University of Plymouth

Following a number of technical setbacks, the Mayflower autonomous research vessel has successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean, clocking up 3,500 miles and arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on June 5.

A fascinating new study explores how it ultrasound could one day be used to tackle psychiatric disorders, by modulating the way the brains of monkeys connect rewards and outcomes with specific events or choices.

If someone steals your smartphone, the harder it is for them to unlock it, the better. New research shows how gait analysis could provide an added layer of security, by authenticating a user's identity based on the way they walk.

Along with benefits such as air purification, "living walls" are also said to help regulate the temperature within new buildings which they're built into. A study now indicates that they have the same effect when added to older, existing structures.

We've been hearing a lot lately about how disintegrated waterborne trash is one of the main sources of ocean microplastics pollution. A new study, however, suggests that aging maritime rope could also be making a significant contribution.

A group of scientists studying the flow of plastic into the ocean have found that the Ganges and two nearby rivers are responsible for pumping as much as three billion microplastic particles into the Indian Ocean each day.

When it comes to farm animals being raised in subpar conditions, chickens often have it particularly rough. A new system that analyzes chick vocalizations, however, could help alert farmers (or authorities) when things really need to change.

A new study has revealed the dangers plastic pollution poses to blue mussels, with researchers finding they may ingest three times as much plastic when clumped together in the reef structures commonly seen in nature.

It sure would be nice if teeth could just repair themselves. Thankfully that’s not as far-fetched as it sounds – researchers have found a new population of stem cells in mice that are in charge of repairing tooth tissue and could be recruited to help us patch up cavities.

Fieldwork Robotics – a spinout company from the University of Plymouth in the UK – has announced the successful completion of early field trials of a raspberry-harvesting robot. If commercialized, the system could help make up for a shortage of human fruit pickers in the country.

New analysis of images collected by the space probe of the dwarf planet's surface has confirmed the presence of dunes. Despite being an unlikely characteristic of an icy world with little wind, scientists also believe they have an explanation of how they formed.​

If you should encounter a crewless ship out on the Atlantic Ocean in a few years, don’t worry about it being the ghostly Flying Dutchman … it may be the Mayflower, however. No, not the square-rigger that brought Pilgrims to America, but the Mayflower Autonomous Research Ship (MARS).