Science

IMAGE: Upon stimulation, two photons emerge from the quantum dot giving detailed information about the dynamics of the excited charges within the Quantum Dot (QD) view more  Credit: ICFO The ability to investigate the dynamics of single particle at the nano-scale and femtosecond level remained an unfathomed dream for years. It was not until the dawn […]

They were people like her: curious, scientifically minded sorts living in a city full of research institutions that, because they were women, had no place for them. “Eistophos” is Greek for “toward the light.” Since no one was going to hand these ladies a torch, they were going to pick one up themselves. I was […]

Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here Police officers patrolling in Kashgar, a city in China’s western Xinjiang region. Credit: Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Springer Nature and Wiley are reviewing the ethics of publishing DNA or facial-recognition research involving scientists backed by China’s government to […]

On the Hawaiian island of Maui, silverswords growing in wetter areas are more vulnerable to climate change. DEA/C. DANI; I. JESKE/DeAgostini/Getty Images By Elizabeth PennisiDec. 9, 2019 , 1:35 PM Visitors to the peak of Maui’s giant volcano in Hawaii may catch another stunning sight: giant cylindrical plants with swordlike silver leaves jutting out from […]

Name: Nico Hotz Position: Associate Professor of the Practice, Mechanical Engineering and Material Science Years at Duke: 10 What he does at Duke: In addition to research, Hotz teaches both ends of the student spectrum. He leads high-level graduate courses on heat transfer, thermodynamics and renewable energy and gives first-year students an opportunity to see […]

I have a radical suggestion: let’s ban processed and ultra-processed foods. Not the products, but the terms. With so many diet plans and nutritional instructions offering such varied advice on how to eat healthily, a simple message like avoiding processed food is understandably attractive. As a result, some journalists, social media influencers and even health […]

Sonar images reveal an enormous crater at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. © 2019 MBARI By Katherine KorneiDec. 9, 2019 , 11:35 AM SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA—Just off the coast of California, thousands of craterlike depressions, some as big as buses, dot the sea floor. Now, scientists say they know what’s causing these mysterious features. […]

Committed emissions from fossil fuel infrastructure compared to pathways to 1.5°C (IPCC SR1.5 P1) and 2°C (RCP2.6). The committed emissions exclude some of the current CO2 sources, such as land-use change and the calcination process in cement manufacturing. Therefore, the 1.5°C and 2°C scenarios start at higher levels. Credit: Based on Tong et al, Nature, […]

Inside a 2,200-year-old grave, archaeologists have discovered a stunning Iron Age shield, along with a chariot and two ponies buried in a leaping pose, in what archaeologists are calling one of the most important discoveries in the U.K.  A team of archaeologists led by Paula Ware of MAP Archaeological Practice Ltd. discovered the grave near […]

A strongly dominant eye, not an eye disorder, may explain why Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt van Rijn painted themselves with misaligned eyes. Previous research suggested that the famous artists may have had a literal artist’s eye — an eye disorder called exotropia in which one eye turns outward. Exotropia makes it harder for the […]