ScienceDaily

Two elephant-sized South American sauropods were unusually well built for standing on their hind legs. Digital tests showed that their robust femurs handled the enormous forces better than those of larger species, especially while the dinosaurs were young. The upright pose may have helped them reach treetops, frighten predators, or impress potential mates.

A quantum problem once described as impossible for classical computers has now been solved using relatively modest hardware. Researchers used tensor networks to compress the overwhelming wave function created by hundreds of entangled qubits, allowing some calculations to run on a laptop. Their results matched both theoretical predictions and simulations performed with a quantum computer. The meth…

Oxygen is disappearing from oceans, lakes, rivers, and coastal waters at an alarming rate, threatening aquatic life and weakening the natural processes that help regulate Earth’s climate. Scientists warn that this widespread deoxygenation is closely connected to other major planetary threats, including warming, pollution, biodiversity loss, and ocean acidification.

Researchers have uncovered a surprising culprit behind sleep loss in Alzheimer’s disease: the brain’s own immune cells. In mice with amyloid plaques, overactive microglia triggered inflammation that kept the brain from getting enough deep, restorative sleep. Temporarily removing most of these cells restored more than two hours of sleep per day, even though the plaques remained unchanged.

Scientists have redesigned zinc oxide particles to create a mineral sunscreen that protects against ultraviolet radiation without leaving such a noticeable white cast. The SPF 30 formula could make sunscreen easier and more appealing to use across a wider range of skin tones.

Scientists are testing two promising ways to destroy PFAS, the stubborn “forever chemicals” that can accumulate in water and resist normal treatment. One method uses collapsing vapor bubbles to generate extreme heat and reactive molecules, while the other uses cold plasma and rising gas bubbles to pull PFAS to the surface and break them apart.

A protein called SORLA may act as a powerful defense against the toxic tau tangles involved in Alzheimer’s disease. Mice with extra SORLA had less tau accumulation, less brain atrophy, and healthier connections between neurons, while mice without it experienced more severe damage. The findings also revealed a possible drug target that could help control harmful activity in supporting brain cells.

Scientists have discovered a hidden warning sign of skin damage that appears before collagen fibers visibly thin, break, or lose their connections. Using advanced light-based techniques, the team found that collagen’s carefully organized molecular “handedness” can collapse even while the tissue still appears structurally intact and contains the same amount of collagen. This suggests that skin may…

The mysterious sound known as The Hum has been reported worldwide for decades, yet its source often remains impossible to find. Researchers tested whether people who hear it have exceptional low-frequency hearing or measurable sounds produced inside their ears, but neither explanation fit most participants. The strongest possibility is that many cases involve low-frequency tinnitus, even though t…

Researchers have created cosmic dust from scratch by recreating space-like conditions inside glass tubes. The dust contains complex carbon-rich molecules built from elements essential to life and produces infrared signals similar to real material found in space. By studying these laboratory samples, scientists can explore how organic chemistry unfolds around stars and how comets, asteroids and me…

A new AI-powered blood test could give people a remarkably early warning of serious heart and circulation problems. Developed by researchers at the University of Hong Kong, CardiOmicScore analyzes thousands of proteins and metabolites to estimate the risk of six major cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation. Unlike genetic risk scores, which…

Scientists may have uncovered one reason coffee is repeatedly associated with healthier aging and lower disease risk. Compounds in coffee appear to activate NR4A1, a receptor that helps protect cells from stress, inflammation, and damage. These protective effects disappeared when the receptor was removed, strengthening the connection. Surprisingly, plant-based compounds such as caffeic acid seeme…

Fossils from Queensland suggest a newly recognized marsupial order may have survived in Australia for around 35 million years, rewriting part of the story of how the continent's unique mammals evolved. The discovery challenges the idea that Australia's marsupials all came from a single straightforward ancestral lineage.

The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs was likely an exceptionally rare CO chondrite from a distant region of the solar system. Its unusual chemistry suggests that planet-cooling dust and debris, rather than sulfur inside the asteroid, may have delivered the deadliest blow.

A low-cost antidepressant may offer new hope for people struggling with long COVID fatigue. In a randomized clinical trial involving 399 adults, fluvoxamine significantly reduced fatigue and improved quality of life compared with a placebo, making it one of the first medications to show meaningful benefits for this disabling condition.