Unlike other insects, desert ants may use polarity of geomagnetic field for navigation
Desert ants of the Cataglyphis nodus species use the Earth's magnetic field for spatial orientation, but these tiny insects rely on a different component of the field than other insects, a research team led by Dr. Pauline Fleischmann from the Univers.....»»
US forecasts severe solar storm starting Thursday
A massive ball of plasma and accompanying magnetic field ejected from the sun is expected to strike Earth on Thursday morning, potentially triggering auroras as far south as Alabama, according to US forecasters......»»
Insects from the bodies of illegally hunted rhinoceroses may provide valuable forensic information
New research in Medical and Veterinary Entomology reveals that when rhinoceroses are found dead after being illegally killed by poachers, analyzing insects on the decomposing body aids in estimating the time since death. This information has been use.....»»
Africa"s Great Green Wall will only combat desertification and poverty by harnessing local solutions, say researchers
In the rural village of Téssékéré, the increasing number and intensity of droughts linked to climate change is making the lives and livelihoods of the local Fulani communities increasingly vulnerable. Here, in the northern Sahel desert region of.....»»
Researchers field-test harmful algal bloom mitigation system
A team of researchers at Clarkson University has conducted a successful field test of its innovative process to combat harmful algal blooms (HABs)......»»
Reconstruction of fruit fly"s anterior visual pathway may lead to insights into animal navigation
UC Santa Barbara neuroscientists have reconstructed the entire anterior visual pathway of a fruit fly, a complex series of connections between the insect's eyes and the navigation center of its brain......»»
Male locusts serve as parasols for females during egg laying in the hot sun
A team of entomologists at Center National de Lutte Antiacridienne's Mauritanian National Desert Locust Center has found that male locusts will mount a female when she is laying eggs during the heat of day......»»
Field study finds using biodiversity instead of pesticides can reduce crop damage from herbivores
Pesticides aren't always necessary. Researchers at the University of Zurich have conducted a comprehensive field study showing that damage from herbivores can be reduced by using biodiversity within a plant species. Different plant genotypes can coop.....»»
Unlocking heat management with quantum thermal transistors
Scientists are finding ways to use quantum effects to create groundbreaking thermal devices that can help cool electronic systems. The quantum thermal transistor is one of the most exciting innovations in this field. While the current works surroundi.....»»
Field notes: Life in the Eldorado National Forest after wildfire strikes
Charred trees punctuated the Eldorado National Forest like blackened skeletons of their former selves, victims of the Mosquito Fire. Two years earlier, in 2022, the Mosquito Fire started in Tahoe National Forest, moved north to the Eldorado and torch.....»»
Low stream diatom biodiversity potentially decreases stream oxygen production in remote islands
Benthic diatoms are the most important and biodiverse primary producers in streams and comprise the basis for the food webs, fueling animals such as insects and stream fishes including trout......»»
Ants learned to farm fungi during a mass extinction
Ants learned to work with fungi back in a world where only fungi could thrive. We tend to think of agriculture as a human innovation. But insects beat us to it by millions of year.....»»
Genetic database shows some fungal crops became completely reliant on ants 27 million years ago
When humans began farming crops thousands of years ago, agriculture had already been around for millions of years. In fact, several animal lineages have been growing their own food since long before humans evolved as a species......»»
A new era of solar observation: International team produces global maps of coronal magnetic field
For the first time, scientists have taken near-daily measurements of the sun's global coronal magnetic field, a region of the sun that has only been observed irregularly in the past. The resulting observations are providing valuable insights into the.....»»
Mercury"s magnetic landscape mapped in 30 minutes
As BepiColombo sped past Mercury during its June 2023 flyby, it encountered a variety of features in the tiny planet's magnetic field. These measurements provide a tantalizing taste of the mysteries that the mission is set to investigate when it arri.....»»
Will AI one day win a Nobel Prize?
Artificial intelligence is already disrupting industries from banking and finance to film and journalism, and scientists are investigating how AI might revolutionize their field—or even win a Nobel Prize......»»
Citizen scientists create buzz with new insect discovery
More than 60% of Australia's known insects are unnamed and a mystery to science. Of an estimated 500,000 Australian species, roughly half are insects, but many aren't categorized......»»
Webb telescope detects unusual gas jets from Centaur 29P
Inspired by the half-human, half-horse creatures that are part of Ancient Greek mythology, the field of astronomy has its own kind of centaurs: distant objects orbiting the sun between Jupiter and Neptune. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has mapped.....»»
Researchers create orientation-independent magnetic field-sensing nanotube spin qubits
Purdue University researchers have developed patent-pending one-dimensional boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) containing spin qubits, or spin defects. The BNNTs are more sensitive in detecting off-axis magnetic fields at high resolution than traditiona.....»»
Only 5 women have won the Nobel Prize in physics—recent winners share advice for young women in the field
Out of 225 people awarded the Nobel Prize in physics, only five have been women. This is a very small number, and certainly smaller than 50%—the percent of women in the human population......»»
Bioinspired yarn can harvest water from fog
Scientists have developed a bioinspired yarn capable of harvesting water from fog, providing an innovative solution to water scarcity in arid regions. By imitating the alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic patterns seen in desert beetles and the wa.....»»