Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have created a new aluminum alloy called RidgeAlloy that can turn contaminated car-body scrap into strong structural vehicle parts. Normally, impurities introduced during recycling make this scrap unsuitable for high-performance applications. RidgeAlloy overcomes that challenge, enabling recycled aluminum to meet the strength and durability standards required for modern vehicles. The technology could slash energy use, reduce imports, and unlock a huge new supply of domestic aluminum.

Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University have developed a new molecule that could open the door to treating triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat forms of the disease. The compound, called SU212, targets and disables a key enzyme that cancer cells rely on to fuel their growth. In tests using humanized mouse models, the molecule caused tumors to shrink and slowed the spread of cancer by forcing the enzyme to break down.

A nearly complete dinosaur skeleton discovered in Patagonia is helping scientists crack the mystery of alvarezsaurs, a bizarre group of bird-like dinosaurs. The fossil of Alnashetri cerropoliciensis reveals that these animals became tiny before developing their later specialized features, such as stubby arms and ant-eating adaptations. Weighing under two pounds, the dinosaur is one of the smallest known from South America.

Scientists studying Mars may have uncovered a brand-new mineral hidden in the planet’s ancient sulfate deposits. By combining laboratory experiments with orbital data, researchers identified an unusual iron sulfate—ferric hydroxysulfate—forming in layered deposits near the massive Valles Marineris canyon system. The mineral likely formed when sulfate-rich deposits left behind by ancient water were later heated by volcanic or geothermal activity, transforming their chemistry.

Cosmic voids may seem like the emptiest places in the universe, stripped of matter, radiation, and even dark matter. But they’re far from nothing. Even in these vast empty regions, the fundamental quantum fields that fill all of space remain, carrying a small but real amount of energy known as vacuum energy, or dark energy. While this energy is overwhelmed by matter in galaxies and clusters, in the deep emptiness of cosmic voids it becomes dominant.

Colorblindness may be doing more than making traffic lights confusing — it could also be hiding a life-threatening warning sign. Researchers analyzing millions of medical records found that people with bladder cancer who are also colorblind have a 52% higher mortality rate over 20 years compared to those with normal vision. The likely reason: many people with color vision deficiency struggle to see red, making it harder to notice blood in urine, the most common early sign of bladder cancer.

Scientists have uncovered how brewer’s yeast developed its unusually tiny centromeres, the DNA regions that guide chromosome separation during cell division. By studying related yeast species, researchers found centromeres that appear to represent evolutionary halfway points. These structures seem to have formed from retrotransposons—mobile “jumping genes” in the genome. The discovery shows how DNA once considered genomic junk can be transformed into essential chromosome machinery.

A new analysis of more than 422,000 patients reveals a stark Alzheimer’s care gap between Maryland’s urban and rural communities. Rural regions often lack hospitals and dementia specialists, forcing older patients to travel farther for diagnosis and treatment. Researchers found areas with high Alzheimer’s death rates but surprisingly low diagnosis rates, suggesting many cases may never be identified.

When NASA’s DART spacecraft deliberately crashed into the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos, it did more than change the asteroid’s local orbit — it slightly shifted the path of the entire asteroid pair around the Sun. The impact blasted debris into space, doubling the force of the spacecraft’s hit and nudging the system’s solar orbit by a tiny but measurable amount. It marks the first time humans have altered the trajectory of a celestial object around the Sun. The result strengthens the case for using spacecraft impacts as a future planetary defense strategy.

Global warming has picked up speed in the past decade, according to a new analysis from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). By removing short term natural influences such as El Niño, volcanic eruptions, and solar cycles from temperature records, researchers uncovered a clear acceleration in the planet’s long term warming trend beginning around 2015.

Researchers have found hundreds of metabolic enzymes attached to human DNA inside the cell nucleus. Different tissues and cancers show unique patterns of these enzymes, forming a “nuclear metabolic fingerprint.” Some of the enzymes gather around damaged DNA to assist with repair. The discovery reveals an unexpected link between metabolism and gene regulation that could influence how cancers grow and respond to treatment.

Researchers have created a method called optovolution that uses light to guide the evolution of proteins with dynamic behaviors. By engineering yeast cells so their survival depended on proteins switching states at the right time, scientists could rapidly select the best-performing variants. The technique produced new light-sensitive proteins that respond to different colors and improved optogenetic systems. It even evolved a protein that behaves like a tiny logic gate, activating genes only when two signals are present.

Pre-workout supplements promising extra energy for workouts may come with a hidden cost: severely reduced sleep. A study of people aged 16–30 found users were more than twice as likely to sleep five hours or less per night. Many of these products pack huge doses of caffeine and stimulants that can linger for hours. Researchers say the findings raise concerns about the impact on young people’s health and development.

Scientists have found a way to significantly boost “blue energy,” which generates electricity from the mixing of saltwater and freshwater. By coating nanopores with lipid molecules that create a friction-reducing water layer, they enabled ions to pass through much more efficiently while keeping the process highly selective. Their prototype membrane produced about two to three times more power than current technologies. The discovery could help bring osmotic energy closer to becoming a practical renewable power source.

DNA is revealing that many animals once thought to be a single species may actually be several hidden ones. But research on Bornean fanged frogs shows the line between species can be blurry—an important challenge when deciding what wildlife needs protection most.

Plants constantly juggle oxygen inside their cells, but scientists have now discovered a surprising twist in how that balance works. Researchers at the University of Helsinki found that mitochondria—the cell’s energy generators—can actively pull oxygen away from chloroplasts, the structures responsible for photosynthesis. This previously unknown interaction suggests mitochondria can effectively “drain” oxygen inside plant cells, altering photosynthesis and the production of reactive molecules that help plants respond to stress.

Physicists have long struggled to unite quantum mechanics—the theory governing tiny particles—with Einstein’s theory of gravity, which explains the behavior of stars, planets, and the structure of the universe. Researchers at TU Wien have now taken a new step toward that goal by rethinking one of relativity’s core ideas: the paths particles follow through curved spacetime, known as geodesics. By creating a quantum version of these paths—called the q-desic equation—the team showed that particles moving through a “quantum” spacetime may deviate slightly from the paths predicted by classical relativity.

Engineers have discovered an unexpected link between two very different realms of physics: the behavior of electrons in graphene and magnetic waves in specially engineered materials. By designing a thin magnetic film with a hexagonal pattern of holes—similar to graphene’s structure—the researchers showed that magnetic “spin waves” can follow the same mathematical rules as graphene’s famously unusual electrons. The surprising overlap reveals a deeper connection between electronic and magnetic systems and gives scientists a powerful new way to study complex magnetic materials.

A Yale study found that lowering parent stress can help protect young children from obesity. When parents practiced mindfulness and stress-management skills, their kids showed healthier eating patterns and avoided the weight gain seen in families that only focused on diet and exercise.

Astronomers have created the largest and most detailed 3D map yet of a glowing signal from the early universe, revealing hidden galaxies and gas from 9-11 billion years ago. By analyzing faint “Lyman-alpha” light emitted by energized hydrogen, scientists used an advanced technique called line intensity mapping to capture not just the brightest galaxies but also the vast cosmic structures surrounding them.