Preparing catalysts by sending hot, steamy car exhaust over them could improve their efficiency and reduce the amount of rare and expensive metals required in vehicle catalytic converters and many other emission control and industrial processes.

A research team has developed an advanced delivery system that transports gene-editing tools based on the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing system into living cells with significantly greater efficiency than before. Their technology, ENVLPE, uses engineered non-infectious virus-like particles to precisely correct defective genes -- demonstrated successfully in living mouse models that are blind due to a mutation. This system also holds promise for advancing cancer therapy by enabling precise genetic manipulation of engineered immune cells making them more universally compatible and thus more accessible for a larger group of cancer patients.

Comprehensive reference genomes have now been assembled for six ape species: siamang (a Southeast Asian gibbon), Sumatran orangutan, Bornean orangutan, gorilla, bonobo and chimpanzee. Areas of their genomes previously inaccessible because of structural complexity have now mostly been resolved. The resource is already lending itself to comparative studies that offer new insights into human and ape evolution, and into what underlies the functional differences among these species.

Researchers formally describe Helmetia expansa, offering new insights into its anatomy, behavior and evolutionary relationships.

About 66 million years ago, an asteroid slammed into the planet, wiping out all non-avian dinosaurs and about 70% of all marine species. But the crater it left behind in the Gulf of Mexico was a literal hotbed for life enriching the overlying ocean for at least 700,000 years, according to new research.

Researchers report their discovery of fluorescent pigments in the feathers of Long-eared Owls, that can only be seen by humans with the help of ultraviolet light.

Japan's Ryukyu Islands, which includes Okinawa, are the exclusive home to two rare mammals, the Amami rabbit and Ryukyu long-furred rat. These animals are hard to observe, but conservationists wish to find out specific details about their diets. So researchers inspected the teeth from deceased specimens to find out what the animals were eating, and at different times. Their findings show the rabbits have consistent diets, whereas the rats' change with the seasons.

Scientists have pioneered an influenza virus vector-based nasal spray vaccine platform and developed a nasal spray H5N1 avian influenza vaccine. During the early COVID-19 pandemic, this platform enabled the rapid development of a nasal spray vaccine in collaboration with mainland China's Wantai BioPharm. After completing Phase 1-3 clinical trials, it was approved in 2022 as the world's first nasal spray COVID-19 vaccine.

While the daily ebb and flow of people across a city might seem chaotic, new research reveals underlying universal patterns. A study unveils fundamental spatiotemporal scaling laws that govern these population dynamics.

Ecologists are investigating the decline of insect populations in the world's tropical forests. Insects, the most abundant and diverse group of animals on Earth, are experiencing alarming declines, prompting this research effort.

A new study maps how specific lactic acid bacteria can enhance both the flavor and nutritional quality of plant-based dairy alternatives. The findings may have wide-reaching perspectives for the further development of sustainable foods.

The intermittent fasting diet, which involves periods of severe calorie restriction, may be on the way out, as research is suggesting that rather than drastically reducing calories, people can achieve similar metabolic benefits by cutting back on carbs.

Numerous studies have shown that working the night shift is associated with serious health risks, including to the heart. However, a new study suggests that eating only during the daytime could help people avoid the health risks associated with shift work.

Just steps from the center of Tikal, a 2,400-year-old Maya city in the heart of modern-day Guatemala, a global team of researchers has unearthed a buried altar that could unlock the secrets of a mysterious time of upheaval in the ancient world. The altar, built around the late 300s A.D., is decorated with four painted panels of red, black and yellow depicting a person wearing a feathered headdress and flanked by shields or regalia. The face has almond-shaped eyes, a nose bar and a double earspool. It closely resembles other depictions of a deity dubbed the 'Storm God' in central Mexico.

Researchers have shown that differences in the entire rotavirus genome -- not just its two surface proteins -- affect how well vaccines work, helping to explain why some strains are more likely to infect vaccinated individuals.

A comprehensive study of the long-term health impacts of flooding -- via analysis of over 300 million hospitalizations records in eight countries prone to flooding events -- has found an increased risk of 26 per cent of all diseases serious enough to require hospitalization. This impact on the health of communities lasts up to seven months post event.

A researcher spent a year living in a jjokbang-chon, an extremely impoverished neighborhood in Seoul, South Korea. While there, he calculated residents' carbon footprints, finding they contribute much less to climate change than their fellow citizens, and detailed how they suffer the effects of extreme heat and other climate issues. He advocates for social work to take a role in addressing such climate injustice in a way that does not remove already limited resources from such populations.

A new study shows a compound found in certain fruits and vegetables could hold key to treating neurodegenerative diseases.

Researchers estimated that smoke from wildfires and prescribed burns caused $200 billion in health damages in 2017, and that these were associated with 20,000 premature deaths. Senior citizens were harmed the most, and Native American and Black communities experienced the greatest damages per capita.

The idea that dinosaurs were already in decline before an asteroid wiped most of them out 66 million years ago may be explained by a worsening fossil record from that time rather than a genuine dwindling of dinosaur species, suggests a new study.