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Science News

‘Flavorama’ guides readers through the complex landscape of flavor

In her new book, Arielle Johnson, former resident scientist at the restaurant Noma, explains how to think like a scientist in the kitchen.

A new method of making diamonds doesn’t require extreme pressure 

How a sugar acid crucial for life could have formed in interstellar clouds.

Freshwater first appeared on Earth 4 billion years ago, ancient crystals hint

Oxygen ratios in ancient zircon crystals suggest that the planet’s water cycle got started hundreds of millions of years earlier than thought.

Warm water is sneaking underneath the Thwaites Glacier — and rapidly melting it

‘the high seas’ tells of the many ways humans are laying claim to the ocean.

Bird flu can infect cats. What does that mean for their people?

Pet owners can take precautions to avoid H5N1, such as keeping cats indoors and making sure they don’t eat raw meat or milk.

Privacy remains an issue with several women’s health apps

Malnutrition’s effects on the body don’t end when food arrives.

Thomas Cech’s ‘The Catalyst’ spotlights RNA and its superpowers

Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Thomas Cech’s new book is part ode to RNA and part detailed history of the scientists who’ve studied it.

50 years ago, chimeras gave a glimpse of gene editing’s future

Scientists find a naturally occurring molecule that forms a fractal

The protein assembles itself into a repeating triangle pattern. The fractal seems to be an accident of evolution, scientists say.

How two outsiders tackled the mystery of arithmetic progressions

A predicted quasicrystal is based on the ‘einstein’ tile known as the hat.

Scientists propose a hunt for never-before-seen ‘tauonium’ atoms 

Made of heavy relatives of the electron, the exotic atoms could be used to test the theory of quantum electrodynamics.

Two real-world tests of quantum memories bring a quantum internet closer to reality

Here’s how ice may get so slippery , science & society.

Inconsistent privacy policies and dodgy data collection in popular fertility and pregnancy tracking apps put women’s health information at risk.

Should we use AI to resurrect digital ‘ghosts’ of the dead?

A hidden danger lurks beneath yellowstone.

The sun is entering solar maximum. Expect auroras, and more

May saw the strongest auroras in recent memory. As the sun gets more active, those light shows may be a preview of what’s to come until at least 2026.

Here’s how predictions of the sun’s corona during the 2024 eclipse fared

Venus might be as volcanically active as earth.

Reinforcement learning AI might bring humanoid robots to the real world

Reinforcement learning techniques could be the keys to integrating robots — who use machine learning to output more than words — into the real world.

This robot can tell when you’re about to smile — and smile back

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Lifting the Veil on Near-Death Experiences

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Revolutionary Genetics Research Shows RNA May Rule Our Genome

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Research articles

Observation of Bose–Einstein condensation of dipolar molecules

Bose–Einstein condensate of sodium–caesium molecules is observed by means of evaporative cooling and collisional shielding.

• Niccolò Bigagli
• Weijun Yuan
• Sebastian Will

A site-resolved two-dimensional quantum simulator with hundreds of trapped ions

In this work, stable trapping of a two-dimensional Wigner crystal of above 500 ions is achieved, and the quantum simulation of 300 ions with individual state detection demonstrated.

Heterogeneous integration of spin–photon interfaces with a CMOS platform

A modular quantum system-on-chip architecture integrates thousands of individually addressable spin qubits in two-dimensional quantum microchiplet arrays into an integrated circuit designed for cryogenic control, supporting full connectivity for quantum memory arrays across spin–photon channels.

• Lorenzo De Santis
• Dirk Englund

Transcriptional control of the Cryptosporidium life cycle

The transcription factor Myb-M is the earliest determinant of male fate in the parasite Cryptosporidium parvum .

• Katelyn A. Walzer
• Jayesh Tandel
• Boris Striepen

Reproducible graphene synthesis by oxygen-free chemical vapour deposition

Assessment of surface contamination shows that trace oxygen is a key factor influencing the trajectory and quality of graphene grown by low-pressure chemical vapour deposition, with oxygen-free synthesis showing increased reproducibility and quality.

• Jacob Amontree
• Xingzhou Yan

The complete sequence and comparative analysis of ape sex chromosomes

Reference assemblies of great ape sex chromosomes show that Y chromosomes are more variable in size and sequence than X chromosomes and provide a resource for studies on human evolution and conservation genetics of non-human apes.

• Kateryna D. Makova
• Brandon D. Pickett
• Adam M. Phillippy

Streamflow seasonality in a snow-dwindling world

Analysis of streamflow measurements from 1950 to 2020 across 3,049 snow-affected catchments over the Northern Hemisphere shows that seasonal streamflow occurs earlier in snow-heavy catchments but later in less snowy regions.

• Yuting Yang

Van der Waals polarity-engineered 3D integration of 2D complementary logic

We develop a method for high-density vertical stacking of active-device multi-layers, implementing memory and logic functions, using unique VIP-FETs where a van der Waals intercalation layer modulates the p- or n-type nature of the FETs.

A vision chip with complementary pathways for open-world sensing

Inspired by the human visual system, a vision chip with primitive-based complementary pathways is developed to overcome the power and bandwidth wall of vision systems, achieving fast, precise, robust and high-dynamic-range sensing efficiently in the open world.

Unlocking bacterial potential to reduce farmland N 2 O emissions

A study presents a method to mitigate emissions of nitrous oxide from farmland using bacteria to consume nitrous oxide in soil with organic waste as a substrate and vector.

• Elisabeth G. Hiis
• Silas H. W. Vick
• Lars R. Bakken

Structural basis for pegRNA-guided reverse transcription by a prime editor

Cryo-electron microscopy structures of the prime editor bound to a prime editing guide RNA and target DNA, in the pre-initiation, initiation and elongation and termination states, provide insights into the mechanism by which prime editing occurs.

• Yutaro Shuto
• Ryoya Nakagawa
• Osamu Nureki

Canted spin order as a platform for ultrafast conversion of magnons

A study demonstrates a new functionality of canted spin order for magnonics and shows that it facilitates mechanisms for ultrafast nonlinear conversion of magnons.

• R. A. Leenders
• D. Afanasiev
• R. V. Mikhaylovskiy

An alternative cell cycle coordinates multiciliated cell differentiation

A distinct cell cycle redeploys many canonical cell cycle regulators to control the differentiation of multiciliated cells, with the transcription factor E2F7 playing a pivotal part in this modified cell cycle.

• Semil P. Choksi
• Lauren E. Byrnes
• Jeremy F. Reiter

A Gram-negative-selective antibiotic that spares the gut microbiome

Lolamicin, a novel antibiotic developed from a pyridinepyrazole precursor, exhibits potent activity against a broad range of Gram-negative multidrug-resistant clinical isolates, and good efficacy in mouse models of infection without inducing gut dysbiosis.

• Kristen A. Muñoz
• Rebecca J. Ulrich
• Paul J. Hergenrother

Nano-achiral complex composites for extreme polarization optics

Multilayer composites of 2D nanomaterials manufactured using a layer-by-layer methodology demonstrates strong polarization rotation, mechanical robustness and operational temperatures as high as 250 °C, despite being nano-achiral and partially disordered.

• Nicholas A. Kotov

High-resolution in situ structures of mammalian respiratory supercomplexes

Mammalian respiratory supercomplexes are imaged in their native membrane environment by in situ cryo-electron microscopy, providing insight into their reactive intermediates and conformational dynamics.

• Pengxin Chai

Membraneless channels sieve cations in ammonia-oxidizing marine archaea

The Nitrosopumilus maritimus surface layer (S-layer) concentrates ammonium ions on its cell-facing side, acting as a multichannel sieve on the cell membrane.

• Andriko von Kügelgen
• C. Keith Cassidy
• Tanmay A. M. Bharat

Pro-CRISPR PcrIIC1-associated Cas9 system for enhanced bacterial immunity

Comprehensive analyses of Cas9 proteins shed light on the evolution of the CRISPR–Cas9 system, and identify a pro-CRISPR accessory protein in bacteria that boosts CRISPR-mediated immunity by enhancing the DNA binding and cleavage activity of Cas9.

• Shouyue Zhang
• Jun-Jie Gogo Liu

A contact binary satellite of the asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh

Observations from the Lucy spacecraft of the small main-belt asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh reveals unexpected complexity, with a longitudinal trough and equatorial ridge, as well as the discovery of the first contact binary satellite.

• Harold F. Levison
• Simone Marchi

Selective lignin arylation for biomass fractionation and benign bisphenols

By controlling C–C bond formation in catalytic arylation, lignin can be efficiently extracted from biomass and converted into benign bisphenols that can be used as replacements for their fossil-based counterparts.

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Guest Essay

The Long-Overlooked Molecule That Will Define a Generation of Science

By Thomas Cech

Dr. Cech is a biochemist and the author of the forthcoming book “The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life’s Deepest Secrets,” from which this essay is adapted.

From E=mc² to splitting the atom to the invention of the transistor, the first half of the 20th century was dominated by breakthroughs in physics.

Then, in the early 1950s, biology began to nudge physics out of the scientific spotlight — and when I say “biology,” what I really mean is DNA. The momentous discovery of the DNA double helix in 1953 more or less ushered in a new era in science that culminated in the Human Genome Project, completed in 2003, which decoded all of our DNA into a biological blueprint of humankind.

DNA has received an immense amount of attention. And while the double helix was certainly groundbreaking in its time, the current generation of scientific history will be defined by a different (and, until recently, lesser-known) molecule — one that I believe will play an even bigger role in furthering our understanding of human life: RNA.

You may remember learning about RNA (ribonucleic acid) back in your high school biology class as the messenger that carries information stored in DNA to instruct the formation of proteins. Such messenger RNA, mRNA for short, recently entered the mainstream conversation thanks to the role they played in the Covid-19 vaccines. But RNA is much more than a messenger, as critical as that function may be.

Other types of RNA, called “noncoding” RNAs, are a tiny biological powerhouse that can help to treat and cure deadly diseases, unlock the potential of the human genome and solve one of the most enduring mysteries of science: explaining the origins of all life on our planet.

Though it is a linchpin of every living thing on Earth, RNA was misunderstood and underappreciated for decades — often dismissed as nothing more than a biochemical backup singer, slaving away in obscurity in the shadows of the diva, DNA. I know that firsthand: I was slaving away in obscurity on its behalf.

In the early 1980s, when I was much younger and most of the promise of RNA was still unimagined, I set up my lab at the University of Colorado, Boulder. After two years of false leads and frustration, my research group discovered that the RNA we’d been studying had catalytic power. This means that the RNA could cut and join biochemical bonds all by itself — the sort of activity that had been thought to be the sole purview of protein enzymes. This gave us a tantalizing glimpse at our deepest origins: If RNA could both hold information and orchestrate the assembly of molecules, it was very likely that the first living things to spring out of the primordial ooze were RNA-based organisms.

That breakthrough at my lab — along with independent observations of RNA catalysis by Sidney Altman at Yale — was recognized with a Nobel Prize in 1989. The attention generated by the prize helped lead to an efflorescence of research that continued to expand our idea of what RNA could do.

In recent years, our understanding of RNA has begun to advance even more rapidly. Since 2000, RNA-related breakthroughs have led to 11 Nobel Prizes. In the same period, the number of scientific journal articles and patents generated annually by RNA research has quadrupled. There are more than 400 RNA-based drugs in development, beyond the ones that are already in use. And in 2022 alone, more than $1 billion in private equity funds was invested in biotechnology start-ups to explore frontiers in RNA research.

What’s driving the RNA age is this molecule’s dazzling versatility. Yes, RNA can store genetic information, just like DNA. As a case in point, many of the viruses (from influenza to Ebola to SARS-CoV-2) that plague us don’t bother with DNA at all; their genes are made of RNA, which suits them perfectly well. But storing information is only the first chapter in RNA’s playbook.

Unlike DNA, RNA plays numerous active roles in living cells. It acts as an enzyme, splicing and dicing other RNA molecules or assembling proteins — the stuff of which all life is built — from amino acid building blocks. It keeps stem cells active and forestalls aging by building out the DNA at the ends of our chromosomes.

RNA discoveries have led to new therapies, such as the use of antisense RNA to help treat children afflicted with the devastating disease spinal muscular atrophy. The mRNA vaccines, which saved millions of lives during the Covid pandemic, are being reformulated to attack other diseases, including some cancers . RNA research may also be helping us rewrite the future; the genetic scissors that give CRISPR its breathtaking power to edit genes are guided to their sites of action by RNAs.

Although most scientists now agree on RNA's bright promise, we are still only beginning to unlock its potential. Consider, for instance, that some 75 percent of the human genome consists of dark matter that is copied into RNAs of unknown function. While some researchers have dismissed this dark matter as junk or noise, I expect it will be the source of even more exciting breakthroughs.

We don’t know yet how many of these possibilities will prove true. But if the past 40 years of research have taught me anything, it is never to underestimate this little molecule. The age of RNA is just getting started.

Thomas Cech is a biochemist at the University of Colorado, Boulder; a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1989 for his work with RNA; and the author of “The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life’s Deepest Secrets,” from which this essay is adapted.

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Stranded by Mint? This Budgeting App Is a Good Replacement

If Mint's disappearance left you needing a new budgeting app, this one is worth checking out.

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6 Reasons Why You Should Own Multiple Savings Accounts

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