Solar water splitting is one of the most direct ways to produce green hydrogen using sunlight. However, most photocatalysts and photoelectrodes absorb only a limited portion of solar radiation, mainly ultraviolet and part of the visible spectrum. A large share of solar energy, particularly infrared photons, remains unused. This spectral mismatch significantly limits the efficiency of hydrogen production from sunlight. [...]
Wild animal species respond very differently to human development, and as a result, they use ecological corridors in agricultural and urban areas in distinct ways. This emerges from research in Botswana by ecologist Marlee Tucker of Radboud University published in Integrative Conservation. [...]
Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is among the most damaging pests affecting soybean crops around the world, with current management strategies relying primarily on a very narrow set of resistant soybean varieties, along with crop rotation and chemical nematicides. Now, researchers at the North Central Agricultural Research Laboratory, part of the USDA Agricultural Research Service, in Brookings, South Dakota, report new evidence that the key to stronger protection may lie not just in plant genetics or chemicals but in the soil microorganisms surrounding the roots. [...]
Certain species of wasps and frogs share a pain and inflammation peptide similar to one found in vertebrates to help defend against predators—a discovery that contributes to a shifting view of how evolution works, say researchers. Their paper is published in the journal Science. [...]
After decades of intense research, surprises in the realm of semiconductors—materials used in microchips to control electrical currents—are few and far between. But with a pair of published papers, materials engineers at Stanford University debut a promising approach to using a well-studied semiconductor to improve infrared light-emitting diodes and sensors. They say the approach could lead to smaller, sleeker, and less expensive infrared technologies for environmental, medical, and industrial uses. [...]
Between 2023 and 2025, more than 30 million hectares burned in Canada due to wildfires. The threat from increasingly frequent and intense wildfires goes beyond fire and smoke—the heat can also transform naturally occurring metals in soil into more toxic forms that could pose a threat to human health. [...]
A new report from the University of East Anglia (UEA) warns that the potential reputational damage of charities using AI-generated images in their campaigns is more complex than many organizations realize. It comes as humanitarian budgets tighten and production pressures increase, with many charities and NGOs turning to AI tempted by the offers of speed, cost efficiency and creative flexibility. [...]
Can the bend of a banana give us insight into cancer? What does the shape of a rice grain have to do with infertility? The proteins that give plants their shape and structure are also involved in human disease. A team led by researchers at the University of California, Davis, has mapped out the structure of a key player, augmin, in exhaustive detail. Their work is published in the journal Nature Communications. [...]
A team of researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has introduced a novel framework for monitoring structural vibrations using diffractive optical processors. This new technology uses artificial intelligence to co-optimize a passive diffractive layer and a shallow neural network, allowing the system to encode time-varying mechanical vibrations into distinct spatiotemporal optical patterns. [...]
For riverside communities along the Amazon, fish is not a menu choice—it is a lifeline. Millions of people in the Brazilian Amazon depend on fish as their primary source of protein, consuming it daily in quantities far above the national average. When we began fieldwork across five municipalities in western Pará, we knew this reality well. What the data then showed us was that this dietary dependence comes with a health cost that standard food safety frameworks are not designed to capture. [...]
Lightning formation and the conditions triggering it have long been shrouded in a cloud of mystery, but new research led by Penn State scientists is lifting the fog. Using mathematical calculations, the researchers have discovered that lightning-like discharge doesn't require a storm cloud—it could be made inside everyday material on a lab bench. The study is published in the journal Physical Review Letters. [...]
Most space missions rely on chemical rockets for propulsion. Rockets must carry fuel, which increases spacecraft mass and limits their speed and travel distance. For decades, researchers have explored light sails as an alternative. These devices use radiation pressure—the force exerted when light reflects from a surface—to generate thrust. When driven by a powerful laser, a light sail can accelerate continuously without onboard propellant, enabling faster travel across the solar system. [...]
An international team of scientists from IBM, The University of Manchester, Oxford University, ETH Zurich, EPFL and the University of Regensburg have created and characterized a molecule unlike any previously known—one whose electrons travel through its structure in a corkscrew-like pattern that fundamentally alters its chemical behavior. The work appears in Science. [...]
When NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced the revamped approach to the Artemis moon program, it was unclear whether the new mobile launcher that has been constructed over the last two years at Kennedy Space Center would ever get used. [...]
When most people hear "polymer," they think of plastics. In our group, polymerization is a way to line up identical molecules like beads on a string and let quantum mechanics take over. Put magnetic building blocks in a one-dimensional row and the chain can behave as a single quantum object. Even more intriguing, the chain can hide its most useful properties at its ends. [...]
Estimating things that exist is generally easy, but when it comes to estimating things that do not exist, it's more difficult. This is something physicists from Poland and the UK are well aware of. To improve current simulations of high-energy particle collisions, they have developed a more accurate method for estimating the impact of calculations that are not performed. [...]
The growth form of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) is composed of shoots known as stipes instead of branches. From one parent holding fast to the hard bottom might come as many as 150 stipes. Typically, the tips of the biggest kelp bob at the ocean surface and calm the waters, appearing as patches of gold visible from land—a sign of the good health of the ecosystem that it anchors. But the kelp, as San Diego knows it, is in trouble. [...]
A new study reveals that habitat fragmentation can lead to sudden "tipping points" where a species' genetic health unexpectedly collapses after appearing stable for long periods. By merging network theory with population genetics, the research identifies detectable "early warning signals" in genetic data that can alert conservationists to an approaching crisis before it becomes irreversible. These findings provide a practical toolkit for monitoring wildlife populations and protecting the genetic diversity essential for animals to survive a changing environment. [...]
Researchers have found a way to use solar energy to power a key chemical reaction that drives many manufacturing industries. This new method can significantly reduce the energy required to run these operations, eliminate harsh oxidizing byproducts and minimize carbon emissions. [...]
Why does a Caribbean angelfish sometimes resemble its Indo-Pacific cousin, even though they have never lived in the same ocean? Why do coral reefs harbor such a wide range of stripes, spots and patterns? A study conducted by the University of Liège reveals that this explosion of color patterns is not the result of chance. The more species that make their home in a reef, the more varied the patterns, and fish from different oceans often end up looking alike, guided by the same deep biological constraints. The study is published in the journal BMC Biology. [...]
Our single-celled ancestor lived in a world without plants, animals or oxygen-rich oceans. Yet, this seemingly simple microorganism took the first steps toward complex life. From this ancestor emerged all multicellular (complex) life as we know it today: from yeast to blue whales, collectively known as eukaryotes. These organisms are built from cells containing specialized structures, such as a nucleus and other specialized structures, each performing distinct functions. [...]
New research from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in collaboration with The Ohio State University and Amphenol Corporation, challenges conventional understanding about controlling heat flow in solid materials. The study, published in PRX Energy, shows that applying an electric field to a ceramic material changes how phonons (tiny vibrations that carry heat) behave. [...]
A new study by researchers at the SETI Institute suggests that stellar "space weather" could make radio signals from extraterrestrial intelligence harder to detect. Stellar activity and plasma turbulence near a transmitting planet can broaden an otherwise ultra-narrow signal, spreading its power across more frequencies and making it more difficult to detect in traditional narrowband searches. The paper is published in The Astrophysical Journal. [...]
Intact ecosystems have the capacity for self-regulation, which keeps their complex structure of species—such as animals, plants, fungi and bacteria—in balance. For example, when the population of a species increases, its per capita growth rate decreases, keeping population growth in check. Ecological stability is an important indicator of how well self-regulation works and how "healthy" ecosystems are. Measuring and assessing the stability of ecosystems is therefore crucial for monitoring and conserving biodiversity. [...]
A five-year study on California's Central Coast, led by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Western Center for Food Safety at the University of California, Davis, is helping scientists better understand how harmful bacteria can move through the environment. [...]
When a species lives in two distinct types of habitats, individuals with traits better suited to each habitat will thrive and reproduce, naturally selecting descendants with those traits. But what about mobile aquatic species that live across a broad range of temperatures and latitudes? New research from Cornell University and the University of Connecticut finds that chromosomal inversions—which occur when a chunk of chromosome containing tens to thousands of genes breaks off, flips and reattaches—help these species maintain genetic differences adapted to various regions, even when they interbreed. [...]
Polymers are fundamental to our daily lives, serving as the core components for a wide array of goods, including clothing, packaging, transportation infrastructure, construction materials, and electronics. Advances in polymer science open pathways for recycling and upcycling waste materials into more valuable chemical feedstocks. They can also have an outsized environmental impact: many widely used polymers are Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), widely recognized as "forever chemicals." [...]
Woodpeckers are well known for striking tree trunks with remarkable force and precision. These birds deliver thousands of high-speed impacts per day, generating mechanical loads that would destabilize the skulls of most other birds. For decades, this performance has often been attributed primarily to shock absorption mechanisms or unusually resistant skull tissues. A new study led by researchers from the National University of La Plata and Johns Hopkins University suggests that this explanation is more complex than previously thought. [...]
The European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) was once widespread in the North Sea. However, overfishing, habitat destruction and infectious diseases pushed the species to the brink of extinction in some regions nearly one hundred years ago. In particular, infections with the pathogen Bonamia ostreae have caused repeated major losses since the 1970s. The parasite infects the oysters' immune cells and initially causes no symptoms, but after several months the infection can become systemic—a condition known as bonamiosis—ultimately leading to the oyster's death. [...]
Microplastics (MPs), defined as plastic fragments with sizes ranging from millimeters ( [...]