‘Shocking’ die-off of Africa’s oldest baobabs: study
Some of Africa's oldest and biggest baobab trees—a few dating all the way back to the ancient Greeks—have abruptly died, wholly or in part,...
Volcanic activity, declining ocean oxygen triggered mass extinction of ancient organisms
Global climate change, fueled by skyrocketing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, is siphoning oxygen from today's oceans at an alarming pace—so fast that scientists...
Physicists create new class of 2-D artificial materials
In 1965, a renowned Princeton University physicist theorized that ferroelectric metals could conduct electricity despite not existing in nature.
For decades, scientists thought it would...
Key difference between humans and other mammals is skin deep, says study
While humans and other species share some of the same genetic information, new research found that humans are unique among mammals when it comes...
Tiny defects in semiconductors created ‘speed bumps’ for electrons—researchers cleared the path
UCLA scientists and engineers have developed a new process for assembling semiconductor devices. The advance could lead to much more energy-efficient transistors for electronics...
‘Monstrous’ new Russian saber-tooth fossils clarify early evolution of mammal lineage
Fossils representing two new species of saber-toothed prehistoric predators have been described by researchers from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (Raleigh, USA)...
Holes in the head
Even with a highly skilled neurosurgeon, the most effective anesthesia, and all the other advances of modern medicine, most of us would cringe at...
Silicon provides means to control quantum bits for faster algorithms
Quantum bits are now easier to manipulate for devices in quantum computing, thanks to enhanced spin-orbit interaction in silicon.
A silicon quantum computer chip has...
Electrons take one step forward without two steps back
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have, for the first time, successfully used electric dipoles to completely suppress electron transfer in one direction...
Scientists find ordered magnetic patterns in disordered magnetic material
A team of scientists working at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has confirmed a special property known as "chirality—which...
In desert trials, next-generation water harvester delivers fresh water from air
Last October, a University of California, Berkeley, team headed down to the Arizona desert, plopped their newest prototype water harvester into the backyard of...
