You may have heard the phrase “we are made of star-stuff.” This statement by the astronomer Carl Sagan refers to the fact that elements heavier than hydrogen and helium were forged in the centers of the first stars. But how does this star-stuff evolve into the chemistry of rocks, plants and people?

As an astrochemist and radio astronomer, I study the places in the universe where stars are born as interstellar laboratories. I’m interested in how simple ingredients come together to form bigger and bigger molecules, including those that are building blocks of life...

What do “epigenetic clocks” actually measure? These lab tests have become popular tools for studying biological aging, or how the body’s cellular function changes at a faster or slower rate than expected. However, the underlying biology behind each of these measurements has remained largely unknown until now.

A recent USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology-led study published in npj Aging shows that five of the most widely used epigenetic clocks measure different aspects of biological aging. The research team also developed new gene expression-based clocks to complement existing epigenetic clocks, which show even stronger predictive power for age-related disease and mortality.

Biology versus the calendar
Scientists have long known that people ag...

Among the many predictions about the future of artificial intelligence is that models will one day be able to conduct scientific research on their own, leaving humans out of the equation. Already, they can write code, run experiments and search scientific literature, but carrying out open-ended research would require a significant leap in ability.

In a paper posted on the arXiv preprint server, researchers tested AI’s ability to conduct open-ended research and found that it came up short.

Putting AI to the test
The study authors gave frontier agents (cutting-edge, state-of-the-art AI tools designed to carry out complex, multistep tasks autonomously) six days to conduct research and write papers based on two then-unpublished AI conference submissi...

Astronomers may have uncovered an entirely new cosmic object: a gigantic “black hole star” that could explain the mysterious red dots filling the early universe...