A new study led by researchers at Penn State has uncovered several instances of wood warblers passing color-related genes to other wood warbler species, including those that are not closely related. This glimpse into the hidden evolutionary dynamics of these songbirds may help explain why some species display certain colors as well as how the group diversified into so many different species in such a relatively short evolutionary time, the researchers said.

Astronomers discovered a new exoplanet hidden in decade-old data. Planet is bound to binary stars, which orbit each other every 18 days. Planet is six times closer to its stars than other directly imaged planets orbiting binary systems.

Florida State University researchers have created a new crystalline material with unusual magnetic patterns that could be used for breakthroughs in data storage and quantum technologies.

Like a growing vine, a new robotic gripper can snake around and lift a variety of objects, including a glass vase and a watermelon, offering a gentler approach than conventional gripper designs. A larger version of the robo-tendrils can also safely lift a human out of bed. 

New psychoactive substances, originally developed as potential analgesics but abandoned due to adverse side effects, may still have pharmaceutical value if researchers could nail down the causes of those side effects. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign used deep learning and large-scale computer simulations to identify structural differences in synthetic cannabinoid molecules that cause them to bind to human brain receptors differently from classical cannabinoids.

New research reveals how the speed of ocean currents and the shape of the seabed influence the amount of heat flowing underneath Antarctic ice shelves, contributing to melting.

Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) used an autonomous underwater vehicle to survey beneath the Dotson Ice Shelf in the Amundsen Sea, an area of rapid glacial ice loss largely due to increasing ocean heat around and below ice shelves.