University of Chicago

Food security is a major potential problem, especially in the face of climate change. New research has shown that manipulating RNA in plants can drastically boost the amount of food they produce, and make them more resistant to drought conditions.

Quantum technology is bursting with potential, but controlling atoms and molecules keeps proving tricky. In a breakthrough new study, physicists have successfully wrangled thousands of molecules into a single unified quantum state for the first time.

High-altitude icy clouds may have allowed ancient Mars to host rivers and lakes by warming the planet via a greenhouse effect, according to a new study. The theory could be tested by NASA’s Perseverance rover, which is currently exploring the planet.

Dark matter makes up the majority of matter in the universe, but it’s strangely shy about making its presence known. Now physicists have designed a new test to search for signs of two candidate particles, using the quirky world of quantum technology.

For the past 150 years or so, scientists have theorized that the life cycle of the present-day lamprey mirrors the evolution of all fish – and thus of all vertebrates. Newly analyzed fossils, however, indicate that such is not the case.

Whether it's a beam supporting a building or Scotch tape holding together a school science project, we're accustomed to the idea of materials becoming weaker as they age, but a newly created material might just flip the script in this regard.

Sharks pre-date even the earliest dinosaurs, so it's not surprising to hear that they've changed over the years. It was recently discovered, for instance, that they were once able to rotate the two sides of their jaw outwards, helping them to feed.

Perhaps on other planets, diamonds are as common and boring as rocks. Astronomers suggest that some planets might actually be largely made of diamonds, and now a team has calculated how such a planet could form and how it would be structured.

Researchers have, for the first time, successfully gene edited a cephalopod. Using CRISPR-Cas9 technology, the research breakthrough will now allow scientists to conduct novel investigations into medical, robotic, and materials innovations.

One small, particularly puzzling group of meteorites appears to have been both solid rock and liquid metal. Now scientists have determined that the parent body had a rocky shell and a liquid metal core, which likely generated a strong magnetic field.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced and detailed a blueprint for a national quantum internet that would be super-fast and nigh on unhackable. The document describes four priority research areas, and five major milestones on the path.

A new pilot study has demonstrated nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, may help military veterans suffering from PTSD. A larger trial is now underway after several studies demonstrated potential new uses for the gas.