Science, engineering, and discovery — the research and breakthroughs that matter.

By 2030, the global data centers powering artificial intelligence are projected to consume 945 terawatt-hours of electricity. This is nearly triple the combined annual electricity use of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria—countries collectively home to more than 650 million people

New research from the U.K. suggests that being exposed to old ideas that portray male sexual violence as having an evolutionary explanation—such as it being biological and inevitable—can lead people to be more likely to blame the victim in rape cases. The researchers showed more

Fossil fragments found in the U.K. have been identified as remains of the largest scorpions ever. Measuring more than a meter in length, Praearcturus gigas was among the first large predators to ever stalk the land.

An international team of astronomers have employed one of the Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs) at the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) to observe a distant blazar known as OP 313. Results of the observational campaign, published May 26 on the arXiv preprint server, shed

Algal blooms can seem to appear overnight. A stretch of ocean that looked clear days earlier can suddenly appear discolored and sometimes pose risks to ecosystems and human health. But scientists say blooms are rarely sudden—understanding what happens before they appear is key to

Mangroves could store less carbon—and even begin releasing it—as sea levels rise, suggests new research in Earth's Future. Mangroves are made up of salt-tolerant plants that grow in coastal areas. They cover less than 1% of Earth's surface but store about 15% of all ocean carbon,

By studying life deep inside a former gold mine, a Northwestern University-led team of scientists has uncovered evidence that Earth's hidden biosphere operates less like a random collection of microbes and more like an organized workforce. In one of the most comprehensive long-te

Galactic collisions are events of breathtaking proportions. The supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at their centers plunge into a chaotic orbital dance that eventually coalesce into a single remnant. On their way to that point, they could eventually get "kicked" out of the center o

The question of why females mate with multiple males has long puzzled evolutionary biologists. A new study of African foam-nest tree frogs, led by University of Wollongong (UOW) researchers, reveals polyandry could be the key to reproductive success and a safer home for offspring

The nocturnal mating rituals of hairy scarab beetles are helping pollinate one of Perth's most common native trees, in a discovery that highlights the unusual adaptations of Australian plants and the unexpected pollination strategies still to be discovered. A four-year study led

When China banned plastic waste imports in 2018, countries like the United States, the Netherlands, Australia, and Japan didn't stop exporting plastic waste—they diverted their shipments to countries in Southeast Asia.

A multi-year research project has provided new insight into greater amberjack. The Greater Amberjack Count was led by Sean P. Powers, Ph.D., fisheries ecology professor and Director of the Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences of the University of South Alabama.

Black holes, regions in space where gravity is so strong that nothing can escape, have been widely studied over the past decades, due to their unique and intriguing properties. Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that black holes obey a set of rules, known as the law

A severe tropical storm brought torrential rain to Tokyo on Wednesday, swelling rivers, grounding flights, and sparking calls to evacuate for hundreds of thousands of people across wide swaths of Japan.

Hookworms, intestinal parasites that infect hundreds of millions of people in under-resourced tropical regions around the globe, have evolved to survive inside the human gut for years, secreting molecules that enable coexistence with their hosts. Now, researchers at Washington Un

As SpaceX prepares its long-awaited stock market debut, investors everywhere are scrambling to get a piece of the action—through investment funds, related company stocks, and even online prediction markets.

A portion of one of the most ambitious ocean monitoring networks ever built will go dark this month when scientists board a research vessel and motor off the Oregon coast to pull a research buoy from deep out of the Pacific.

Urban estuaries can support thriving ecosystems despite bustling human activity. Noting that bird populations can serve as a key indicator of environmental health, researchers recently investigated trends in the New York–New Jersey Harbor, home to the largest breeding population

Ever since the JWST revealed a population of SMBH in the early universe that were overmassive, scientists have been working hard to explain them. These black holes existed when the universe was only about 2 billion years old, during Cosmic Noon, and according to our models of bla

Europe's agrifood system is under severe pressure. Climate change is causing droughts and floods, and agriculture is putting pressure on nature, the climate and the environment. Diet-related lifestyle diseases are placing a growing burden on health care systems. At the same time,

The physics of neutron stars are almost too fantastic to believe: something the weight of two suns compacted to a sphere the size of a city. Each teaspoon of its material would weigh billions of tons. If you've done any reading on the topic, you've heard these facts before. But d

A new study published in Nature Water finds that wetland loss across the United States has increased residential flood insurance claim payments by more than $10 billion since 1985, underscoring the critical role wetlands play in reducing riverine flood damage.

In nature, there exist structures that are mirror images of each other but cannot be perfectly superimposed. These are known as chiral objects, derived from the Greek word for "hand," since left and right hands share the same relationship. Although similar in structure, chiral mo

When rockets fire into space, the insides of their engines become an extreme environment where temperatures soar and tiny particles are thrown around at hypersonic speeds. These particles behave in ways that break long-held assumptions, according to new research that could help i

A new study published in the Journal of Raptor Research, titled "Factors Influencing Nestling Sex Ratios of Suburban and Rural Red-Shouldered Hawks, 2004–2016," finds that hawk parents prioritize producing female offspring when conditions are optimal. This means that higher quali

New research from the University of St Andrews has discovered that insects who conceal themselves as leaves also use their leafy camouflage to amplify mating calls, making themselves more attractive to the opposite sex. The research published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Researchers at Eurac Research have obtained a detailed picture of the microbial community associated with Ötzi, Europe's oldest known natural human mummy. The study provides insights into a complex microbiome, ranging from the gut flora of a Copper Age human to cold-adapted yeast

Sharks need healthy habitats, and some have a strong preference for locations jam-packed with food, according to FIU research. A recent study of Caribbean reef sharks in the Bahamas, where shark fishing has been banned for years, shows that the sharks don't seem to like places wh