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.

For nearly two decades, two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors have been studied as a complement or possible successor to silicon transistors, promising smaller, faster and more energy-efficient processors. To ease their production and testing process, much of the field has been benchmarking the potential of 2D semiconductors using an architecture that causes a phenomenon called "contact gating."

Recent decades have witnessed rapid advancements in high-intensity laser technology. The combination of laser irradiation and novel materials is opening exciting avenues for the design of functional materials and devices. Semiconductors are ideal platforms for generating laser-driven functionalities because they can exhibit novel features such as ultrafast optical transparency. This effect arises from electronic occupation redistribution driven by ultrafast excitation, which manifests as a phenomenon called transient Pauli blocking.

A study reveals how two proteins cooperate in a key early step of antiviral detection, as reported by researchers at Science Tokyo. Using cryo-electron microscopy and high-speed atomic force microscopy, they found that LGP2 binds to viral RNA and recruits MDA5 molecules, as if threading beads on a string. This creates a scaffold that facilitates the formation of a large signaling complex, which ultimately triggers an innate immune response.

Preserving quantum information is key to developing useful quantum computing systems. But interacting quantum systems are chaotic and follow laws of thermodynamics, eventually leading to information loss. Physicists have long known of a strange exception, called dynamical freezing, when quantum systems shaken at precisely tuned frequencies evade these laws. But how long can this phenomenon postpone thermodynamics?

This week, astronomers reported that one of the biggest observed stars in the universe could soon explode. A study compared long-term COVID-19 brain effects to the flu. And a new eco-friendly battery could theoretically last for centuries (or for several hours if you put it into a Steam Deck, haha).

Scientists have found a way to use common bacteria as tiny, green chemical factories to replace a process that currently relies on fossil fuels. In industrial hydrogenation, the hydrogen added to molecules to create products such as plastics, medicines and food typically comes from coal or natural gas. The process comes with a heavy environmental price tag, releasing between 15 and 20 kilograms of greenhouse gas for every kilogram of hydrogen produced.

A team of scientists from the University of Manchester and Oxford have synthesized stable nitrogen chain radical anions under ambient conditions. These molecules, which are normally too reactive to isolate and study under ambient conditions, are described in a new study, published in Nature Chemistry.

A new bioengineered neuronal circuit board "BioConNet" allows scientists to artificially engineer human brain-like wiring at scale and can be used to engineer any possible circuit. The fully programmable, open-source system allows generation of large-scale circuits, while maintaining the ability to focus on single connections between neurons.

Quantum technologies, computers or other devices that operate leveraging quantum mechanical effects, rely on the precise control of light and matter. Over the past decades, quantum physicists and material scientists have been trying to identify systems that can reliably generate photons (i.e., light particles) and could thus be used to create quantum technologies.