The tides are changing for white dwarfs

Impression of the 6.9 minute double white dwarf binary J1539+5027, composed of a tidally heated white dwarf (yellow) and its more compact companion (blue). It is about to start mass transferring.
 Image Credit: KyotoU / Lucy McNeill

White dwarfs are the compact remnants of stars that have stopped nuclear burning, a fate that will eventually befall our sun. These extremely dense objects are degenerate stars because their structure is counterintuitive: the heavier they are, the smaller they are.

White dwarfs often form binary systems, in which two stars orbit one another. The majority of these are ancient even by galactic standards, and have cooled to surface temperatures of about 4,000 degrees Kelvin. However, recent studies have revealed a class of short period binary systems in which the stars orbit each other faster than once per hour. Contrary to theoretical models, these stars are inflated to twice the size as expected due to surface temperatures of 10 to 30 thousand degrees Kelvin.

Binding power of trapped water demonstrated for the first time

Water molecules are a driving force in the formation of molecular bonds, such as in proteins.
Image Credit: INT, KIT

Water is everywhere – it covers most of the earth, circulates in the human body and can be found in even the smallest molecular niches. But what happens if water does not flow freely but is trapped in such structures? Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Constructor University in Bremen have proven for the first time that "locked" water can influence its environment and strengthen the bond between molecules. This finding could open new avenues for the development of drugs and materials.

Some of the water on Earth is found in tiny nooks and crannies – enclosed in molecular pockets, such as protein binding sites or synthetic receptors. Whether this water behaves neutrally in the presence of other molecules or influences their binding has so far been controversial. "Water molecules usually interact most strongly with each other. However, experimental data showed that water behaves unusually in such narrow pockets", says Dr. Frank Biedermann from KIT's Institute of Nanotechnology. "We have now been able to provide the theoretical basis for these observations and prove that the water in the molecular pockets is energetically tense."

Russian Physicists Found a Way to Speed Up the Process of Developing Solar Panels

According to Ivan Zhidkov, this method allows for the quick selection of only promising materials.
 Photo Credit: Rodion Narudinov

Physicists at Ural Federal University and their colleagues from the Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Science (IPCP RAS) have found a way to significantly reduce the thousands of hours required for developing perovskite solar panel technology. Scientists have proposed a method that allows us  to determine in a few hours whether solar panels will fail quickly or if the development is promising with a potentially long service life. The test results were published in the journal Physica B: Condensed Matter.

Perovskite films are promising energy converters for various photoelectronic devices, such as solar cells, LEDs, and photodetectors. They have excellent optoelectronic properties and can be grown relatively easily at a low production cost.

Geologists discover the first evidence of 4.5-billion-year-old “proto-Earth”

“This is maybe the first direct evidence that we’ve preserved the proto Earth materials,” says Nicole Nie. An artist’s illustration shows a rocky proto Earth bubbling with lava.
Image Credit: MIT News; iStock
(CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Scientists at MIT and elsewhere have discovered extremely rare remnants of “proto-Earth,” which formed about 4.5 billion years ago, before a colossal collision irreversibly altered the primitive planet’s composition and produced the Earth as we know today. Their findings, reported today in the journal Nature Geosciences, will help scientists piece together the primordial starting ingredients that forged the early Earth and the rest of the solar system.

Billions of years ago, the early solar system was a swirling disk of gas and dust that eventually clumped and accumulated to form the earliest meteorites, which in turn merged to form the proto-Earth and its neighboring planets.

In this earliest phase, Earth was likely rocky and bubbling with lava. Then, less than 100 million years later, a Mars-sized meteorite slammed into the infant planet in a singular “giant impact” event that completely scrambled and melted the planet’s interior, effectively resetting its chemistry. Whatever original material the proto-Earth was made from was thought to have been altogether transformed.

“Cocktails” of common pharmaceuticals in our waterways may promote antibiotic resistance

Photo Credit: Nana K.

New research has shown, for the first time, how mixtures of commonly used medications which end up in our waterways and natural environments might increase the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

When humans or animals take medications, as much as 90 percent can pass through the body and into natural environments, via waste-water, or run-off from fields, ending up in the ocean. 

In the environment, this build-up of antibiotic medicines can accumulate to a strength sufficient to kill the bacteria that live there; this can result in bacteria evolving defenses that help them to survive these concentrations, which can mean they are also resistant to antibiotics used to treat them if they later infect humans. However, less is known about how build-up of other medicines also affects bacteria, and until now, scientists have largely investigated the effect of these medications on triggering this antibiotic resistance one-at-a-time. 

Extra Silver Atom Sparks Breakthrough in Photoluminescence of Silver Nanoclusters

Structural architectures of anion-templated (a) Ag78 and (b) Ag79 NCs. Hydrogen atoms are omitted for clarity.
Image Credit: ©Yuichi Negishi et al.

A team of researchers from Tohoku University, Tokyo University of Science, and the Institute for Molecular Science have uncovered how the precise addition of a single silver (Ag) atom can dramatically transform the light-emitting properties of high-nuclear Ag nanoclusters (NCs). The study reports a remarkable 77-fold increase in photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY) at room temperature - a milestone that paves the way for practical applications in optoelectronics and sensing technologies. The findings were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Photoluminescence quantum yield is an important metric used to evaluate the efficiency of photoluminescence, which is how well a material can absorb energy and convert it into light. Improving PLQY positively impacts technology such as OLEDs in TV screens.

Earth’s continents stabilized due to furnace-like heat

A new study of the chemical components of rocks led by researchers at Penn State and Columbia University provides the clearest evidence yet for how Earth's continents became and remained so stable — and the key ingredient is heat. 
Photo Credit: Jaydyn Isiminger / Penn State
(CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

The new discovery has implications beyond geologic history, such as the search for critical minerals and habitable planets beyond Earth

For billions of years, Earth’s continents have remained remarkably stable, forming the foundation for mountains, ecosystems and civilizations. But the secret to their stability has mystified scientists for more than a century. Now, a new study by researchers at Penn State and Columbia University provides the clearest evidence yet for how the landforms became and remained so stable — and the key ingredient is heat. 

In a paper published today (Oct. 13) in the journal Nature Geoscience, the researchers demonstrated that the formation of stable continental crust — the kind that lasts billions of years — required temperatures exceeding 900 degrees Celsius in the planet’s lower continental crust. Such high temperatures, they said, were essential for redistributing radioactive elements like uranium and thorium. The elements generate heat as they decay, so as they moved from the bottom to the top of the crust, they carried heat out with them and allowed the deep crust to cool and strengthen.

Scientists uncover a new way to forecast eruptions at mid-ocean ridges through hydrothermal vent temperatures

Data loggers deployed at hydrothermal vents on the East Pacific Rise record temperature of vent fluids every ten minutes for up to a year.
Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of Jill McDermott, Lehigh Univ.; WHOI, NDSF, Alvin Team; Funder: National Science Foundation. © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

A new study provides scientists with a powerful new tool for monitoring and predicting tectonic activity deep beneath the seafloor at mid-ocean ridges—vast underwater mountain chains that form where Earth’s tectonic plates diverge.

The study, titled “Hydrothermal vent temperatures track magmatic inflation and forecast eruptions at the East Pacific Rise, 9°50'N,” reveals that fluctuations in the temperature of fluids flowing from hydrothermal vents occurring over minutes to years indicate the effects of magmatic and tectonic processes that occur miles beneath the seafloor. The research offers the first evidence that these subtle but detectable temperature changes could offer the means to predict seafloor volcanic eruptions.

Led by Thibaut Barreyre of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and University of Brest, with collaborators from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Lehigh University, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the study presents a 35-year time-series of temperature measurements from five hydrothermal vents along the East Pacific Rise, one of the most active segments and well-studied of the global mid-ocean ridge system.

Kiwis could help manage chronic constipation

Photo Credit: Tom Paolini

Kiwifruits, rye bread and high mineral-content water could all help alleviate chronic constipation.

That’s according to the first ever evidence-based dietary guidelines for adults with chronic constipation, led by researchers at King’s College London.

The new guidelines also show that taking psyllium fibre supplements, certain probiotic strains and magnesium oxide supplements can help to improve constipation.

In contrast, other widely recommended approaches, including generic “high-fiber diets,” and senna supplements (a type of laxative) were found to lack strong evidence of effectiveness.

Large Genetic Study Links Cannabis Use to Psychiatric, Cognitive and Physical Health

The study uncovered new relationships between gene variants associated with cannabis use and psychiatric, cognitive and physical health.
Image Credit: Scientific Frontline / AI generated

University of California San Diego of Medicine researchers, in collaboration with the genetic testing company 23andMe, have identified regions of the human genome associated with cannabis use, uncovering new relationships with psychiatric, cognitive and physical health. The findings may inform the development of prevention and treatment strategies for cannabis use disorder. The study was published on October 13, 2025 in Molecular Psychiatry.

“Cannabis is widely used, but its long-term effects on health remain poorly characterized,” said Sandra Sanchez-Roige, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine and senior author of the study. The researchers were also interested in the relationship between genetics and traits that contribute to the development of cannabis use disorder, which can interfere with a person’s daily life.

“While most people who try cannabis do not go on to develop cannabis use disorder, some studies estimate that nearly 30% will,” said Sanchez-Roige. “Understanding the genetics of early-stage behaviors may help clarify who is at greater risk, opening the door to prevention and intervention strategies.”

New lab-grown human embryo model produces blood cells

Video Credit: University of Cambridge

Researchers have found a new way to produce human blood cells in the lab that mimics the process in natural embryos. Their discovery holds potential to simulate blood disorders like leukemia, and to produce long-lasting blood stem cells for transplants.

University of Cambridge scientists have used human stem cells to create three-dimensional embryo-like structures that replicate certain aspects of very early human development - including the production of blood stem cells.

Human blood stem cells, also known as hematopoietic stem cells, are immature cells that can develop into any type of blood cell, including red blood cells that carry oxygen and various types of white blood cells crucial to the immune system.

The embryo-like structures, which the scientists have named ‘hematoids’, are self-organizing and start producing blood after around two weeks of development in the lab - mimicking the development process in human embryos.

Sikorsky Converts BLACK HAWK® Into U-Hawk™, A Battle-Ready Autonomous UAS

By removing the cockpit, seats and crew stations, the Sikorsky S-70UAS™ U-Hawk™ helicopter becomes the first fully autonomous Black Hawk helicopter.
Photo Credit: Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company.

From concept to reality in 10 months, Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, has transformed a UH-60L Black Hawk® helicopter into the S-70UAS™ U-Hawk™, a versatile autonomous unmanned aircraft system (UAS) that has 25% more cargo space than a typical Black Hawk. Sikorsky replaced the cockpit section with actuated clamshell doors and ramp, and swapped conventional flight controls with a third-generation, low-cost, fly-by-wire system integrated with MATRIX™ autonomy technology.

Ural Scientists Have Discovered Unknown Lichen Species in China

The discoveries were made during a large-scale expedition to the provinces of Gansu and Yunnan
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Ural Federal University

Scientists from UrFU Department of Biodiversity and Bioecology with their colleagues from Taizhou University (China) have discovered unknown lichen species in China. The samples were collected during a large-scale expedition in the provinces of Gansu and Yunnan. Scientists plan to publish a description of the new species in a scientific journal.

“We repeated two expeditions that took place 100 years ago. In the province of Yunnan, we explored the areas where an expedition led by the Austrian botanist, Heinrich von Handel-Mazzetti, was conducted in 1914-1916. In Gansu province, we collected material on the route of the Sino-Swedish expedition led by Sven Hedin in 1927-1935,” said Alexander Paukov, a member of the expedition and professor at UrFU Department of Biodiversity and Bioecology.

Understanding volcanoes better

Oldoinyo Lengai in Tanzania is the only active carbonatite volcano on Earth.
Photo Credit: © Miriam Reiss

How do volcanoes work? What happens beneath their surface? What causes the vibrations – known as tremor – that occur when magma or gases move upward through a volcano's conduits? Professor Dr. Miriam Christina Reiss, a volcano seismologist at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), and her team have located such tremor signals at the Oldoinyo Lengai volcano in Tanzania. "We were not only able to detect tremor, but also to determine its exact position in three dimensions – its location and depth below the surface," said Reiss. "What was particularly striking was the diversity of different tremor signals we detected." The findings provide new insights into how magma and gas are transported within the Earth and thus improve our understanding of volcanic dynamics. This also has societal relevance as the researchers hope that their work will enhance the ability to forecast volcanic eruptions in the long term. Their results have recently been published in Communications Earth & Environment.

New research reveals the secret to ancient fish scales’ survival

Diplomystus dentatus, Fossil-Lake, Wyoming, USA
Photo Credit: Didier Descouens
(CC BY-SA 4.0)

A Curtin University-led international study has solved the mystery of how the skin of a fossilized fish was able to be preserved for 52 million years, extending our understanding of how even the most delicate of biological material can survive deep in time.

Published in Environmental Microbiology, the research examined a remarkably well-preserved specimen of Diplomystus dentatus complete with fossilized skin and scales, found in the ‘Fossil Basin’ region of Wyoming in the United States of America.

Despite being in an oxygen elevated micro-environment which would normally cause tissues to decay, the team discovered the initial degradation of the fish’s fatty skin also led to an environment where phosphate minerals could form and rapidly replace organic material – leading to fossilization.

As the skin broke down, it released fatty acids and hydrogen ions, altering the surrounding chemistry in a way that favored phosphate preservation by effectively blocking the usual carbonate deposits which would have otherwise caused the tissues to decay.