From Science Magazine. The Byssus End of the Mussel. In order to withstand the crashing waves, mussels have strong filaments called byssal threads to help them stick to rocky surfaces with surprising strength. When needed, the bivalves can also release these threads with seemingly little effort. Deeper investigation and imaging revealed that friction between cilia…

From Science Magazine. Read the paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adf3345 After an oil spill, humans rush to the scene to minimize impacts on the environment. But if the oil sticks around long enough, nature’s responders start to roll in. Bacteria such as Alcanivorax borkumensis thrive in these settings, using the components of petroleum as a source of energy…

From Science Magazine. Read the paper here: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg7043 Traditional cooling devices like air conditioners rely on refrigerants that can harmful to humans and the environment. Materials scientist Ichiro Takeuchi and his research group have developed a cooling device free of typical toxic refrigerants, instead relying on a physical property of certain metal alloys. These alloys…

From Science Magazine. Read the paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adf1936 When you’re trying on a new pair of shoes, you might use your thumb to see how much room you have in front of your big toe. Even though it isn’t the most precise tool, your body is a quick and accessible way to measure the world around…

From Science Magazine. Artificial intelligence (AI) applications in medical robots are bringing a new era to medicine. Advanced medical robots can perform diagnostic and surgical procedures, aid rehabilitation, and provide prosthetics to replace limbs. The combination of extraordinary advances in robotics, medicine, materials science, and computing could bring safer, more efficient, and more widely available…

From Science Magazine. Read the article: https://www.science.org/content/article/how-tongue-shaped-life-on-earth An early interest in reptile feeding behavior led evolutionary biologist Kurt Schwenk to study the tongues of lizards. Like Charles Darwin’s finches, the various forms and functions of lizard tongues help piece together the story how the diversity of reptiles and amphibians evolved. In this video he explains…

From Science Magazine. Some of the most notable lakes in the world, from the Great Salt Lake to Poyang Lake, have shrunk dramatically in recent decades. But because most lakes lack long-term, on-the-ground measurements, it was hard to say whether this was a widespread phenomenon. Now, researchers have published a first-of-its-kind data set to look…

From Science Magazine. Read the story: https://www.science.org/content/article/scientists-probing-secrets-earths-inner-core-saved-life-planet About the size of Pluto, Earth’s inner core is made of solid iron and helps power the magnetic field that protects life from harmful space radiation. For more than a century, seismic waves have helped researchers identify and characterize the core’s properties. Science reporter Paul Voosen wrote about…

From Science Magazine. Read the paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade1702 Read the Perspective: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg6020 The waggle dance performed by honey bees is a complex behavior that communicates directional information. In a recent paper, researchers demonstrated that younger bees learn critical parts of this dance from older, more experienced bees. Bees that learn without the benefit of teachers have…

From Science Magazine. Read the paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq5158

From Science Magazine. Read the paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adc9998

From Science Magazine. Along with COVID-19 and the flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has spread at alarming rates in recent months. Promising vaccine candidates for this common infection are now winding down their large-scale clinical trials. These vaccine candidates rely on a key advance made by Barney Graham, Jason McLellan, and colleagues in 2013. That…

From Science Magazine. *This video has been re-published to correct the frequency range of infrasound, and the chemical structure of water. Read the papers: "Atmospheric waves and global seismoacoustic observations of the January 2022 Hunga eruption, Tonga" https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo7063 "Water vapor injection into the stratosphere by Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai" https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq2299 "Global fast-traveling tsunamis driven by atmospheric…

From Science Magazine. Read the Perspective: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq1187 In order to detect the background hum of gravitational waves in the cosmos, scientists monitor the light coming from dead stars called pulsars. These pulsars produce flashes of light with incredible regularity, allowing researchers to calculate when they would expect to detect these flashes. The difference between the…

From Science Magazine. Read more about the major science breakthroughs of 2022: https://www.science.org/content/article/breakthrough-2022 0:00 Breakthrough of the Year winner: JWST 0:33 AI gets creative 1:02 Asteroid deflected 1:22 Virus fingered as cause of multiple sclerosis 1:56 2-million-year-old ancient ecosystem reconstructed 2:25 Black Death’s legacy 2:57 RSV vaccines near finish line 3:24 A surprisingly massive microbe…

From Science Magazine. Not many telescopes get introduced by the president, but JWST, the gold-plated wunderkind of astronomy built by NASA with the help of the European and Canadian space agencies, deserves that honor. It is the most complex science mission ever put into space and at $10 billion the most expensive. And it did…