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Saturday, Jan 3

11

Bacteria reveal second 'shutdown mode' for surviving antibiotic treatment

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A new study reveals that bacteria can survive antibiotic treatment through two fundamentally different "shutdown modes," not just the classic idea of dormancy. The paper is published in the journal Science Advances.

Flowering plant origins: Dosage-sensitive genes suggest no whole-genome duplications in ancestral angiosperm

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Angiosperms, also known as flowering plants, represent the most diverse group of seed plants, and their origin and evolution have long been a central question in plant evolutionary biology. Whole-genome duplication (WGD), or…

Evidence of upright walking found in 7-million-year-old Sahelanthropus fossils

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In recent decades, scientists have debated whether a seven-million-year-old fossil was bipedal—a trait that would make it the oldest human ancestor. A new analysis by a team of anthropologists offers powerful evidence that Sahelanthropus…

First ancient herpesvirus genomes document their deep history with humans

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For the first time, scientists have reconstructed the ancient genomes of human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B (HHV-6A/B) from archaeological human remains more than two millennia old. The study, led by the University of Vienna and University of…

Wood-derived chemicals offer safer alternative for thermal receipt paper coatings

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Every day, millions of people use thermal paper without thinking about it. Receipts, shipping labels, tickets, and medical records all rely on heat‑sensitive coatings to make text appear. More specifically, heat triggers a reaction between…

10

Astronomers measure both mass and distance of a rogue planet for the first time

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While most planets that we are familiar with stick relatively close to their host star in a predictable orbit, some planets seem to have been knocked out of their orbits, floating through space free of any particular gravitational…

09

How the 'guardian of the genome' impacts blood vessel growth

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The protein p53, best known as the "guardian of the genome" for its role in preventing cancer, can affect blood vessels in different ways. However, it has not been clear how p53 can slow blood vessel growth in some cases and damage blood…

Sudden breakups of monogamous quantum couples surprise researchers

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Quantum particles have a social life, of a sort. They interact and form relationships with each other, and one of the most important features of a quantum particle is whether it is an introvert—a fermion—or an extrovert—a boson.

2025 was UK's hottest and sunniest year on record

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Last year was Britain's hottest and sunniest on record, the national weather service confirmed on Friday, calling it a "clear demonstration" of the impacts of climate change.

How juvenile lobsters fall into a deadly natural trap in the Florida Keys

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In the shallow waters of the Florida Keys, juvenile Caribbean spiny lobsters are unwittingly meeting their doom by stumbling into naturally occurring ecological traps, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National…

08

Two white-blooded fish, two paths: Icefish and noodlefish independently lose red blood cell function

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Antarctic icefish are famous for living without red blood cells, but they are not alone. A species of needle-shaped, warm-water fish called the Asian noodlefish also lacks hemoglobin and red blood cells. Like icefish, its veins are filled…

Chess960's random setups still favor white, new study reveals

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Chess is a relatively simple game to learn but a very difficult one to master. Because the starting positions of the pieces are fixed, top players have relied on memorizing the "best" opening moves, which can sometimes result in boring,…

Qaidam Basin fossils suggest Pleistocene establishment of East Asian migratory flyway

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A research team led by Associate Professor Wang Yaqiong from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS), in collaboration with colleagues from multiple domestic and international…

Inside scoop: The 2,500-year history of ice-cream

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We all scream for ice-cream, especially as temperatures soar in the summer. Ancient civilizations had the same desire for a cold, sweet treat to cope with heat waves.

What makes mountain birds sing at dawn—and why are they sometimes quiet? Ecologists explain

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Three species of the melodic African warbler bird refuse to get up early and sing their customary daybreak songs when the weather is cold. This new discovery was made recently by a team of soundscape ecologists in South Africa's…

Taste buds: From flavor explosions to muted meals—why our taste changes as we age

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Ever bitten into a hot pie, yelped "Hothothot!" then had your taste buds go on strike for the next week? Taste buds are a sensitive bunch.

07

Opinion: Is world peace even possible? I study war and peace, and here's where I'd start

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By any measure, 2025 was not a good year for world peace.

The interstellar comet that's spilling its secrets

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When 3I/ATLAS swept past the sun in late October 2025, it became only the third confirmed visitor from interstellar space ever detected. Unlike the mysterious 'Oumuamua, which revealed almost nothing about itself during its brief flyby in…

06

Ancient African bedrock reveals the violent beginnings of life on our blue planet

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You have probably seen the images of the surface of Mars, beamed back by NASA's rovers. What if there were a time machine capable of roaming Earth during its remote geological past, perhaps even going right back to its beginnings, beaming…

Nanoparticle therapy reprograms tumor immune cells to attack cancer from within

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Within tumors in the human body, there are immune cells (macrophages) capable of fighting cancer, but they have been unable to perform their roles properly due to suppression by the tumor. A KAIST research team led by Professor Ji-Ho Park…

What were books like in ancient Greece and Rome?

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If you were to visit a bookshop in the ancient world, what would it be like?

Why central bankers look to the 'stars' when setting interest rates

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When the topic of central banks and the outlook for interest rates comes up, economists often turn to the so-called "star" variables to help with their predictions.

Curiosity sends holiday postcard from Mars

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Team members working with NASA's Curiosity Mars rover created this "postcard" by commanding the rover to take images at two times of day on Nov. 18, 2025, spanning periods that occurred on both the 4,722nd and 4,723rd Martian days, or sols…

When stars fail to explode

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Many stars die spectacularly when they explode as supernovae. During these violent explosions, they leave behind thick, chaotic clouds of debris shaped like cauliflowers. But supernova remnant Pa 30 looks nothing like that.

Space mice come home and start families

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Four mice went to space as astronauts. One came back and became a mother. And that simple fact might matter more than you'd think for humanity's future beyond Earth.

Could TRAPPIST-1's seven worlds host moons?

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Forty light-years away, seven Earth-sized planets orbit around a dim red dwarf star in one of the most tightly packed planetary systems ever discovered. The TRAPPIST-1 system has captivated astronomers since 2017, with three of its planets…

How a single 2003 heat wave triggered lasting upheaval in the North Atlantic

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The ecology of the North Atlantic is constantly changing. Sometimes it changes abruptly. Extreme events are one driver of such sudden changes. A team of researchers has discovered that a single, large-scale heat wave has affected…

A zero-shot learning framework for maize cob phenotyping

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A new study presents a zero-shot learning (ZSL) framework for maize cob phenotyping, enabling the extraction of geometric traits and estimation of yields in both laboratory and field settings without the need for model retraining.

05

Origins of THC, CBD and CBC in cannabis revealed

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Where do the well-known cannabis compounds THC, CBD and CBC come from? Researchers at Wageningen University & Research have experimentally demonstrated for the first time how cannabis acquired the ability to produce these cannabinoids. In…

02

Quantum spins team up to create stable, long-lived microwave signals

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When quantum particles work together, they can produce signals far stronger than any one particle could generate alone. This collective phenomenon, called superradiance, is a powerful example of cooperation at the quantum level. Until now,…