Is theory on Earth's climate in the last 15 million years wrong?

A key theory that attributes the climate evolution of the Earth to the breakdown of Himalayan rocks may not explain the cooling over the past 15 million years, according to a new study. The study could shed more light on the causes of long-term climate change. It centers on the long-term cooling that occurred before the recent global warming tied to greenhouse gas emissions from humanity.

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How molecular footballs burst in an x-ray laser beam

An international research team has observed in real time how football molecules made of carbon atoms burst in the beam of an X-ray laser. The study shows the temporal course of the bursting process, which takes less than a trillionth of a second, and is important for the analysis of sensitive proteins and other biomolecules, which are also frequently studied using bright X-ray laser flashes.

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New study on sharing shows social norms play a role in decision making

A child's desire to share becomes influenced by social norms around the age of 8, new research has revealed. The extensive study — conducted on eight diverse societies across the world — examined children and adults' behavior when asked to respond to a set of specific sharing tasks.

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A new way to turn heat into useful energy

An international team of scientists has figured out how to capture heat and turn it into electricity. The discovery could create more efficient energy generation from heat in things like car exhaust, interplanetary space probes and industrial processes.

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Empowering cancer patients to shift their mindsets could improve care, researchers argue

A cancer diagnosis can cause a significant emotional burden for patients and their families. This may persist years into survivorship. As a result, depression and anxiety are two to three times more common in cancer patients than the general population. Experts propose that targeting cancer patients' mindsets could have an impact on their health, functioning, and well-being, and they call for more research in this field.

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Cats are securely bonded to their people, too

Cats have a reputation for being aloof and independent. But a study of the way domestic cats respond to their caregivers suggests that their socio-cognitive abilities and the depth of their human attachments have been underestimated. The findings show that, much like children and dogs, pet cats form secure and insecure bonds with their human caretakers.

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Croc-like carnivores terrorized Triassic dinosaurs in southern Africa 210 million years ago

Giant, predatory croc-like animals that lived during the Triassic period in southern Africa preyed on early dinosaurs and mammal relatives 210 million years ago. These predators, known as 'rauisuchians' preyed on early herbivore dinosaurs and their mammal relatives living at the time.

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Discovery of novel cancer signaling mechanism and design of new anticancer compound

Active mutations of a certain signaling receptor protein called KIT tyrosine kinase are found in several cancers, such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, the different locations in the AML cells where KIT induces cancer-specific signaling remain unclear. Now, a group of scientists has aimed to answer this question by using a newly synthesized compound (along with other existing ones) that targets intracellular transport, which may offer an attractive strategy to combat cancer.

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