A mysterious blazar that baffled scientists for years has been unraveled. VLBA imaging revealed a toroidal magnetic field powering a jet aimed at Earth, explaining how it can unleash neutrinos and gamma rays despite its sluggish appearance.

Lithium battery recycling offers a powerful solution to rising demand, with discarded batteries still holding most of their valuable materials. Compared to mining, recycling slashes emissions and resource use while unlocking major economic potential. Yet infrastructure, policy, and technology hurdle...

MSU researchers discovered that microbes begin shaping the brain while still in the womb, influencing neurons in a region critical for stress and social behavior. Their findings suggest modern birth practices that alter the microbiome may have hidden impacts on brain development.

For decades, scientists have puzzled over why so little sulfur appears in space, even though it is one of the most common elements in the universe and vital to life. A new study suggests that the missing sulfur may be locked away in icy dust grains, forming unusual molecular shapes like crown-like r...

A team in Milan has developed a first-of-its-kind single-atom catalyst that acts like a molecular switch, enabling cleaner, more adaptable chemical reactions. Stable, recyclable, and eco-friendly, it marks a major step toward programmable sustainable chemistry.

A breakthrough mRNA cancer vaccine has shown the ability to supercharge the effects of immunotherapy in mice, sparking hope for a universal “off-the-shelf” treatment that could fight multiple cancers. Unlike traditional vaccines designed to target specific tumor proteins, this approach simply re...

A sweeping review of 67 trials has cast doubt on the use of ketamine and similar NMDA receptor antagonists for chronic pain relief. While ketamine is frequently prescribed off-label for conditions like fibromyalgia and nerve pain, researchers found little convincing evidence of real benefit and flag...

Scientists are developing a surgery-free alternative to LASIK that reshapes the cornea using electricity instead of lasers. In rabbit tests, the method corrected vision in minutes without incisions.

Hubble has taken the clearest image to date of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, which is racing through our solar system at 130,000 miles per hour. Astronomers are using Hubble and other telescopes to better understand its icy nucleus and chemical composition.

By exploring positive geometry, mathematicians are revealing hidden shapes that may unify particle physics and cosmology, offering new ways to understand both collisions in accelerators and the origins of the universe.

NASA-backed simulations reveal that meltwater from Greenland’s Jakobshavn Glacier lifts deep-ocean nutrients to the surface, sparking large summer blooms of phytoplankton that feed the Arctic food web.

Roughly two-thirds of all atmospheric methane, a potent greenhouse gas, comes from methanogens. Tracking down which methanogens in which environment produce methane with a specific isotope signature is difficult, however. UC Berkeley researchers have for the first time CRISPRed the key enzyme involv...

Scientists have uncovered an extinct shelduck from the Chatham Islands that evolved shorter wings and stronger legs, adapting to a predator-free, windy environment. It vanished before the 19th century, likely due to hunting and predation.

Rising CO₂ levels will make the upper atmosphere colder and thinner, altering how geomagnetic storms impact satellites. Future storms could cause sharper density spikes despite lower overall density, increasing drag-related challenges.

When a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, NASA and CNES’s SWOT satellite captured a rare and detailed picture of the tsunami that followed. Recorded just over an hour after the quake, the satellite revealed the wave’s height, shape, and path, offering sci...

Scientists have engineered a groundbreaking cancer treatment that uses bacteria to smuggle viruses directly into tumors, bypassing the immune system and delivering a powerful one-two punch against cancer cells. The bacteria act like Trojan horses, carrying viral payloads to cancer’s core, where th...

Researchers have synthesized a stable cyclo[48]carbon, a unique 48-carbon ring that can be studied in solution at room temperature, a feat never achieved before.

By flipping a single genetic switch, researchers made one fruit fly species adopt the gift-giving courtship of another, showing how tiny brain rewiring can drive evolutionary change.

With its two tiny CubeSats, NASA’s PREFIRE mission is capturing invisible heat escaping from Earth, offering clues to how ice, clouds, and storms influence the climate system. The insights could lead to better weather forecasts and a deeper understanding of global change.

NASA and ISRO s NISAR satellite has just reached a major milestone: the successful deployment of its enormous 39-foot antenna reflector in orbit. Folded up like an umbrella during launch, the reflector is now fully extended and ready to support NISAR s groundbreaking radar systems. This record-break...

The massive 2025 Myanmar earthquake revealed that strike slip faults can behave in surprising ways. Using satellite data, Caltech researchers found the Sagaing Fault ruptured more dramatically than expected, suggesting faults like the San Andreas could unleash even larger quakes than history shows.

Scientists have, for the first time, experimentally proven that angular momentum is conserved even when a single photon splits into two, pushing quantum physics to its most fundamental limits. Using ultra-precise equipment, the team captured this elusive process—comparable to finding a needle in a...

Scientists in Finland have measured the heaviest known nucleus to undergo proton emission, discovering the rare isotope 188-astatine. It exhibits a unique shape and may reveal a new kind of nuclear interaction.

Once on the brink during the last ice age, great white sharks made a remarkable recovery globally, but their DNA reveals a baffling story. Classic migration explanations fail, leaving scientists with a mystery that defies reproductive and evolutionary logic.

Rice University scientists have discovered a way to make tiny vibrations, called phonons, interfere with each other more strongly than ever before. Using a special sandwich of silver, graphene, and silicon carbide, they created a record-breaking effect so sensitive it can detect a single molecule wi...

Mediterranean bryozoans, including the “false coral,” are showing alarming changes in structure and microbiomes under acidification and warming. Field studies at volcanic CO₂ vents reveal that these stressors combined sharply reduce survival, posing risks to marine ecosystems.

Chemical evidence from a stalagmite in Mexico has revealed that the Classic Maya civilization’s decline coincided with repeated severe wet-season droughts, including one that lasted 13 years. These prolonged droughts corresponded with halted monument construction and political disruption at key Ma...

Scientists at UC San Diego have discovered a small but powerful section of DNA, called HAR123, that could help explain what makes the human brain so unique. Instead of being a gene, HAR123 acts like a “volume control” for brain development, guiding how brain cells form and in what proportions. T...

A curious red Martian rock nicknamed Sapphire Canyon has scientists excited, as its spotted appearance hints at possible organic origins. On Earth, researchers tested a powerful laser technique, O-PTIR, on a similar rock found by chance in Arizona, proving it can rapidly and precisely reveal a mater...

Captured at a location called “Falbreen,” this 360-degree view mosaic was stitched together 96 images that were acquired May 26, 2025. In the upper image, the enhanced-color mosaic features deceptively blue skies and the 43rd rock abrasion (the white patch at center-left) of the NASA Perseveranc...

Weaver ants have cracked a teamwork puzzle that humans have struggled with for over a century — instead of slacking off as their group grows, they work harder. These tiny architects not only build elaborate leaf nests but also double their pulling power when more ants join in. Using a “force rat...

In a Puerto Rican coffee farm, researchers uncovered a web of chaotic interactions between three ant species and a predator fly, revealing how shifting dominance patterns make pest management unpredictable. By combining theories of cyclic dominance and predator-mediated coexistence, they showed how ...

Hubble has captured the faint beauty of NGC 45, a spiral galaxy in Cetus whose glowing pink star-forming clouds reveal hidden activity. It belongs to the rare class of low surface brightness galaxies, dimmer than the night sky yet rich in gas and dark matter.

Thirteen years after landing on Mars, NASA’s Curiosity rover is running smarter and more efficiently than ever. With new autonomy and multitasking capabilities, it’s maximizing the output from its long-lasting nuclear power source while exploring a striking region of boxwork formations that may ...

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has detected strong evidence for a giant planet orbiting Alpha Centauri A, the nearest Sun-like star to Earth. Located just 4 light-years away, this possible Saturn-mass world may travel between one and two times the distance from its star that Earth does from the...

Denisovans, a mysterious human relative, left behind far more than a handful of fossils—they left genetic fingerprints in modern humans across the globe. Multiple interbreeding events with distinct Denisovan populations helped shape traits like high-altitude survival in Tibetans, cold-weather adap...

A groundbreaking fossil discovery in the Grand Canyon has unveiled exquisitely preserved soft-bodied animals from the Cambrian period, offering an unprecedented glimpse into early life more than 500 million years ago. Researchers uncovered molluscs, crustaceans, and exotic worms with remarkable feed...

Beneath the North Sea, scientists have uncovered colossal sand formations, dubbed “sinkites,” that have mysteriously sunk into lighter sediments, flipping the usual geological order. Formed millions of years ago by ancient earthquakes or pressure shifts, these giant structures could reshape how ...

Extreme heat waves and cold spells on the Great Lakes have more than doubled since the late 1990s, coinciding with a major El Niño event. Using advanced ocean-style modeling adapted for the lakes, researchers traced temperature trends back to 1940, revealing alarming potential impacts on billion-do...

Cats can naturally develop dementia with brain changes strikingly similar to Alzheimer’s disease in humans, including toxic amyloid-beta buildup and loss of synapses. A new study shows these similarities could make cats valuable natural models for research, potentially leading to treatments that b...

Scientists in Sweden have developed a groundbreaking “skin in a syringe” — a gel packed with live cells that can be applied directly to wounds or even 3D-printed into skin grafts. Designed to help the body build functional dermis rather than scar tissue, the innovation combines fibroblast cell...

UC Berkeley scientists found oxytocin is key for quickly forming strong friendships, but less critical for mate bonds. In prairie voles, a lack of oxytocin receptors delayed bonding and reduced partner selectivity, changing how the brain releases oxytocin and affecting social behavior.

Scientists have developed a lightning-fast AI tool called HEAT-ML that can spot hidden “safe zones” inside a fusion reactor where parts are protected from blistering plasma heat. Finding these areas, known as magnetic shadows, is key to keeping reactors running safely and moving fusion energy cl...

A groundbreaking quantum device small enough to fit in your hand could one day answer one of the biggest questions in science — whether the multiverse is real. This tiny chip can generate extreme electromagnetic fields once only possible in massive, miles-long particle colliders. Beyond probing th...

Over 15 years of fossil excavations in Tanzania and Zambia have revealed a vivid portrait of life before Earth s most devastating mass extinction 252 million years ago. Led by the University of Washington and the Field Museum, scientists uncovered saber-toothed predators, burrowing herbivores, and g...

Mars, once thought too cold and dry for liquid water, may briefly host salty brines twice a day during certain seasons. These fleeting bursts wouldn’t be enough to sustain humans, but they could have supported hardy life in Mars’ past—and may guide future missions searching for signs of it.

Astronomers have finally confirmed the existence of a long-suspected companion star orbiting Betelgeuse, the iconic red supergiant in Orion. Using the advanced 'Alopeke speckle imager on the Gemini North telescope, researchers overcame centuries of observational challenges to directly capture the el...

For decades, scientists puzzled over why Uranus seemed colder than expected. Now, an international research team led by the University of Houston has solved the mystery: Uranus emits more heat than it gets from the Sun, meaning it still carries internal warmth from its ancient formation. This revela...

UC Santa Cruz physicist Stefano Profumo has put forward two imaginative but scientifically grounded theories that may help solve one of the biggest mysteries in physics: the origin of dark matter. In one, a hidden “mirror” universe with its own particles and forces could have created dense black...

An extraordinary fossil find along Victoria’s Surf Coast has revealed Janjucetus dullardi, a sharp-toothed, dolphin-sized predator that lived 26 million years ago. With large eyes, slicing teeth, and exceptional ear bone preservation, this early cousin of modern baleen whales offers unprecedented ...