Science

Scientists have demonstrated how encasing algae in tiny liquid crystal droplets can boost its natural energy harvesting abilities by up to three times, marking another step toward commercial viability for artificial photosynthesis.

Material scientists have taken a step forward in the development of lithium-metal batteries, demonstrating how applying a very specific amount of pressure during cycling can prevent the formation of growths that would otherwise bring them undone.

California company Radiant has secured funding to develop a compact, portable, "low-cost" one-megawatt nuclear micro-reactor that fits in a shipping container, powers about 1,000 homes and uses a helium coolant instead of water.

The hormone leptin is central to the way our bodies regulate appetite. A new study has revealed some of the molecular machinery behind its functioning, and shown how the loss of a key protein can drive insatiable appetites and obesity in mice.

Currently, most diabetics have to check their blood glucose levels by performing finger-prick blood tests, or via implanted sensors. An experimental new device, however, could someday do the job while simply adhered to the surface of the user's skin.

Living with pain can be very difficult, especially since heavy-duty pain relievers typically have unwanted side effects, and can be habit-forming. An experimental new treatment, however, gets around those limitations by using implanted electrodes.

A first-of-a-kind NASA launch took place over the weekend, setting the agency's Lucy spacecraft on a pioneering path toward Jupiter to study an unprecedented number of asteroids as part of a single mission.

Blue Origin has successfully completed its second human flight using its New Shepard launch vehicle, with the crew capsule safely touching down in the Texas desert on Wednesday afternoon local time with 90-year-old William Shatner on board.

A huge new dataset could soon help unlock the mystery of fast radio bursts (FRBs). Within a few weeks, over 1,600 new signals were detected coming from one of the most well-studied sources, essentially ruling out a leading hypothesis on their origin.

Scientists at Rice University have cooked up a new alloy with a unique and diverse set of attributes that could prove highly effective at protecting steel from corrosion, and can even heal itself when damaged.

Access to clean water is a major unmet need in many parts of the world. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a new hydrogel tablet that could help, with a prototype able to disinfect a liter of river water in one hour.

Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world, but it comes at a huge environmental cost. Engineers in Japan have developed a new technique to make concrete by recycling waste concrete and combining it with captured carbon dioxide.

New research has discovered a distinct circadian mechanism within heart cells that influences how cardiac activity shifts across 24-hour periods. The findings offer clues to why shift workers are at higher risk of heart problems.

Lizards can regrow their tails, but the new tail isn't quite perfect. Scientists have now used stem cell therapy to let lizards grow better tails – bones, nerves and all – in an advance that could have implications for better wound healing in humans.

The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded jointly to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian, for their work uncovering the receptors that allow us to perceive temperature and pressure.

McDonald's is preparing to bring a plant-based burger co-developed with Beyond Meat stateside for a trial run in a handful of restaurants, promising the "iconic" taste of a McDonald's burger with all the trimmings.

Back in August, the Ocean Cleanup Project returned to the waters of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch with a redesigned trash-collecting system that was its largest yet, and it has just reigned in a "massive" haul of plastic waste.

New Stanford-led research has painted a picture of how focusing efforts on methane removal could help limit dangerous temperature rise from climate change, while also preventing tens of thousands of premature deaths relating to poor air quality.

Normal matter has an “evil twin” that annihilates on contact, and despite decades of study antimatter remains very mysterious. So what actually is it? Where is it? Why is it important to understand? And why hasn’t it already destroyed the universe?

Physicists have measured the lifetime of a free neutron more precisely than ever before. This breakthrough "bathtub" experiment helps probe the fringes of the Standard Model of particle physics, and mysteries like dark matter and the early universe.

The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to three scientists for "groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of complex physical systems." One half went jointly to Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann, and the other to Giorgio Parisi.

A team of engineers has given microchips a new ability – the power of flight. Inspired by wind-dispersed seeds, these “microfliers” are shaped like tiny propellers to catch the wind, and may be the smallest flying structures ever made by humans.

Infrared spectrometers are expensive and powerful instruments scientists use to analyze the chemical makeup of a sample, and a new research project has made a breakthrough that miniaturizes this technology so much it can be packed into a smartphone.

Rice University researchers have produced a "smart" shirt that uses interwoven carbon nanotube fibers to provide steady electrical contact with the skin, allowing for ongoing gathering of data on heart activity.

An Australian/German company is developing powerful quantum accelerators the size of graphics cards. They work at room temperature, undercutting and outperforming today's huge, cryo-cooled quantum supercomputers, promising industry-wide disruption.

A quantum internet could one day allow quantum computers to team up and tackle some gigantic problems. Researchers at Toshiba are a step closer, demonstrating quantum communications sent over a record-breaking 600 km (373 miles) of optic fiber.

Progress on quantum computers may soon stall. Cosmic rays streaming to Earth can interfere with the integrity of information in quantum computers, and now an MIT team has shown just how vulnerable they are and what it might take to protect them.