Science X Dialog

Science X Dialog is where researchers can share news and information about their own published journal articles.
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Dialog / A Permian fossil may reveal the oldest known flowering-plant structure

Despite the importance and dominance of angiosperms ("flowering plants") in the current ecosystem, it is rather surprising that we know so little about their origin and early evolution. Paleobotanists have been making efforts ...

Aug 31, 2026
Dialog / Beyond the gold standard: An ultrathin chromium layer makes durable perovskite solar cells more affordable

Gold has been the safe choice for perovskite solar cells. We found a way to stop needing it.

Aug 27, 2026
Dialog / Could we protect all western US communities from wildfires and facilitate restoring fire to wildlands within a decade?

In a new study in Environmental Research: Ecology, I analyzed how fires were able to burn into communities and how fire-resistant land uses could be combined with fuel treatments to reduce fires burning into communities. ...

Aug 25, 2026
Dialog / Hydroclimate whiplash damages California's tallest redwoods after years of drought

Tall trees are generally associated with high-biomass forests. This is particularly true for forests dominated by Sequoia sempervirens (hereafter redwood), the world's tallest tree species. Extreme decay resistance, the ability ...

Aug 25, 2026
Dialog / Blood-clotting protein may be SARS-CoV-2's hidden accomplice, helping it hide from antibodies and reach blood vessels

Fibrinogen, the abundant plasma protein best known for forming blood clots, may play a second and far less benign role during SARS-CoV-2 infection: acting as a molecular bridge that simultaneously hides the virus from neutralizing ...

Aug 24, 2026
Dialog / A bird's eye view of illegal logging and its consequences in the Peruvian Amazon

When I first arrived in Peru's Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve in 2005, a local youth surprised me with an offer to sell me a live owl, despite the fact that we were in a protected area where commercial hunting was prohibited. ...

Aug 24, 2026
Dialog / A gut microbial health index as a composite biomarker for evaluating overall health

Each person has a unique gut microbial population, with variation shaped by diet, lifestyle and disease. We are seeing a rapid rise in metabolic disorders, obesity and inflammatory diseases that cannot be explained by our ...

Aug 23, 2026
Dialog / Seeing beneath the surface during metal additive manufacturing

When we watch a metal part being built by laser-based metal additive manufacturing (AM), we're only seeing part of the story. In one kind of metal AM process, a high-powered laser sweeps across a bed of metal powder, creating ...

Aug 21, 2026
Dialog / Bound gravitational waves inspired by photonic systems

When one mentions "waves," we immediately think of a perturbation that propagates. This applies to waves on the shore, sound waves in the air or electromagnetic waves that we use to transmit information via optical fibers. ...

Aug 14, 2026
Dialog / A surprising pathway that lets the striatum talk directly to the auditory cortex

For decades, neuroscientists have thought about communication between the cerebral cortex and the basal ganglia in a fairly linear way. The cortex sends information into the basal ganglia, where that information is processed ...

Aug 12, 2026
Dialog / Quantum heat circuits learn electronics' oldest trick: Sharing a power supply

Every electronic and optoelectronic device generates heat, and today that heat is managed almost entirely from the outside. Heatsinks, fans, cold plates and refrigerators are bulky exterior measures bolted onto a chip or ...

Aug 10, 2026
Dialog / How to keep the Earth habitable when the sun dies

In a billion years, the sun will start to run out of fuel and expand to become a red giant. Earth's oceans and atmosphere will be burned away, and Earth will likely be engulfed by the sun altogether. The sun will then shrink ...

Aug 3, 2026