Comparing yourself with your partner is more common than you'd think. Psychologists even have a term for it: mate value discrepancy (MVD), which is the gap between how attractive, smart or successful each partner feels compared with the other.
Scientists have long wondered whether loud, human-caused noise interferes with wild animals' cognition—their ability to think and learn—by causing stress, distraction or making it harder for them to focus. The results of a novel study of eastern bluebirds conducted by a team of researchers at Penn State suggest that, at least in some cases, short-term noise doesn't affect them much.
Using cargo recovered from one of Australia's most infamous shipwrecks, new Curtin University-led research has revealed how surprisingly sophisticated global supply chains helped source and transport construction materials in the 17th century.
In a world searching for more sustainable ways to manage waste, the promise of turning "trash into treasure" is hard to ignore. Take nitrate pollution, for example. Every year, nitrogen fertilizers help feed billions of people. But not all of that nitrogen stays where it is needed. Some is washed from farms into rivers, streams and groundwater, where it can contribute to environmental problems, including harmful algal blooms.
The wildfire that engulfed Spain's Ávila region, northwest of the capital, Madrid, is now considered the largest in the country's modern history, with around 50,000 hectares (193 square miles) burned, the government said this week.
For most theories in physics, the order of operations has little impact on the result. When setting a dial to a certain position, for example, it doesn't matter whether it's turned clockwise or counterclockwise—the result will always be the same. Yet for non-Abelian gauge theories, order does matter. These theories underpin the Standard Model, but to test their more subtle predictions, researchers have so far relied on enormous particle accelerators.
Feeding wild animals is a popular activity at tourist destinations. While these interactions often appear harmless, scientists are recognizing how supplemental feeding of wild animals can alter ecosystems in unexpected ways.
Winters in Antarctica's Ross Sea have become stormier in recent decades, affecting sea-ice conditions and field operations, new University of Otago—Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka research shows.
Scientists at Imperial College London and the University of Manchester have developed a promising new way to create safer and more effective treatments for life-threatening fungal infections. The research, published today in Nature, describes a new family of antifungal agents that—when tested in mice—were more potent and less toxic than existing treatments.
The vast majority of proteins in our bodies contain regions that are in a constant state of wiggling, shape-shifting every few nanoseconds to completely change how they look. Information on how these shape-shifting proteins work is critical to understanding health and disease and developing drugs for cancer, neurodegeneration and myriad other conditions. However, it has been challenging for scientists to pin down precisely how these regions function and how they go awry in disease.
Historians have for decades chronicled instances of discriminatory practices under Federal Housing Administration and Veterans Administration mortgage programs, but the extent of these biases has been unknown. The first national-level analysis of early FHA and VA lending practices, reported in Nature, offers a fuller picture.
The octopus is a biological oddity. It can use tools, open jars, and its complex nervous system supports as many neurons as a small primate. Now Harvard biologists have discovered a mysterious distinction in octopuses' core biology: Some octopuses have an unusual adaptation in the protein-making machinery of their cells that helps ensure accuracy, perhaps an evolutionary byproduct of their acute sensory system.
Researchers at Duke University School of Medicine have developed an artificial intelligence framework that can redesign proteins on a scale previously seen only in natural evolution. The tool can create shorter, longer and highly modified versions of proteins while preserving their structure and function.
A remarkably preserved fossil from Mongolia's Gobi Desert is reshaping scientists' understanding of mammal evolution during the age of dinosaurs.
Researchers at Colorado State University have developed a process to transform naturally occurring, highly stable carbon dioxide into recyclable, high-performance materials that could replace today's plastics in many situations. Their catalytic process, described in the journal Nature, is another step toward a circular economy that reduces plastic waste and supports environmental sustainability.
Chinese researchers have successfully charged a drone using just a laser, in a breakthrough that could change how we approach unmanned flight
Electronic motion sets the stage for virtually every light-induced process in nature, from the first step of a chemical reaction to the flow of charge in a solid. Yet these processes unfold so rapidly that they can be observed only with flashes of light lasting a few hundred attoseconds—billionths of a billionth of a second.
In November 2025, NASA's Mars-bound ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral with special cargo on board: two camera systems designed and built by faculty and students at NAU, with support from the University of California, Berkeley, and Rocket Lab.
A team of researchers has discovered that winds generated by supermassive black holes are 100 times more powerful than previously thought, carrying energy across distances of approximately 300,000 light-years. The discovery demonstrates that these explosive winds affect the vast expanse of space beyond the galaxies they inhabit.
Why do some people who embrace conspiracy theories simply hold those beliefs, while others act on them? A new study published in the British Journal of Social Psychology identifies three characteristics that help determine when conspiracy beliefs are most likely to shape real-world behavior: how certain people are that the belief is true, how personally important they consider it, and whether they see it as "actionable"—useful for deciding what to do.
Many viruses can infect both humans and animals, including hepatitis E virus. This virus is often transmitted to humans via contaminated meat products, such as by ingesting raw or undercooked pork or wild game. However, mouse liver cells are not a suitable host for hepatitis E viruses. Researchers have now discovered why.
At picnics and World Cup watch parties across the United States this summer, people have been reaching for bowls of chips and guacamole. Most of that guacamole is made from avocados grown in Mexico—on orchards that, in what might come as a surprise, contribute less water pollution today than they did a decade ago.
Astronomers have built the first three-dimensional map of gas temperature in the space surrounding our solar system, revealing a far messier and more dynamic picture than current models predict. The study was submitted to the arXiv preprint server on July 16.
For the first time, a research team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany, has demonstrated that insects can mimic floral scents to manipulate pollinators.
Researchers at the University of Warwick and spinout company Verdel Instruments have successfully demonstrated two-dimensional mass spectrometry (2DMS) on a benchtop instrument, making this powerful technique practical and affordable for everyday laboratory use.
New research has found that 6.5 million Americans live in homes on or near landslide-prone slopes. With a single map, local governments and residents can now see landslide hazard hotspots at the regional, state and county levels to ensure they are aware of and prepared for an emergency.
Ancient single-celled red algae that thrive in scalding, acidic waters are emerging as far more than specialized survivors.
How to watch "Expedition X: Atomic Sharks" online, as Phil Torres and Heather Amaro investigate the effects of nuclear fallout on the Marshall Islands' waters.
Scientists have found a genetic switch that could shave years off avocado breeding by allowing researchers to identify one of a young tree's most important traits long before it flowers.
Ethanol is an alcohol used in a vast number of industrial and household applications. When dehydrogenated—in this case, stripped of some of its hydrogen atoms—it yields another important compound: acetaldehyde, which is used to make resins, dyes, perfumes and synthetic flavors, among many other products. But currently available catalysts for ethanol dehydrogenation suffer from deactivation, poor performance over time and unwanted side reactions.
Introducing demon cavefish ( Demogorgonichthys arcanus ); the rare eyeless predators that have been hiding in plain sight below a military base for decades.
If you've ever tried to read a scientific paper, you've almost certainly run into a p-value. And if you found it confusing, you're in good company: Plenty of working scientists misunderstand it too.
Quantum technologies are devices and systems that exploit the laws of quantum mechanics and could perform tasks that are difficult or impossible to tackle using their classical counterparts. These technologies process and store information using qubits (i.e., quantum bits), which can exist in a superposition of multiple states simultaneously.
From eclipse glasses to smart telescopes, here are eight safe ways to experience the Aug. 12, 2026, solar eclipse
July's full moon will be at its best on the night of July 29. It's the last regular full moon before a total solar eclipse and partial lunar eclipse in August.
When an 8-year-old suddenly lost the ability to walk, doctors ruled out infection and autoimmune disease before uncovering a rare explanation.
Experts are still investigating but note that an earlier discovery nearby identified part of the wing of a British Lancaster bomber
Health editor Nicoletta Lanese spoke with trauma surgeon Dr. Selwyn Rogers Jr. about his new book, "Healing the Gun Violence Epidemic."
Pronunciation: Ah-LEEL'
Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02282-1 Researchers say that transparent publishing practices could be associated with research quality, but more evidence is needed.
Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02308-8 Eliminating polio is within reach — if countries see it as an essential public-health priority.
Biologists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute investigated a flexible social bee species, which helps shed light on the evolution of more complex organizational structures among other insects
A strong inland earthquake in southwestern Japan trapped people inside a shopping center and damaged infrastructure. Here's what made this quake unusual and why aftershocks remain a concern.
The 25 new locations, determined to bear "outstanding universal value" for the world, also include the D-Day landing site in Normandy, France
Ever since that first daguerreotype on a light-sensitive metal plate, eclipse observations have continued to unveil the star's corona and bring people together to experience the solar system's majesty
A nearly full moon may obscure the fireballs falling from the remains of two comets that passed through Earth's orbit
The vessel sank in the Adriatic Sea in the seventh or eighth century C.E. Its cargo included a gold signet ring likely associated with the emperor Heraclius and gold belts encrusted with rubies, emeralds and pearls
Astronomers have discovered a third galaxy without dark matter in a strange string of a dozen dwarf galaxies. A violent collision is likely to blame.
The inert artifacts gave security officers in Gulf Shores a good scare. Investigators say the weapons came from Fort Morgan, which guards Mobile Bay
Scientists have identified a compound that may help preserve muscle in aging mice. Someday, this may help people with muscle atrophy.
Physicists, mathematicians and philosophers have been exploring the possibility of going forward to the future or back to the past
A semi-fictionalized documentary series hosted by actor Tom Hiddleston follows three people in the ancient towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum who experienced the disaster in 79 C.E.