Top Science News

July 14, 2025 — Researchers in Australia have created a biodegradable gel that delivers Parkinson’s medications through a single weekly shot, replacing the need for multiple daily pills. Injected just under the skin, the gel steadily releases levodopa and carbidopa for seven days, helping keep tremors and stiffness in check while easing side effects linked to ...

July 14, 2025 — Zebrafish can regenerate sensory hair cells that humans permanently lose, like those in the inner ear linked to hearing and balance. New research reveals two specific genes that control how different supporting cells in zebrafish divide and regenerate, offering clues to how mammals might someday tap into similar regenerative ...

July 12, 2025 — A cat named Pepper has once again helped scientists discover a new virus—this time a mysterious orthoreovirus found in a shrew. Researchers from the University of Florida, including virologist John Lednicky, identified this strain during unrelated testing and published its genome. Although once thought to be harmless, these viruses are increasingly linked to serious diseases in humans and ...

July 14, 2025 — A new leap in lab automation is shaking up how scientists discover materials. By switching from slow, traditional methods to real-time, dynamic chemical experiments, researchers have created a self-driving lab that collects 10 times more data, drastically accelerating progress. This new system not only saves time and resources but also paves the way for faster breakthroughs in clean energy, ...

July 11, 2025 — Scientists have discovered a revolutionary new method for creating quantum states by twisting materials at the M-point, revealing exotic phenomena previously out of reach. This new direction dramatically expands the moiré toolkit and may soon lead to the experimental realization of long-sought quantum spin ...

July 11, 2025 — Blue sharks possess a secret hidden in their skin: a sophisticated arrangement of microscopic crystals and pigments that create their brilliant blue appearance — and may allow them to change color. Scientists have discovered that these nanostructures, found inside tooth-like skin scales, act like nature’s version of layered mirrors and light filters. What's more, changes in the spacing of ...

July 7, 2025 — Scientists have finally uncovered a quantum counterpart to Carnot’s famed second law, showing that entanglement—once thought stubbornly irreversible—can be shuffled back and forth without loss if you plug in a clever “entanglement ...

July 16, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that a protein once thought to be just a cellular "courier" actually helps plants survive drought. This motor protein, myosin XI, plays a critical role in helping leaves close their pores to conserve water. When it's missing, plants lose water faster, respond poorly to drought, and activate fewer protective systems. The finding could open the door to hardier crops that ...

July 10, 2025 — Climate change is silently sapping the nutrients from our food. A pioneering study finds that rising CO2 and higher temperatures are not only reshaping how crops grow but are also degrading their nutritional value especially in vital leafy greens like kale and spinach. This shift could spell trouble for global health, particularly in communities already facing nutritional stress. Researchers warn ...

July 10, 2025 — A laser-equipped research platform has, for the first time, photographed airflow just millimeters above ocean waves, revealing two simultaneous wind–wave energy-transfer tricks—slow short waves steal power from the breeze, while long giants sculpt the air in reverse. These crisp observations promise to overhaul climate and weather models by clarifying how heat, momentum, and greenhouse gases ...

July 10, 2025 — People can intuitively sense how biodiverse a forest is just by looking at photos or listening to sounds, and their gut feelings surprisingly line up with what scientists ...

July 15, 2025 — A cutting-edge mouse study reveals that tirzepatide, the dual GLP-1/GIP drug already hailed for impressive weight loss, does more than trim fat: it slashes the growth of obesity-linked breast tumors. University of Michigan researchers found mice lost about 20 % body weight and adipose tissue while their tumors shrank in tandem, hinting that the blockbuster medication could one day double as a ...

July 15, 2025 — A new study comparing three popular diets—intermittent fasting, time-restricted eating, and continuous calorie cutting—found that all can help people with type 2 diabetes lose weight and lower blood sugar. But one diet stood out: the 5:2 intermittent fasting plan, where participants eat normally five days a week and restrict calories on two. It led to better results in fasting blood sugar, ...

July 15, 2025 — Semaglutide, a popular anti-obesity drug, may come with a hidden cost: significant muscle loss, especially in women and older adults. A small study found that up to 40% of weight loss from semaglutide comes from lean body mass. Alarmingly, those who consumed less protein saw even more muscle loss—potentially undermining improvements in blood sugar ...

July 13, 2025 — Movement helps your mood, but it's not one-size-fits-all. Exercising for fun, with friends, or in enjoyable settings brings greater mental health benefits than simply moving for chores or obligations. Researchers emphasize that context — who you're with, why you're exercising, and even the weather — can make or break the mood-boosting ...

July 12, 2025 — A team of researchers has discovered that a protein called cypin plays a powerful role in helping brain cells connect and communicate, which is crucial for learning and memory. By uncovering how cypin tags certain proteins at synapses and interacts with the brain’s protein recycling system, scientists are opening doors to possible treatments for ...

July 10, 2025 — What if your brain is the reason some pain feels unbearable? Scientists at the Salk Institute have discovered a hidden brain circuit that gives pain its emotional punch—essentially transforming ordinary discomfort into lasting misery. This breakthrough sheds light on why some people suffer more intensely than others from conditions like fibromyalgia, migraines, and PTSD. By identifying the ...

July 9, 2025 — Creatine isn’t just for gym buffs; Virginia Tech scientists are using focused ultrasound to sneak this vital energy molecule past the blood-brain barrier, hoping to reverse devastating creatine transporter deficiencies. By momentarily opening microscopic gateways, they aim to revive brain growth and function without damaging healthy tissue—an ...

July 13, 2025 — Postmenopausal women struggling with weight loss may find a powerful solution by combining the diabetes drug tirzepatide with menopause hormone therapy. A Mayo Clinic study revealed that this dual treatment led to significantly greater weight loss than tirzepatide alone. Women using both treatments lost 17% of their body weight on average, ...

July 13, 2025 — In a striking new study, the anti-obesity drug tirzepatide, known as Mounjaro and Zepbound, not only triggered significant weight loss in obese mice but also slashed breast cancer tumor growth. The research, presented at ENDO 2025, links body fat reduction to better cancer outcomes, suggesting that these next-generation weight-loss drugs might offer unexpected benefits beyond metabolic health. ...

July 12, 2025 — Adopting a physically active lifestyle at any stage of adulthood significantly lowers your risk of dying from any cause, especially from cardiovascular disease. A sweeping analysis of 85 studies confirms that those who stay active consistently reduce their mortality risk by 30–40%, while even those who become active later in life enjoy a 20–25% ...

July 10, 2025 — MIT engineers have developed a tiny implantable device that could revolutionize emergency treatment for people with Type 1 diabetes. The device contains a powdered form of glucagon and can be remotely triggered—either manually or automatically by a glucose monitor—to release the hormone when blood sugar drops too low. This offers a potentially life-saving safety net, especially during sleep ...

July 14, 2025 — Researchers have cracked a fundamental optical challenge: how to control both angle and wavelength of light independently—a problem that’s limited imaging and display technologies for years. By harnessing the power of radiation directionality and engineering bilayer metagratings with unique symmetry properties, they’ve decoupled these two ...

July 12, 2025 — Researchers at the University of Illinois have pulled off a laser first: they built a new kind of eye-safe laser that works at room temperature, using a buried layer of glass-like material instead of the usual air holes. This design not only boosts laser performance but also opens the door to safer and more precise uses in defense, autonomous vehicles, and advanced sensors. It’s a breakthrough ...

July 10, 2025 — A groundbreaking step in AI hardware efficiency comes from Germany, where scientists have engineered a vast spin waveguide network that processes information with far less energy. These spin waves quantum ripples in magnetic materials offer a promising alternative to power-hungry ...

July 2, 2025 — UF engineers, backed by DARPA and NASA, are perfecting laser-forming techniques that let metal sheets fold themselves into giant solar arrays, antennas, and even space-station parts right in orbit—sidestepping rocket size limits and paving the way for sustainable off-Earth ...

June 25, 2025 — Imagine printing your Martian home from dust, sunlight, and a bit of biology. A new synthetic lichen system uses fungi and bacteria to grow building materials directly from Martian soil, completely autonomously and without human ...

June 24, 2025 — Lichen from the Mojave Desert has stunned scientists by surviving months of lethal UVC radiation, suggesting life could exist on distant planets orbiting volatile stars. The secret? A microscopic “sunscreen” layer that protects their vital cells—even though Earth’s atmosphere already filters out such ...

June 3, 2025 — Astronomers have revealed new research showing that millions of new solar system objects are likely to be detected by a brand-new facility, which is expected to come online later this ...

July 8, 2025 — Neural networks first treat sentences like puzzles solved by word order, but once they read enough, a tipping point sends them diving into word meaning instead—an abrupt “phase transition” reminiscent of water flashing into steam. By revealing this hidden switch, researchers open a window into how transformer models such as ChatGPT grow smarter and hint at new ways to make them leaner, ...

July 7, 2025 — Researchers have developed an ultra-thin drumhead-like membrane that lets sound signals, or phonons, travel through it with astonishingly low loss, better than even electronic circuits. These near-lossless vibrations open the door to new ways of transferring information in systems like quantum computers or ultra-sensitive biological ...

July 3, 2025 — An advanced Johns Hopkins AI model called MAARS combs through underused heart MRI scans and complete medical records to spot hidden scar patterns that signal sudden cardiac death, dramatically outperforming current dice-roll clinical guidelines and promising to save lives while sparing patients unnecessary ...

July 3, 2025 — A multinational team has cracked a long-standing barrier to reliable quantum computing by inventing an algorithm that lets ordinary computers faithfully mimic a fault-tolerant quantum circuit built on the notoriously tricky GKP bosonic code, promising a crucial test-bed for future quantum ...

July 4, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that starving and then refeeding worms can reveal surprising secrets about aging. When a specific gene (called TFEB) is missing, these worms don’t bounce back from fasting—they instead enter a state that looks a lot like aging in humans, with signs of stress and cell damage. This research gives scientists a simple but powerful way to study how aging begins—and how ...

July 4, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that the bacteria behind Lyme disease and anaplasmosis have a sneaky way of surviving inside ticks—they hijack the tick’s own cell functions to steal cholesterol they need to grow. By tapping into a built-in protein pathway, the bacteria keep themselves alive until they can infect a new host. The research opens the door to new methods of stopping these diseases ...

July 2, 2025 — Scientists at UC Davis discovered a small genetic difference that could explain why humans are more prone to certain cancers than our primate cousins. The change affects a protein used by immune cells to kill tumors—except in humans, it’s vulnerable to being shut down by an enzyme that tumors release. This flaw may be one reason treatments like CAR-T don’t work as well on solid tumors. The ...

July 16, 2025 — Twenty-five years after first warning that oil spills would wane while invasive species and climate impacts would surge, an international team revisits its coastal forecasts and finds many bull's-eyes, alongside surprising misses. Plastic pollution, ocean acidification, and sensory pollution have risen faster than imagined, even as strong treaties curbed chemicals like TBT. The scientists argue ...

July 12, 2025 — Even in a warming climate, brutal cold snaps still hammer parts of the U.S., and a new study uncovers why. High above the Arctic, two distinct polar vortex patterns — both distorted and displaced — play a major role in steering icy air toward different regions. One sends it plunging into the Northwest, while the other aims it at the Central and Eastern U.S. Since 2015, the westward version ...

July 7, 2025 — Long-lost 1960s aerial photos let Copenhagen researchers watch Antarctica’s Wordie Ice Shelf crumble in slow motion. By fusing film with satellites, they discovered warm ocean water, not surface ponds, drives the destruction, and mapped “pinning points” that reveal how far a collapse has progressed. The work shows these break-ups unfold more gradually than feared, yet once the ice ...

July 5, 2025 — For decades, scientists believed the Arctic Ocean was sealed under a massive slab of ice during the coldest ice ages — but new research proves otherwise. Sediment samples from the seafloor, paired with cutting-edge climate simulations, show that the Arctic actually remained partially open, with seasonal sea ice allowing life to survive in the harshest climates. Traces of ancient algae, thriving ...

June 3, 2025 — Collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could be triggered with very little ocean warming above present-day, leading to a devastating four meters of global sea level rise to play out over hundreds of years according to a new study. However, the authors emphasize that immediate actions to reduce emissions could still avoid a catastrophic ...

June 3, 2025 — A new study has finally confirmed the theory that the cause of extraordinary global tremors in September -- October 2023 was indeed two mega tsunamis in Greenland that became trapped standing waves. Using a brand-new type of satellite altimetry, the researchers provide the first observations to confirm the existence of these waves whose behavior is entirely ...

June 2, 2025 — New research adds to our understanding of how rapidly rising sea levels due to climate change foreshadow the end of the Great Barrier Reef as we know it. The findings suggest the reef can withstand rising sea levels in isolation but is vulnerable to associated environmental stressors arising from global climate ...

June 2, 2025 — Researchers have recreated the world's oldest synthetic pigment, called Egyptian blue, which was used in ancient Egypt about 5,000 years ...

July 7, 2025 — Feeling jittery as the week kicks off isn’t just a mood—it leaves a biochemical footprint. Researchers tracked thousands of older adults and found those who dread Mondays carry elevated cortisol in their hair for months, a stress echo that may help explain the well-known Monday heart-attack spike. Even retirees aren’t spared, hinting that society’s calendar, not the workplace alone, wires ...

July 4, 2025 — Preserving strips of native vegetation beside avocado orchards gives insects a buffet of wild pollen when blossoms are scarce, doubling their plant menu and boosting their resilience. Using cutting-edge eDNA metabarcoding, Curtin scientists revealed how this botanical diversity underpins pollination, a service vital to 75% of crops and our brunch-worthy avocados. Their findings urge farmers to ...

July 3, 2025 — In a leap toward sustainable desalination, researchers have created a solar-powered sponge-like aerogel that turns seawater into drinkable water using just sunlight and a plastic cover. Unlike previous materials, this new 3D-printed aerogel maintains its efficiency at larger sizes, solving a key scalability issue. In outdoor tests, it produced clean water directly from the ocean without any ...

June 3, 2025 — The effects of artificial intelligence on adolescents are nuanced and complex, according to a new report that calls on developers to prioritize features that protect young people from exploitation, manipulation and the erosion of real-world ...

May 26, 2025 — A new study examines the emergence of overimitation in infants aged between 16 and 21 months to see if and how it is linked to social affiliation and other forms of imitation. The researchers found that young children engaged in low rates of overimitation and that it was not driven by in-group preference -- meaning they were not acting to please ...

May 26, 2025 — A new study says students appear to be using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) responsibly, and as a way to speed up tasks, not just boost their ...

May 22, 2025 — As the US national debate intensifies around immigration, a new study is challenging conventional wisdom about 'brain drain'--the idea that when skilled workers emigrate from developing countries, their home economies ...

May 27, 2025 — A new study shows that people who proactively reorganise their family routines -- such as adjusting childcare schedules or redistributing domestic responsibilities -- are more likely to demonstrate adaptability and innovation at ...

May 21, 2025 — The way people express emotions while helping others can influence whether their assistance is welcomed, resented, or reciprocated, according to new ...

May 14, 2025 — Being appreciated by colleagues can help employees cope with negative experiences at work, according to a new study. Researchers found that employees experience 'embitterment' -- an emotional response to perceived workplace injustice -- on days when they are assigned more unreasonable tasks than usual. This negative emotion not only affects their work but also spills over into their personal ...

Apr. 14, 2025 — The UK government needs to go beyond offering subsidies for low-carbon technologies (LCTs) like electric cars and solar panels for energy and heating, if it is to meet its net-zero targets by 2050, a report ...