Scientists theorize new origin story for Earth’s water
Earth's water may have originated from both asteroidal material and gas left over from the formation of the Sun, according to new research. The...
How do babies laugh? Like chimps!
Few things can delight an adult more easily than the uninhibited, effervescent laughter of a baby. Yet baby laughter, a new study shows, differs...
Dam problems, win-win solutions
Decisions about whether to build, remove or modify dams involve complex trade-offs that are often accompanied by social and political conflict. A group of...
Hydropower, innovations and avoiding international dam shame
For sweeping drama, it's hard to beat hydropower from dams -- a renewable source of electricity that helped build much of the developed world....
Turning marginal farmlands into a win for farmers and ecosystems
Many farms have areas where the ground either floods or does not retain enough water or fertilizer for crops to thrive. Such marginal lands...
Changing temperatures are helping corn production in US — for now
Increased production of corn in the United States has largely been credited to advances in farming technology but new research shows that changing temperatures...
Elusive star has origins close to Big Bang
Astronomers have found what could be one of the universe's oldest stars, made almost entirely of materials spewed from the Big Bang.
Oldest evidence of dairying on the East Asian Steppe
Although dairy pastoralism once made Mongolian steppe herders successful enough to conquer most of Asia and Europe, the origins of this way of life...
Coping with errors in the quantum age
Quantum systems can be manipulated with extremely high, but not with perfect precision. Researchers have now demonstrated how errors that occur during such operations...
Nutrient-recycling microbes may feel the heat
While microbial communities are the engines driving the breakdown of dead plants and animals, little is known about whether they are equipped to handle...