Science

Once a harmless drifter in the Sargasso Sea, an algae known as sargassum is now flooding beaches, from Brazil to the Caribbean, with stinky piles. But some clever researchers have mixed it into concrete creating a new, ultra-light building material.

Seaweed washing onto sandy shores does more than rot. A new study found that it fuels oxygen-tolerant microorganisms that pump methane into the air, overturning a long-held scientific assumption about coastal ecosystems and their climate role.

Not to sound like a TV commercial or anything, but … how often have you had to throw out white shirts because of unsightly yellow underarm stains? Well, those stains may not be a problem any longer, thanks to a simple blue light treatment.

A mysterious marine epidemic has killed billions of sea stars from North America’s Pacific coast. After more than a decade of unanswered questions, scientists have finally traced the disaster to a single bacterial species.

Right now, groups of Icelanders are taking to the streets late at night, armed with cardboard boxes and torches, in search of the white bellies of baby puffins. This annual tradition has become one of the most fascinating rescue missions on the planet.

Tougher than steel, lighter than cotton. For decades, spider silk has been the material science promised but never quite delivered at scale. Now, a biotech company claims it has cracked the code by turning the familiar silkworm into living factories.

While machines have mastered both sight and sound, the sense of taste has largely remained exclusive to biological organisms. Now, researchers in Beijing have built a graphene oxide “tongue” that doesn’t just detect chemicals, it learns them.

Astronomers have discovered a new celestial object in the galaxy NGS 4945 about 12 million light-years away. Its light is polarized at an almost impossible level that hints at a perfectly aligned magnetic field. The object has been nicknamed "Punctum".

Wouldn't it be great if the plants in your home could do more than just sit there looking pretty? Researchers in China have found a way to upgrade succulents into soft glowing night lights in a range of hues, with the use of nanoparticles.

Unearthed in southern Patagonia, a remarkably intact skeleton has been found to be a new species of crocodyliform: A fearsome hypercarnivore that roamed the Earth 70 million years ago, using its blade-like teeth to tear up pray – including dinosaurs.