Last year, tungsten diselenide (WSe2) had its magic moment. Two independent research groups discovered "magic angles" at which two atom-thin layers of the unique semiconductor, when twisted relative to one another into what's known as a moire pattern, can superconduct electricity. Cory Dean and his colleagues at Columbia documented superconductivity at a 5° twist angle; upstate at Cornell, Jie Shan and Kin Fai Mak's team saw it at around 3.5°. Until then, graphene was the only other moire material capable of the feat. [...]

The outbreak of a mysterious and deadly disease in finches in British gardens in 2005 set alarm bells ringing for conservationists. A decade later, the extent of that disease in greenfinches and chaffinches was reported. And now, bird scientists are beginning to understand how feeding birds in our gardens might be linked to their health and survival. [...]

Every 25 minutes in the United States, a baby is diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a condition that occurs in newborns who have been exposed to opioids in the womb and develop withdrawal after birth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Historically, research has focused on the impact of NAS—also known as neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome—on the health and development of young children, which has found that prenatal opioid exposure is associated with increased risk for adverse developmental, cognitive and behavioral outcomes in early childhood. [...]

Over the last several decades, the oceans have become more crowded. Aquaculture, wind and wave energy, and oil and gas exploration are taking up more space. This growth threatens the health of ocean ecosystems and coastal communities' access to food and livelihoods that they have relied on for centuries. [...]

Predicting material properties remains a major challenge in materials science, as it often requires complex and computationally intensive calculations. In particular, understanding how materials respond to electric fields is essential for the development of next-generation electronic devices. [...]

From flash mobs to line-dancing to the Nutbush, experiencing rhythm and movement in a group context is known to boost mental and physical health in people of all ages. Now a University of the Sunshine Coast study published in Behavioral Sciences of more than 200 4-year-olds across South East Queensland has found and measured significant, specific benefits of the practice in preschool settings. [...]

Researchers from National Taiwan University break traditional frameworks by unveiling a new symmetry-transition mechanism in ZrO2 thin films, achieving ultra-stable antiferroelectric behavior for up to 108 cycles. [...]

Nicholas J. Marantz, associate professor of urban planning and public policy at UC Irvine, is investigating how effectively current data sources track changes in residential housing stock. His aim is to understand how policy changes, such as new zoning laws and broader housing market forces, influence the availability and creation of homes, particularly affordable homes. [...]

Engineers love a good practical challenge, especially when it comes to spaceflight. But there's one particular challenge facing the crewed missions of the near future that scares mission planners above almost all others—fire. For decades, we've relied on a NASA test known as NASA-STD-6001B to screen material flammability for flight. But space is much more complicated than an Earth-bound test provides for. A new paper from researchers at NASA's Glenn Research Center and Johnson Space Center and Case Western Reserve University details a planned mission to test the flammability of materials on the moon's surface—where they expect flame to act much differently than it does here on Earth. [...]

Microfiber pollution from large-scale laundry operations is emerging as a significant and largely unseen environmental issue. New research led by the University of Portsmouth is using Cleaner Seas Group's industrial filtration technology—already deployed in commercial settings to better understand the scale of the problem and how it can be prevented before it reaches our waterways. [...]

A joint research team led by Professor Park Kyoung-Duck and Associate Director Suh Yung Doug of the Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) has succeeded in realizing a high-efficiency quantum light source that emits bright lights even at room temperature. The study is published in the journal Science Advances. [...]

A collaborative research group has developed a fully automated roll-to-roll manufacturing platform capable of producing large-area visible metalenses at a rate of 300 units per second, marking a major breakthrough in translating metasurface technology from the laboratory to real-world industrial deployment. [...]

In subduction zones, the sites of the world's largest earthquakes, tectonic activity may generate a "pump" that transports long-buried subseafloor microbes back toward the seafloor, according to research presented at the 2026 SSA Annual Meeting. [...]

Thawing permafrost buried underneath rivers may be accelerating permafrost degradation faster than previously estimated in these inundated regions, according to new research shared at the 2026 SSA Annual Meeting. [...]

Burning time for North American wildfires is going into overtime. Flames are lasting later into the night and starting earlier in the morning because human-caused climate change is extending the hotter and drier conditions that feed fires, a new study found. [...]