As the ocean warms across its temperate regions, kelp forests are collapsing and turf algae species are taking over. This shift from dense canopies of tall kelp to low-lying mats of turf algae is driving biodiversity loss and altering the flow of energy and nutrients through reef ecosystems. It\’s also fundamentally altering the chemical ecology of coastal ecosystems. New research in Science, led by researchers at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, has shown for the first time how turf algae release chemicals that can kill young kelp. That creates a feedback loop where more turf algae means more harmful chemicals,…

My phone buzzed just as I was finishing filming with the BBC Sky at Night crew for an episode about Mars, having spent the day immersed in the high-resolution panoramas returned by the Curiosity and Perserverance rovers. A text from a researcher wondered if I’d be around to comment on embargoed research from scientists in Cambridge who had ‘found new tentative evidence that a farway world orbiting a different star to the Sun may be home to life’. I guessed immediately we were talking about the group who, back in 2023, had published what the peer-reviewed paper described as ‘potential…

For example, many insects such as bees and ants will instinctively remove dead members from the hive, seemingly to keep the nest clear of any potential pathogens. Research from a team at University of Michigan describes a similar aversion for decedents among the roundworm C. elegans. They\’ve discovered that the presence of dead members of their species has profound behavioral and physiological effects, leading the worms to more quickly reproduce and shortening their lifespans. \”We felt this was quite a unique opportunity to start diving into what is happening mechanistically that enables C. elegans to detect a dead conscript and…

Plasma — the electrically charged fourth state of matter — is at the heart of many important industrial processes, including those used to make computer chips and coat materials. Simulating those plasmas can be challenging, however, because millions of math operations must be performed for thousands of points in the simulation, many times per second. Even with the world\’s fastest supercomputers, scientists have struggled to create a kinetic simulation — which considers individual particles — that is detailed and fast enough to help them improve those manufacturing processes. Now, a new method offers improved stability and efficiency for kinetic simulations…

Going into nature, how long does it take till you feel like you’re there? There meaning not sending emails in your head and not wincing at shifts of temperature or humidity when sun turns to rain? There’s a comfort that comes over you. Hands and the heart are no longer so far apart and pulling a thorn out of your flesh is an afterthought. Working a Grand Canyon rafting trip this month, I listened to familiar conversation from participants, some mentioning it takes a day or two to let their shoulders down. On day five some are still trying to…

As the national debate intensifies around immigration, a new study from the University of California School of Global Policy and Strategy is challenging conventional wisdom about \”brain drain\” — the idea that when skilled workers emigrate from developing countries, their home economies suffer. Published in Science, the paper reveals high-skilled emigration from developing countries may actually boost economic development, human capital and innovation in migrants\’ countries of origin. With the U.S. undergoing sweeping immigration policy shifts — which include tighter work visa rules, student visa restrictions and return migration barriers — the new research highlights how these changes will reverberate…