Science

An internal circadian clock controls distinctive concentric rings of flowering in sunflowers, maximizing visits from pollinators, a new study by plant biologists at the University of California, Davis shows. The U.S. National Science Foundation-supported work is published in eLife. A sunflower head is made up of hundreds of tiny florets. Because of the way sunflowers grow, … Read more

Spread across vast distances, the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean are thought to have been populated by humans in two distinct migrations beginning approximately 3,330 years ago. The first followed a northern route out of what is today the Philippines and the second followed a southern route from Taiwan and New Guinea. People arrived … Read more

As technologies keep advancing at exponential rates and demand for new devices rises accordingly, miniaturizing systems into chips has become increasingly important. Microelectronics has changed the way electricity is manipulated, enabling sophisticated electronic products that are now an essential part of our daily lives. Similarly, integrated photonics has been revolutionizing the way we control light … Read more

Giant breeds, males and purebred dogs tend to receive a cancer diagnosis at a relatively younger age, informing potential screening guidelines TL;DR A new study has found that the median age at cancer diagnosis for dogs weighing 75 kilograms or more was 5 years, compared to 11 years for dogs weighing 2.5 to 5 kilograms. … Read more

Fossils of a tiny sea creature that died more than half a billion years ago may compel a science textbook rewrite of how brains evolved. A U.S. National Science Foundation-supported study published in Science provides the first detailed description of Cardiodictyon catenulum, a wormlike animal preserved in rocks in China’s southern Yunnan province. Measuring barely half … Read more

The U.S. National Science Foundation today announced a cross-sector partnership with Ericsson, IBM, Intel, and Samsung to support the design of the next generation of semiconductors as part of its Future of Semiconductors (FuSe) initiative. “Future semiconductors and microelectronics will require transdisciplinary research spanning materials, devices, and systems, as well as the engagement of the full spectrum … Read more

During the ice ages of the Pleistocene, the Florida Peninsula regularly grew to twice its current size as glaciers expanded near the planet’s poles, only to be reduced to a series of islands as melting ice returned to the sea during warm periods. All told, glaciers advanced and retreated 17 times, and, according to a … Read more

A new study by University of Central Florida researchers has found strong evidence that the outgassing of molecules from comets could trace the chemical composition of the early solar system. Outgassing occurs when comets, which are small bodies of dust, rock and ice in the solar system, warm and start to release gases. The work … Read more

Researchers at Princeton University have found a way to turn a common breakfast food into a new material that can cheaply remove salt and microplastics from seawater. The researchers used egg whites to create an aerogel, a lightweight and porous material that can be used in many applications, including water filtration, energy storage and sound … Read more