Authors: Mouna Reda, Post doctorate fellow, Department of Civil Engineering, McMaster University and Samir Chidiac, Professor, Civil Engineering, McMaster University As winter approaches, Canada’s roads, bridges, sidewalks and buildings are facing a familiar problem: cracks caused by large temperature swings. These cracks weaken infrastructure and cost millions to repair every year. But what if concrete […]
Glaciers are melting worldwide. In some regions, they could even disappear completely. Looking at the number of glaciers disappearing, the Alps could reach their peak loss rate as early as 2033 to 2041. Depending on how sharply the planet warms, this period may mark a time when more glaciers vanish than ever before. Worldwide, the […]
The expansion of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) such as that offered by ChatGPT has multiplied the amount of content available very easily and quickly. In this scenario, two skills become decisive for safe and effective use: critical thinking—the ability to analyze and evaluate information—and media literacy—knowing how to locate, evaluate, and produce information responsibly. A […]
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are highly potent and broad-spectrum antibiotics, found as components of the innate immune system in almost all forms of life. AMPs are short proteins, tiny compared with conventional antibiotics but extraordinarily effective: they bind to and disrupt bacterial membranes, which quickly incapacitates or kills a cell. For decades, the picture many scientists […]
Authors: Guillem Chust , Head of Climate Change in Oceans and Coasts; Xabier Irigoien , IKERBASQUE Professor; and Naiara Rodríguez-Ezpeleta , Head of Molecular Ecology and Biotechnology at AZTI , Marine Research / Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) Most nowadays existing animal groups originated in the sea after the Cambrian explosion, 540 million years […]
When it comes to brain function, neurons get a lot of the glory. But healthy brains depend on the cooperation of many kinds of cells. The most abundant of the brain’s non-neuronal cells are astrocytes, star-shaped cells with a lot of responsibilities. Astrocytes help shape neural circuits, participate in information processing, and provide nutrient and […]
Throughout the relentless struggle against cancer, conventional medicine has largely depended on aggressive methods of elimination—surgical removal, radiation, and chemotherapy—aimed at eradicating malignant cells before they can overwhelm the patient. While these approaches have proven effective in many cases, they often come at a steep cost, damaging healthy tissue and leaving patients vulnerable to recurrence […]
In recent decades, researchers have developed advanced techniques to detect and manipulate individual photons. A particularly intriguing field examines how nanoscale light emitters, resembling artificial atoms, produce these photons. In this vein, a new study addresses a subtle question: when two such emitters release photons that are red-shifted due to energy loss, do these photons […]
Anthropology • Archaeology • Ecology • Environment • Genetics
Author: Gerlinde Bigga, Scientific Coordinator of the Leibniz Science Campus “Geogenomic Archaeology Campus Tübingen”, University of Tübingen The last two decades have seen a revolution in scientists’ ability to reconstruct the past. This has been made possible through technological advances in the way DNA is extracted from ancient bones and analysed. These advances have revealed […]
In September 2023, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft brought home a remarkable gift: the first pristine sample ever collected from a carbon-rich asteroid called Bennu. After two years of careful study in laboratories worldwide, scientists have confirmed that Bennu’s dust and pebbles contain many of the very same small molecules life on Earth relies on as its […]