A new analysis of global wildfire activity in 2025 reveals the world experienced some of the most destructive and deadly fire events in recent history, despite the second lowest area burned since 2002. It highlights a continued trend toward fires becoming increasingly extreme, costly, and disastrous—both economically and in lives lost.
Deer keds—biting flies found across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas—use their eyes and flight to locate a host, typically deer, but occasionally humans or other mammals. Once they land, however, they shed their wings permanently and spend the rest of their lives crawling through fur and feeding on blood.
Life exists because elements combine to form complex organic molecules. Astrochemistry studies this process, trying to understand how nature creates carbon-based molecules critical for life. One source for these types of molecules is the outflows emitted by protostars.
"Biodegradable" has become one of the most reassuring words in modern packaging. It appears on coffee cups, shopping bags and food containers, implying a promise: this product is better for the environment because nature will eventually take care of it.
Even though sugars are often framed as simple sources of energy, they also serve as structurally complex and functionally diverse molecules that mediate interactions between organisms. Among these, β-1,2-glucans, which are a class of glucose-based polymers, stand out for their varied and sometimes subtle roles.
Scientists have uncovered how the interplay between cell shape and mechanical stress influences the orientation of stomata (microscopic pores on the leaf surface) during early plant development.
Supermassive black holes are the largest known black holes in the universe, sitting at the center of most large galaxies. They are sometimes described as cosmic monsters because they feed on surrounding gas and dust when they are active, as well as destroy anything that gets too close. But their reputation could be due for a rethink, as a new paper published on the arXiv preprint server suggests they may also be the birthplace of millions of planets.
How was iron produced 2,000 years ago in Senegal? A recent study at the Didé West 1 archaeological site, in the Falémé Valley in eastern Senegal, sheds light on an ancient iron production technique.
Discovering new catalysts is one of the central challenges in developing clean-energy technologies such as green hydrogen production. Yet catalyst discovery has traditionally remained confined within individual material families, limiting researchers' ability to transfer knowledge across chemically distinct systems.
Legal reforms designed to curb the abusive use of "SLAPPs" are insufficient to stop the rich and powerful trying to block freedom of speech, a new study warns. Measures in the U.S., U.K. and the EU to stop strategic lawsuits against public participation do not address the deep-seated inadequacies in the law which have a chilling effect on journalists and whistleblowers, the research says.
