New recharge-to-recycle reactor turns battery waste into new lithium feedstock

A photo of the electrochemical cell set-up in the Rice lab
Photo Credit: Jorge Vidal/Rice University

As global electric vehicle adoption accelerates, end-of-life battery packs are quickly becoming a major waste stream. Lithium is costly to mine and refine, and most current recycling methods are energy- and chemical-intensive, often producing lithium carbonate that must be further processed into lithium hydroxide for reuse.

Instead of smelting or dissolving shredded battery materials (“black mass”) in strong acids, a team of engineers at Rice University has developed a cleaner approach by recharging the waste cathode materials to coax out lithium ions into water, where they combine with hydroxide to form high-purity lithium hydroxide.

“We asked a basic question: If charging a battery pulls lithium out of a cathode, why not use that same reaction to recycle?” said Sibani Lisa Biswal, chair of Rice’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the William M. McCardell Professor in Chemical Engineering. “By pairing that chemistry with a compact electrochemical reactor, we can separate lithium cleanly and produce the exact salt manufacturers want.”

New material designed at OSU represents breakthrough in medical imaging

MRI contrast agent graphic
Image Credit: Courtesy of Kyriakos Stylianou / Oregon State University

Scientists at Oregon State University have filed a patent on a design for a new magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent with the potential to outperform current agents while being less toxic to patients and more environmentally friendly.

The new material is based on a structure known as a metal-organic framework or MOF, whose development in the 1990s earned this year’s Nobel Prize for chemistry as MOFs’ many possible uses become increasingly apparent.

MOFs are made up of positively charged metal ions surrounded by organic “linker” molecules. They have nanosized pores and can be designed with a variety of components that determine the MOF’s properties.

Polar climate change could amplify global health risks, study warns

Photo Credit: Annie Spratt

Climate change in Earth’s polar regions is emerging as an under-recognised driver of global health risks, with consequences reaching far beyond the Arctic and Antarctic, researchers argue.

A study by an international team of scientists led by Professor Gail Whiteman from the University of Exeter Business School presents a comprehensive framework mapping the complex connections between physical changes in the Arctic and Antarctic which could amplify climate impacts to human health worldwide.

The researchers reviewed a wide range of scientific literature across climate science, public health and other fields. They found that current models underestimate the direct and indirect impacts of changing polar regions on global health issues – from chronic disease to mental health challenges, and pregnancy complications.

How plastics grip metals at the atomic scale

Hierarchical view of polymer–alumina direct bonding across multiple length scales.
Image Credit: Osaka Metropolitan University

What makes some plastics stick to metal without any glue? Osaka Metropolitan University scientists peered into the invisible adhesive zone that forms between certain plastics and metals — one atom at a time — to uncover how chemistry and molecular structure determine whether such bonds bend or break.

Their insights clarify metal–plastic bonding mechanisms and offer guidelines for designing durable, lightweight, and more sustainable hybrid materials for use in transportation.

Combining the strength of metal with the lightness and flexibility of plastic, polymer–metal hybrid structures are emerging as key elements for building lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The technology relies on bonding metals with plastics directly, without adhesives. The success of these hybrids, however, hinges on how well the two materials stick together.

Sand mining reducing the flow of Southeast Asia’s largest lake, new report warns

The Tonle Sap Lake (TSL) in Cambodia is one of the most ecologically diverse lake ecosystems globally
Photo Credit: Marco De Gregorio

A new study led by Loughborough University has highlighted how sand mining is endangering the normal functioning of the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia.

The Tonle Sap Lake (TSL) in Cambodia is one of the most ecologically diverse lake ecosystems globally, and is the fourth most productive in terms of fish productivity.  

Since 1997 the TSL has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Biosphere Reserve, serving as a habitat for globally significant populations of endangered amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds, spanning a diverse array of over 800 species. 

XnConvert

XnConvert
Image Credit: Scientific Frontline

XnConvert is a powerful and versatile batch image processing utility. Its primary function is to automate the editing of large sets of images simultaneously, saving significant time compared to editing files one by one. It is designed to be a fast, cross-platform solution that combines a wide range of features into an easy-to-use interface.

Astrophysics: In-Depth Description

An illustration of the vast and complex field of astrophysics, featuring elements that represent celestial objects and phenomena.
Image Credit: Scientific Frontline / stock image

Astrophysics is the branch of physics that applies physical laws and theories to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and behavior of celestial objects and phenomena. Its primary goal is to use the principles of physics to explain the universe and everything within it, from stars and planets to galaxies and the entirety of the cosmos.

Astronomy: In-Depth Description

James Webb Space Telescope view of IRAS 04302+2247, a planet-forming disc located about 525 light-years away in a dark cloud within the Taurus star-forming region.
Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, M. Villenave et al.

Astronomy is the natural science dedicated to the study of all celestial objects and phenomena originating beyond Earth's atmosphere. Its primary goals are to understand the physical and chemical properties of these objects, their origins and evolution, and the fundamental laws governing the universe as a whole.

Artificial Intelligence: In-Depth Description

Futuristic AI mainframe
Image Credit: Scientific Frontline / AI Generated

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a wide-ranging branch of computer science focused on building smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and language comprehension. The primary goal is not just to mimic human thought but to create systems that can learn from data, identify patterns, and make autonomous decisions to solve complex problems, often with greater speed and accuracy than humans.

Archaeology: In-Depth Description

Archeology works at Iža locality near Komárno
Photo Credit: Trnava University

Archaeology (Branch of Anthropology) is the scientific study of the human past through the recovery and analysis of material remains. It seeks to reconstruct and understand past human behaviors, cultural practices, and societal development by examining the artifacts, structures, and environmental data that people left behind.

Archaeology is the primary method for investigating human history before the invention of writing (representing ~99% of the human story), and it provides a crucial complementary perspective for time periods that do have written records.

Anthropology: In-Depth Description

Easter Island, a Chilean territory, is a remote volcanic island in Polynesia. Its native name is Rapa Nui. It’s famed for archaeological sites, including nearly 900 monumental statues called moai, created by inhabitants during the 13th–16th centuries. The moai are carved human figures with oversize heads, often resting on massive stone pedestals called ahus. Ahu Tongariki has the largest group of upright moai.
Photo Credit: Sofia Cristina Córdova Valladares

Anthropology (Social Science) is the holistic and comparative study of humanity. It seeks to understand every aspect of the human condition—our origins, development, and diversity—across all of in time and space.

The discipline's primary goal is to answer the question: "What does it mean to be human?" To do this, it synthesizes knowledge from social sciences, natural sciences, and the humanities, examining our biology, culture, language, and history collectively.

What Is: Hormones

The "Chemical Messenger"
The Endocrine System and Chemical Communication
Image Credit: Scientific Frontline

The Silent Orchestrators

Hormones are the silent orchestrators of the human body. They are the unseen chemical messengers that, in infinitesimally small quantities, conduct the complex symphony of life. These powerful molecules control and regulate nearly every critical function, from our mood, sleep, and metabolism to our growth, energy levels, and reproductive functions.

At its most fundamental level, a hormone is a chemical substance produced by a gland, organ, or specialized tissue in one part of the body. It is then released—typically into the bloodstream—to travel to other parts of the body, where it acts on specific "target cells" to coordinate function.

The power of this system, which has identified over 50 distinct hormones in humans, lies in its exquisite specificity. Although hormones circulate throughout the entire body, reaching every cell, they only affect the cells that are equipped to listen. This is governed by the "lock and key" principle: target cells possess specific "receptors," either on their surface or inside the cell, that are shaped to bind only to a compatible hormone. This report will delve into the world of these powerful molecules, exploring the intricate system that creates them, the chemical language they speak, and the profound, lifelong impact they have on our daily health and well-being.

OHSU researchers develop promising drug for aggressive breast cancer

New research reveals a drug developed by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University may develop into a new treatment for an especially aggressive form of breast cancer.
Photo Credit: Oregon Health & Science University

A new molecule developed by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University offers a promising avenue to treat intractable cases of triple-negative breast cancer — a form of cancer that is notoriously aggressive and lacks effective treatments.

In a study published today in the journal Cell Reports Medicine, researchers describe the effect of a molecule known as SU212 to inhibit an enzyme that is critical to cancer progression. The research was conducted in a humanized mouse model.

“It’s an important step forward to treat triple-negative breast cancer,” said senior author Sanjay V. Malhotra, Ph.D., co-director of the Center for Experimental Therapeutics in the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. “Triple-negative breast cancer is an aggressive form of cancer and there are no effective drugs available right now.”

McGill-led team maps ‘weather’ on a nearby brown dwarf in unprecedented detail

Study reveals patchy clouds and shifting atmospheric layers on a free-floating planetary-mass object just 20 light-years away, offering potential insights into planet and star formation
Image Credit: Anastasiia Nahurna.

Researchers at McGill University and collaborating institutions have mapped the atmospheric features of a planetary-mass brown dwarf, a type of space object that is neither a star nor a planet, existing in a category in-between. This particular brown dwarf’s mass, however, is just at the threshold between being a Jupiter-like planet and a brown dwarf. It has thus also been called a free-floating, or rogue, planet, not bound to a star. Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the team captured subtle changes in light from SIMP 0136, revealing complex, evolving weather patterns across its surface.

“Despite the fact that right now we cannot directly image habitable planets around other stars, we can develop methods of learning about the meteorology and atmospheric composition on very similar worlds,” said Roman Akhmetshyn, a McGill MSc student in physics and the study's lead author.

Deep-sea mining waste threatens life and food webs in ocean’s dim “twilight zone”

Illustration showing midwater impacts of deep sea mining operations. Image credit: Dowd et al 2025 (Nature Communications)
Illustration Credit: Amanda Merritt

Scientific Frontline: "At a Glance" Summary: Deep-Sea Mining Waste Disrupts Midwater Food Webs

• Main Discovery: Waste discharged from deep-sea polymetallic nodule mining operations in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone directly threatens midwater twilight zone ecosystems by replacing nutritious natural particles with nutrient-poor sediment.
• Methodology: Researchers collected and evaluated water samples and suspended particles from a 2022 deep-sea mining trial, specifically analyzing the amino acid concentrations to determine the nutritional viability of the discharged waste plumes.
• Key Data: The discharged mining waste would negatively impact 53 percent of all zooplankton and 60 percent of micronekton, as the plumes contained significantly lower concentrations of amino acids compared to natural marine detritus.
• Significance: Introducing empty-calorie sediment into the finely tuned twilight zone dilutes the fundamental food supply, posing severe risks of cascading disruptions throughout the entire marine food web, including commercially vital Pacific tuna populations.
• Future Application: These findings deliver essential empirical data to guide the International Seabed Authority and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in establishing stringent environmental safeguards and discharge depth regulations prior to commercial mining.
• Branch of Science: Marine Biology, Oceanography, and Ecology.