific research, unveiling the incredible discoveries and cutting-edge advancements that continue to reshape our understanding of the universe and our place within it. Stay informed, curious, and inspired as we explore the boundless wonders of the scientific realm together.

Learn more about topics such as Climate Change , Computer Science , Geology , Archaeology , Antimatter , Evolution , Neuroscience , Nanoscience , Fluid Dynamics and Energy originating at prestigious institutions like UCLA , Yale , MIT , UC Berkeley , King’s College , Max Planck Institute , Kyoto University , and Oak Ridge National Laboratory .

Science April 26, 2024

Cacao Crisis: Devastating Virus Threatens Global Chocolate Supply

The cacao swollen shoot virus disease can result in the loss of up to 50% of certain harvests. A swiftly spreading virus poses a risk…

Scientists Discover Giant, Prehistoric Salmon With Tusk-Like Teeth

Boost Your Brain: Scientists Develop New Method To Improve Your Reading Efficiency

Predator in Paradise: Lionfish’s Rapid Invasion of the Mediterranean Sea

Expert-Defying Anomaly – Scientists Discover 2D Nanomaterial With Counter-Intuitive Expanding Properties

Ancient Migration Across Europe Illustration

Ancient DNA Decoded: Tracing Neurodegenerative Diseases to Prehistoric Herders

From Ancient Roots to Future Brews: Unveiling Coffee’s Prehistoric Genome

Giant Pair of Swimming Ichthyotitan severnensis

More Than 80 Feet Long – Newly Discovered Ichthyosaur May Be the Largest Marine Reptile Ever

Bacteria Being Illuminated With Mid Infrared

30 Times Clearer – Scientists Develop Improved Mid-Infrared Microscope

Science April 23, 2024

Rewiring Reality: Stanford Unveils the Brain’s Fault Lines in Psychosis

When the brain has trouble filtering incoming information and predicting what’s likely to happen, psychosis can result, Stanford Medicine-led research shows. Inside the brains of…

This Unusual Superfood Is Good for the Climate and Incredibly High in Protein

New research has revealed that pythons are an efficient, low-emission, and climate-resilient source of food, demonstrating superior feed-to-protein conversion rates compared to chickens or cattle….

Old Science, New Twists: Ancient Frog Fossils Disrupt 100-Year-Old Beliefs

Paleontologists discovered that the exceptional preservation of 45-million-year-old frog fossils can be attributed to the mineralization of their skin, offering new insights into their adaptation…

3D Photoelastic Particles Granular Materials

Science April 22, 2024

Unveiling the Hidden World of Granular Materials: MIT Engineers Probe the Mechanisms of Landslides and Earthquakes

A new technique allows for the visualization of internal forces within granular materials in three-dimensional detail, overcoming previous challenges in observing their behavior. Granular materials,…

Challenging Historical Interpretations: Scientists Shed New Light on the Mysterious Cerne Giant

For hundreds of years, the Cerne Giant—a monumental hillside engraving in Dorset of a naked man wielding a club and spanning 180 feet—has captivated both…

The Science of Aging: New Insights Into When “Old Age” Begins

Increases in life expectancy and later retirement could explain the shift in public perception of when old age begins. Middle-aged and older adults believe that…

Experimental Setup by Daan Boltje and Ernest Van Der Wee

Scientists Solve Decades-Old Microscopy Problem

Studying tissues, cells, and proteins under a microscope is essential for disease prevention and treatment. This research requires accurately measuring the dimensions of these biological…

Science April 21, 2024

New Research Reveals That Some Plant-Based Steaks and Cold Cuts Are Lacking in Protein

Plant-based meats have impressively mimicked a range of animal products, from beef to seafood. However, the question remains: how do they stack up nutritionally? According…

Fossil Cast of the Skull of Homo heidelbergensis

“Bizarre” Patterns Unearthed – Cambridge Study Challenges Traditional Views on Human Origins

A new study from the University of Cambridge suggests that interspecies competition significantly influenced the evolutionary trajectory of hominins, resulting in a “bizarre” evolutionary pattern…

Science News

A limestone panel carved with imagery of ball players

Traces of hallucinogenic plants and chile peppers found at Maya ball court suggest rituals took place there

By Jennifer Nalewicki published 26 April 24

An environmental DNA analysis of soil collected at an ancient Maya ball court reveals that the site was once part of a ritual.

illustration of a dna molecule with different nucleotides highlighted

PTSD tied to 95 'risk hotspots' in the genome

By Jennifer Zieba published 26 April 24

In a group effort, scientists from all over the world came together to create a detailed map of the genetic causes behind PTSD.

photo of young woman holding up a mouth spray in preparation to spritz it into her mouth

New UTI vaccine wards off infection for years, early studies suggest

By Sahana Sitaraman published 26 April 24

More than 50% of the patients who used a new mouth-spray-based vaccine didn't have a UTI for up to nine years.

Close-up of a scientist picking up a test tube with a red lid containing blood. The scientists' hand is in focus and they are wearing blue gloves. The test tube is picked up from amongst what looks like a group of tubes, where the red tops are only visible. The scientists blurred face is shown in the background. They are wearing goggles.

Blood test powered by AI could catch osteoarthritis 8 years earlier than X-ray, early data show

By Emily Cooke published 26 April 24

A new blood test could determine whether someone will develop knee osteoarthritis up to eight years before structural damage is picked up by an X-ray.

We've never seen the Fitbit Versa at this rock bottom price before, surely it won't be around long

By Lloyd Coombes published 26 April 24

Deal Amazon is offering 48% off the versatile fitness tracker-come-smartwatch, so long as you like pink or black.

Aerial view of graves in an ancient Roman cemetery unearthed in France.

1,430 ancient Roman graves scattered with funerary festival leftovers unearthed in southern France

By Sascha Pare published 26 April 24

Archaeologists in southern France have excavated an ancient Roman cemetery containing 1,430 graves and traces of a funerary festival, during which families feasted by the graves of relatives.

newspaper articles about scientific research

Lavish 2,200-year-old tomb unearthed in China may be that of ancient king

By Tom Metcalfe published 26 April 24

It's not known who was buried in the tomb, but one expert says it was probably the Chu state ruler.

A lidar image of the Irish countryside showing monuments detected

Lasers reveal prehistoric Irish monuments that may have been 'pathways for the dead'

Archaeologists used lidar to detect a cluster of rare Neolithic monuments hidden in farmland in Ireland.

An illustration of a wobbly grid representing space-time, in front of a vast field of stars

Tweak to Schrödinger's cat equation could unite Einstein's relativity and quantum mechanics, study hints

By Andrey Feldman published 26 April 24

Physicists have proposed modifications to the infamous Schrödinger's cat paradox that could help explain why quantum particles can exist in more than one state simultaneously, while large objects (like the universe) seemingly cannot.

Abstract glow shine stain on white background.

World's thinnest gold leaf, dubbed 'goldene,' is just 1 atom thick

By Victoria Atkinson published 25 April 24

Goldene is the latest 2D material to be made since graphene was first created in 2004.

An aerial view of the papyrus during the analysis.

Plato's burial place finally revealed after AI deciphers ancient scroll carbonized in Mount Vesuvius eruption

By Jennifer Nalewicki published 25 April 24

Researchers used AI to decipher an ancient papyrus that includes details about where Greek philosopher is buried.

Save 32% on this feature-packed Garmin Instinct running watch

By Lloyd Coombes published 25 April 24

Deal Amazon are slashing $80 off this fantastic running watch at right now, which boasts two weeks of battery life.

The steering wheel of a Mercedes-Benz vehicle

1st self-driving car that 'lets you take your eyes off the road' goes on sale in the US — and it's not a Tesla

By Keumars Afifi-Sabet published 25 April 24

Mercedes-Benz has sold at least one of its new vehicles fitted with its Drive Pilot autonomous driving software, which lets you take your hands off the steering wheel and your eyes off the road.

Mars' Inca City formation (left) is overrun with mounds of black 'spiders' (right), a regular springtime phenomenon on the Red Planet

Hundreds of black 'spiders' spotted in mysterious 'Inca City' on Mars in new satellite photos

By Stephanie Pappas published 25 April 24

Every spring, creepy black 'spiders' sprout up on Mars as buried carbon dioxide ice releases dusty geysers of gas. New ESA images show the phenomenon has begun in the strange Inca City formation.

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By Jonathan Gilbert published 25 April 24

An ancient star discovered in the Large Magellanic Cloud has revealed the chemical fingerprint of the early universe. It hints that conditions were not the same everywhere when the first stars forged the elements for life.

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A Saharan dust storm that reached southern Greece on Tuesday (April 23) has turned the sky over Athens and other Greek cities an apocalyptic reddish-orange hue.

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DNA analysis spanning 9 generations of people reveals marriage practices of mysterious warrior culture

By Kristina Killgrove published 24 April 24

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A view through misty snow of an elk at the top of a ridge and a wolf climbing up that same ridge from below.

Yellowstone’s Wolves: A Debate Over Their Role in the Park’s Ecosystem

New research questions the long-held theory that reintroduction of such a predator caused a trophic cascade, spawning renewal of vegetation and spurring biodiversity.

Yellowstone’s ecological transformation through the reintroduction of wolves has become a case study for how to correct out-of-balance ecosystems. But new research challenges that notion. Credit... Elizabeth Boehm/Danita Delimont, via Alamy

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By Jim Robbins

April 23, 2024

In 1995, 14 wolves were delivered by truck and sled to the heart of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, where the animal had long been absent. Others followed.

Since then, a story has grown up, based on early research, that as the wolves increased in number, they hunted the park’s elk herds, significantly reducing them by about half from 17,000.

The wolves’ return and predatory dominance was believed to have had a widespread effect known as a trophic cascade, by decreasing grazing and restoring and expanding forests, grasses and other wildlife. It supposedly even changed the course of rivers as streamside vegetation returned.

Yellowstone’s dramatic transformation through the reintroduction of wolves has become a global parable for how to correct out-of-balance ecosystems.

In recent years, however, new research has walked that story back. Yes, stands of aspen and willows are thriving again — in some places. But decades of damage from elk herds’ grazing and trampling so thoroughly changed the landscape that large areas remain scarred and may not recover for a long time, if ever.

Wolf packs, in other words, are not magic bullets for restoring ecosystems.

“I would say it’s exaggerated, greatly exaggerated,” said Thomas Hobbs, a professor of natural resource ecology at Colorado State University and the lead author of a long-term study that adds new fuel to the debate over whether Yellowstone experienced a trophic cascade.

“You could argue a trophic trickle maybe,” said Daniel Stahler, the park’s lead wolf biologist who has studied the phenomenon. “Not a trophic cascade.”

Not only is the park’s recovery far less robust than first thought, but the story as it has been told is more complex, Dr. Hobbs said.

But the legend of the wolves’ influence on the park persists.

A group of people in winter gear carrying a large silver metal box with air holes over the snow.

“How in the world does this lovely story — and it is a beautiful story — come to be seen as fact?” Dr. Hobbs wondered. A chapter of a book tried to answer that, concluding that a video called “ How Wolves Change Rivers ,” which has received tens of millions of views, contributed mightily to the tale.

The ecological record is complicated by the fact that, as elk declined, the number of bison increased substantially, continuing some of the same patterns, like heavy grazing in some places. Moreover, Yellowstone is growing warmer and drier with climate change.

Large numbers of elk in the north of the park had caused significant ecological changes — vegetation disappeared, trampled streams led to extensive erosion, and invasive plant species took hold. Riparian vegetation, or the grasses, the trees and the shrubs along riverbanks and streams, provides a critical habitat for birds, insects and other species to flourish and to maintain biodiversity in the park.

Once elk numbers dwindled, willows and aspens returned along rivers and streams and flourished. The beaver, an engineer of ecosystems, reappeared, using the dense new growth of willows for both food and construction materials. Colonies built new dams, creating ponds that enhanced stream habitats for birds, fish, grizzlies and other bears as well as promoting the growth of more willows and spring vegetation.

But wolves were only one piece of a larger picture, argue Dr. Hobbs and other skeptics of a full-blown trophic cascade at Yellowstone. Grizzly bears and humans played a role, too. For eight years after wolves re-entered the park, hunters killed more elk than the wolves did.

“The other members of the predator guild increased, and human harvest outside of the park has been clearly shown to be responsible for the decline in elk numbers the first 10 years after the wolves were introduced,” Dr. Hobbs said.

The changes attributed to the presence of stalking wolves, some research showed, weren’t only the result of fewer elk, but of a change in elk behavior called “the ecology of fear.” Scientists suggested that the big ungulates could no longer safely hang out along river or stream banks and eat everything in sight. They became extremely cautious, hiding in places where they could be vigilant. That allowed a return of vegetation in those places.

Dr. Hobbs and others contend that subsequent research has not borne that theory out.

Another overlooked factor is that around the same time wolves were returning, 129 beavers were reintroduced by the U.S. Forest Service onto streams north of the park. So it wasn’t just wolf predation on elk and the subsequent return of wolves that enabled an increase in beavers, experts say.

Some researchers say the so-called trophic cascade and rebirth of streamside ecosystems would have been far more robust if it weren’t for the park’s growing bison herd. The bison population is at an all-time high — the most recent count last summer found nearly 5,000 animals. Much larger than elk, bison are less likely to be vulnerable to wolves, which numbered 124 this winter.

The park’s bison, some researchers say, are overgrazing and otherwise seriously damaging the ecosystems — allowing the spread of invasive species and trampling and destroying native plants.

The heavily grazed landscape is why, critics say, some 4,000 bison, also a record, left Yellowstone for Montana in the winter of 2023-24, when an unusually heavy snow buried forage. Because some bison harbor a disease, called brucellosis, that state officials say could infect cattle, they are not welcome outside the park’s borders. (There are no documented cases of transmission between bison and cattle.)

Montana officials say killing animals that may carry disease as they leave the park is the only way to stem the flow. During a hunt that began in the winter of 2023, Native Americans from tribes around the region took part. All told, hunters killed about 1,085 bison; 88 more were shipped to slaughter and 282 were transferred to tribes. This year, just a few animals have left the park.

The Park Service is expected to release a bison management plan in the coming months. It is considering three options: to allow for 3,500 to 5,000 animals, 3,500 to 6,000, or a more natural population that could reach 7,000.

Richard Keigley, who was a research ecologist for the federal Geological Survey in the 1990s, has become an outspoken critic of the park’s bison management.

“They have created this juggernaut where we’ve got thousands of bison and the public believes this is the way things always were,” he said. “The bison that are there now have destroyed and degraded their primary ranges. People have to realize there’s something wrong in Yellowstone.”

Dr. Keigley said the bison population in the park fluctuated in the early years of the park, with about 229 animals in 1967. It has grown steadily since and peaked last year at 5,900.

“There is a hyperabundant bison population in our first national park,” said Robert Beschta, a professor emeritus of forest ecosystems at Oregon State University who has studied Yellowstone riparian areas for 20 years. He pointed to deteriorating conditions along the Lamar River from bison overgrazing.

“They are hammering it,” Mr. Beschta said. “The Lamar ranks right up there with the worst cattle allotments I’ve seen in the American West. Willows can’t grow. Cottonwoods can’t grow.”

A warmer and drier climate, he said, is making matters worse.

Such opinions, however, are not settled science. Some park experts believe that the presence of thousands of bison enhances park habitats because of something called the Green Wave Hypothesis.

Chris Geremia, a park biologist, is an author of a paper that makes the case that a large numbers of bison can stimulate plant growth by grazing grasses to the length of a suburban lawn. “By creating these grazing lawns bison and other herbivores — grasshoppers, elk — these lawns are sustaining more nutritious food for these animals,” he said.

Dr. Geremia contends that a tiny portion — perhaps one-tenth of one percent — of the park may be devoid of some plants. “The other 99.9 percent of those habitats exists in all different levels of willow, aspen and cottonwood,” he said.

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition, a conservation organization, favors a bison population of 4,000 to 6,000 animals. Shana Drimal, who heads the group’s bison conservation program, said that park officials needed to monitor closely changing conditions like climate, drought and bison movement to ensure the ecosystems wouldn’t become further degraded.

Several scientists propose allowing the bison to migrate to the buffer zones beyond the park’s borders, where they are naturally inclined to travel. But it remains controversial because of the threat of disease.

“The only solution is to provide suitable winter range outside the park where they should be tolerated,” said Robert Crabtree, a chief scientist for the Yellowstone Ecological Research Center, a nonprofit. “When they migrate outside the park now it’s to habitat they evolved to prefer — and instead we kill them and ship them away.”

Scientists push new paradigm of animal consciousness, saying even insects may be sentient

Bees play by rolling wooden balls — apparently for fun . The cleaner wrasse fish appears to recognize its own visage in an underwater mirror . Octopuses seem to react to anesthetic drugs and will avoid settings where they likely experienced past pain.

All three of these discoveries came in the last five years — indications that the more scientists test animals, the more they find that many species may have inner lives and be sentient. A surprising range of creatures have shown evidence of conscious thought or experience, including insects, fish and some crustaceans.

That has prompted a group of top researchers on animal cognition to publish a new pronouncement that they hope will transform how scientists and society view — and care — for animals.

Nearly 40 researchers signed “ The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness ,” which was first presented at a conference at New York University on Friday morning. It marks a pivotal moment, as a flood of research on animal cognition collides with debates over how various species ought to be treated.

The declaration says there is “strong scientific support” that birds and mammals have conscious experience, and a “realistic possibility” of consciousness for all vertebrates — including reptiles, amphibians and fish. That possibility extends to many creatures without backbones, it adds, such as insects, decapod crustaceans (including crabs and lobsters) and cephalopod mollusks, like squid, octopus and cuttlefish.

“When there is a realistic possibility of conscious experience in an animal, it is irresponsible to ignore that possibility in decisions affecting that animal,” the declaration says. “We should consider welfare risks and use the evidence to inform our responses to these risks.”

Jonathan Birch, a professor of philosophy at the London School of Economics and a principal investigator on the Foundations of Animal Sentience project, is among the declaration’s signatories. Whereas many scientists in the past assumed that questions about animal consciousness were unanswerable, he said, the declaration shows his field is moving in a new direction.

“This has been a very exciting 10 years for the study of animal minds,” Birch said. “People are daring to go there in a way they didn’t before and to entertain the possibility that animals like bees and octopuses and cuttlefish might have some form of conscious experience.”

From 'automata' to sentient

There is not a standard definition for animal sentience or consciousness, but generally the terms denote an ability to have subjective experiences: to sense and map the outside world, to have capacity for feelings like joy or pain. In some cases, it can mean that animals possess a level of self-awareness.

In that sense, the new declaration bucks years of historical science orthodoxy. In the 17th century, the French philosopher René Descartes argued that animals were merely “material automata” — lacking souls or consciousness.

Descartes believed that animals “can’t feel or can’t suffer,” said Rajesh Reddy, an assistant professor and director of the animal law program at Lewis & Clark College. “To feel compassion for them, or empathy for them, was somewhat silly or anthropomorphizing.”

In the early 20th century, prominent behavioral psychologists promoted the idea that science should only study observable behavior in animals, rather than emotions or subjective experiences . But beginning in the 1960s, scientists started to reconsider. Research began to focus on animal cognition, primarily among other primates.

Birch said the new declaration attempts to “crystallize a new emerging consensus that rejects the view of 100 years ago that we have no way of studying these questions scientifically.”

Indeed, a surge of recent findings underpin the new declaration. Scientists are developing new cognition tests and trying pre-existing tests on a wider range of species, with some surprises.

Take, for example, the mirror-mark test, which scientists sometimes use to see if an animal recognizes itself.

In a series of studies, the cleaner wrasse fish seemed to pass the test .

The fish were placed in a tank with a covered mirror, to which they exhibited no unusual reaction. But after the cover was lifted, seven of 10 fish launched attacks toward the mirror, signaling they likely interpreted the image as a rival fish.

After several days, the fish settled down and tried odd behaviors in front of the mirror, like swimming upside down, which had not been observed in the species before. Later, some appeared to spend an unusual amount of time in front of the mirror, examining their bodies. Researchers then marked the fish with a brown splotch under the skin, intended to resemble a parasite. Some fish tried to rub the mark off.

“The sequence of steps that you would only ever have imagined seeing with an incredibly intelligent animal like a chimpanzee or a dolphin, they see in the cleaner wrasse,” Birch said. “No one in a million years would have expected tiny fish to pass this test.”

In other studies, researchers found that zebrafish showed signs of curiosity when new objects were introduced into their tanks and that cuttlefish could remember things they saw or smelled . One experiment created stress for crayfish by electrically shocking them , then gave them anti-anxiety drugs used in humans. The drugs appeared to restore their usual behavior.

Birch said these experiments are part of an expansion of animal consciousness research over the past 10 to 15 years. “We can have this much broader canvas where we’re studying it in a very wide range of animals and not just mammals and birds, but also invertebrates like octopuses, cuttlefish,” he said. “And even increasingly, people are talking about this idea in relation to insects.”

As more and more species show these types of signs, Reddy said, researchers might soon need to reframe their line of inquiry altogether: “Scientists are being forced to reckon with this larger question — not which animals are sentient, but which animals aren’t?”

New legal horizons

Scientists’ changing understanding of animal sentience could have implications for U.S. law, which does not classify animals as sentient on a federal level, according to Reddy. Instead, laws pertaining to animals focus primarily on conservation, agriculture or their treatment by zoos, research laboratories and pet retailers.

“The law is a very slow moving vehicle and it really follows societal views on a lot of these issues,” Reddy said. “This declaration, and other means of getting the public to appreciate that animals are not just biological automatons, can create a groundswell of support for raising protections.”

State laws vary widely. A decade ago, Oregon passed a law recognizing animals as sentient and capable of feeling pain, stress and fear, which Reddy said has formed the bedrock of progressive judicial opinions in the state.

Meanwhile, Washington and California are among several states where lawmakers this year have considered bans on octopus farming, a species for which scientists have found strong evidence of sentience.

British law was recently amended to consider octopuses sentient beings — along with crabs and lobsters .

“Once you recognize animals as sentient, the concept of humane slaughter starts to matter, and you need to make sure that the sort of methods you’re using on them are humane,” Birch said. “In the case of crabs and lobsters, there are pretty inhumane methods, like dropping them into pans of boiling water, that are very commonly used.”

Evan Bush is a science reporter for NBC News. He can be reached at [email protected].

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Researchers detect a new molecule in space

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Illustration against a starry background. Two radio dishes are in the lower left, six 3D molecule models are in the center.

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New research from the group of MIT Professor Brett McGuire has revealed the presence of a previously unknown molecule in space. The team's open-access paper, “ Rotational Spectrum and First Interstellar Detection of 2-Methoxyethanol Using ALMA Observations of NGC 6334I ,” appears in April 12 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters .

Zachary T.P. Fried , a graduate student in the McGuire group and the lead author of the publication, worked to assemble a puzzle comprised of pieces collected from across the globe, extending beyond MIT to France, Florida, Virginia, and Copenhagen, to achieve this exciting discovery.

“Our group tries to understand what molecules are present in regions of space where stars and solar systems will eventually take shape,” explains Fried. “This allows us to piece together how chemistry evolves alongside the process of star and planet formation. We do this by looking at the rotational spectra of molecules, the unique patterns of light they give off as they tumble end-over-end in space. These patterns are fingerprints (barcodes) for molecules. To detect new molecules in space, we first must have an idea of what molecule we want to look for, then we can record its spectrum in the lab here on Earth, and then finally we look for that spectrum in space using telescopes.”

Searching for molecules in space

The McGuire Group has recently begun to utilize machine learning to suggest good target molecules to search for. In 2023, one of these machine learning models suggested the researchers target a molecule known as 2-methoxyethanol.

“There are a number of 'methoxy' molecules in space, like dimethyl ether, methoxymethanol, ethyl methyl ether, and methyl formate, but 2-methoxyethanol would be the largest and most complex ever seen,” says Fried. To detect this molecule using radiotelescope observations, the group first needed to measure and analyze its rotational spectrum on Earth. The researchers combined experiments from the University of Lille (Lille, France), the New College of Florida (Sarasota, Florida), and the McGuire lab at MIT to measure this spectrum over a broadband region of frequencies ranging from the microwave to sub-millimeter wave regimes (approximately 8 to 500 gigahertz).

The data gleaned from these measurements permitted a search for the molecule using Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations toward two separate star-forming regions: NGC 6334I and IRAS 16293-2422B. Members of the McGuire group analyzed these telescope observations alongside researchers at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (Charlottesville, Virginia) and the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

“Ultimately, we observed 25 rotational lines of 2-methoxyethanol that lined up with the molecular signal observed toward NGC 6334I (the barcode matched!), thus resulting in a secure detection of 2-methoxyethanol in this source,” says Fried. “This allowed us to then derive physical parameters of the molecule toward NGC 6334I, such as its abundance and excitation temperature. It also enabled an investigation of the possible chemical formation pathways from known interstellar precursors.”

Looking forward

Molecular discoveries like this one help the researchers to better understand the development of molecular complexity in space during the star formation process. 2-methoxyethanol, which contains 13 atoms, is quite large for interstellar standards — as of 2021, only six species larger than 13 atoms were detected outside the solar system , many by McGuire’s group, and all of them existing as ringed structures.

“Continued observations of large molecules and subsequent derivations of their abundances allows us to advance our knowledge of how efficiently large molecules can form and by which specific reactions they may be produced,” says Fried. “Additionally, since we detected this molecule in NGC 6334I but not in IRAS 16293-2422B, we were presented with a unique opportunity to look into how the differing physical conditions of these two sources may be affecting the chemistry that can occur.”

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Biden is giving $6 billion to Micron for a semiconductor project in upstate New York

Susan Davis

President Biden speaks with Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as they look at a mock-up of a semiconductor facility in Syracuse, N.Y. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

President Biden speaks with Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as they look at a mock-up of a semiconductor facility in Syracuse, N.Y.

President Biden traveled to Syracuse, N.Y., on Thursday to tout $6.1 billion in federal grants for Micron Technology that supporters say could bring an economic revival to the region and dramatically boost domestic U.S. semiconductor chip production to compete with China.

Biden said the investment was part of a push to bring manufacturing back to places like Syracuse. "That's a story seen in community after community nationwide — hollowed out, robbed of hope — but not on my watch," he said.

Micron plans to invest about $100 billion to build out a manufacturing campus in Syracuse's northern suburbs. The company is also building a factory in Boise, Idaho.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., — who played a critical role in enacting the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act as well as in directing the funding to his home state — said it would be the single largest private investment in New York history.

"This is the federal government taking back the reins, putting money where its mouth is when we say we want the future of tech to be stamped: 'Made in America,'" he told reporters ahead of the trip.

Biden is giving Intel $8.5 billion for big semiconductor projects in 4 states

The White House said the Idaho facility is expected to be production-ready by 2026, followed by the two facilities in New York in 2028 and 2029. Locally, they could provide economic booms with the White House predicting the creation of 20,000 construction and manufacturing jobs as well as tens of thousands of indirect jobs in the regions.

The pandemic showed the risks of chips shortages

Other big grants from the CHIPS project have gone to Intel for projects in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico and Oregon; TSMC for projects in Arizona; and Samsung for projects in central Texas.

The 2022 law was in large part a response to the 2020 pandemic, during which strained supply chains from China caused chip shortages in the United States. Chips are used in many common consumer electronic products, like smartphones and computers, as well as in cars. According to J.P. Morgan research, global auto production fell 26% in the first nine months of 2021 due to chip shortages.

Biden said the chips shortage had helped drive inflation. "Folks, I determined that I'm never going to let us be vulnerable to wait lines again. Where it's essential, we're going to make it here in America, together," he said.

The law is also intended to blunt China's technological and production advantages in the industry over the long term, which lawmakers like Schumer say is vital to U.S. security interests.

Biden has big plans for semiconductors. But there's a big hole: not enough workers

Biden also announced the creation of new "workforce hubs" designed to find and train future workers to support chip factories, as well as other White House efforts to replace lead pipes in certain regions. Those workforce hubs will be in Syracuse, as well as Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Detroit.

Politically, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan are part of the so-called "Blue Wall" for Democrats in that they are seen as critical to the party's prospects for winning presidential elections. Hillary Clinton lost all three states to Donald Trump in 2016. Biden won all three states against Trump in 2020, and his campaign is pushing to carry them again to win reelection this November.

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Breaking ice, and helicopter drops: winning photos of working scientists

Nature ’s annual photography competition attracted stunning images from around the world, including two very different shots featuring the polarstern research vessel..

By Jack Leeming

23 April 2024

A person holding a pole with a hook leaning out of a orange metal basket that is being lowered by crane towards a broken ice sheet to retrieve equipment below the icy surface

This article is also available as a pdf version .

Scientists often take images from their work – whether they produce medical scans, microscopic captures, or computer screenshots of tricky pieces of code during the course of their work. By continuing our Working Scientist photography competition, we aim to celebrate and highlight the very best images created by our audience in the pursuit of research.

We received more than 200 entries this year from researchers working around the world. The winner and the four runners-up were selected by a jury of Nature staff, including three of the journal’s picture editors. All will receive a prize of £500 (US$620), in the form of Amazon vouchers or a donation to charity, as well as a year’s subscription to Nature .

This image, taken on top of the icebreaker research vessel Polarstern , shows the delicate process of retrieving an instrument called a CTD (short for conductivity, temperature, depth) that had become trapped under sea ice off the coast of northeastern Greenland.

CTDs, which are anchored to the sea floor, measure how ocean properties such as salinity and temperature vary with depth. At some point, the sea ice had closed over the top of this one, forcing the Polarstern to skirt carefully around the equipment, breaking the ice to rescue it from the freezing ocean.

A team of researchers stand on an ice floe next to various bits of equipment and an orange metal basket being held by a crane

Credit: Richard Jones

“You’re crashing into ice and breaking through it. So it wasn’t particularly calm sailing for the majority of the trip,” remembers Richard Jones, who took the image in September 2017 and is the winner of Nature ’s 2024 Working Scientist photography competition. His research aims to improve estimates of the rate at which ice is being lost from the world’s glacial ice sheets.

Jones, a glaciologist at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, highlights the photographic contrast between icebreaker and ice that he’d become used to in his five weeks aboard the Polarstern . “All you really see is blue and white. And sometimes that might feel pretty monotonous, but the colours from the CTD instrument and the orange of the crane contrast the scene and also complement it quite nicely.”

Richard Jones posing for a portrait in front of an ice shelf

Here are the rest of the winning images from the competition.

A field biologist feeding a Kiwkiu bird using a long pipette inserted into its beak

Credit: Ryan Wagner

Reaching the beak

Conservation biologist Ryan Wagner snapped this photo of field biologist Sonia Vallocchia feeding a recently caught kiwikiu ( Pseudonestor xanthophrys ), in January this year. It was taken on Haleakalā volcano on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Wagner, a PhD student at Washington State University Vancouver, was on an expedition to the island as a science communicator, hoping to raise awareness of the plight of the endangered birds.

“Only 130 of these birds remain on Earth,” explains Wagner. “Their numbers have crashed due to avian malaria, which is spread by invasive mosquitoes. As climate change warms the island, mosquitoes have advanced upslope into the high-elevation refuges where native birds survive. A single mosquito bite can kill a kiwikiu.”

He hopes that ornithologists such as Vallocchia, who works for the Maui Forest Birds Recovery Project in Makawao, will help to save these birds by bringing some of them (by helicopter) to the Maui Bird Conservation Center, also in Makawao. There, they will be treated for malaria and join a captive breeding programme, he says.

A scientist standing between two shelves filled with catalogued samples of plants examines a large pressed leaf

Credit: Luiz L. Saldanha/Kimberly P. Castro

Library of leaves

PhD student Kim Castro took this photo of her colleague, postdoctoral researcher Luiz Leonardo Saldanha, in a herbarium that they both work in regularly. It’s shared between the University of Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. Both Castro and Saldanha investigate the medicinal plants of the Amazon at the Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany at the University of Zurich, although the two have very different approaches: whereas Saldanha investigates their chemical diversity, Castro looks at how the plants are perceived by Indigenous communities in the Amazon, specializing in how the plants smell.

A herbarium, Saldanha says, is “like a library — but instead of books, there are plants here”. Saldanha posed with this particular sample ( Palicourea corymbifera , collected in 1977) because it comes from his home country, Brazil, but is used by the Indigenous Desano people in Colombia as a medicinal herb. “So it creates a commonality between South American countries,” he says.

Scientist crouching beneath the propeller are dropped off by army helicopter with their baggage

Credit: Herton Escobar/University of São Paulo Images

Mountain drop-off

In this dramatic image, taken from below the still-spinning, deafening blades of a military helicopter, scientists shelter with their equipment after being dropped off at the top of a remote mountain in northern Amazonia. They are taking part in a biodiversity-research expedition to Serra Imeri, an isolated mountain range that rises through the forest canopy near the border of Brazil and Venezuela, in November 2022.

“A total of 14 scientists and dozens of military support personnel took part in the expedition, which lasted for 11 days and resulted in the discovery of several new species of amphibians, reptiles, birds and plants,” says photographer Herton Escobar, a science journalist who works with the scientists pictured, at the University of São Paulo in Brazil.

Two scientists drag equipment along on a sled over an ice floe while the Polarstern research vessel is visible through mist in the distance

Credit: Emiliano Cimoli

Go with the floe

Emiliano Cimoli, a remote-sensing scientist at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania, Australia, took the second photograph featuring the research vessel Polarstern in this year’s collection of winning images. Here, Carolin Mehlmann and Thomas Richter, mathematicians at the University of Magdeburg, Germany, are measuring the depth of snow across a giant ice floe drifting in the middle of the Arctic Ocean.

The image was taken during a two-month voyage organized by the Alfred Wegener Institute, based in Bremerhaven, Germany, in August 2023. The goal of the expedition was to evaluate interactions between the ice physics, biology, hydrography, biogeochemistry and biodiversity of the Arctic ecosystem, from the sea ice to the sea floor.

Nature 628 , 919-921 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01181-7

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