ScienceDaily: Top News

Astronomers have identified a potential clue to how the universe became reionized after the Big Bang. The researchers identified a black hole, a million times as bright as our sun, that may have been similar to the sources that powered the universe's reionization.

A research team has found that gravid tobacco hawkmoths (Manduca sexta) show an unusual preference for Datura plants that are already infested with leaf beetles when laying their eggs. The beetles and their larvae actually compete with tobacco hornworms, the larvae of Manduca, for food. Plants infested by beetles change their odor profile and increase the production of the substance alpha-copaene, making them, however, more attractive to tobacco hawkmoths. Despite food competition, tobacco hornworms seem to benefit from their mothers' choice of such host plants because in the presence of beetles and their larvae they are better protected from parasitic wasps that avoid beetle-infested plants. The researchers were also able to identify the tobacco hawkmoths' olfactory receptor that controls this behavior.

Images from NASA's June Spacecraft have given oceanographers the raw materials for a new study that describes the rich turbulence at Jupiter's poles and the physical forces that drive the large cyclones.

Researchers show that the increase of sea ice surrounding Antarctica since 1979 is a unique feature of Antarctic climate since 1905 -- an observation that paints a dramatic first-ever picture for weather and climate implications on the world's southernmost continent.

An easy-to-use device promises to help scientists better understand natural and human-designed nanotechnologies -- and identify new drugs.

Pheasants' heads cool rapidly as they prepare to fight -- then heat up afterwards, new research shows.

Researchers report the creation of an artificial molecule with superpowers. It has the potential to revolutionize nanotechnology -- and it also explains one of Nature's intriguing enigmas; why do we have a right hand and a left hand? The researchers describe their supermolecule as a marriage between DNA and peptides.

Fewer than 1 in 5 adults with Type 2 diabetes in the U.S. meet suggested targets to reduce elevated heart disease risk. Improving heart health among people with Type 2 diabetes requires incorporating new evidence-based approaches that address social determinants of health and other barriers to effective treatment.

Researchers have successfully treated cancer in mice using metal catalysts that assemble anticancer drugs together inside the body. This study is the first report of therapeutic in vivo synthetic chemistry being used to make anticancer substances where they are needed simply by injecting their ingredients through a vein. Because this technique avoids indiscriminate tissue damage, it is expected to have a significant impact on cancer treatment.

Researchers unravel the genetic complexity two rare inherited vitamin B12 conditions identifying them as hybrid syndromes that are both a vitamin B12 disorder and a disease of ribosomes, the protein-building machinery of the cell.

Medieval warhorses are often depicted as massive and powerful beasts, but in reality many were no more than pony-sized by modern standards, a new study shows.

Scientists have identified a new genetic mechanism that can cause severe forms of male infertility. This breakthrough in understanding the underlying cause of male infertility offers hope of better treatment options for patients in the future.

A research team has visualized the three-dimensional structure of the surface of catalyst nanoparticles at atomic resolution. This structure plays a decisive role in the activity and stability of the particles. The detailed insights were achieved with a combination of atom probe tomography, spectroscopy and electron microscopy. Nanoparticle catalysts can be used, for example, in the production of hydrogen for the chemical industry. To optimize the performance of future catalysts, it is essential to understand how it is affected by the three-dimensional structure.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope team fully deployed its 21-foot, gold-coated primary mirror, successfully completing the final stage of all major spacecraft deployments to prepare for science operations.

A team of researchers has revealed some of the mechanisms by which polyps develop into colorectal cancer, setting the framework for improved surveillance for the cancer utilizing precision medicine. Their study describes findings from a single-cell transcriptomic and imaging atlas of the two most common colorectal polyps found in humans: conventional adenomas and serrated polyps.

The vocal sounds of humans -- laughing, crying, and the babbling of babies -- have the same rhythmic quality as the sounds made by many mammals, songbirds, and even some species of fish. Researchers have discovered that a small cluster of neurons in the brain stem not only regulates tempo but also coordinates vocalization with breathing.

Scientists have shown in both anxious rats and military veterans with PTSD that acute stress is associated with increased myelination of axons in areas of the brain associated with memory and emotions. These areas in the brain's gray matter are normally only lightly myelinated. Since myelin speeds communication in the brain, the increased myelination may be making some neural circuits hyperresponsive to memories of trauma.