Scientists zap plastic with lasers and get pure nanodiamonds out the other side
Lasers turn plastic into ultra-small, high-purity nanodiamonds, beating explosions on purity and size control.
CLAY TRIBUNE / THE ARCHIVE
Category: Science
Research, space, climate and the natural world.
Scientists push for shared standards to spot old-growth woodlands across Northern Europe
Scientists push for common criteria to identify old-growth forests in Northern Europe, a shrinking treasure of nature.
Japanese Team Remaps the Ocean’s Deepest Point With New Precision
A Japanese team has mapped the ocean's deepest point with new precision, using a ship, a sonar system and a trench eleven miles deep.
How Scientists Are Reading the Genetic Instructions That Turn Genes On and Off
A look at the mysterious DNA switches called enhancers, which control gene expression and hold the key to disease genetics.
ZWO’s 2026 contest picks include a space shark, royal auroras and a Venusian pearl
A shark-shaped cloud of gas wins top prize in Royal Observatory's Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest.
This Million-Year-Old ‘Baby Planet’ Is the Youngest World Scientists Have Ever Discovered
Astronomers confirm a baby planet forming around a young star, the youngest exoplanet ever seen at less than a million years old.
New Cat Species Named for the First Time Since 1926, After Decades of Debate
A century of doubt ends: scientists settle the tiger cat's family tree and name a new species never before seen.
Imperial Professor Explains Where the Quantum World Ends and Ours Begins
A professor ponders where quantum waves cease to be waves and become the solid world we see — an episode of The Joy of Why.
New Frog Species Discovered in Flooded Western Amazon Forests
A strange new frog dwells in the flooded forests of the western Amazon, revealed through DNA, voice, and form.
Satellite data now makes it possible to watch Australia’s forests change almost as they happen
A scheme is devised whereby the forests of a far land may be watched near-instantly from the heavens above, ere ruin befall them.
Mice Born With Human Brain Cells and the Climate Tech Companies That Got Funding This Week
A mouse with half its brain made of human cells and nine young innovators fighting climate tech — the week's strangest science.
1,000-Year-Old ‘Snake Amulet’ Featuring a Saint and ‘Medusa’ Unearthed in Russia
A thousand-year-old pendant from Russia blends a Christian saint slaying a serpent with a Medusa-like figure, revealing an ancient blend of faiths.