This exotic form of ice just got weirder

Researchers paired ultrafast X-rays with specialized instruments to study the atomic stacking structures of superionic water – a hot, black and strangely conductive form of ice that is believed to exist in the center of giant ice planets like Neptune and Uranus.
Illustration Credit: Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Researchers hoped to clarify the boundaries between different types of superionic water – the hot, black ice believed to exist at the core of giant ice planets. Instead, they found multiple atomic stacking patterns coexisting in overlapping configurations never seen before in this phase of water. 

Superionic water – the hot, black and strangely conductive form of ice that exists in the center of distant planets – was predicted in the 1980s and first recreated in a laboratory in 2018. With each closer look, it continues to surprise researchers.

In a recent study published in Nature Communications, a team including researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory made a surprising discovery: Multiple atomic packing structures can coexist under identical conditions in superionic water.

New process for stable, long-lasting all-solid-state batteries

An innovative manufacturing process paves the way for the battery of the future: In their latest study PSI researchers demonstrate a cost-effective and efficient way to produce all-solid-state batteries with a long lifespan. The image shows a test cell used to fabricate and test the all-solid-state battery developed at PSI.
Photo Credit: © Paul Scherrer Institute PSI/Mahir Dzambegovic

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have achieved a breakthrough on the path to practical application of lithium metal all-solid-state batteries – the next generation of batteries that can store more energy, are safer to operate, and charge faster than conventional lithium-ion batteries. 

All-solid-state batteries are considered a promising solution for electromobility, mobile electronics, and stationary energy storage – in part because they do not require flammable liquid electrolytes and therefore are inherently safer than conventional lithium-ion batteries. 

Two key problems, however, stand in the way of market readiness: On the one hand, the formation of lithium dendrites at the anode remains a critical point. These are tiny, needle-like metal structures that can penetrate the solid electrolyte conducting lithium ions between the electrodes, propagate toward the cathode, and ultimately cause internal short circuits. On the other hand, an electrochemical instability – at the interface between the lithium metal anode and the solid electrolyte – can impair the battery’s long-term performance and reliability. 

Stem cell engineering breakthrough paves way for next-generation living drugs

UBC research associate Dr. Ross Jones in the lab where they are working to develop cell-based therapies from stem cells.
Photo Credit: Phillip Chin.

For the first time, researchers at the University of British Columbia have demonstrated how to reliably produce an important type of human immune cell—known as helper T cells—from stem cells in a controlled laboratory setting.  

The findings, published today in Cell Stem Cell, overcome a major hurdle that has limited the development, affordability and large-scale manufacturing of cell therapies. The discovery could pave the way for more accessible and effective off-the-shelf treatments for a wide range of conditions like cancer, infectious diseases, autoimmune disorders and more.   

“Engineered cell therapies are transforming modern medicine,” said co-senior author Dr. Peter Zandstra, professor and director of the UBC School of Biomedical Engineering. “This study addresses one of the biggest challenges in making these lifesaving treatments accessible to more people, showing for the first time a reliable and scalable way to grow multiple immune cell types.”  

New findings on genomic regulation mechanisms throughout evolution

Studying the regulatory genomes of the bat sea star and the purple sea urchin.
Image Credit: Courtesy of University of Barcelona

The study outlines a new scenario for understanding how genome regulation and chromatin organization influence the evolution of animal body plans. “Our study opens up new paths for understanding the biological and evolutionary significance of this extreme conservation, since for the first time we can compare these very ancient regulatory elements across different lineages, a scientific breakthrough that allows us to understand what properties they share,” says Ignacio Maeso, professor at the UB’s Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics. 

How Many Ghost Particles All the Milky Way’s Stars Send Towards Earth

A map of the Milky Way based on data from ESA's Gaia telescope
Image Credit: ESA

Every second, a trillion of the elusive ghost particles, the neutrinos, pass straight through your body. Now, astrophysicists from the University of Copenhagen have mapped how many ghost particles all the stars in the Milky Way send towards Earth, and where in the galaxy they originate. This new map could help us track down these mysterious particles and unlock knowledge about our Galaxy that has so far been out of reach. 

They’re called ghost particles for a reason. They’re everywhere – trillions of them constantly stream through everything: our bodies, our planet, even the entire cosmos – without us noticing. These so-called neutrinos are elementary particles that are invisible, incredibly light, and interact only rarely with other matter. The weakness of their interactions makes neutrinos extremely difficult to detect. But when scientists do manage to capture them, they can offer extraordinary insights into the universe. 

What Causes Some People’s Gut Microbes to Produce High Alcohol Levels?

First author Cynthia Hsu examines a stool culture from a patient on an agar plate.
Photo Credit: UC San Diego Health Sciences

A study of people with a rare condition known as auto-brewery syndrome has found a link between gut microbes and symptoms of intoxication, pointing to new treatment strategies.

Researchers at University of California San Diego, Mass General Brigham, and their colleagues have identified specific gut bacteria and metabolic pathways that drive alcohol production in patients with auto-brewery syndrome (ABS). The rare and often misunderstood condition causes people to experience intoxication without drinking alcohol. The study was published in Nature Microbiology on January 8, 2026.

ABS occurs when gut microbes break down carbohydrates and convert them to ethanol (the alcohol found in intoxicating beverages), which then enters the bloodstream. While the metabolism of carbohydrates can produce small amounts of alcohol in everyone, levels can be high enough to cause intoxication in people with ABS. The condition is extremely rare but likely underdiagnosed due to a lack of awareness, diagnostic challenges, and stigma.

How light reflects on leaves may help researchers identify dying forests

Trees at UNDERC
Photo Credit: Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame

Early detection of declining forest health is critical for the timely intervention and treatment of droughted and diseased flora, especially in areas prone to wildfires. Obtaining a reliable measure of whole-ecosystem health before it is too late, however, is an ongoing challenge for forest ecologists.

Traditional sampling is too labor-intensive for whole-forest surveys, while modern genomics—though capable of pinpointing active genes—is still too expensive for large-scale application. Remote sensing offers a high-resolution solution from the skies, but currently limited paradigms for data analysis mean the images obtained do not say enough, early enough.

A new study from researchers at the University of Notre Dame, published in Nature: Communications Earth & Environment, uncovers a more comprehensive picture of forest health. Funded by NASA, the research shows that spectral reflectance—a measurement obtained from satellite images—corresponds with the expression of specific genes.

Reflectance is how much light reflects off of leaf material, and at which specific wavelengths, in the visible and near-infrared range. Calculated as the ratio of reflected light to incoming light and measured using special sensors, reflectance data reveals a unique signature specific to the leaf’s composition and condition.

Bristol scientists discover early sponges were soft

Xestospongia muta, the barrel sponge, may live for 100 years and grow to over 6 feet tall. While populations have declined at sites throughout the Caribbean, they appear to be quite healthy on Little Cayman Island. Caribbean Sea, Cayman Islands.
Photo Credit: NOAA
(Public Domain)

Sponges are among earth’s most ancient animals, but exactly when they evolved have long puzzled scientists. Genetic information from living sponges, as well as chemical signals from ancient rocks, suggests that sponges evolved at least 650 million years ago. 

This evidence has proved highly controversial as it predates the fossil record of sponges by a minimum of 100 million years. Now an international team of scientists led by Dr M. Eleonora Rossi, from the University of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences, has solved this conflict by examining the evolution of sponge skeletons.  The research was published in Science Advances. 

Living sponges have skeletons composed of millions of microscopic glass-like needles called spicules. These spicules also have an extremely good fossil record, dating back to around 543 million years ago in the late Ediacaran Period. Their absence from older rocks has led some scientists to question whether earlier estimates for the origin of sponges are accurate. 

A molecular switch that controls transitions between single-celled and multicellular forms

The marine yeast Hortaea werneckii switches between unicellular and multicellular forms depending on food availability. These microscope images show (left to right): individual cells dividing on their own, fully connected multicellular chains that develop directly from single cells, and multicellular forms transitioning back by producing unicellular offspring. This flexibility helps the yeast adapt to changing ocean conditions.
Image Credit: Gakuho Kurita, Sugashima Marine Biological Laboratory, Nagoya University

How did multicellular life evolve from single cells? Nagoya University researchers have identified genes in marine yeast that may help answer this fundamental question. 

Scientists at Nagoya University in Japan have identified the genes that allow an organism to switch between living as single cells and forming multicellular structures. This ability to alternate between life forms provides new insights into how multicellular life may have evolved from single-celled ancestors and eventually led to complex organisms like animals and plants. 

Published in Nature, the study represents an exceptionally detailed molecular explanation of how clonal multicellularity, where all cells descend from a single ancestor, can be achieved and controlled at the genetic level. 

Arctic has entered a new era of extreme weather

Cassiope tetragona killed by a rain-on-snow event.
Photo Credit: R Treharne

Extreme weather events have become significantly more common in the Arctic over recent decades, posing a threat to vital polar ecosystems, according to new research by an international team of scientists. 

Key Takeaways:

• New research by an international team of scientists has found that Arctic regions are facing unprecedented climate conditions 

• Study has found that extreme weather events have become more common over the past 30 years, threatening plants and animals 

• Findings show hotspots for extreme weather events are Western Scandinavia, the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Central Siberia 

• Damage from extreme weather can also affect the livelihoods of Arctic people such as reindeer herders and may also harm the ability of the Arctic to absorb carbon and slow climate change. 

Extreme weather events have become significantly more common in the Arctic over recent decades, posing a threat to vital polar ecosystems, according to new research by an international team of scientists. 

Lipid have their own VIP drivers

Image Credit: Scientific Frontline / AI generated

In addition to providing energy, lipids are also essential building blocks of our cell membranes. However, despite their importance, they remain poorly understood. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has revealed for the first time the secrets of their transport within cells. Each lipid uses a limited number of proteins to move from its place of production to its place of action. The team has also compiled an inventory of the proteins involved in the transport of hundreds of lipids. These findings, published in the journal Nature, provide a better picture of the functioning of our cells, as well as of many genetic and metabolic disorders, such as diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. 

Lipids are often described as our organism's energy reserve, but this definition masks the diversity of their functions. They enable the absorption of some vitamins, are converted into hormones, and assemble into complex membranes. Their dysfunction is also linked to serious diseases such as Alzheimer's, where the lipid composition of nerve cells (neurons and astrocytes) is altered. 

Beyond gene scissors: New CRISPR mechanism discovered

Cryo-electron microscope structure of the nuclease Cas12a3 cleaving the tail of a transfer RNA (tRNA).
 Image Credit: Biao Yuan / Helmholtz Zentrum für Infektionsforschung HZI

The CRISPR “gene scissors” have become an important basis for genome-editing technologies in many fields, ranging from biology and medicine to agriculture and industry. A team from the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg has now demonstrated that these CRISPR-Cas systems are even more versatile than previously thought. 

In cooperation with the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and Utah State University (USU) in Logan (USA), the scientists have discovered a novel CRISPR defense mechanism: Unlike known nucleases, Cas12a3 specifically destroys transfer ribonucleic acids (tRNA) that are vital for protein production to shut down infected cells. The team published its findings today in the journal Nature. 

Bacteria contain a wide variety of mechanisms to fend off invaders like viruses. One of these strategies involves cleaving transferring ribonucleic acids (tRNA), which are present in all cells and play a fundamental role in the translation of messenger RNA (mRNA) into essential proteins. Their inactivation limits protein production, causing the infected cell to go dormant. As a result, the attacker cannot continue to replicate and spread within the bacterial population. 

Pills that communicate from the stomach could improve medication adherence

Two photos show the gelatin-coated capsules (left) and the capsule without the coating (right). The capsule can be broken down and absorbed by the body.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the researchers
(CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In an advance that could help ensure people are taking their medication on schedule, MIT engineers have designed a pill that can report when it has been swallowed.

The new reporting system, which can be incorporated into existing pill capsules, contains a biodegradable radio frequency antenna. After it sends out the signal that the pill has been consumed, most components break down in the stomach while a tiny RF chip passes out of the body through the digestive tract.

This type of system could be useful for monitoring transplant patients who need to take immunosuppressive drugs, or people with infections such as HIV or TB, who need treatment for an extended period of time, the researchers say.

Cosmic Lens Reveals Hyperactive Cradle of Future Galaxy Cluster

The galaxy cluster lens J0846 in optical light (bottom right), the ALMA view of dust-enshrouded, star-forming galaxies strongly lensed into bright arcs (top right), and a composite view (left) revealing at least 11 dusty galaxies in a compact protocluster core more than 11 billion light-years away, magnified by the foreground cluster’s gravity.
Image Credit: NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/B. Saxton; NSF/NOIRLab

Galaxy clusters are formed by a dense packing of many galaxies, making them the most massive structures in the Universe. Their progenitors, protoclusters, show these galaxies in their infancy, offering a window to study how they all formed. This early “settlement” of galaxies will eventually evolve into a sprawling metropolis by the present day. Astronomers using the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array (NSF VLA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered a rare protocluster that was exceptionally bright, all when the Universe was 11 billion years younger. The system, called PJ0846+15 (J0846), is the first strongly lensed protocluster core discovered, revealing how some of the most massive galaxy clusters in the present-day Universe began their lives.

Researchers uncover molecular roots of fibrosis or tissue scarring in inflammatory bowel disease

Spatial mapping of intestinal tissue from patients with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis (shown here) allowed the researchers to characterize the cell types (shown as different colored dots) involved in fibrosis. In this image, inflammation-associated fibroblasts that deposit scar tissue roughly align with the cellular niche displayed in royal blue.
Image Credit: Courtesy of the Xavier lab

When inflammation in the body goes unchecked, it can cause fibrosis, or tissue scarring that may lead to organ dysfunction or even failure. This can happen in conditions such as inflammatory bowel diseases (ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease), chronic viral infections, interstitial lung fibrosis, chronic autoimmune skin diseases such as scleroderma, and scars associated with heart disease. Patients have few options for treating fibrosis, but new research points to a molecular pathway that could open the door to future treatment possibilities.

In earlier work, a team led by researchers at the Broad Institute and Mass General Brigham discovered a key cell type underlying fibrosis in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Now, in a new study in Nature, the team has characterized the crosstalk between this and other types of cells that leads to fibrosis. Their work also points to a molecule, GLIS3, that regulates this cell-to-cell communication and hadn’t been linked to IBD before. The findings suggest that interrupting this cellular pathway could one day help prevent or reduce fibrosis in patients with IBD or other diseases marked by chronic inflammation such as lung disease.