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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 / 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
Tech Xplore / Taiwan briefly slows its mobile internet to text-only speed as part of defense drill

For 30 minutes, the internet in parts of Taiwan crawled. The slowdown Thursday for people in the capital, Taipei, and six other cities and localities was part of the last phase of the island's annual Han Kuang exercises, ...

Aug 13, 2026
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
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 / Distant time crystals oscillate in unison, paving the way for spin networks

In January 2024, physicists at TU Dortmund University demonstrated a continuous time crystal in a semiconductor whose oscillations remained stable for hours. In a new study published in Nature Communications, Professor Alex ...

Aug 10, 2026
Phys.org / Discovery of 'slow' electrons in 2D material could lead to new memory device

Over the last decade, researchers have developed two-dimensional materials with fascinating quantum effects that could be harnessed for next-generation technologies.

Aug 10, 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
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
Medical Xpress / BathMat trial shows promise in cutting ICU workload while improving care for critically ill patients

An innovative inflatable repositioning device developed by researchers and clinicians at the University of Bath and Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust could significantly reduce the number of staff required ...

Aug 13, 2026
Phys.org / When it comes to predicting people's preferences, it pays to consider 'the power of three'

In his 1927 paper, "A law of comparative judgment," the American psychologist L. L. Thurstone proposed that when people select one option among multiple alternatives, they are picking the one that has the highest value to ...

Aug 10, 2026