Taking the P…. Our Urine Can Make Low-Carbon Fertilisers
Researchers at the University of Surrey have shown that human urine, which makes up just 1% of wastewater, contains the bulk of nutrients needed for fertilisers—nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. By applying forward osmosis, a low‑energy membrane process, these nutrients can be concentrated into a reusable fertiliser stream while cutting the energy demand of conventional treatment. The study also identified simple pre‑treatment steps that mitigate membrane fouling, preserving system efficiency. The findings suggest a pathway to lower the carbon footprint of both wastewater treatment and fertiliser production.
The Sky Today on Monday, April 20: A Trio of Predawn Planets
On the morning of April 20, 2026, Mercury, Mars and Saturn will line up within a 2° span just before sunrise, offering a rare pre‑dawn planetary trio. Mercury will be the brightest at magnitude –0.2, followed by Saturn (mag 0.9) and Mars (mag 1.2)....
Are Long-Promised Solar Perovskites Finally Hitting Mass Production?
Startup Tandem PV has opened a 65,000‑sq‑ft automated factory in Fremont, California, to mass‑produce perovskite‑coated glass panels that raise solar‑cell efficiency from roughly 22% to about 30%. The line already outputs panels 60 times larger than its laboratory cells and has...
AlphaGen Therapeutics to Present Preclinical Studies of Two Next-Generation Alpha Therapies at AACR 2026
AlphaGen Therapeutics announced it will present preclinical data on two next‑generation alpha radiopharmaceuticals, AG1002 and AG1206, at the AAC 2026 meeting in San Diego. AG1002 is a non‑agonist SSTR2‑targeting agent that achieved a superior tumor‑to‑kidney ratio and robust tumor inhibition in multiple...
Manufacturing Breakthrough Dives Deep with Australia’s First Underwater 3D Printing System
Australian firm LUYTEN 3D, together with the University of Wollongong, unveiled Australia’s first submerged 3D concrete printing system and an accelerator‑free underwater concrete mix. The single‑mix formulation remains stable under water, removing the need for chemical accelerators that traditional marine...
Batteries Charge To The Edge
Breakthrough claims from Finland’s Donut Lab and China’s BYD signal a new era for battery chemistry, promising double‑the‑energy solid‑state cells and ultra‑fast charging that could reach 1,000 km on a single charge. While capacity gains have historically lagged at 4‑8% per...
Blood Test May Be More Effective and Cost-Efficient than Standard Cholesterol Tests
A recent JAMA study led by Northwestern researchers finds that measuring apolipoprotein B (apoB) offers a more accurate assessment of cardiovascular risk than traditional LDL or non‑HDL cholesterol tests. Using a simulation of 250,000 adults eligible for cholesterol‑lowering therapy, the apoB‑guided...
Possible El Niño Coming – Too Early to Tell Much Says Weather Bureau
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology warns that it is still too early to pinpoint the timing or strength of a potential El Niño later this year. While the ENSO is currently neutral, climate models suggest a shift could occur, with thresholds...
Hybrid Electrolysis Replaces Waste Oxygen with Valuable Chemicals
Recent research highlights three distinct scientific advances. Marine biologists show that pinniped spines have been reshaped for powerful, mobile lower backs, trading neck flexibility for efficient swimming. In Mozambique, engineers are piloting systems that turn agricultural waste into clean water...
ATP Depletion the Key Driver of Ferroptosis in Alzheimer’s Brains
Recent research highlights three distinct breakthroughs: administering cancer immunotherapy earlier in the day can slash patient mortality, a novel fluorescent sensor enables instant detection of E. coli in catheter bags to curb urinary‑tract infections, and digital‑twin models are being used...
Spines of Pinnipeds Were Adapted for Marine Life and Swimming Styles
Researchers unveiled a hybrid electrolysis platform that simultaneously generates hydrogen and upgrades glycerol into high‑value chemicals, eliminating waste oxygen. In Mozambique, a spatial‑analysis driven initiative is converting agricultural residues into decentralized water and energy solutions for rural communities. Parallel studies...
3D Printing Is Now Possible Inside Living Cells
Researchers have unveiled a suite of breakthroughs that could reshape bio‑manufacturing and quantum technology. An AI‑driven digital light processing resin now permits 3D printing directly inside living cells, opening pathways for cellular‑level tissue engineering. Parallel studies revealed anomalous reverse heat...
Starwatch: Lyrid Meteor Shower Returns to the Spring Skies
The annual Lyrid meteor shower peaks early on 22 April, offering up to 18 bright meteors per hour as they streak from the Lyra constellation near Vega. Originating from debris of comet Thatcher, discovered in 1861, the Lyrids have been recorded...
Quantum Computers Reveal Heat that Flows the Wrong Way
Researchers have applied machine‑learning algorithms to diagnose and classify noise sources in superconducting quantum processors, revealing anomalous heat flow that can reverse direction under certain operating conditions. The AI‑driven analysis pinpoints microscopic defects and thermal gradients within the chip, enabling...
Adisyn Eyes Semiconductor Interconnect Solutions After Low-Temp Graphene Breakthrough
Adisyn (ASX: AI1) demonstrated continuous graphene deposition on a 1 cm × 1 cm coupon using standard industrial atomic layer deposition (ALD) equipment at temperatures well below the 450 °C semiconductor limit. The low‑temperature process, validated by TEM/FIB‑THEMIS and Raman analysis, marks a step toward...
What Are Biologics and Small Molecules for Ulcerative Colitis?
Advanced therapies—biologics and small molecules—offer targeted treatment for moderate to severe ulcerative colitis. Biologics are injectable antibodies that block specific immune proteins, while small molecules are oral agents that inhibit intracellular inflammatory pathways. Clinical experience shows remission often begins within...
To Understand Decision-Making, We Need to Truly Challenge Lab Animals
Neuroscientists are urging a shift from simple reward‑based tasks to richer, multi‑dimensional decision‑making paradigms for animal studies. While technologies like Neuropixels and optical imaging can record thousands of neurons, trivial tasks produce brief, ambiguous neural windows that mask the computations...
NASA’s Moon Base: Architecture, Phasing, and the Engineering Gaps Behind a Permanent Lunar Outpost
On March 24, 2026 NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman unveiled a $20 billion Moon Base program that will establish a permanent crewed presence at the lunar South Pole by 2033. The architecture is organized into three phases, scaling surface payload from roughly...
SpaceX Won A Mars Mission That Might Get Cancelled
NASA announced that SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy has been selected to launch ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover to Mars, with a contract worth about $175.7 million and a target launch window in late 2028. The award provides a rare deep‑space mission for Falcon Heavy after...
ATLANT 3D and NUS Partner on AI-Driven Materials Discovery Foundry in Singapore
ATLANT 3D and the National University of Singapore’s Institute for Functional Intelligent Materials have signed an MOU to launch an AI‑driven materials discovery foundry inside NUS’s CREATE lab. The facility will integrate ATLANT 3D’s Direct Atomic Layer Processing (DALP) technology...
Nestlé and NTU Singapore to Establish Research Lab Focusing on Longevity, Women’s Health
Nestlé and Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University have signed a multi‑year agreement to create a joint research lab focused on nutrition‑driven healthy longevity. The partnership will combine Nestlé’s global R&D capabilities with NTU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine expertise and...
Raumfahrt: Rückschlag Für Blue Origin – Satellit in Falscher Umlaufbahn
Blue Origin’s third New Glenn launch suffered a setback when its BlueBird 7 satellite was released into an orbit too low to sustain operations, leading to its loss. The rocket’s reusable first stage, however, landed safely, marking a successful demonstration of reusability....
Pinnacle Food Group Develops Breakthrough Process for Recombinant Breast Milk Protein at Hong Kong Lab
Canadian biotech Pinnacle Food Group announced a methanol‑free precision‑fermentation process that produces recombinant human lactoferrin using a patented Pichia yeast strain at its Hong Kong lab. The new method eliminates toxic methanol, reducing capital and operating expenses while delivering a...
Single-Cell Transcriptomics of Human Brain Disorders
A surge of single‑cell and single‑nucleus transcriptomic studies is redefining the molecular architecture of Alzheimer’s disease and related brain disorders. Researchers have cataloged dozens of cell‑type specific signatures, from microglial states driven by TREM2 variants to endothelial and astrocyte dysregulation....
Why Electrodics Is Essential for Future Energy Technologies
Jelena Popovic‑Neuber’s Nature Nanotechnology comment argues that electrodics—the study of charge dynamics at electrode‑electrolyte interfaces—must receive greater emphasis to unlock advances in energy technologies. She highlights how detailed electrodic characterization can clarify ion transport in porous composite electrodes, a key...
Single Indium Atoms Shape CO2-to-Methanol Catalysis
Researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory have shown that monoclinic hafnia can stabilize atomically dispersed indium atoms, creating highly active interfacial sites for CO₂ hydrogenation. The single‑atom indium catalyst delivers markedly higher methanol selectivity and operates at lower temperatures compared with...
Genetic Overlap and Shared Risk Loci Between Autism Spectrum Disorder and Cardiometabolic Traits
A new genome‑wide analysis leveraged large‑scale GWAS data to map shared genetic architecture between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and several cardiometabolic traits, including BMI, cholesterol, type‑2 diabetes, blood pressure and coronary artery disease. Using the MiXeR bivariate mixture model and...
‘Bat Feast’ Animal Videos at African Cave Offer Clues to How Deadly Viruses Spread
Researchers in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park used camera traps at Python Cave to capture ten predator species feeding on Egyptian fruit bats, known carriers of Marburg virus. The footage includes the first documented evidence of leopards hunting live bats...
On the Interpretation of Astrocytic Calcium Signalling with Graphene Oxide Electrodes
The authors reassess a 2024 Nature Nanotechnology claim that graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) electrodes can selectively trigger external calcium influx or internal calcium release in astrocytes. They argue that GO’s insulating nature and rGO’s conductivity produce...
When Quantum Fluids of Light Crystallize
Researchers Dario Gerace and Daniele Sanvitto reported the first observation of room‑temperature supersolidity in a quantum fluid of light. They integrated a single‑crystal halide perovskite with a patterned nano‑grating, creating a nonlinear optical lattice that supports polariton condensation. Measurements revealed...
Reply To: On the Interpretation of Astrocytic Calcium Signalling with Graphene Oxide Electrodes
The authors issue a formal reply to critiques of their 2024 Nature Nanotechnology study on graphene‑oxide (GO) electrodes and astrocytic calcium signaling. They reaffirm that GO electrodes reliably trigger distinct calcium transients in cultured astrocytes, and they present additional control...
KASA And The Canadian Space Agency Sign MOU On Space Cooperation
At the Space Symposium 2026 in Colorado Springs, the Korean Aerospace Agency (KASA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen bilateral space cooperation. The agreement covers Earth observation, low‑Earth‑orbit (LEO) satellite communications, positioning, navigation...
How HutanBio Plans to Decarbonise Heavy Transport by Growing Microalgae in Deserts
HutanBio is developing desert‑based micro‑algae photobioreactors to produce low‑carbon, drop‑in fuels for heavy transport such as ships, trucks, trains and aircraft. The closed‑loop system captures CO₂ from the air or industrial sources, harvests algae, and converts the biomass via hydrothermal...
UNSW Develops AI-Driven Method to Speed up Semiconductor Material Discovery
Researchers at the University of New South Wales have unveiled an AI‑assisted workflow that reverses traditional material design by starting from performance targets and then identifying suitable hybrid perovskite molecules. The system screened millions of possible molecular combinations, narrowing the...
HIV Treatment Reduces Accelerated Biological Aging by Nearly Four Years, Landmark Study Shows
A landmark study presented at ESCMID Global 2026 shows that antiretroviral therapy (ART) reduces the accelerated biological aging seen in people with HIV (PWH) by an average of 3.7 years after roughly 1.5 years of treatment. Researchers used a plasma...
Improving Oral Care More than Halves Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia Risk, Major Trial Finds
The Hospital Acquired Pneumonia Prevention (HAPPEN) study, a stepped‑wedge cluster RCT across three Australian hospitals and 8,870 patients, demonstrated that a structured oral‑care program reduced non‑ventilator‑associated hospital‑acquired pneumonia (NV‑HAP) incidence by roughly 60%, from 1.00 to 0.41 cases per 100...
Antibiotic Resistance Genes Found in Newborns Within Hours of Birth, Study Shows
A new ESCMID Global 2026 study examined meconium from 105 NICU infants and found antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) within hours of birth. The most prevalent genes were oqxA (98%) and qnrS (96%), with beta‑lactamase genes such as blaCTX‑M present in...
Chernobyl Full of Life as Wildlife Reoccupies a Radioactive Landscape
Four decades after the 1986 disaster, the Chernobyl exclusion zone has transformed into a thriving wildlife sanctuary. Przewalski's horses, introduced in 1998, now graze alongside wolves, bears, lynx, moose and deer across a 30‑kilometre radius that remains off‑limits to humans....
A Light-Controlled 'Muscle' Could Give Synthetic Cells a New Way to Move
Engineers at Georgia Tech have created a light‑controlled protein network that mimics a muscle, using calcium‑triggered contraction instead of ATP‑driven motors. The system relies on the ciliate protein Tcb2 and a light‑sensitive calcium cage to release calcium on demand, achieving...
Success Stories: AI Advances Disease Knowledge and Treatment
Artificial intelligence is reshaping biomedical research, with a focus on accelerating disease insight and treatment development. Virginia Tech researcher Debswapna Bhattacharya secured a five‑year, $2.1 million NIH award to build AI tools that map protein and RNA structures in three dimensions....
Wafer-Scale 2D Magnetic Films Emerge Thanks to a New Low-Defect Growth Technique
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science have introduced a low‑defect physical vapor transport deposition (PVTD) method that produces centimeter‑scale, wafer‑wide CrCl₃ films, a representative two‑dimensional magnetic material. By darkening the growth tube, using ultra‑high carrier‑gas flow, dynamically controlling material...
Novel Diabetic Wound Treatment Turns Cells Into Manufacturers
Researchers at Texas A&M have created a novel wound dressing for diabetic foot ulcers that leverages an interwoven extracellular matrix produced by human cells, then strips the cells away, leaving a purely biological scaffold. The approach sidesteps the immune‑rejection and...
StockWatch: Revolution’s Phase III Pancreatic Cancer Data Dazzles Investors, Analysts
Revolution Medicines reported Phase III RASolute 302 results showing its oral RAS inhibitor daraxonrasib extended median overall survival to 13.2 months in previously treated metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, versus 6.7 months for standard chemotherapy (HR 0.40, p < 0.0001). The data sparked a...
New Glenn Launches for 3rd Time, Reuses First Stage and Lands It, but Fails to Put Satellite in Correct Orbit
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral for its third flight, reusing a first stage that successfully landed on its Atlantic recovery barge. The mission carried AST SpaceMobile’s Bluebird‑7 cellphone satellite, but the payload was released into an...
Researchers Use Statistics and Math to Understand How the Brain Works
Researchers at Georgia Tech's Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society are applying mathematics, statistics, and AI to decode brain function. Projects include topographic AI models that mirror brain organization, AI‑driven analysis of spinal cord activity for motor control, and precise...
Blue Origin's Rocket Reuse Achievement Marred by Upper Stage Failure
Blue Origin achieved its first successful reflight of the New Glenn orbital booster, landing the first stage on a drone ship in the Atlantic. However, the rocket's upper stage failed to insert AST SpaceMobile’s broadband satellite into the planned 285‑mile orbit, leaving...
Can a Common Parasite Medication Calm the Brain’s Stress Circuitry During Alcohol Withdrawal?
Researchers at UC San Diego discovered that rodents with high P2rx4 gene expression exhibit markedly increased alcohol consumption during withdrawal. Administering the antiparasitic drug ivermectin produced a dose‑dependent reduction in lever‑pressing for alcohol, especially in animals that responded behaviorally. Electrophysiological...
Loneliness May Contribute to Memory Issues, but Not Dementia — They Are 'Not the Same Thing'
A new six‑year study of more than 10,000 adults aged 65‑94 found that loneliness is associated with memory difficulties but does not increase the risk of dementia. Participants were dementia‑free at baseline, and researchers tracked cognitive performance while noting loneliness...
Sulphur-Soaked Lava World Is in a Planetary Class All Its Own
Astronomers using JWST and ground‑based telescopes have identified L 98‑59 d, a super‑Earth 35 light‑years away that is about 1.6 times Earth’s diameter. The planet’s mantle is a global magma ocean rich in sulphur, and a dense, hydrogen‑filled atmosphere plus tidal heating...
‘How Much Have We Missed?’: Book Tunes in to Overlooked World of Female Birdsong
The newly released guidebook "The Sound Approach to Birding 2" tackles the long‑standing omission of female birdsong from field guides and sound archives. It supplies a curated library of 300 recordings from 200 species, confirming female calls for 41% of Western...