Desert dust in Europe is increasing with implications for health and solar energy installations

Sahara dust storm
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

While particulate matter air pollution from human activity in transportation, households and industry is decreasing in Europe, thanks to strict regulations, another source is developing in the opposite direction: desert dust.

New study pinpoints Europe's most critical wetlands for climate action

wetland
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Wetlands have shaped human life in Europe since ancient times. These ecosystems provided essential resources and safe havens for plants and animals, and in many regions they also held spiritual and ritual significance. For millennia, wetlands covered vast parts of the European continent.

We’re finally learning what happens to gifted children in adulthood | New Scientist

Gifted children are exceptionally talented or intelligent for their age

Simbie Yau

Lady Gaga may seem to have little in common with Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin, other than being extremely successful. But there is a connection: all three were deemed gifted in childhood.

Healthier, more sustainable diets could reshape global agriculture: New study shows by how much

healthy diet
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

There is a clear need to shift toward healthier and more sustainable food systems. According to the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission Report, global adoption of a flexitarian Planetary Health Diet could prevent around 15 million premature adult deaths per year.

Risks of solar storms may be underestimated, warn researchers

Risks of solar storms may be underestimated warn researchers
Illustration of solar wind streaming from a fuming sun drives auroras bright enough to be seen far from the poles, a dazzling signature of an extreme geomagnetic storm. Credit: Nithin Sivadas NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

The effects of extreme space weather may be larger than previously thought, research in the journal Nature reveals. The paper, titled "Regression to the mean can explain saturation of geomagnetic storms," is led by Dr. Nithin Sivadas of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and co-authored by Dr. Maria Walach from Lancaster University.

Biodiversity boosts productivity most during extreme drought in drier grasslands

Biodiversity delivers the largest productivity gains under extreme drought in drier grasslands
Summary of the main findings from 75 global biodiversity experiments. Biodiversity effects on productivity were strongest under extreme drought in more-arid grasslands, driven by increased complementarity, whereas comparable context dependence was not detected in forests or under heat extremes. Credit: Yokohama National University

When extreme drought strikes, drier grasslands receive the greatest productivity benefit from biodiversity. By contrast, forests did not show the same context-dependent pattern under drought, according to a new global synthesis of 75 biodiversity experiments. Researchers from Yokohama National University published their results in Nature Ecology & Evolution on July 15.

Generative AI's power sparks fears of dumbing humans down

Recent scientific studies suggest there could be harmful consequences to farming out cognitive tasks to AI
Recent scientific studies suggest there could be harmful consequences to farming out cognitive tasks to AI.

Generative AI chatbots capable of writing emails and computer code, translating, organizing a trip or coming up with gift ideas are now readily available, prompting some to ask whether human brainpower could suffer for lack of use.

The secret to hydrogen's quantum behavior lies in symmetry

The secret to hydrogen's quantum behavior lies in symmetry
Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo reveal how crystal symmetry determines whether hydrogen follows the rules of quantum or classical physics. Credit: Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo

As interest in clean hydrogen power grows, so does the need for safe storage and transportation materials. One such material, vanadium, is a leading candidate because it readily absorbs hydrogen and allows it to move through its crystal structure. However, hydrogen displays varying behavior in the presence of vanadium, with the underlying cause remaining unclear.

Wildfires expose millions in the Midwest and Northeast US to dangerous smoke

Wildfires expose millions in the Midwest and Northeast US to dangerous smoke
Signage near the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' office in Tower, Minn., notes extreme fire danger ,Tuesday, July 14, 2026. Credit: Anthony Soufflé/Minnesota Star Tribune via AP

Heavy smoke from several large wildfires blazing in Canada and Minnesota is expected to engulf large swaths of the Midwest and Northeast U.S. this week, exposing millions of people to dangerous air pollution.

Face-to-face with ancient Rome: Exhibition in Hungary brings forgotten faces to life

Face-to-face with ancient Rome: Exhibition in Hungary brings forgotten faces to life
Visitors look at Roman-era skulls and their facial reconstructions in the Aquincum Museum's exhibition titled "Once we were like you" which showcases characters and the fictional life stories of those who once lived in the bustling Roman settlement of Aquincum, in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. Credit: AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky

A blacksmith, a stable boy, a soldier, a slave: The faces and stories of these and other residents of an ancient Roman city in modern Hungary have been brought to life in remarkable fidelity for a new exhibition in Budapest.