Materials

Orca (killer whale) predation timeline. Credit: Christiaan Stopforth, Drone Fanatics SA An orca (killer whale) has been observed, for the first-ever time, individually consuming a great white shark—and within just two minutes. “The astonishing predation, off the coast of Mossel Bay, South Africa, represents unprecedented behavior underscoring the exceptional proficiency of the killer whale,” remarks … Read more

A firefighter battling the Smokehouse Creek Fire, near Amarillo, in the Texas Panhandle. Gusty weekend winds were threatening to worsen a million-acre wildfire that has already killed two people in the southern US, as a monster blizzard engulfed California’s mountains Friday. Fires are burning across northern Texas and neighboring Oklahoma, fueled by an unseasonably warm … Read more

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Asian elephants loudly mourn and bury their dead calves, according to a study by Indian scientists that details animal behavior reminiscent of human funeral rites. Researchers identified five calf burials conducted by the giant mammals in the north of India’s Bengal region in 2022 and 2023, according to the study published … Read more

Artist’s impression of the interstellar object, ‘Oumuamua, experiencing outgassing as it leaves our solar system. Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, ESO, M. Kornmesser On October 19th, 2017, astronomers with the Pann-STARRS survey observed an interstellar object passing through our system—1I/2017 U1 ‘Oumuamua. This was the first time an ISO was detected, confirming that such objects pass through … Read more

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The xylem of the plant stem performs several important functions. Elucidating the coordination or trade-offs between xylem functions is critical for understanding plant ecological strategy and adaptation to different environments. However, how xylem cell tissues influence their functions among different growth forms remains unresolved. In a study published in the American … Read more

Two optically trapped nanoparticles are coupled together by photons bouncing back and forth between mirrors. Credit: The University of Manchester The question of where the boundary between classical and quantum physics lies is one of the longest-standing pursuits of modern scientific research, and in new research published today, scientists demonstrate a novel platform that could … Read more

Separation of particles is conducted based on their size (hydrodynamic radius) using differences in diffusion coefficients. The particles are accumulated at different heights in the AF4 channel. Subsequently, they are eluted from the AF4 channel by horizontal detection flow and constituent elements are monitored by ICP mass spectrometer. Credit: Yu-ki Tanaka from Chiba University Metal … Read more

The design of TIMIscope and four-region imaging. Credit: USTC Research groups led by Prof. Bi Guoqiang, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), and Prof. Zhou Pengcheng from Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology of Chinese Academy of Chinese proposed a design for ultra-compact head-mounted fluorescence microscopes, which were applied to neuro observations. The study … Read more

The Japanese larch is a conifer tree native to central Japan and often used in forestry in the northern part of Japan, especially in Hokkaido. It is popular for construction, making pulp and for Japanese bonsai. The human-made forests in Shiretoko lack an underlying layer of other diverse plant life, notably dwarf bamboo, which seemed … Read more

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Owners of a popular dog breed are being encouraged to keep their pet pooch in tip-top condition after a James Cook University study found that Rottweilers could suffer from reduced lifespan after being neutered. The work is published in the journal Scientific Reports. A recent analysis of available clinical records collated … Read more