Category: Science and Nature

  • Ten Wild Facts About Octopuses: They Have Three Hearts, Big Brains and Blue Blood

    Ten Wild Facts About Octopuses: They Have Three Hearts, Big Brains and Blue Blood

    Rachel Nuwer; Updated by Sonja Anderson Octopuses, those whip-smart, bizarre cephalopods, embody everything creepy and mysterious about the sea. Their soft, squishy bodies, lurking in the oceans’ dark reaches, have inspired monsters from the sailor-eating Kraken of Nordic legend to the Caribbean sea demon Lusca. The creatures’ otherworldly forms and unfurling tentacles have inspired modern…

  • Nature Is Behaving Strangely and Scientists Don’t Know Why

    Nature Is Behaving Strangely and Scientists Don’t Know Why

    In Danish meadows and pastures, despite expectations that competition would favor plants dispersing heavy seeds and having thin leaves, the opposite is observed, baffling researchers. A new extensive data analysis contradicts established theories, showing fewer weeds and plants with heavy seeds or thin leaves, highlighting the complexity and unpredictability of natural ecosystems. Ecological theory and…

  • Citizen Science for biodiversity

    Citizen Science for biodiversity

    A big thank you to all Citizen Scientists! Citizen science is the driving force behind conservation work in Scotland, and it’s integral to the work that NatureScot does. Without the immense hard work of Scotland’s dedicated citizen scientists, we would not have such a rich understanding of the changes in our land and sea. So, we want…

  • Killer whales have menopause. Now scientists think they know why

    Killer whales have menopause. Now scientists think they know why

    Download the Nature Podcast 13 March 2024 In this episode: 00:45 Making a map of the human heart The human heart consists of multiple, specialized structures that all work together to enable the organ to beat for a lifetime. But exactly which cells are present in each part of the heart has been difficult to…

  • Why the world cannot afford the rich

    Why the world cannot afford the rich

    As environmental, social and humanitarian crises escalate, the world can no longer afford two things: first, the costs of economic inequality; and second, the rich. Between 2020 and 2022, the world’s most affluent 1% of people captured nearly twice as much of the new global wealth created as did the other 99% of individuals put…

  • Biden seeks to boost science funding — but his budget faces an ominous future

    Biden seeks to boost science funding — but his budget faces an ominous future

    US President Joe Biden visits the National Institutes of Health, which under his proposed budget would receive roughly the same amount of funding in the 2025 fiscal year as in the 2023 fiscal year.Credit: Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty US President Joe Biden today proposed modest increases in federal spending on science and innovation for the…

  • How OpenAI’s text-to-video tool Sora could change science

    How OpenAI’s text-to-video tool Sora could change science

    Sora is one of several AI tools that generates video from text promptsCredit: OpenAI The release of OpenAI’s Sora text-to-video AI tool last month was met with a mix of trepidation and excitement from researchers who are concerned about misuse of the technology. The California-based company showcased Sora’s ability to create photorealistic videos from a…

  • Environmental Science Center’s ‘Heroes for Nature’ Gala will be Saturday, Mar. 16 – The B-Town (Burien) Blog

    Want to support an incredible nonprofit providing free environmental and science education to South King County? Want to enjoy a low key, casual evening with catered food and drink, dessert dash, photo booth, and Live Raptor encounters? Consider joining a few of your neighbors at Environmental Science Center’s Heroes for Nature Gala on Saturday, Mar.…

  • ‘A beautiful way of saying a lot’: sign language brings benefits to the organic chemistry classroom

    ‘A beautiful way of saying a lot’: sign language brings benefits to the organic chemistry classroom

    Christina Goudreau Collison signs the term ‘steric hindrance’ while teaching the hydroboration reaction in her organic chemistry class at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.Credit: Olivia Schlichtkrull Sign language in science The lack of scientific terms and vocabulary in many of the world’s sign languages can make science education and research careers inaccessible…

  • Pushing the limits of OFDFT with neural networks

    Pushing the limits of OFDFT with neural networks

    A neural network-based method for advancing orbital-free density functional theory (OFDFT) is developed, which reaches DFT accuracy and maintains lower cost complexity. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Access options Access through your institution Change institution Buy or subscribe /* style specs start */ style{display:none!important}.LiveAreaSection-193358632 *{align-content:stretch;align-items:stretch;align-self:auto;animation-delay:0s;animation-direction:normal;animation-duration:0s;animation-fill-mode:none;animation-iteration-count:1;animation-name:none;animation-play-state:running;animation-timing-function:ease;azimuth:center;backface-visibility:visible;background-attachment:scroll;background-blend-mode:normal;background-clip:borderBox;background-color:transparent;background-image:none;background-origin:paddingBox;background-position:0 0;background-repeat:repeat;background-size:auto auto;block-size:auto;border-block-end-color:currentcolor;border-block-end-style:none;border-block-end-width:medium;border-block-start-color:currentcolor;border-block-start-style:none;border-block-start-width:medium;border-bottom-color:currentcolor;border-bottom-left-radius:0;border-bottom-right-radius:0;border-bottom-style:none;border-bottom-width:medium;border-collapse:separate;border-image-outset:0s;border-image-repeat:stretch;border-image-slice:100%;border-image-source:none;border-image-width:1;border-inline-end-color:currentcolor;border-inline-end-style:none;border-inline-end-width:medium;border-inline-start-color:currentcolor;border-inline-start-style:none;border-inline-start-width:medium;border-left-color:currentcolor;border-left-style:none;border-left-width:medium;border-right-color:currentcolor;border-right-style:none;border-right-width:medium;border-spacing:0;border-top-color:currentcolor;border-top-left-radius:0;border-top-right-radius:0;border-top-style:none;border-top-width:medium;bottom:auto;box-decoration-break:slice;box-shadow:none;box-sizing:border-box;break-after:auto;break-before:auto;break-inside:auto;caption-side:top;caret-color:auto;clear:none;clip:auto;clip-path:none;color:initial;column-count:auto;column-fill:balance;column-gap:normal;column-rule-color:currentcolor;column-rule-style:none;column-rule-width:medium;column-span:none;column-width:auto;content:normal;counter-increment:none;counter-reset:none;cursor:auto;display:inline;empty-cells:show;filter:none;flex-basis:auto;flex-direction:row;flex-grow:0;flex-shrink:1;flex-wrap:nowrap;float:none;font-family:initial;font-feature-settings:normal;font-kerning:auto;font-language-override:normal;font-size:medium;font-size-adjust:none;font-stretch:normal;font-style:normal;font-synthesis:weight style;font-variant:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;grid-auto-columns:auto;grid-auto-flow:row;grid-auto-rows:auto;grid-column-end:auto;grid-column-gap:0;grid-column-start:auto;grid-row-end:auto;grid-row-gap:0;grid-row-start:auto;grid-template-areas:none;grid-template-columns:none;grid-template-rows:none;height:auto;hyphens:manual;image-orientation:0deg;image-rendering:auto;image-resolution:1dppx;ime-mode:auto;inline-size:auto;isolation:auto;justify-content:flexStart;left:auto;letter-spacing:normal;line-break:auto;line-height:normal;list-style-image:none;list-style-position:outside;list-style-type:disc;margin-block-end:0;margin-block-start:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-inline-end:0;margin-inline-start:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;margin-top:0;mask-clip:borderBox;mask-composite:add;mask-image:none;mask-mode:matchSource;mask-origin:borderBox;mask-position:0 0;mask-repeat:repeat;mask-size:auto;mask-type:luminance;max-height:none;max-width:none;min-block-size:0;min-height:0;min-inline-size:0;min-width:0;mix-blend-mode:normal;object-fit:fill;object-position:50%…