Article archives

Do chimpanzees converse?

Do chimpanzees converse?

EthologyLanguage

By José Ramón Alonso

The list of things in which humans are unique is fascinating: art, shyness, spirituality, passion for technology, accumulation of objects. There are other activities that we share with other species, but in which we excel because of our ability, complexity and speed: communication and sociability are two good examples. Humans have the most sophisticated language […]

A cheaper way to make green hydrogen, using AI

A cheaper way to make green hydrogen, using AI

Chemical engineeringChemistryComputer science

By Mapping Ignorance

Researchers at the University of Toronto are using artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific breakthroughs in the search for sustainable energy. They have used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) to confirm that an AI-generated “recipe” for a new catalyst offered a more efficient way to make hydrogen fuel . To […]

Aborted clinical trials: what genetics has to say

Aborted clinical trials: what genetics has to say

GeneticsMedicinePharmacy

By Rosa García-Verdugo

Many (if not most) clinical trials end up failing, but given the bias towards positive results sometimes the reasons for their not working remain unclear. Luckily, a team at Open Targets and EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) have analysed the reasons for aborted clinical trials mentioned in Clinicaltrials.gov, the open-source register for clinical trials worldwide […]

A passive, efficient way to extract water from air

A passive, efficient way to extract water from air

Chemical engineeringChemistry

By Mapping Ignorance

Freshwater scarcity affects over two billion people in the world, primarily in arid and remote regions, as well as islands and coastal areas without freshwater sources. Climate change and population growth are only making the problem worse, and existing methods require an energy input, usually electrical. Renewable energy can fix this and is required for […]

MI weekly selection #570

MI weekly selection #570

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Model shows dark matter’s role in black hole mergers A study in Physical Review Letters proposes that self-interacting dark matter aids the merger of supermassive black holes by resolving the final parsec problem. The study shows mathematical modeling that indicates dark matter particles clustered around black holes allow the holes to close the final distance […]

Oscillatory hydrodynamics in DNA-coated gold nanoparticles

Oscillatory hydrodynamics in DNA-coated gold nanoparticles

DIPC Advanced materialsMaterials

By DIPC

Periodic responses to nonperiodic energy inputs, such as oscillations, are hallmarks of living systems. Researchers have devoted considerable efforts to understanding and mimicking natural self-assembled structures and functions to systems composed of nonbiological components. This has rendered remarkable developments in regulating interparticle interactions to form static and dynamic self-assemblies. Dynamic assemblies can, under suitable stimuli […]

The final stage in the formation of a ‘European genome’

The final stage in the formation of a ‘European genome’

AnthropologyGenetics

By Invited Researcher

Authors: Eva-Maria Geigl, Directrice de recherche CNRS, co-responsable de l’équipe Épigénome et paléogénome de l’Institut Jacques Monod, Université Paris Cité; Oğuzhan Parasayan, Chercheur post-doctoral, Institut Pasteur, and Thierry Grange, Directeur de Recherche CNRS, co-responsable d’équipe de recherche, Institut Jacques Monod, Université Paris Cité High-resolution analysis of the genomes of individuals buried in a 4,500-year-old collective […]