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A clever nanoscale redesign may have solved one of superconductivity’s biggest problems. Researchers in Sweden discovered that by subtly sculpting the surface beneath an ultrathin superconducting material, they could make it stay superconducting at higher temperatures and under much stronger magnetic fields.

Scientists have taken a surprising step toward unlocking regeneration in mammals, showing that the ability to rebuild complex body parts may not be lost after all—it may simply be switched off. Using a two-stage treatment, researchers redirected the body’s normal healing response away from scar formation and toward regrowth, successfully restoring bone, joints, ligaments, and tendons after amputation in animal studies.

Scientists have discovered a new Amazonian spider with an astonishing disguise: it looks like a parasitic fungus. The species, Taczanowskia waska, mimics both the appearance and behavior of the fungus, helping it stay hidden from predators and potentially catch prey more easily.

A Rutgers study suggests GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy may weaken the link between impulsive tendencies and violent behavior. The surprising finding hints that these medications could affect how people act on impulses, though researchers stress that cause and effect have not been proven.

A small clinical trial suggests that probiotics may offer a surprising mental health boost for older adults with depression. Seniors who took a daily probiotic alongside their regular antidepressant treatment experienced slightly greater improvements in depression and anxiety symptoms than those who received a placebo.

Diabetes and dementia appear to be closely intertwined, with each condition potentially influencing the other. Problems with insulin and glucose can affect the brain’s energy supply, increase inflammation, and damage blood vessels linked to memory loss. Researchers are also finding that some popular diabetes medications may lower dementia risk. These discoveries are opening new possibilities for protecting brain health as people age.

Scientists have digitally preserved the world’s most endangered marine mammal by creating highly detailed 3D models of a vaquita skeleton using advanced imaging technology. The virtual archive provides an unprecedented look at the species and could help inspire conservation efforts before the tiny porpoise disappears forever.

Exposure to a common plastic chemical before and shortly after birth may have lasting effects on behavior. Researchers found that male rats exposed early in life to DEHP—a plasticizer used in products ranging from medical devices to toys—showed significantly higher anxiety as adults, even long after exposure had ended. The animals were more hesitant to explore open spaces and spent more time frozen in place, classic signs of anxiety in rodents.

A new technique could solve one of the biggest challenges in making future computer chips from ultrathin materials. Researchers found that coating molybdenum disulfide with oxygen or fluorine lets manufacturers remove just the top layer of atoms much more safely during plasma processing. The result is a cleaner, more controlled path toward smaller and more capable electronics.

A minimally invasive treatment that blocks inflammation-driving blood vessels in the knee provided significant pain relief and improved function for osteoarthritis patients, with benefits lasting at least a year. The procedure was safe, highly successful, and could offer a new alternative for people seeking relief before considering knee replacement.

Depression appears to change what children notice in the faces around them, but the effect depends on family history. Kids with a higher inherited risk became more focused on sadness, while lower-risk children lost some of their natural attention to happy expressions.

A new SETI study suggests we may be overlooking alien signals not because they aren't there, but because their own stars are scrambling them before they escape into space. Turbulent plasma and powerful stellar storms can spread an ultra-narrow radio transmission across a wider range of frequencies, making it much harder for traditional searches to spot. The effect could be especially important around M-dwarf stars, the most common stars in the Milky Way.

Scientists have found that staple-shaped particles can tangle together to create a material that is both strong and flexible. Unlike conventional materials, these particles can be locked into a sturdy structure or rapidly unraveled using vibrations. The unusual behavior could open the door to recyclable buildings, reconfigurable structures, and even futuristic robotic technologies.

Researchers discovered that hydrogen radicals generated by intense UV light can break down stubborn PFAS “forever chemicals” without added chemicals. The breakthrough reveals a key mechanism that could lead to greener and more effective technologies for permanently destroying these pollutants.

Physicists have solved a long-standing problem involving systems that appear to violate Newton’s third law, such as bird flocks and bacterial swarms. By adding carefully designed “imaginary partners” to their models, they can now simulate these complex systems with unprecedented accuracy.

A new study found that chronic wasting disease can sometimes spread silently, with infectious prions present even in animals that show no symptoms. While there is no confirmed human risk, researchers say the disease’s ability to evolve and spread across species warrants close attention.

Many people prescribed GLP-1 drugs for type 2 diabetes (such as Victoza, Ozempic, or tirzepatide) stop taking them, but a surprising number later return to treatment. Researchers found that newer medications appear to keep patients on therapy longer, while side effects remain a major reason for discontinuation.

A large real-world study suggests semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus) may offer an unexpected bonus for people with type 2 diabetes: stronger protection against bone fractures while delivering greater weight loss. Researchers analyzing health records from nearly 60,000 adults found that people taking semaglutide experienced about 15% fewer fractures than those using other common weight-loss medications, despite losing more weight.

A copper-based compound restored the brain’s ability to clear toxic Alzheimer’s proteins, dramatically reducing amyloid buildup and improving memory in laboratory experiments. The findings point to a potentially fast-tracked new treatment strategy because the drug has already been tested in humans for other neurological conditions.

A large-scale study suggests that men with higher levels of the amino acid tyrosine may have shorter lifespans, potentially losing close to a year of life expectancy. The finding is especially intriguing because tyrosine is commonly associated with brain health and is often used in supplements aimed at boosting focus and performance.

Scientists are beginning to explore a hidden world of thousands of food chemicals that go far beyond the nutrients listed on nutrition labels. This “nutritional dark matter” may hold the key to understanding disease risk, healthy aging, and why different diets affect people in dramatically different ways.

Humans evolved to pay close attention to danger, but today that instinct is being overwhelmed by an endless supply of bad news from around the world. Researchers say the answer isn’t to stop following current events—it’s to build healthier habits around how, when, and where we get our news.

NASA satellites have detected a vast pulse of warm water reaching the coast of South America, signaling that El Niño is likely developing. The warm water is being carried eastward by massive ocean waves known as Kelvin waves, which also cause sea levels to rise. El Niño can reshape weather patterns worldwide, bringing floods, droughts, and temperature extremes.

Researchers tracked honey bees in the wild using a drone-based system and found that each bee follows its own highly consistent flight path. Some repeated their routes so precisely that they flew only centimeters from where they had flown before. Landmarks like trees helped keep them on track, while uniform areas such as cornfields led to more variation.

A new whey protein manufacturing technique could make protein shakes taste better and feel smoother in the mouth. Researchers traced unwanted bitterness to concentrated minerals and found a way to remove them without sacrificing the improved texture.

Researchers used genome editing to block the production of red pigments in lettuce, causing other beneficial plant compounds to build up instead. The lettuce continued to grow normally, pointing toward a new way to create crops with customized nutritional profiles.

For years, calcium and vitamin D supplements have been promoted as a simple way for older adults to protect their bones and prevent falls. But a massive review of nearly 154,000 people found that calcium, vitamin D, or a combination of both provided little to no meaningful protection against fractures or falls for most older adults.

A new oral GLP-1 medication helped people with type 2 diabetes dramatically improve blood sugar control and lose weight in a major clinical trial. The results suggest that highly effective diabetes treatments may soon become available in a much more convenient pill form.

Oxford physicists have created an entirely new type of Schrödinger’s cat-like quantum state using components that are themselves highly quantum in nature. The advance could open new possibilities for more resilient quantum computers and deeper insights into the strange rules that govern the quantum universe.

What if some black holes aren’t black holes at all? A new theoretical study suggests that when a massive star collapses, it might not form a singularity hidden behind an event horizon. Instead, the collapse could trigger the birth of a tiny new universe inside the dying star. Driven by dark energy, this miniature cosmos would expand and push back against gravity, preventing complete collapse and creating an exotic object known as a gravastar.

Beneath our feet lies a vast hidden fungal superhighway that helps sustain much of life on Earth—and scientists have now mapped it for the first time. Researchers estimate that these underground networks stretch an astonishing 110 quadrillion kilometers, move about 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide into soils each year, and play a major role in supporting plants and regulating the climate.

A surprising new study suggests that completely eliminating sugar may backfire. Mice on a sucrose-free low-fat diet showed worse blood sugar control, increased inflammation, disrupted gut bacteria, and signs of fatty liver compared with mice that consumed some sucrose. Researchers say the results highlight the importance of a balanced diet and a healthy gut microbiome rather than focusing solely on cutting out sugar.

People taking popular weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound may be losing pounds, but they could also be moving less. Researchers analyzing Fitbit data found that daily step counts and exercise levels dropped after people started these medications, despite successful weight loss. Because the drugs can reduce muscle mass along with fat, the decline in physical activity raises concerns about preserving strength and long-term health.

One of the most celebrated claims about Yellowstone’s wolves is facing a major challenge. Scientists say the study behind the famous trophic cascade story relied on flawed methods that overstated the ecological impact of wolf recovery. Their reanalysis found no evidence for a dramatic, park-wide surge in willow growth. Instead, the effects appear smaller and vary from place to place.

A new international study finds that middle-aged Americans are lonelier, more depressed, and experiencing worse memory and health than earlier generations. Researchers say growing financial strain, weaker social supports, and chronic stress may explain why the U.S. is falling behind other wealthy nations.

Bringing blood sugar levels back to normal may dramatically reduce the danger posed by prediabetes. Researchers found that people who reversed prediabetes cut their risk of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure by 58% and lowered their chances of major heart problems such as heart attacks and strokes by 42%. The benefits lasted for decades and were seen across large long-term studies in both the U.S. and China.

A new catalyst design could significantly improve the conversion of CO2 into methanol, an important fuel and chemical feedstock. Researchers separated key reaction steps across different catalyst sites, avoiding a long-standing trade-off between speed and efficiency. The result was about three times more methanol production than standard commercial catalysts.

Parrots may be doing more than just repeating words—they may actually use names. By analyzing hundreds of recordings from pet parrots, researchers found evidence that many birds use specific names to identify particular people, animals, and even individual companions. Some parrots appeared to refer to someone who wasn’t present, while others used names in creative ways, such as saying their own name to grab attention.

A newly identified crocodile species nicknamed “Lucy’s hunter” prowled Ethiopia’s rivers when Lucy’s species walked the Earth more than 3 million years ago. The giant predator was likely the most dangerous animal in the ecosystem and may have regularly hunted early human relatives.

Using the Keck Observatory, astronomers measured the spins of dozens of giant planets and brown dwarfs orbiting distant stars. They found that giant planets can spin faster than much more massive brown dwarfs, challenging simple assumptions about mass and rotation. The results suggest that magnetic fields and formation processes play a major role in determining how fast worlds end up spinning.

A three-year study of nearly 4,000 adults ranging from age 19 to 94 found that brain health can improve at any age, challenging the common belief that mental sharpness must decline as we get older. Participants spent just a few minutes a day on brain-training activities, and researchers found measurable gains across multiple aspects of brain health, including thinking clarity, emotional well-being, and sense of purpose.

Learning a musical instrument later in life may help keep the brain younger for longer. In a four-year study, older adults who continued practicing maintained their memory performance and showed less age-related brain shrinkage than those who quit. The benefits were especially noticeable in brain regions tied to memory and learning.

Millipedes may have been crawling across Earth's landscapes nearly 460 million years ago, long before vertebrates ventured onto land. A new study finally completes their evolutionary family tree, revealing surprising clues about these ancient ecosystem engineers and their early chemical defenses.

Ancient encounters between humans and the mysterious Denisovans are still shaping people today. By analyzing genomes from populations across the Pacific, researchers uncovered evidence that the ancestors of Near Oceanians interbred with at least three different Denisovan groups, leaving behind genetic variants that remain active in modern humans.

A child psychologist says grandparents are more important than ever as youth mental health challenges continue to rise. He argues that children need supportive relationships, meaningful conversations, and a sense of purpose—not just pressure to achieve. Grandparents can help by listening, encouraging, and creating positive experiences that strengthen emotional resilience.

A new nature-inspired membrane uses perfectly uniform one-nanometer pores to filter molecules with remarkable precision. The technology could transform industries such as pharmaceuticals and textiles by reducing energy consumption, improving water reuse, and delivering separation performance far beyond current filters.

Alaska’s glaciers are proving to be highly sensitive to warming temperatures. Using radar satellites to monitor more than 3,000 glaciers, researchers found that every 1°C (1.8°F) increase in average summer temperature extends glacier melting by about three weeks. The study also revealed that intense heat waves can strip away up to 28% more protective snow cover, exposing ice much earlier than normal and accelerating ice loss.

Scientists have uncovered a surprising new genetic cause of a rare movement disorder after analyzing nearly 3,000 patients with conditions affecting coordination and muscle control. The team identified mutations in a gene called CD99L2, previously linked only to the immune system, and showed that it plays an essential role in keeping nerve-cell communication running smoothly.

Researchers discovered that mutations linked to blood cancers may help trigger Alzheimer’s disease by creating overly inflammatory immune cells in the brain. The unexpected finding could lead to new blood-based screening methods and potential treatments borrowed from cancer medicine.

A spectacular fossil fish discovered on a remote cliff in New Zealand nearly 30 years ago has finally revealed its full story thanks to an unexpected discovery: the original collector’s long-lost field notebooks. The 1.2-meter fossil, preserved in stunning three-dimensional detail, belonged to an ancient tarpon-like predator that cruised New Zealand waters about 55 million years ago.

A low-calorie fasting-style diet significantly reduced inflammation linked to gum disease in a small clinical study. The findings suggest that what people eat may influence gum health almost as much as what they do with a toothbrush.

A bold claim that the universe’s accelerating expansion was an illusion has been put to the test—and failed. Researchers found that the study behind the controversy made key mistakes when analyzing supernova data. After revisiting the evidence, astronomers concluded that cosmic acceleration remains as strong as ever.

A new experimental vaccine developed by Scripps Research could offer a powerful new way to prevent fentanyl overdoses by stopping the drug before it reaches the brain. Rather than targeting only fentanyl itself, the vaccine trains the immune system to recognize a broad range of fentanyl-related designer drugs, including some of the most dangerous variants.

Deep beneath the ground in China, the massive JUNO neutrino observatory has delivered its first major scientific breakthrough, achieving one of the most precise measurements yet of how elusive neutrinos change as they travel. Using just 59 days of data, researchers sharply improved measurements of key neutrino properties, boosting confidence that JUNO can tackle one of particle physics' biggest mysteries: determining the true mass hierarchy of neutrinos.

Scientists at the University of Hong Kong have created a remarkable new type of brain-inspired chip that can function just above absolute zero, one of the coldest environments imaginable. By using a standard silicon carbide transistor in a completely new way, the team made a single device behave like an energy-efficient neuron, firing electrical “spikes” similar to those in the human brain.

A new treatment that blocks an aging-related protein restored lost cartilage in old mice and helped prevent arthritis after knee injuries. Human cartilage samples showed similar signs of regeneration, raising hopes for a future drug that could repair joints instead of replacing them.

Researchers in South Korea have recreated the legendary “sea silk” once prized by emperors, using fibers from a clam cultivated in Korean coastal waters. They discovered that its famous golden shine comes from tiny protein structures that reflect light rather than from pigments or dyes. Because the color is built into the fiber’s structure, it can remain vibrant for centuries.

Scientists discovered that rice behaves in a highly unusual way: it weakens under rapid compression but stays stronger when pressure is applied slowly. Using this effect, they engineered a new material that reacts differently to gentle movements and sudden impacts. The material can adapt its stiffness automatically, opening the door to safer soft robots and protective equipment that responds instantly to collisions.

Scientists at RIKEN have proposed a new way to make quantum systems synchronize in only one direction—like a one-way street for sound particles known as phonons. The breakthrough combines two quantum effects to create a form of one-way quantum synchronization that remains surprisingly stable even when exposed to manufacturing flaws and environmental noise, two major obstacles that have long hindered real-world quantum technologies.

A tiny set of ancient genetic “switches” may have played a surprisingly large role in making human language possible. Researchers found that these DNA regions, which act like volume controls for genes involved in brain development, have an outsized influence on language ability despite making up less than 0.1% of the genome.