SciTechDaily

Physicists around the world remain deeply divided on key mysteries of the universe, from dark matter to quantum gravity. The standard cosmological model failed to gain majority support, and no leading theory dominated the survey results. The largest survey ever conducted among physicists worldwide reveals surprisingly little agreement on some of the field’s biggest mysteries, [...]

An analysis of 75 meteorite falls identified seven distinct processes that occur as space rocks melt, break apart, and slow down before reaching the ground. A space rock entering Earth’s atmosphere does far more than simply “burn up.” By examining 75 meteorite falls recorded in videos and photographs, researchers identified seven distinct stages that shape [...]

The Galápagos snapdragon, once close to disappearing, is showing encouraging signs of recovery through a long-term partnership between the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Galápagos National Park Directorate. For decades, the Galápagos snapdragon was known from little more than a specimen pressed into an herbarium collection. It had been gathered near Caleta Tagus in 1962, [...]

A bacterial molecule called gladiolin can disarm invasive Candida albicans and strengthen the effects of a major antifungal drug. Candida albicans usually lives harmlessly in the human body, but under the wrong conditions it can transform into an invasive form capable of damaging tissue and causing life-threatening infection. Researchers from Monash University and the University [...]

Bats’ remarkable ability to withstand decades of strenuous flight while keeping infections, inflammation, and cancer in check may offer new clues to healthier human aging Bats are unusually long-lived for animals of their size. Small mammals generally burn energy quickly and die relatively young, yet some bats survive for several decades. Brandt’s myotis, Myotis brandtii, [...]

A hidden molecular defect in inflammatory bowel disease may help explain why flare-ups can return even when patients appear well. Even when inflammatory bowel disease appears under control, intestinal cells may remain primed to die. In a WEHI-led study, researchers found this hidden molecular defect in patients with few or no symptoms, and higher levels [...]

Blood pressure drugs can prevent heart attacks and strokes, but their protection may fade when too many doses are missed. New research presented at ESC Congress 2026 provides some of the clearest evidence yet that consistently taking antihypertensive medication is essential to receiving its cardiovascular benefits. The analysis used randomized trial data to separate the [...]

A provocative new paper suggests consciousness may not be unique to Earth and could arise in alien life forms far stranger than we can imagine. A new philosophical paper argues that consciousness may not be exclusive to life as we know it. According to Eric Schwitzgebel, a distinguished professor of philosophy at the University of [...]

A biodegradable wash may help remove surface pesticide residues and keep fruit fresh longer, though more testing is needed before real-world use. Many shoppers follow the same pattern after buying produce: they bring fruits and vegetables home, wash them, dry them, and hope they stay good long enough to eat. Fresh produce, however, can deteriorate [...]

Many things change in space, including how the intestines function. Constipation is a known side effect of space travel, but until now, little has been known about why it happens. Constipation is a familiar problem for astronauts, but the biological reason it develops during spaceflight has remained uncertain. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen working [...]

A compound produced in the body after eating pomegranates improved heart function by up to 80% in experimental models of a type of heart failure with limited treatment options. For people with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, the heart can still pump blood but struggles to relax and refill properly between beats. In experimental [...]

Africa’s giant herbivores did not simply vanish in a wave of extinctions. Their evolutionary family tree was slowly running out of new branches. A new study suggests that the long decline of animals such as elephants, hippopotamuses, and their extinct relatives was driven primarily by low rates of speciation. Once a giant species disappeared, another [...]

A mountain of loose rock in Utah hides enough ice to fill 600 Olympic swimming pools, revealing that some of the state’s largest frozen water reserves are almost invisible from the surface. Unlike conventional glaciers, which expose broad expanses of ice, rock glaciers resemble slowly shifting fields of broken stone. Their rocky coverings can conceal [...]

Practice may teach the brain a new movement, but what happens immediately afterward could determine whether that skill lasts. Scientists have long known that repetition alone does not guarantee learning. A newly practiced movement must be stabilized through memory consolidation, a process that continues after training ends. New research in mice suggests that signals arriving [...]

Maternal age effects may arise from reversible epigenetic changes whose impact depends partly on genetics and evolutionary pressures. A mother’s age can leave a biological imprint on her offspring, influencing physical and behavioral traits across many animal species, including humans. These so-called maternal age effects are widespread, but scientists still do not fully understand the [...]

Women with the most antioxidant-rich diets had a strikingly lower prevalence of cervical cancer in a nationwide analysis. A cervical cancer diagnosis is usually traced back to one dominant cause: persistent infection with a high-risk strain of human papillomavirus (HPV). But infection alone does not determine who develops cancer, leaving researchers interested in the other [...]

A hidden hormone disorder may be driving millions of cases of high blood pressure, and a wearable device is revealing what standard tests miss Researchers have used a wearable device to uncover previously hidden hormone patterns in primary aldosteronism, a potentially curable disorder that may affect as many as one in five people with high [...]

A metal surface that becomes more active as it changes could help green hydrogen electrolyzers run harder and longer. Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed an electrode that combines five metals in a high-entropy antiperovskite structure. Supported on porous nickel foam, the material helped an anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzer sustain industrially [...]

A self-resetting soft robot can repeatedly jump under infrared light, with simple design changes controlling how and where it moves. A teardrop-shaped soft robot developed at North Carolina State University can keep jumping for as long as infrared light shines on it, without needing to be reset between leaps. Depending on a simple change to [...]

Enamel proteins from Homo erectus teeth suggest genetic links to Denisovans while offering a less destructive way to study ancient human fossils. A handful of ancient teeth may preserve clues to a relationship that has remained difficult to trace through fossils alone. Researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese [...]