University of Arkansas

Drinking water in developed countries is pretty clean, but hidden nasties can still lurk. One mysterious “phantom chemical” has haunted drinking water for decades, and now researchers have identified it – and found it’s completely new to science.

Mowing might seem like a pretty sensible way to keep weeds at bay. But in the case of the silverleaf nightshade, the activity puts the plant into survival mode causing it to fight back with some pretty powerful defense mechanisms, says a new study.

New research in old mice undergoing an increasingly demanding fitness regime has shown how exercise can lead to rejuvenated skeletal muscle, with the tissue showing characteristics of mice eight weeks younger.

Following its Pritzker Prize win, Grafton Architects isn’t creating another stone building as you might expect. Instead, the firm has designed a light-filled all-timber college research building that it hopes will highlight the versatility of wood.

A team of researchers has developed a non-invasive tool which not only detects circulating tumor cells in the bloodstream, but can blast them away at the same time. Dubbed the Cytophone, it employs a laser which heats the CTCs, subsequently detecting them via ultrasound.

​Although artificial hips allow many people to remain mobile, the things do wear out after a while, often requiring replacement surgeries. The need for such operations may soon become less frequent, however, thanks to research being conducted at the University of Arkansas.