The high-contrast pattern of giant pandas helps them blend in with their natural environment. Researchers at the University of Bristol, Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Jyväskylä have used state-of-the art image analysis techniques to demonstrate, counterintuitively, that the unique colourings work to disguise the giant panda. The results have been published today in Scientific […]

Even galaxies don’t like to be alone. While astronomers have known for a while that galaxies tend to congregate in groups and clusters, the process of going from formation to friend groups has remained an open question in cosmology. In a paper published in the Astronomy & Astrophysics Journal, an international team of astronomers reports the discovery […]

As a chemist who has spent many years in the research and development departments of the coatings industry, Chris Simmons knows the struggle of working with nanoparticles, particularly in powder form. ‘There were always concerns about a lack of industrial scale and the perception of costs that would outweigh the benefits. However, as a formulator, […]

Humans carry around with them, often abundantly so, at least two kinds of fat tissue: white and brown. White fat cells are essentially inert containers for energy stored in the form of a single large, oily droplet. Brown fat cells are more complex, containing multiple, smaller droplets intermixed with dark-colored mitochondria — cellular organelles that […]

Once the stress of a cancer diagnosis and its intensive treatments have passed, the hope is that life can return to normal. But we know that this is not true for many people who have had treatments for cancer, and sleep is often impacted for a long time after treatment. Researchers at the American Cancer Society studied […]

A decades-long experiment to search for a new particle called the sterile neutrino has been dealt a blow, according to four analyses conducted by a bevy of scientists, including University of Michigan physicists. New results from the MicroBooNE experiment at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory show no sign of the sterile […]

A man’s claim to be the great-grandson of legendary Native American leader Sitting Bull has been confirmed using DNA extracted from Sitting Bull’s scalp lock. This is the first time ancient DNA has been used to confirm a familial relationship between living and historical individuals. The confirmation was made possible using a new method to […]

Catastrophic wildfires in Europe have become a far too common headline and this year has been no exception as the world once again bore witness to parts of the continent burning. While southern Europe is no stranger to the devastation and loss they leave in their wake, countries in central and northern Europe – areas […]

Quasicrystals can grow together without forming a grain boundary provided their lattices are directionally well-aligned, US scientists have discovered. The researchers hope that their work could help quasicrystals to finally realise their full potential, more than 25 years after their discovery. In a perfect crystal, the atoms are arranged in ordered, periodic unit cells. This […]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in seven children in the United States experienced abuse or neglect in the past year. Child protective services agencies around the nation receive a high number of reports each year (about 4.4 million in 2019) of alleged neglect or abuse. With so many cases, […]