Garden and landscape design is uniquely concerned with direct relations among art, science, and nature. It operates exactly at the frontier between people and nature, developing transitional connecting zones between the outside limits of buildings and engineering structures and the natural forms and processes that surround them. This is true for large houses and gardens…

Credit: Rohini Godbole Rohini Godbole, Indian particle physicist and ardent advocate of women in science, passed away today at age 71. She was an honorary professor at the centre for High Energy Physics at Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru. Godbole was born in Pune and studied physics at the local Sir Parshurambhau College and…

Abstract Recent progress in deep learning has significantly impacted materials science, leading to accelerated material discovery and innovation. ElemNet, a deep neural network model that predicts formation energy from elemental compositions, exemplifies the application of deep learning techniques in this field. However, the “black-box” nature of deep learning models often raises concerns about their interpretability…

The new species is similar in appearance to this Hypsibius sp. tardigrade, photographed using an electron microscope.Credit: Robert Schuster/Science Photo Library A newly described species of tardigrade is giving scientists insights into what makes these tiny eight-legged creatures so resistant to radiation. Tardigrades, also known as water bears, have long fascinated scientists with their ability…

Rather than being a hindrance, an ADHD diagnosis helped Ana Bastos to excel as a scientist.Credit: Antje Gildmeister Some years ago, an advert caught my eye: “become a bus driver”. I felt tempted. I was in my second postdoctoral programme, juggling several projects, my first supervision duties and teaching — all on top of adjusting…

Active machine learning is employed in academia and industry to support drug discovery. A recent study unravels the factors that influence a deep learning models’ ability to guide iterative discovery. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Access options Access through your institution Change institution Buy or subscribe /* style specs…

Illustration: Sébastien Thibault Science in the United States has never been stronger by most measures. Over the past five years, the nation has won more scientific Nobel prizes than the rest of the world combined — in line with its domination of the prizes since the middle of the twentieth century. In 2020, two US…

By analysing citations and authors’ publication records, Argos identifies ‘high risk’ papers that warrant further investigation.Credit: bernie_photo/Getty Which scientific publishers and journals are worst affected by fraudulent or dubious research papers — and which have done least to clean up their portfolio? A technology start-up founded to help publishers spot potentially problematic papers says that…

A mosaic of asteroid Bennu using 12 separate images captured in December 2018 by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona. Bennu, a near-Earth asteroid first discovered in 1999, has now become an unlikely tool in the search for something extraordinary — a fifth fundamental force of nature that could rewrite the rules of the…

A behaviourally informed WhatsApp chatbot that encouraged people in Argentina to get the next dose of the COVID-19 vaccine more than tripled vaccination rates, and nearly doubled them compared to a one-way message reminder. The chatbot has several features built in that helped people to find out where, when and how to get the vaccine.…