Game Development

A beginner’s violin lesson may seem worlds apart from dementia research, yet wearable brain scans are revealing signals that could help scientists understand both learning and neurological disease. Playing a familiar tune on a violin is no simple task for someone who has never held the instrument. Each movement must produce the intended sound, and […]

Temporarily activating a protein best known for preventing cancer helped engineered human immune cells kill melanoma cells more effectively in the lab, suggesting a way to improve existing cell therapies. Engineering a patient’s immune cells to recognize cancer does not guarantee that they will keep fighting it. Repeated exposure to cancer can gradually weaken T […]

After decades of decline, colorectal cancer rates are showing a concerning reversal. Colorectal cancer rates in the United States are rising across a much wider range of ages than previously recognized, reversing a long period of declining diagnoses. A new study published in NEJM Evidence found that the increase is no longer concentrated among adults […]

Scientists have discovered that honey beehives possess a surprisingly sophisticated system for protecting colonies against disease. A honey bee colony relies on more than its workers to fight disease. The hive itself acts as a “living immune system,” using carefully arranged natural materials to create layers of antimicrobial protection around developing bees and stored food. […]

Endangered erect-crested penguins are holding steady on tiny islands while declining on a breeding ground 40 times larger, challenging assumptions about where the species’ best hope for survival lies. An endangered penguin species could receive a less severe global risk rating even as one of its only two breeding populations suffers a steep decline. A […]

A change to just two DNA letters reduced disease in cacao by about 42% under laboratory conditions, suggesting a possible way to protect future chocolate harvests. Black pod disease is estimated to reduce cacao yields by roughly 30% worldwide, threatening the livelihoods of farmers who grow the crop used to make chocolate. Shifting weather patterns […]

Laboratory experiments suggest that rocky planets could generate their own water as they form, potentially giving distant worlds an essential ingredient for life. Rocks, hydrogen gas, and intense heat might sound like an unlikely recipe for an ocean. Yet experiments suggest that these ingredients could have produced much of Earth’s water while the planet was […]

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has uncovered hidden order in space turbulence, a finding that could help scientists understand magnetic storms on Earth. Smoke rising from an incense stick can begin as a thin, steady stream before curling and spreading unpredictably. The smoke makes turbulence in the air visible. Turbulence also occurs in space, where the […]

Voyager 1 is nearing a distance from Earth that light takes a full day to cross, while NASA engineers stretch its dwindling power to keep it exploring. NASA’s Voyager 1, humanity’s most distant spacecraft, was about 16 billion miles (25.75 billion kilometers) from Earth when its radio signal disappeared in October. NASA’s Deep Space Network, […]