Headlines

Chemists unlock Appel fluorination with potassium fluoride

Alcohols are among the most abundant building blocks in chemistry. Fluorinated compounds, meanwhile, are essential for many modern medicines, crop protection products and advanced materials. Converting one into the other, however, has traditionally relied on toxic, thermally

First AI-driven telescope goes stargazing

Every night, astronomers must carefully assess changing weather, the intensity of moonlight and shifting atmospheric conditions before deciding where to point a telescope. It's a constant balancing act designed to squeeze as much science as possible from every precious hour

New photonic platform offers a four-lane highway for light

Topological photonics can force propagating light to travel in a single direction—allowing researchers to route optical signals around corners and past defects without any of it scattering backward. So far, however, this one-way flow has only been found at the boundary between

Poochmaxxing: the wellness industry is coming for your pets

I am a runner who loves being active alongside my dogs. Actually, I am more of a plodder—and one with very bad knees. Those knees benefit from regular physiotherapy and sports massage. You might not be surprised, then, to hear that I have regular physiotherapy appointments. The

Tree cover is key to cooling cities

Weather measurements in Leeds have shown that many green spaces, such as parks, gardens and forests, were cooler than surrounding urban environments, also known as gray spaces.

Exposing the hidden toll of litigation

A James Cook University study is challenging the belief that the greatest cost of going to court is losing a case, arguing the legal process itself can leave lasting psychological scars.

The Arctic Ocean keeps permafrost carbon firmly locked

Permafrost in the Arctic stores large quantities of organic carbon. When frozen ground thaws or coastal sections erode, this carbon can enter the sea, where microorganisms can break it down and convert it into climate-damaging greenhouse gases. The extent to which this carbon

Learning to better understand bone-like minerals

A University of California San Diego research team has found a better way to understand and stabilize hydroxyapatite, the calcium phosphate mineral that makes up much of our teeth and bones. By adding tiny amounts of europium, a rare-earth element that mimics calcium, the team

A thermal camera trick could let LIGO see twice as far

There's a nice kind of irony buried in this story: One of the most sensitive instruments ever built, capable of measuring distortions smaller than the width of a proton, has been quietly held back by something as mundane as heat. And the fix, it turns out, is not some exotic