Science Daily

Geoscientists have uncovered a missing link in the enigmatic story of how the continents developed- - a revised origin story that doesn't require the start of plate tectonics or any external factor to explain their formation. Instead, the findings rely solely on internal geological forces that occurred within oceanic plateaus that formed during the first few hundred million years of Earth's history.

A new study has analyzed plant spore dispersion at its source, where rain droplets shake flexible leaves to initially disperse pathogens.

Rickets ran rife in children following the Industrial Revolution, but new research has found factory work and polluted cities aren't entirely to blame for the period's vitamin D deficiencies.

In a rare but serious complication of cancer, the body's own immune system can start attacking the brain, causing rapid-onset memory loss and cognitive deficits. What triggers this sudden biological civil war was largely unknown. Now, researchers have found that some tumors can release a protein that looks like a virus, kickstarting an out-of-control immune reaction that may damage brain cells.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can predict whether adult patients with brain cancer will survive more than eight months after receiving radiotherapy treatment.

Although solar flares have been classified based on the amount of energy they emit at their peak, there has not been significant study into differentiating flares since slow-building flares were first discovered in the 1980s. Scientists have now shown that there is a significant amount of slower-type flares worthy of further investigation.

A new approach to treating neuropathic pain is making a key step forward. Neuropathic pain is among the most difficult types of pain to alleviate and current treatments are often ineffective. Researchers have identified a potential non-opioid treatment.

A new paper describes how, despite widespread enthusiasm about artificial intelligence's potential to revolutionize healthcare and the use of AI-powered tools on millions of patients already, no federal regulations require that AI-powered tools be evaluated for potential harm or benefit to patients.

Angioedema is a rare but potentially life-threatening adverse reaction to ACE inhibitors. Researchers have now conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) with more than 1,000 affected individuals. They identified a total of three risk loci in the genome. These included a new locus that had not previously been associated with the risk of ACE inhibitor-induced angioedema.

A new system that brings together real-world sensing and virtual reality would make it easier for building maintenance personnel to identify and fix issues in commercial buildings that are in operation.

A research group has discovered a novel RNA viral genome from microbes inhabiting a high-temperature acidic hot spring. Their study shows that RNA viruses can live in high-temperature environments (70-80 degrees Celsius), where no RNA viruses have been observed before. In addition to the two known RNA virus kingdoms, a third kingdom may exist.

Floating macroalgal acts as a raft that provides habitat for a diverse array of juvenile oceanic fish a new study has found. The study conducted in the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area, Western Australia, revealed that fish were more abundant around macroalgal rafts than in open water, with eleven species of juvenile fishes associated with Sargassum rafts, and one species of both juveniles and adults.

Researchers have successfully developed a new time-resolved atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique, integrating AFM with a unique laser technology. This method enables the measurement of ultrafast photoexcitation phenomena in both conductors and insulators, observed through changes in the forces between the sample and the AFM probe tip after an extremely short time irradiation of laser light. This advancement promises substantial contributions to the creation of new scientific and technological principles and fields.

A joint research team has successfully induced polarization and polarity in metallic substances.

New research has estimated that 1454 avoidable deaths (one person every five days) occurred in Australian capital cities in the past 20 years because of fine particle air pollution from extreme events such as bushfires and dust storms, wood-heater smoke or industrial accidents.

Carbon nanostructures could become easier to design and synthesize thanks to a machine learning method that predicts how they grow on metal surfaces. The new approach will make it easier to exploit the unique chemical versatility of carbon nanotechnology.

New research examines the causes of the record-breaking ocean temperatures witnessed in 2023.

Researchers have concluded that the methane uptake in dry landscapes exceeds methane emissions from wet areas across the ice-free part of Greenland. The results of the new study contribute with important knowledge for climate models. The researchers are now investigating whether the same finding applies to other polar regions.

At low enough temperatures, certain metals lose their electrical resistance and they conduct electricity without loss. This effect of superconductivity is known for more than hundred years and is well understood for so-called conventional superconductors. More recent, however, are unconventional superconductors, for which it is unclear yet how they work.

A snippet of hair can reveal a pregnant person's stress level and may one day help warn of unexpected birth problems, a study indicates. Researchers measured the stress hormone cortisol in hair samples of 53 women in their third trimester. Of that group, 13 women who had elevated cortisol levels later experienced unpredicted birth complications, such as an early birth or hemorrhaging. While more research is needed with larger groups, this preliminary finding could eventually lead to a non-invasive way to identify those at risk for such complications.