All News

Phys.org / X-ray analysis reveals the inner life of leaves while advancing engineering efforts to reduce 'crop sweat'

In the Midwestern summer, humans and plants have to breathe through the heat and humidity. Researchers hope that a retooled crop plant—one with an improved ventilation system within its leaves—could thrive while avoiding ...

Aug 11, 2026
Phys.org / Early farmers' larger grains may reflect rainfall, not genetic selection

A new archaeobotanical study by researchers from the University of Oxford and Kiel University (CAU) has revealed that increases in cereal grain size at the dawn of agriculture, more than 11,000 years ago, were initially driven ...

Aug 11, 2026
Phys.org / Scientists uncover a hidden mechanism that drives RNA synthesis

Scientists have long been fascinated by two promising classes of antibiotics that disable RNA polymerase (RNAP). They knew that these drugs could grind gene expression to a halt in several pathogens, including the bacterium ...

Aug 11, 2026
Medical Xpress / Air pollution-linked blood changes detected years before lung cancer diagnosis

A new study, published Tuesday in Nature Communications, found measurable changes in people's blood associated with exposure to air pollution and the subsequent development of lung cancer. The findings provide promising clues ...

Aug 11, 2026
Phys.org / Fungal chitin offers new route to tougher hydrogels for medical devices and soft robots

Researchers at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville, have made an advance by using a natural substance from fungi called chitin to create hydrogels ...

Aug 11, 2026
Tech Xplore / Layoffs tied to AI hurt worker productivity, and the reason may surprise managers

Business leaders and investors face a deepening paradox: Companies are pouring more money into artificial intelligence than ever, but they're not seeing the productivity gains they expect.

Aug 12, 2026
Medical Xpress / How folic acid may protect a baby's developing brain and spinal cord

For more than 30 years, one piece of pregnancy advice has been remarkably consistent: Take folic acid. The reason is clear. Folic acid, or vitamin B9, can lower the risk of neural tube defects, serious birth defects that ...

Aug 11, 2026
Medical Xpress / Protein secreted by immune cells may help drive brain aging

Brain-resident immune cells that have reached an old-age state called "senescence" secrete a protein that causes dysfunction in other brain cells, according to a study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine. The discovery ...

Aug 11, 2026
Phys.org / Beyond color: Fluorescence lifetime imaging distinguishes multiple proteins in living plant cells

Fluorescent protein imaging is an indispensable tool in life science research, enabling visualization of protein movement and localization, gene expression, signaling pathways, protein-protein interactions and more. For simultaneous ...

Aug 11, 2026
Phys.org / Reading daily ocean temperatures from red algae

Understanding how marine ecosystems respond to a warming ocean requires detailed records of past temperatures. An international research team led by Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Max Planck Institute for ...

Aug 11, 2026
Tech Xplore / Graphene-powered soft lens could pave the way for smarter glasses, cameras and medical devices

The ability to change focus instantly is something most people take for granted. Every day, our eyes effortlessly switch between reading a book, recognizing a face across the room or watching a bird fly overhead. Replicating ...

Aug 10, 2026
Phys.org / Trapped gases in ancient rocks challenge global explanation for 2-billion-year-old carbon anomaly

Roughly 2.5–2 billion years ago, Earth's surface experienced the biggest chemical change in its history when oxygen became abundant in the atmosphere, eventually leading to the evolution of complex life forms such as plants ...

Aug 10, 2026