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Cement can be reused by including it as a component of steel recycling. This opens the way to an industrial partnership that improves the use of materials and lowers carbon emissions — but only if waste resources are well managed.
Neuroscientists find that two distinct neural pathways are responsible for the addictive properties of the opioid fentanyl: one mediates reward, the other promotes the seeking of relief from symptoms of withdrawal.
A phenomenon that affects the magnetic fields of rotating bodies could be involved in recurring changes in the Sun’s behaviour, which are related to a periodic flipping of its field. The proposal is a fresh take on this strange effect.
A simple design approach and predictive computational methods have spawned a pathway for making materials that could trap specific molecules — an ability needed for applications such as carbon capture.
Artificial neural networks that model the visual system of a male fruit fly can accurately predict the insect’s behaviour in response to seeing a potential mate — paving the way for the building of more complex models of brain circuits.
The chemistry of promethium, a rare radioactive element, has been clouded in mystery, owing to its scarcity and the difficulties involved in working with it. The synthesis of a complex of promethium plugs this knowledge gap.
When chromosomes are lost or gained, massive changes in gene expression disrupt the delicate balance of proteins in a cell. Yeasts with incorrect chromosome numbers counteract this by degrading excess proteins.
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, emphasizes the importance of conserving wild plant species, plus a wonderstruck sky-watcher spots a brilliant meteor, in the weekly dip into Nature’s archive.
A two-in-one drug that modulates neural pathways involved in appetite and reward might prove to be more effective and longer lasting than current weight-loss drugs on the market.
A design principle for buildings incorporates components that can control the propagation of failure by isolating parts of the structure as they fail — offering a way to prevent a partial collapse snowballing into complete destruction.
Both parents of oldfield mice care for offspring, whereas in deer mice, mothers usually care for pups. The discovery of a type of adrenal-gland cell that is present in oldfield mice but not in deer mice helps to explain the difference.
A book cataloguing mysterious events challenges scientists to provide some answers, and Charles Darwin continues his investigations of crimes against primroses, in the weekly dip into Nature’s archive.
Some genes carry an ‘imprint’ on either the maternal or the paternal copy, which determines whether or not that copy is expressed. This 1984 discovery changed how scientists think about gene regulation and inheritance.
The development of high-performance organic LEDs and other devices that emit near-infrared light has been hindered by seemingly fundamental features of the light-emitting molecules. A potential solution has been identified.
The Chilean soapbark tree is the source of QS-21 — a valuable but hard-to-obtain vaccine additive. Yeast strains engineered to express all components of the QS-21 biosynthetic pathway provide an alternative route to this therapeutic.
What stabilized and strengthened the oldest, most robust blocks of continental crust billions of years ago during the Archaean eon has long been a mystery. It seems that a surprise helping hand might have come from the air above.
Efforts to develop an electronic newspaper providing information at the touch of a button took a step forward 50 years ago, and airborne bacteria in the London Underground come under scrutiny, in the weekly dip into Nature’s archive.
Cardiovascular disease claims more lives each year than do the two next-deadliest diseases combined. An ultrasound technique that tracks tiny gas-filled bubbles could pave the way towards improved early detection.
Some fox species leap up and pounce head first into snow to capture prey that they hear below the surface. An analysis of the forces involved reveals how the shape of the skull has evolved to minimize damage from this behaviour.
By adapting methods for fabricating and testing conventional computer chips, researchers have brought silicon-based quantum computers closer to reality — and to accessing the immense benefits of a mature chipmaking industry.
