Earlier toilet training could curb growing diaper waste crisis
Earlier toilet training and new recycling technologies are among expert-backed solutions to reduce the environmental impact of disposable diapers and other hygiene products, according to a new study led by UCL researchers.
Machine learning narrows search for additional particles in the Higgs boson family
What if the Higgs boson found in 2012 is not alone but is the only sibling we have encountered so far? Scientists at CERN discovered the particle that year, and it was a major discovery because it explained how other particles acquire mass. For a long time, scientists thought this was the final piece of the puzzle.
Universal structure of exceptional points revealed in nonlinear light‑based systems
Exceptional points, or EPs for short, are among the phenomena of modern physics. These are special points or locations at which the properties of matter, space or time change. In a new theoretical study, researchers from the Institute for Photonic Quantum Systems (PhoQS) at Paderborn University, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Arizona, have shown that exceptional points in nonlinear systems follow a universal geometric order—something that was previously unclear. Their findings have been published in the journal Nature Communications.
Study spotlights human toll of abrupt U.S. foreign aid cuts
In January 2025, the Trump administration announced a 90-day freeze on all United States government (USG) foreign aid, which subsequently became a permanent shutdown of USAID in July 2025. New research finds that the abrupt cessation of foreign aid disrupted health and humanitarian systems worldwide, with disproportionate impacts on women, girls and other marginalized populations.
Striped or checkered? Magnetic field influences competing electronic patterns in a graphene-like quantum material
In most everyday materials, such as copper, silver and silicon, the behavior of electrons is relatively predictable. In quantum materials, however, electrons can interact in complex ways, giving rise to collective electronic states with remarkable properties. Understanding how these states emerge—and, ultimately, how to control them—is one of the central challenges in quantum materials research.
In Ghana, one man's race to save critically endangered fish
As dawn breaks over Ghana's Atlantic coast, artisanal fishing boats return to shore with last night's catch—baskets of snapper, crabs, rays and a distinct-looking fish locals call "esene."
Combined nanoparticle and internal laser method could make cancer therapy less invasive
In a promising development for cancer treatment, a collaborative research team has overcome two issues that have prevented photothermal therapy, a much less invasive treatment option than surgery and/or radiation, from becoming more common.
Great Barrier Reef microbiome map reveals more than 500 new bacterial species
In 2012, Nature revealed that humans provide a home to thousands of different species of microbes in a series of papers that opened a path to understanding the impact of the human microbiome on our health.
Global analysis reveals age as overlooked driver of food-related climate emissions
A new international study published in Nature Food reveals that age plays an important but often overlooked role in shaping global food-related greenhouse gas emissions. The study shows that dietary emissions can vary substantially across people's life stages, reflecting differences in nutritional needs, demographic change and evolving dietary patterns. Effective mitigation of dietary emissions therefore requires age-sensitive approaches.
Transmissible cancer cells discovered in fish act more like parasites than traditional tumors
A team of Vermont researchers has discovered that mysterious black skin lesions afflicting catfish in Lake Memphremagog and other New England and Canadian lakes are caused by a transmissible cancer—the first identified in a freshwater fish species. The cancer cells behave more like parasites than conventional tumors, moving from fish to fish.