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A team of engineers and scientists has shown for the first time that a hard-X-ray cavity can provide net X-ray gain, with X-ray pulses being circulated between crystal mirrors and amplified in the process, much like happens with an optical laser. The result of the proof-of-concept at European XFEL is a particularly coherent, laser-like light of a quality that is unprecedented in the hard X-ray spectrum.

Cells organize their molecules into distinct functional areas. While textbooks usually refer to membrane-bound organelles such as mitochondria and cell nuclei, recent studies have also revealed organelles without membranes. These include stress granules and proteasome storage granules (PSGs).

Legal efforts to tackle excessive personal information collection by social media giants could transcend international boundaries if nations moved away from a focus on assessing competition using the value of data, a new study says.

In Finland, the average age of passenger cars is among the highest in Europe, and the majority of traffic-related particle emissions are produced by ICE vehicles that are more than 15 years old. The worst polluters are old diesel cars without a diesel particulate filter.

Researchers from the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) and the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), in collaboration with the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC), have led the most extensive observational study to date of runaway massive stars, which includes an analysis of the rotation and binarity of these stars in our galaxy.

No ears, no problem. The tobacco hornworm caterpillar, a common garden pest, can actually detect airborne sound via microscopic hairs on its body, according to a team of faculty and graduate students at Binghamton University. The research could have implications for improving microphone technology.

A relatively simple statistical analysis method can more accurately predict the risk of landslides caused by heavy rain, according to a study coordinated by Brazilian researchers affiliated with the Institute of Mathematical and Computer Sciences at the University of São Paulo (ICMC-USP) in São Carlos and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). The researchers have validated their strategy based on a real event.

Thyme, rosemary, and lavender have long been associated with natural medicine. Today, however, these aromatic plants are increasingly being studied by researchers. "In an era of ever-increasing microbial resistance to antibiotics, there is a growing emphasis on the need to introduce antimicrobial products into therapy to which microbes have not yet developed resistance," says Dr. Malwina Brożyna from Wroclaw Medical University. For nearly a decade, she has been researching the properties of essential... Читать дальше...

Switching to biodegradable plastics could slash toxic pollution by more than a third and dramatically reduce global waste by mid-century, but only if cities and companies invest in the right disposal systems, a Yale School of the Environment study found. Without proper composting facilities, biodegradable plastics could double greenhouse gas emissions.

In a critical advance for climate resilience, researchers from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed an AI model that can predict dangerous convective storms—including Black Rainstorms, thunderstorms and extreme heavy rainfall like those that have hit Hong Kong—up to four hours before they strike. This world-first technology, developed in collaboration with national meteorological institutions and powered by satellite data and advanced deep diffusion technology... Читать дальше...

Researchers at the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA published a step-by-step framework for determining the three-dimensional positions and elemental identities of atoms in amorphous materials. These solids, such as glass, lack the repeating atomic patterns seen in a crystal. The team analyzed realistically simulated electron-microscope data and tested how each step affected accuracy.

The pastoralist lifestyle is often depicted as an unchanging dietary reliance on herd animals and mobility. This is particularly the case in eastern Africa, where a dedicated focus on herds, meat and dairy, alongside extreme mobility, is seen as the perfect adaptation to aridity, seasonal climate variability, and political unpredictability.

A new study published in Communications Biology reveals a critical, yet previously overlooked, environmental consequence of man-made dams constructed across rivers and streams. By investigating a key indicator species of ecosystem health, the brown trout (Salmo trutta), researchers from the Estonian University of Life Sciences and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences demonstrated that small river impoundments significantly elevate water temperatures and drastically increase the pathogenic impact of Proliferative Kidney Disease (PKD).

In the early 1990s, Keith Willmott and a friend, both undergraduate students from the United Kingdom, arrived in Ecuador with impressionable minds and big aspirations. Willmott initially imagined there might be 20 to 30 butterfly species in the region that had yet to be described; once those had been named, writing field guides would be a mere matter of taking a few photos and spelling out where everything lived.

Building things so small that they are smaller than the width of a human hair was previously achieved by using a method called two-photon polymerization, also known as 2PP—today's state-of-the-art in 3D micro- and nanofabrication. Tiny sculptures such as a miniature replica of the Eiffel Tower or the Taj Mahal made the headlines.

Being in "holiday mode" makes tourists less environmentally responsible, according to a recent University of Queensland study. Researchers found that while tourists' core environmental values don't change, traveling can activate a "vacation place identity" which makes people feel freer and less accountable for sustainable behavior than at home.

NASA's Artemis II mission will transport four astronauts around the moon, bringing the agency one step closer to sending the first astronauts to Mars. Throughout Artemis II, astronaut voices, images, video, and vital mission data must traverse thousands of miles, carried on signals from NASA's communications systems.

Small RNAs are short RNA molecules that help determine which genes in a cell are switched on or off. Until now, it was assumed that the small RNAs necessary for pollen development originate in the pollen itself and in the directly surrounding maternal tissue. However, a new study conducted by the MPI-MP reveals a surprisingly different picture: The crucial signals do not originate in the pollen, but in maternal tissue and can be transported over long distances, for example from the roots.