Tiny aquatic plants are attracting scientific attention for their untapped potential as future food sources, including for space missions. Some of the world’s smallest flowering plants have found a way to fit the basic architecture of much larger species into a body just a few millimeters (about 0.1 inch) across. Researchers at the University of […]
Antarctica’s Sea Ice Has Gone From Record Highs to Near-Record Lows
Antarctica’s sea ice has plunged from record highs to its third-lowest winter peak, revealing a dramatic reversal in the frozen continent’s recent history. Antarctic sea ice reached one of its lowest winter peaks ever recorded in 2026, continuing a striking shift in ice coverage around the frozen continent. Its annual maximum was the third lowest […]
The Amazon Is Burning Again, and NASA Warns the Worst Is Yet To Come
A dangerous El Niño-driven wildfire cascade has reached the Amazon, and NASA scientists warn that the worst may still be ahead as hidden fires spread beneath the rainforest canopy. El Niño is fueling a chain reaction of wildfires across the tropics, with fires first emerging in equatorial Asia before spreading to the central and eastern […]
Researchers Discover What Reading for Pleasure May Be Doing to Your Brain
Reading for pleasure may offer surprising benefits for the brain, with research linking the habit to better mental health, stronger cognitive abilities, and a lower risk of dementia. Reading for pleasure may do far more than provide entertainment. A scientific review published in Psychological Medicine links the habit to better mental health, stronger cognitive abilities, […]
Scientists Restore Memory in Mice With Alzheimer’s by Boosting a Single Brain Protein
Boosting a protein restored brain rhythms and improved memory in mice with Alzheimer’s-like disease, pointing to a potential treatment strategy focused on how brain cells coordinate. The brain relies on rapid electrical rhythms called gamma oscillations when focusing on a task, learning a skill, or retrieving a memory. These rhythms cycle 30 to 90 times […]
Reddit Users Are Experimenting With an Unapproved Weight-Loss Drug. AI Found Something Surprising
An AI analysis of nearly 150,000 Reddit posts and comments offers the first systematic look at symptoms people attribute to gray-market retatrutide, showing how social media could guide drug safety research. People are buying unapproved versions of retatrutide, a next-generation GLP-1 weight-loss drug, and sharing their experiences on Reddit before the drug has received approval […]
NASA’s Curiosity Rover Unveils a Spectacular New View of Mars at Dawn
Curiosity’s latest panorama sharpens the view of a Martian rock layer that looks out of place and may have formed from ancient volcanic ash. A band of wind-carved cliffs stretches roughly 10 miles (16 kilometers) across the northwestern reaches of Mount Sharp on Mars, and NASA’s Curiosity rover is climbing toward it. A newly released […]
Scientists Create “Super Ice” That’s 10 Times Stronger and Rivals Concrete in Strength
A new form of reinforced ice could offer an unconventional building material for extreme polar environments, although questions about its long-term durability remain. Scientists have developed a new form of ice that approaches the compressive strength of conventional concrete while resisting the sudden fractures that make ordinary ice so brittle. Known as BioPykrete, the material […]
Scientists Turn Ordinary Plastic Into Billions of Tiny Diamonds Using Powerful Lasers
Diamonds recovered from plastic contain roughly 3,000 atoms each and could be modified with other elements for future use in medical imaging. Powerful lasers can turn plastic into tiny diamonds, but recovering the crystals means catching them as they shoot out at speeds comparable to a meteorite impact. Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and […]
Scientists Turn a Cancer-Fueling Protein Into a Powerful New Weapon Against Tumors
A protein that helps cancer grow could become an unlikely ally in treating it, with laboratory and mouse experiments showing that activating it in engineered immune cells curbs tumor growth. Colorectal cancer has become the leading cause of cancer-related death in people under 50, and chemotherapy and newer immunotherapy drugs can fall short against its […]