Highlights
Materials Science
Turning light into motion
23 July 2026Researchers uncover a popular electronic material’s extraordinary ability to bend when exposed to light, opening new design options for microdevices and optomechanics.
Infectious Diseases
Mosquitoes share the blame
16 July 2026A molecule found in Aedes mosquito saliva modulates the host body’s immune response during chikungunya infection, highlighting that mosquitoes may be more than just viral carriers.
Materials Science
Building chemical houses for light reactions
14 July 2026Tiny chemical houses get a new engineering blueprint for building more orderly, robust and light-responsive structures that facilitate industrially relevant light-driven reactions.
Genetics
A gene machine with UNBARred potential
10 July 2026A novel RNA-based molecular tool offers an innovative way to detect, amplify and respond to genetic signals within cells with unprecedented modularity.
Energy
Forging defects that deliver
8 July 2026Icy shocks turn atomic flaws into a performance advantage for magnesium-ion batteries, advancing them as safer and cheaper energy storage options.
Drug Discovery
A common agent against coronaviruses
6 July 2026A novel broad-spectrum drug candidate stalls replication of several SARS-CoV-2 variants and other coronaviruses, with the potential to boost preparedness against future pandemics.
Optics And Photonics
A smooth tune-up for tiny lasers
2 July 2026Researchers develop a rapid colour-changing microlaser with phase-changing perovskites and a novel light trap, opening new possibilities in optical communications and sensing.
Food Science
Meet the meat-cutters
30 June 2026Soft textures, fibrous structures and improved protein digestibility—plant-based meat products could have these all, when processed using the right concentration and type of enzyme.
Artificial Intelligence
Training AI to plan step by step
26 June 2026Just by seeing the starting state and end goal, AI models could predict how to complete a task by filling in the unknown steps and focusing only on the actions that matter.
Plastics
Breaking barriers in polystyrene waste
24 June 2026A molecular reshuffling strategy allows access to otherwise blocked sites on polystyrene’s structure, enabling the transformation of a major form of plastic waste into a new class of high-value chemicals.
Rare Diseases
Powering up motor neurons in ALS
22 June 2026Researchers identify a molecular driver of cell death in a rare neurodegenerative disease and show how targeted oligonucleotide therapies can combat the process.
Transportation
When close shaves save ships
18 June 2026A new maritime risk assessment tool reviews near-misses and close encounters between vessels to uncover the hidden dangers of busy waterways.
Materials Science
Pushing electronics into the fast lane
16 June 2026Ultrafast light pulses can drive the conversion of magnetic spin currents to electrical charges at ultrafast timescales, bringing electronics closer to terahertz speeds.
