Air pollution significantly reduces pollination by confusing butterflies and bees, lessening their ability to sniff out crops and wildflowers Insects provide pollination of important food crops and native wildflowers, but researchers sought to understand how air pollution affects different pollinating … Read more
Moshagen, M., Hilbig, B. E., & Zettler, I. (2018). The dark core of personality. Psychological Review, 125, 656-688. (doi) (download copy (PDF)) Original publication spelling out the theoretical idea and definition of D and demonstrating that (i) many dark traits … Read more
Life is teeming nearly everywhere in the oceans, except in certain pockets where oxygen naturally plummets and waters become unlivable for most aerobic organisms. These desolate pools are “oxygen-deficient zones,” or ODZs. And though they make up less than 1 … Read more
Scientists have announced the discovery of an exquisitely preserved dinosaur embryo from at least 66m years ago that was preparing to hatch from its egg just like a chicken. The fossil was discovered in Ganzhou, southern China and belonged to … Read more
Enlarge / Stanley Miller with the original laboratory equipment used in the 1952 Miller-Urey Experiment, which gave credence to the idea that organic molecules could have been created by the conditions of the early Earth’s atmosphere. Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis/VCG/Getty Images reader … Read more
Scientists have developed a process that allows them to manipulate wood to make it denser and harder than the natural product. They used the resulting material to make items like wooden knives and nails that rival traditional steel. Teng Li, a … Read more
Enlarge / Researchers tested medieval gunpowder recipes in this replica of an early 15th-century stone-throwing cannon. T.S. Ritchie et al., ACS Omega 2021 reader comments 133 with 78 posters participating Share this story Gunpowder—as opposed to modern smokeless powder—isn’t used … Read more
GPS has transformed everything from driving to search and rescue. But it currently relies on government-run satellites that have trouble peering into canyons and forests—and which can be targeted by enemy countries. Now, engineers have demonstrated rudimentary location tracking by … Read more
A dynamical system evolves in time, with examples including the Earth’s weather system and human-built devices such as unmanned aerial vehicles. One practical goal is to develop models for forecasting their behavior. Recent machine learning (ML) approaches can generate a … Read more
The whitest paint in the world has been created in a lab at Purdue University, a paint so white that it could eventually reduce or even eliminate the need for air conditioning, scientists say. The paint has now made it … Read more