Compounds called cyclophospholipids would have held up against the planet’s harsh conditions, helping the first cells form and proliferate. Researchers must dissect the building blocks…
The importance of chemistry in next-generation computing and communication has been documented for the first time by a team of Northwestern University academics. They found…
MIT engineers develop a model that predicts how the cornstarch-water mixture turns from liquid to solid, and back again. It’s a phenomenon many preschoolers know…
Anyone who’s tried to swat a pesky mosquito knows how quickly the insects can evade a hand or fly swatter. The pests’ compound eyes, which…
Ultrathin coating could protect 2D materials from corrosion, enabling their use in optics and electronics. A variety of two-dimensional materials that have promising properties for…
New structural design could lead to self-deploying tents or adaptive robotic fins. Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have designed 3-D printed mesh-like structures that morph…
Sentinels in the mouth: Special sensory cells in the gums protect against periodontitis Newly discovered chemical-sensing cells in the gums protect the mouth by standing…
By listening for specific tones in the gravitational waves of black hole mergers, researchers are putting Albert Einstein’s theories to new tests. When two black…
Scientists detect tones in the ringing of a newborn black hole for the first time. Results support Einstein’s theory and the idea that black holes…
Filaments with embedded circuitry can be used to print complex shapes for biomedical and robotic devices. A new method developed by MIT researchers uses standard…
Just beneath their scales, Komodo dragons wear a suit of armor made of tiny bones. These bones cover the dragons from head to tail, creating…
Volcanic eruptions and their ash clouds pose a significant hazard to population centers and air travel, especially those that show few to no signs of…
Thanks to new technology that enables them to create simple tools, robots may be on the verge of their own version of the Stone Age….
Along the genome, proteins form liquid-like droplets that appear to boost the expression of particular genes. In recent years, MIT scientists have developed a new…
With an atomic structure resembling a Japanese basketweaving pattern, “kagome metal” exhibits exotic, quantum behavior. A motif of Japanese basketweaving known as the kagome pattern…
For the first time, astronomers have detected a signal from stars emerging in the early universe. Using a radio antenna not much larger than a…
A new study led by University of Wyoming scientists reveals that trees growing atop granite in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains rely on nutrients from…
Using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), the National Science Foundation has detected gravitational waves. Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in his…