Science

Science

In a new study published in Nature Communications, Northwestern University scientists uncovered the molecular trick behind PANX1's versatility. The channel dilates and constricts - just like the iris of an eye - to control the flow of chemical messages, which influence everything from brain activity to inflammation and even fertility. The findings show that PANX1 isn't a rigid channel but a shape-shifting molecular valve that can dynamically resize to accommodate both tiny particles and bulky signaling molecules.

When I experienced it, I burst out crying,

Although there are four known fundamental forces to the Universe, there's only one that matters on the largest cosmic scales of all: gravitation. The other three fundamental forces: the strong nuclear force, which holds protons and neutrons together, the weak nuclear force, responsible for radioactive decays and any "species change" among quarks and leptons, and the electromagnetic force, which causes neutral atoms to form, are all largely irrelevant on cosmic scales. The reason why is simple: the other forces, when you gather large sets of particles together, all balance out at large distances. Matter, under those three forces, appears "neutral" at large scales, and no net force exists.

The January full " wolf moon" is forecast to appear overnight into tomorrow morning Saturday, January 3, peaking at 5:03 a.m. ET when it will be at its fullest, according to EarthSky. However, don't be fooled: It will appear full both nights, due to its close proximity to Earth (making it appear 14% larger), and proximity to Jupiter and Gemini's twin stars-all of which will make it appear even brighter.

Rather than the very tall towers typically used for this approach, Airloom's structures are 20 to 30 meters high. They are comprised of a loop of adjustable wings that move along a track, a design that's akin to a roller coaster. As the wings move, they generate power just like the blades on a regular wind turbine do. Airloom claims that its structures require 40 percent less mass than a traditional one while delivering the same output.

Nathalie Cabrol is no ordinary scientist. The astrobiologist holds two records for the highest-altitude scuba dives. She achieved them unintentionally while exploring the lake at Licancabur, a nearly 6,000-meter-high volcano on the border between Chile and Bolivia. Cabrol has spent decades studying Earth to understand the possibility of human life in the extreme conditions of our galaxy. Slight and gray-haired, the explorer wears a vest from the SETI Institute,

A key goal, writes the author, Bobby Azarian,is to argue against the view that life is an unlikely accident that may have emerged only once on one tiny speck in a vast universe, and that it is certain to disappear as the universe's free energy dissipates in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics. He argues that while such a conclusion had for several generations seemed to be the destination to which clear-headed scientific exploration had brought mankind,

In an interview with The Register, Tudor Williams, CTO of high-frequency RF communication company Filtronic, explained the problem, which is mainly related to satellite-to-ground transmissions (many large constellations, such as SpaceX's Starlink, use optical links for satellite-to-satellite communication, which don't cause the same issues.) According to Williams, the problem comes from the side lobes of poorly designed antennas, where signals are unintentionally spread. The effect can be bands used for communications overlapping with observation bands, causing headaches for radio astronomers.

In a new study published in Science on Thursday, scientists show how they measured the mass of one such rogue planet for the first timea breakthrough that could enable further studies of these strange lonely worlds. Instead of looking at the planet's orbit, the research team, led by Subo Dong of Peking University, instead analyzed how the planet's gravity bent the light from a distant star, in a so-called microlensing event, from two separate vantage points: Earth and the now-retired Gaia space observatory.

In late November, the Finnish destination revealed its survey, which found that 73 percent of respondents said they love the feeling of "breathing in crisp winter air," and 74 percent said that " time spent outdoors in winter boosts their mental wellbeing." It also noted that two-thirds (63 percent) said that "winter air smells fresher and cleaner than any other season." And, as Santa's Lapland found, there's actual science to back up that belief.

On 1 January, Thomson takes over as the director general of Cern, the multi-Nobel prizewinning nuclear physics laboratory on the outskirts of Geneva. It is here, deep beneath the ground, that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the largest scientific instrument ever built, recreates conditions that existed microseconds after the big bang. The machine won its place in history for discovering the mysterious Higgs boson, whose accompanying field turns space into a kind of cosmic glue.

An important milestone has been achieved in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. A new peer-reviewed study published in Nature Biomedical Engineering shows how a high-performance brain-computer interface can be rapidly implanted through a minimally invasive procedure. "We have demonstrated that the entire surgical procedure for cranial micro-slit insertion, from initial skin incision to endoscope-guided array placement and final securing of the array positions, can be safely performed in under 20 minutes," wrote corresponding author Benjamin Rapoport, MD, PhD, along with his team of neuroscientists at Precision Neuroscience.

Stacking light-generating layers in 'tandem' light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can enhance performance, but achieving efficient and stable tandem LEDs made with perovskite materials has remained a challenge.

The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks Friday night into Saturday morning, according to the American Meteor Society. In dark skies during the peak, skygazers typically see around 25 meteors per hour, but this time they'll likely glimpse less than 10 per hour due to light from Saturday's supermoon. The biggest enemy of enjoying a meteor shower is the full moon, said Mike Shanahan, planetarium director at Liberty Science Center in New Jersey.

Hospitals, airlines and drug manufacturers are subject to oversight by external regulators, to ensure that consumers receive safe and high-quality services and products. In science too, regulators check that products from equipment manufacturers and reagent suppliers are fit for purpose. When I oversaw laboratories that used genetically modified organisms, the labs needed external certification to show that they had safe handling and storage processes. There's nothing like knowing that an inspector could show up unannounced to focus people on safety standards.

See the night sky through a telescope. There are about a dozen observatories scattered throughout New Mexico, so witnessing the stars, planets, and galaxies through a high-powered telescope is a must. The state's low levels of light pollution and vast open spaces make it perfect for stargazing. Attend a free open house viewing session at The University of New Mexico Campus Observatory in Albuquerque or The Tombaugh Campus Observatory at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, to use a wide variety of telescopes.

Mummies The Museum of Humanity, Paris Until 25 May 2026

In this image, I'm collecting faecal samples from Adélie penguins ( Pygoscelis adeliae) on Horseshoe Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula at about 68° S. As an analytical chemist, my research focuses on detecting trace contaminants such as heavy metals, pesticides and microplastics. It's always been a dream of mine to travel to Antarctica, and I loved every minute. We follow strict rules to protect the wildlife, including wearing a protective suit.

German astrophysicist Reinhard Genzel, 73, takes the stage. He then begins his lecture in the most unexpected way: What's the point of talking about black holes if all the Hollywood producers already know what they are? Going into them is easy, but once you do ooooh. The audience made up of a couple of hundred professors and students from 20 countries is taken aback.

Standing in the middle of a field, we can easily forget that we live on a round planet. We're so small in comparison to the Earth that from our point of view, it looks flat. The world is full of such shapes-ones that look flat to an ant living on them, even though they might have a more complicated global structure. Mathematicians call these shapes manifolds. Introduced by Bernhard Riemann in the mid-19th century, manifolds transformed how mathematicians think about space.

"Undercutting our science community like this is only going to hurt Americans," Balch said.

When you began to reminisce, brain cells dormant just seconds before began firing chemicals at one another. That action triggered regions of your brain involved in processing emotions, which is why you may have re-experienced some feelings you did at the time of the event. Chemical and electrical signals shot out to the rest of your body. If you were stressed before you began this exercise, your heart rate probably slowed and stabilized as levels of cortisol and other stress hormones decreased in your blood.

Like the moon's shadow sweeping across the globe during a total solar eclipse, astronomy-focused tourism is taking the world by storm. And in 2026, there are plenty of celestial reasons to travel. You've likely already heard of the August 2026 total solar eclipse, which is undoubtedly the year's marquee event, but you can also travel for everything from rocket launches to meteor showers. These are the astronomy events that can turn trips into once-in-a-lifetime experiences-and where to go to see them at their best.

The biggest science story this year was the political upheaval in the United States. Funding cuts, academic lay-offs and vaccine-sceptic policies have widely been seen as an attack on science, according to critics of President Donald Trump's administration. The resulting damage to science could last way into the future. But, there were also plenty of positive developments in 2025 that offer hope for the coming years.

As a science communicator, I don't think a week goes by without a press release hitting my inbox informing me of astronomers finding some new record-breaking object. Sometimes it's the smallest planet yet discovered or the most iron-deficient star. But a very common claim is a distance record: the farthest galaxy from Earth ever seen, for example. When it comes to these sorts of record breakers, I have complicated feelings, built over decades of writing about them.