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.

Scientists found that Great Salt Lake’s chemistry and water balance were stable for thousands of years, until human settlement. Irrigation and farming in the 1800s and a railroad causeway in 1959 created dramatic, lasting changes. The lake now behaves in ways unseen for at least 2,000 years.

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 revs up the immune system as if it were fighting a virus. The results were dramatic—when paired with checkpoint inhibitors, tumors shrank, and in some cases, the vaccine alone wiped them out.

Researchers analyzing 33 studies found strong evidence that highly sensitive people are more prone to depression and anxiety but also more likely to benefit from therapy. Since about 31% of the population is highly sensitive, experts argue that clinicians should consider sensitivity levels when diagnosing and treating mental health conditions.

Researchers discovered that Covid accelerates blood vessel aging by about five years, especially in women. Even mild infections increased arterial stiffness, with vaccinated individuals showing less damage. This vascular aging may raise long-term heart and stroke risk.

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 flagged serious side effects such as delusions and nausea. The lack of data on whether it reduces depression or opioid use adds to the uncertainty.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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-breaking satellite will monitor everything from shifting ice sheets and glaciers to the subtle movement of land caused by earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides.

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 involved in microbial methane production to understand the unique isotopic fingerprints of different environments to better understand Earth's methane budget.

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.

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 the virus can spread and destroy malignant cells. Built-in safety features ensure the virus can’t multiply outside the tumor, offering a promising pathway for safe, targeted therapy.

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.

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 haystack—confirming a cornerstone law of nature at the photon level.

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 scientists an unprecedented multidimensional view from space.