Materials

Credit: Max Fischer from Pexels A new study reveals that sex differences in academic strengths are found throughout the world and girls’ relative advantage in reading and boys’ in science is largest in gender-equal countries. Gender equality often draws attention especially in fields where women are underrepresented, such as high-status, high-paying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, … Read more

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Neuroticism is one of the Big Five personality traits, characterized by a tendency to experience negative emotions like anxiety, fear, and frustration. Individuals with high levels of neuroticism are often more sensitive to stress and more likely to react negatively to challenges. This trait can significantly impact job performance, mental health, … Read more

The newly-discovered GS-NDG-9422 galaxy appears as a faint blur in this James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) image. It could help astronomers better understand galaxy evolution in the early Universe. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Alex Cameron (Oxford) The discovery of a “weird” and unprecedented galaxy in the early universe could “help us understand … Read more

Credit: Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2024). DOI: 10.1002/anie.202411766 Electrochemical reduction of CO2 has long been viewed as a promising approach to utilize CO2. Selective generation is an important topic, but most efforts on controlling product selectivity have been devoted to catalyst design and modification. The impact of electrolyte composition is less studied. In a study … Read more

Male Pacific field cricket (T. oceanicus). Credit: Jon Richardson A trio of biologists at the University of Minnesota has found that when male crickets need to save energy, they narrow their mating filter, to focus more exclusively on females. In their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Jon Richardson, Isabelle … Read more

People secure their boats ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Helene in Cancun, Quintana Roo state, Mexico. The US state of Florida on Tuesday was preparing for the arrival of Storm Helene, due to make landfall later in the week as a powerful Category 3 hurricane. Helene, currently churning over the Caribbean with maximum sustained … Read more

CTD rosette – a device equipped with sensors and bottles to collect water samples and measure different properties of the ocean at various depths. Credit: Dr Bob Brewin An “invisible forest” of phytoplankton is thriving in part of our warming ocean, new research shows. Phytoplankton are tiny drifting organisms that do about half of the … Read more

The value chain for high-impact weather warnings, with each of the six stages listed above the mountains. Adapted from Tan et al. (2022). Credit: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (2024). DOI: 10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0273.1 Sixteen years to the day that Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana, Ida slammed into the Gulf Coast state’s seaport town of Port Fourchon … Read more

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain A new analysis of satellite data finds that the record surge in atmospheric methane emissions from 2020 to 2022 was driven by increased inundation and water storage in wetlands, combined with a slight decrease in atmospheric hydroxide (OH). The results have implications for efforts to decrease atmospheric methane and mitigate its … Read more

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Physics-informed virtual reality could be key to reducing the exposure of pedestrians and cyclists to harmful, non-exhaust vehicle emissions, according to a study published 25 Sep in the Royal Society Open Science journal. The research led by the University of Birmingham targets the issue of major health risks and chronic diseases … Read more