Cyanobacteria are among the most significant life forms in the history of our planet. As one of the first organisms to produce oxygen through photosynthesis, they shaped early Earth and created the atmosphere in which complex life could develop. A new study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that filamentous cyanobacteria also developed a navigation mechanism to control their movement when gliding across surfaces.

A research team from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed GrainBot, an AI-enabled toolkit that automatically extracts and quantifies multiple microstructural features from microscopy images. Designed to meet the growing need for data-driven and autonomous research workflows in materials science, the tool provides a systematic method for converting complex image information into quantitative data, thereby accelerating the discovery and development of next-generation materials.

Particles in the atmosphere, known as aerosols, cool the climate by acting as cloud condensation nuclei. The more cloud droplets form around these particles, the less sunlight penetrates a cloud. This cools the climate, although this process is outweighed by the much stronger greenhouse effect.

A research team at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has analyzed 40 years of data covering about 1,500 tropical cyclones and discovered that average rain rates surge by more than 20% in the 60 hours before landfall. The study is also the first to clearly identify the physical mechanisms behind this increase, showing that rising humidity over coastal areas and enhanced land-sea frictional contrasts strengthen convection, intensifying rainfall ahead of landfall. The results provide valuable insights for improving coastal disaster preparedness and early-warning systems.

Researchers at the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology have uncovered new evidence that two major types of gene-controlling DNA sequences, promoters and enhancers, operate with a shared logic and often perform the same jobs. The finding, made possible through a high-throughput assay they developed called QUASARR-seq, could reshape how scientists design gene therapies, interpret disease-related mutations, and understand cancer genetics.

Every year, over 100 billion nitrile rubber gloves are produced. They are made from synthetic polymers—a material chemically related to plastic and derived from crude oil. The vast majority is used in the health care sector, and most are discarded after single use. This creates a massive amount of material waste globally. However, Simon Kildahl, a postdoc at the Department of Chemistry at Aarhus University, has moved a step closer to a way of recycling these gloves. In a new study published in the journal Chem, he and his colleagues demonstrate how they can transform waste rubber into a CO2 adsorbent in the laboratory. The potential, he explains, is significant.

At newly colonized high-elevation sites in the central Italian Apennines, female Daubenton's bats take turns using the same hunting spots instead of feeding side by side. A study published by a research team from the University of Naples Federico II, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, and several international partner institutions in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation shows that this fine-scale temporal partitioning helps the bats avoid competition and may be crucial for surviving at the cold edge of a climate-driven range expansion.

Our bodies are home to millions of fungi that, for the most part, are completely harmless. However, they can sometimes change from peaceful residents into dangerous invaders. One such is Candida parapsilosis, which normally lives on our skin or in our intestinal tract but can also be found on medical devices and hospital surfaces. If it gets into a wound or onto a catheter, it can cause a serious blood infection.

A study by the UAB and the University of A Coruña has succeeded in demonstrating the existence of Roman-era alluvial gold mines in the Eastern Pyrenees. The discovery was made possible by dating two samples from the infill levels of the hydraulic structures at the Guilleteres d'All mines using new luminescence techniques (OSL), yielding a chronology of around the 3rd–4th centuries CE. This calculation fully confirms the Roman origin of the structure and allows confirming for the first time the exploitation of Pyrenean gold by the Romans in this region. The work is published in the journal Land.

Early mammalian ancestors were nocturnal, sleeping during the day while the dinosaurs dominated the land. However, some mammalian lineages, including human ancestors, independently transitioned to diurnality (active during the day). Scientists have now discovered why humans are not nocturnal. A new study published in Science reveals that the answer is in the genes.