Abstract Humans reason implicitly and explicitly about the physical world, which enables them to successfully interact with and manipulate objects in their environment. This reasoning is studied under different names across three main literatures: education, developmental psychology and cognitive science. At a high level, education researchers examine the acquisition of formal scientific knowledge, developmental psychologists…

The administration of US President Donald Trump has already laid off thousands of government workers.Credit: Tierney L. Cross/Getty Agencies across the US government have been ordered to initiate another punishing round of layoffs at the same time Congress is moving forward with a plan to slash their budgets — a potential blow to science. Trump’s…

Burien’s Environmental Science Center will host its annual “Heroes for Nature” Gala from 4:30 – 8:30 p.m. this Saturday, Mar. 1, 2025, at the Brockey Center at South Seattle College. The event, dedicated to celebrating the beauty of nature and the power of education, science, and community, will feature an elegant evening of fundraising, networking, and environmental advocacy. The gala kicks…

Some universities across the United States are reducing or halting their PhD admissions because of federal-funding uncertainties stemming from actions taken by the administration of US President Donald Trump. Few universities have released public statements about their strategies, so prospective graduate students have remained largely in the dark about which institutions are cutting back. Nature…

Abstract Optical sorting combines optical tweezers with diverse techniques, including optical spectrum, artificial intelligence (AI) and immunoassay, to endow unprecedented capabilities in particle sorting. In comparison to other methods such as microfluidics, acoustics and electrophoresis, optical sorting offers appreciable advantages in nanoscale precision, high resolution, non-invasiveness, and is becoming increasingly indispensable in fields of biophysics,…

Abstract Crystal structure prediction (CSP) is an evolving field aimed at discerning crystal structures with minimal prior information. Despite the success of various CSP algorithms, their practical applicability remains circumscribed, particularly for large and complex systems. Here, to address this challenge, we show an evolutionary structure generator within the MAGUS (Machine Learning and Graph Theory…

Read the paper: Unique formation of organic glass from a human brain in the Vesuvius eruption of 79 CE The brain of a man who died nearly 2000 years ago was turned to glass by extreme conditions during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Researchers studied the strange material found in the man’s skull and spine…

In an executive order signed on Earth Day 2022, former President Joe Biden charged federal agencies to work with researchers to measure the health of natural spaces across the county, from city parks to pristine wilderness areas. The report’s sobering aspect, though, would be to catalog how benefits offered by the natural world might quickly…

Researchers all over the world are funded by the National Institutes of Health.Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Researchers worldwide who are funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) — the world’s biggest funder of biomedical research — are facing uncertainty about the future of their grants, after the administration of US President Donald…

Erika Cheung found herself in the spotlight when she helped to expose scientific misconduct.Credit: Xiaomei Chen/Zuma/Alamy Most people who have endured and survived a toxic workplace don’t end up as a character in an award-winning TV show. But Erika Cheung is not like most people, in more ways than one. She risked her livelihood, right…