Article archives

How pterosaurs learned to fly

How pterosaurs learned to fly

EvolutionGeosciences

By Invited Researcher

Authors: Davide Foffa, Research Fellow in Palaeobiology, University of Birmingham; Alfio Alessandro Chiarenza, Royal Society Newton International Fellow in Palaeontology, UCL, and Emma Dunne, Assistant Professor in Paleobiology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg Ever since the first fragments of pterosaur bone surfaced nearly 250 years ago, palaeontologists have puzzled over one question: how did these close cousins of […]

Vacuum fluctuations in optical cavities reveal hidden properties of embedded materials

Vacuum fluctuations in optical cavities reveal hidden properties of embedded materials

Quantum physics

By Mapping Ignorance

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) have theoretically demonstrated that photons trapped inside an optical cavity carry detailed information about a material placed within it. By measuring the properties of the photons leaking out of the cavity, researchers can probe how an optical cavity modifies the properties […]

Environmental DNA: Biodiversity data (like love) is in the air

Environmental DNA: Biodiversity data (like love) is in the air

BiologyEcologyGenetics

By Invited Researcher

DNA sequencing is getting cheaper than ever. This, coupled with advances in speed and portability, are allowing us to apply deep sequencing beyond the lab to environmental substrates, and analyse this eDNA to gain information and monitor biodiversity at a time where it is being lost at an unprecedented rate. This environmental DNA can be […]

How tiny particles navigate tumours: Understanding nanoparticle penetration in 3D cell models

How tiny particles navigate tumours: Understanding nanoparticle penetration in 3D cell models

BiochemistryDIPC BiochemistryMaterialsNanotechnologyPharmacy

By DIPC

Nanoparticles, those minuscule marvels measured in billionths of a metre, hold immense promise for revolutionizing cancer treatment. Their ability to deliver drugs directly to tumours could transform therapies, but only if they can navigate the dense, complex environment of tumour tissue. A new review , that includes a new experimental data set, explores this challenge […]

Why the hunt for animal languages has left us empty-handed

Why the hunt for animal languages has left us empty-handed

Language

By Invited Researcher

Authors: Anna Jon-And, Director of Centre for Cultural Evolution, Senior Lecturer in Portuguese, Stockholm University and Johan Lind, Senior Associate Professor in Ethology, Linköping University Why do humans have language and other animals apparently don’t? It’s one of the most enduring questions in the study of mind and communication. Across all cultures, humans use richly […]

The secret structures of benzodithiophene polymers unlock solar energy

The secret structures of benzodithiophene polymers unlock solar energy

ChemistryDIPC PolymersEnergyMaterials

By DIPC

Organic electronics in the form of organic solar cells — thin, flexible, and printable on everyday surfaces — promise a sustainable future in renewable energy. Unlike traditional silicon-based solar panels, organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices rely on carbon-based polymers, a class of molecules more commonly associated with plastic bags than power generation. Among these, a family […]

The melting ice caps of Greenland reveal the true extent of climate change

The melting ice caps of Greenland reveal the true extent of climate change

Geosciences

By Invited Researcher

Authors: Alejandro Gómez Pazo, Profesor Ayudante Doctor. Departamento de Geografía y Geología, Universidad de León; Marc Oliva, Profesor, Departamento de Geografía, Universitat de Barcelona, and Xosé Lois Otero Pérez, Catedrático del Centro Singular CRETUS. Departamento de Edafoloxía e Química Agrícola, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela For most of us, first-hand knowledge of Greenland is probably […]

What happens when you feed a neural network with millions of synthetic black hole data sets

What happens when you feed a neural network with millions of synthetic black hole data sets

AstrophysicsComputer science

By Mapping Ignorance

A team of astronomers led by Michael Janssen (Radboud University, The Netherlands) has trained a neural network with millions of synthetic black hole data sets. Based on the network and data from the Event Horizon Telescope, they now predict, among other things, that the black hole at the centre of our Milky Way is spinning […]