Temperatures in the Mediterranean are currently rising to record levels. Instead of a refreshing dip, holidaymakers in places like Greece, Italy, and Spain, among other places, are now facing water temperatures up to 28° C or even higher. With an average water temperature of 26.9° C, July 2025 was the warmest since records began for the Mediterranean Sea, according to the Copernicus Earth Observation Service.

Now, at the end of the summer, when the thrush nightingales leave Europe for southern Africa, they do not fly at full speed. Instead, they maintain an even pace—and according to a new study in Current Biology from Lund University, this is no coincidence.

A research team led by Ph.D. candidate Wang Haozhi under the supervision of Prof. Ali Esamdin at the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (XAO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has revealed the genuine source of the pulsating star KOI-1755 transit signal using the Kepler space telescope. Their findings are published in The Astronomical Journal.

Anthropogenic perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widespread and persistent pollutants that are increasingly subject to stringent regulatory thresholds in water resources. Current nonthermal defluorination strategies have limitations including incomplete mineralization, leaving behind short-chain PFAS byproducts and residual fluoride ions, thereby posing challenges to meeting water quality standards.

When individuals from two different species interbreed, hybrid organisms may emerge that display characteristics from both genetic lineages. While hybridization is a common natural phenomenon, it is often seen as a challenge in biodiversity conservation.

In the battle against climate change, researchers are looking for ways to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into useful products. They're studying nano-sized materials called catalysts that can accelerate the conversion process or make it more efficient. Nanomaterials are magnitudes smaller than the width of a human hair.

Since the first discovery of planets beyond the solar system in 1995, more than 6,000 exoplanets have been identified. Many of these planets have properties that differ significantly from the eight planets in our solar system. How are such diverse exoplanets formed and evolved, and which of them could potentially become Earth-like planets capable of supporting life?

Graphene is an extraordinary material—a sheet of interlocking carbon atoms just one atom thick that is stable and extremely conductive. This makes it useful in a range of areas, such as flexible electronic displays, highly precise sensors, powerful batteries, and efficient solar cells.

Two-dimensional nanomaterials only a few atoms thick are being explored for a range of critical applications in biomedicine, electronics, nanodevices, energy storage and other areas, especially to enhance performance in extreme environments and ultra-demanding conditions.

Imagine a clock that doesn't have electricity, but its hands and gears spin on their own for all eternity. In a new study, physicists at the University of Colorado Boulder have used liquid crystals, the same materials that are in your phone display, to create such a clock—or, at least, as close as humans can get to that idea. The team's advancement is a new example of a "time crystal." That's the name for a curious phase of matter in which the pieces, such as atoms or other particles, exist in constant motion.