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Researchers design technology that sees nerve cells fire Researchers at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, have created a noninvasive technology that detects when nerve cells fire based on changes in shape. The method could be used to observe nerve activity in light-accessible parts of the body, such as the eye, which would allow physicians to quantitatively monitor visual function at the cellular level. The study was published in the journal Light: Science and Applications. The work was funded by the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Barely scratching the surface: A new way to make robust membranes Argonne researchers have demonstrated a new technique's viability for membranes.

New device could help answer fundamental questions about quantum physics Researchers have developed a new device that can measure and control a nanoparticle trapped in a laser beam with unprecedented sensitivity. The new technology could help scientists study a macroscopic particle's motion with subatomic resolution, a scale governed by the rules of quantum mechanics rather than classical physics.

Virgin Galactic aims to reach space soon with tourism rocket Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is gearing up to finally send its tourism rocket ship to the edge of space.

Big picture look at climate change impact on US agriculture: Midwest at risk A new Cornell University-led study shows that Midwest agriculture is increasingly vulnerable to climate change because of the region's reliance on growing rain-fed crops.

The epoch of planet formation, times twenty Astronomers have cataloged nearly 4,000 exoplanets in orbit around distant stars. Though the discovery of these newfound worlds has taught us much, there is still a great deal we do not know about the birth of planets and the precise cosmic recipes that spawn the wide array of planetary bodies we have already uncovered, including so-called hot Jupiters, massive rocky worlds, icy dwarf planets, and—hopefully someday soon—distant analogs of Earth.

Researchers use a virus to speed up modern computers In a groundbreaking study, researchers have successfully developed a method that could lead to unprecedented advances in computer speed and efficiency.

Indian ocean may be more disruptive to tropical climate than previously believed The Indian Ocean played a far greater role in driving climate change during the last ice age than previously believed and may disrupt climate again in the future. That's according to a new study from The University of Texas at Austin, the findings of which could rewrite established Pacific-centric theories on tropical climate change.

Tiny tech tracks hummingbirds at urban feeders Beep" is not a sound you expect to hear coming from a hummingbird feeder. Yet "beeps" abounded during a study led by the University of California, Davis to monitor hummingbirds around urban feeders and help answer questions about their behavior and health.

First-ever look at complete skeleton of Thylacoleo, Australia's extinct 'marsupial lion'Thyalacoleo carnifex, the "marsupial lion" of Pleistocene Australia, was an adept hunter that got around with the help of a strong tail, according to a study released December 12, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Roderick T. Wells of Flinders University and Aaron B. Camens of the South Australia Museum, Adelaide. These insights come after newly-discovered remains, including one nearly complete fossil specimen, allowed these researchers to reconstruct this animal's entire skeleton for the first time.

Why deep oceans gave life to the first big, complex organisms In the beginning, life was small.

Governments, researchers underestimate impact of inefficient land-use on climate change Policymakers and researchers have underestimated the effect that changes in land management and people's diets would have on limiting greenhouse gas emissions and countering the effects of climate change, according to a study led by Princeton University.

Rice plants that grow as clones from seed Plant biologists at the University of California, Davis have discovered a way to make crop plants replicate through seeds as clones. The discovery, long sought by plant breeders and geneticists, could make it easier to propagate high-yielding, disease-resistant or climate-tolerant crops and make them available to the world's farmers.

Unlocking the secrets of how cells communicate offers insights into treating diseases Portland State University researchers have made a significant breakthrough by developing the 3-D structure of proteins from inside the eye lens that control how cells communicate with each other, which could open the door to treating diseases such as cataracts, stroke and cancer.

Clearest view ever of cell membrane yields unexpected structure, research possibilities Working with a Nobel Prize-winning biophysicist, a team of researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University has gained the clearest view yet of a patch of cell membrane and its components, revealing unexpected structures and opening up new possibilities for pharmaceutical research.

Juno mission halfway to Jupiter science On Dec. 21, at 8:49:48 a.m. PST (11:49:48 a.m. EST) NASA's Juno spacecraft will be 3,140 miles (5,053 kilometers) above Jupiter's cloud tops and hurtling by at a healthy clip of 128,802 mph (207,287 kilometers per hour). This will be the 16th science pass of the gas giant and will mark the solar-powered spacecraft's halfway point in data collection during its prime mission.

Seeing small-molecule interactions inside cells Like people in a large company, proteins in cells constantly interact with each other to perform various jobs. To develop new disease therapies, researchers are trying to control these interactions with small-molecule drugs that cause specific proteins to associate more or less with their "coworkers." Now, researchers reporting in ACS' journal Analytical Chemistry have developed a method to visualize whether drugs are regulating protein-protein interactions inside cells.

Chemical engineers advance olefins production through computational modeling Olefins are simple compounds of hydrogen and carbon but represent the building blocks of chemistry, and are vital for the synthesis of materials from polymers and plastics to petrochemicals. However, olefin production requires the use of nonrenewable fossil fuels, energy intensive "cracking" facilities, and limited production control.

Astronomers find that dark matter dominates across cosmic time In findings published today in The Astrophysical Journal, University of Texas at Austin astronomers report that they have stumbled on an extraordinary galaxy that may corroborate a recently contested theory about dark matter.

Declining snowpack over western US mapped at a finer scale Researchers have now mapped exactly where in the Western U.S. snow mass has declined since 1982.