River regulation‚ invasive animal and plant species‚ global climate change‚ and pollution—humans are severely impacting the ecosystems of rivers and streams.

Our sensory systems are highly adaptable. A person who cannot see after turning off a light in the night slowly achieves superior power to see even small objects. Women often attain a heightened sense of smell during pregnancy. How can the same sensory system that was underperforming can also exceed the expectation based on its prior performance?

Colorful flowers‚ and the insects and birds that fly among their dazzling displays‚ are a joy of nature. But how did early relationships between flower color and animal pollinators emerge?

By clocking the speed of stars throughout the Milky Way galaxy‚ MIT physicists have found that stars further out in the galactic disk are traveling more slowly than expected compared to stars that are closer to the galaxy's center. The findings raise a surprising possibility: The Milky Way's gravitational core may be lighter in mass‚ and contain less dark matter‚ than previously thought.

Skiers keen for slick runs are leaving toxic PFAS "forever chemicals" behind on ski slopes‚ research by The James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen and the University of Graz in Austria has revealed.

As the spread of eco-friendly hydrogen cars increases‚ the importance of hydrogen sensors is also on the rise. In particular‚ achieving technology to detect hydrogen leaks within one second remains a challenging task. Accordingly‚ the development of the world's first hydrogen sensor that meets the performance standards of the U.S. Department of Energy has become a hot topic.

Cellular agriculture—the production of meat from cells grown in bioreactors rather than harvested from farm animals—is taking leaps in technology that are making it a more viable option for the food industry. One such leap has now been made at the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA)‚ led by David Kaplan‚ Stern Family Professor of Engineering‚ in which researchers have created bovine (beef) muscle cells that produce their own growth factors‚ a step that can significantly cut costs of production.

Seagrasses provide the foundation of one of the most highly biodiverse‚ yet vulnerable‚ coastal marine ecosystems globally. They arose in three independent lineages from their freshwater ancestors some 100 million years ago and are the only fully submerged‚ marine flowering plants.

The spongelike structure of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) allows these polymers to possibly carry and deliver a range of therapeutic compounds. Now‚ researchers reporting in ACS Applied Bio Materials have treated a chromium-containing MOF with a dose of acetic acid‚ more concentrated than in vinegar‚ to expand its pore size and surface area. The puffed-up MOF held more ibuprofen or chemotherapy drug than the original version and showed improved performance as a potential drug-delivery vehicle.

Imagine a catastrophic event that blocked out the sun‚ such as the eruption of a large volcano‚ or even a nuclear war.