A team of chemists at the University of Cambridge has developed a metal-free way to convert symmetrical diols selectively into one of two mirror-image isomers. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group took advantage of the ability of chiral versions of quinuclidine—which were derived from Cinchona alkaloids—to catalyze the dememorization of meso-diols under a blue light in conjunction with a photocatalyst and extract hydrogen atoms from symmetrical molecules.

A new framework bridges a gap in understanding RNA therapeutics by linking the structure of lipid nanoparticles to immune response. It can help scientists and engineers expand the use of RNA medicines beyond vaccines to other therapeutic applications.

Researchers Tomohito Amano and Shinji Tsuneyuki of the University of Tokyo with Tamio Yamazaki of CURIE (JSR-UTokyo Collaboration Hub) have developed a new machine learning model to predict the dielectric function of materials, rather than calculating from first-principles.

The Attosecond Science group at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science has developed a novel light source capable of producing extremely short pulses for the investigation of UV-induced molecular dynamics with unprecedented temporal resolution. Scientists from the University of Hamburg and from DESY describe their unique observations in an article published in Nature Communications.

A research team led by Assistant Professor Makoto Miyoshi of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) has independently re-analyzed observation data of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy obtained and published by the international joint observation project Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). They found that the structure is slightly elongated in the east-west direction.

An Aston University researcher has developed a new technique using light that could revolutionize non-invasive medical diagnostics and optical communication. The research showcases how a type of light called the orbital angular momentum (OAM) can be harnessed to improve imaging and data transmission through skin and other biological tissues.

Mushrooms exist in a breathtaking variety of shapes, colors and sizes. Especially in autumn, mushroom hunters go into the forests to find the tastiest of them, prepare them in multiple ways and eat them with relish. However, it is well known that there are also poisonous mushrooms among them and it is life-saving to distinguish between them. But are these mushrooms really poisonous?

What is the "most Canadian" animal? Spoiler: it's not the beaver, or the moose. Published in the journal The Canadian Field-Naturalist, the study from a team of Simon Fraser University researchers ranks, for the first time ever, species of terrestrial vertebrates in Canada by their level of Canadian evolutionary distinctness: the amount of time animals have evolved independently from other Canadian species.

Climate change-related extreme weather, such as massive flooding and prolonged drought, often results in dangerous outbreaks of diarrheal diseases particularly in less developed countries, where diarrheal disease is the third leading cause of death among young children.

You have likely not spent much time thinking about the uterus of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. But then, neither have most scientists, even though Drosophila is one of the most thoroughly studied lab animals. Now a team of biologists at the University of California, Davis, has taken the first deep look at the Drosophila uterus and found some surprises, which could have implications not just for understanding insect reproduction and potentially, pest control, but also for understanding fertility in humans.