Researchers at Kyushu University have developed a new food preservation solution. Using pumpkin peel as a raw material, they synthesized a nanomaterial for food packaging that slows the deterioration of fruit and other produce while reducing transport damage. The findings were published April 30, 2026, in Food Research International.
Fraunhofer ILT in Aachen has developed a highly complex laser-optical system for a quantum computer currently under construction at the 5th Institute of Physics at the University of Stuttgart. This system enables 2,000 Rydberg atoms to be positioned with submicrometer precision in the computer's highly compact vacuum chamber. To do this, the system projects an array of 2,000 individually controllable laser beams into the chamber. These beams act as optical tweezers and hold the trapped Rydberg atoms precisely at the distance required for them to interact with each other. The computer's quantum logic processes are based on these interactions.
A systematic review of research on intercultural communication in higher education finds that cultural "power distance," which is the extent to which people accept unequal authority, continues to shape who speaks, who is heard and how knowledge is shared in multicultural classrooms.
Achieving the blackest of blacks has been one of humanity's enduring challenges. It is a frontier that unites modern nanotechnologists with nature's ancient color palette.
When drinking water is stored in containers, a thin layer of microorganisms can grow at the interface of the container and water. This thin layer is called a biofilm. It's made up of bacteria that make the water unsafe to drink. Slimy biofilms are harder to kill with ordinary disinfectants like chlorine. So scientists are always looking for new ways to clean water in household storage systems.
There could be fewer leopards living across sub-Saharan Africa than previously believed, according to a new study that has analyzed suitable habitat and conditions. It is hoped that the research, led by conservation scientists at Nottingham Trent University, could be used to help plan vital recovery efforts and focus conservation where it is most needed.
Hummingbirds make bromeliad plants split into new species twice as fast as other pollinators do, scientists at the University of Reading have found. The research team gathered records of which animals pollinate 403 types of bromeliad, which include pineapples and more than 3,700 species, and found three in four of these plants are visited by hummingbirds.
As the UK prepares for the third heat wave of 2026, most people will be hoping to keep cool at home. Building regulations to protect homes from overheating were introduced in 2022. These require all new homes to be checked at the design stage to see if they might be at risk of overheating. If the overheating risk is high, the architect has to make changes to the design.
Spring migration has taken flight, but with rising temperatures and shifting seasons, birds are adjusting when and how they migrate to keep up with a rapidly warming climate. Morgan Tingley, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, studies the effects of climate change on birds.
Social media algorithms are increasingly revealing users' sexual orientation or gender identity before they have consciously come out to themselves or others, according to new research. The new study published in Gender, Place & Culture coins the term "algorithmic outing"—when digital platforms infer and surface a user's LGBTQ+ identity through personalized content and recommendations based on engagement signals such as liking a video, following a creator or lingering on certain posts.
