Whether a smartphone battery lasts longer or a new drug can be developed to treat incurable diseases depends on how stably the atoms constituting the material are bonded. The core of 'molecular design' lies in finding how to arrange these countless atoms to form the most stable molecule. Until now, this process has been as difficult as finding the lowest valley in a massive mountain range, requiring immense time and costs. Researchers at KAIST have developed a new technology that uses artificial intelligence to solve this process quickly and accurately.

More than 1,000 years ago, bison hunters on the Great Plains of North America left behind a small hunting site despite the continued presence of bison. Their abrupt departure could not be explained until researchers dug deeper and found that it wasn’t bison depletion that drove hunters elsewhere. Instead, they may have responded to decade-long droughts and moved to sites with a more reliable supply of water and had features that better lent themselves to an emerging and more coordinated way of hunting. This pattern shows bison presence alone wasn’t enough to keep hunters at a site. Rather, climate variability favored select sites and different ways of hunting that weren’t always reversed when environmental conditions improved.

Is evolution too slow to observe? Evolution is often thought of as a slow process unfolding over vast geological timescales. Researchers have shown that stickleback fish in Lake Washington (Seattle, USA) have undergone measurable evolutionary change between 2005 and 2022.

Harbour porpoises “buzz” less when boats and ships and nearby – suggesting a drop in feeding and socialising, new research shows.

Industrial chemicals are essential to modern society, supporting products ranging from plastics and electronics to pharmaceuticals and agricultural supplies. However, scientists warn that many of these chemicals can transform and spread through the environment in ways that are difficult to track, creating complex pollution mixtures that threaten ecosystems and human health. A new study introduces an innovative framework designed to better understand and manage these risks across the entire life cycle of industrial chemicals.