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Chemistry & Physics

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 3-May-2026 23:16 ET (4-May-2026 03:16 GMT/UTC)

Everyday repellent, global pollutant

Biochar Editorial Office, Shenyang Agricultural University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide, better known as DEET, is one of the world’s most widely used insect repellents – and it is now turning up in rivers, lakes, groundwater and even drinking water around the globe, according to a new review by an international research team. The authors warn that while DEET helps protect millions of people from mosquito-borne diseases, its growing footprint in aquatic environments raises questions about long‑term ecological and health risks.

What time is it on Mars? NIST physicists have the answer

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Time moves differently on Mars. NIST physicts recently calculated exactly how fast each second passes on Mars. And if humans want to explore the solar system, every microsecond counts.

Journal: The Astronomical Journal

A new possibility for life: Study suggests ancient skies rained down ingredients

University of Colorado at Boulder
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A CU Boulder-led study finds that Earth’s early atmosphere could have produced key sulfur biomolecules essential for life, challenging long-held assumptions.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

The mystery of the missing deep ocean carbon fixers

University of California - Santa Barbara
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a step toward better understanding how the ocean sequesters carbon, new findings from UC Santa Barbara researchers and collaborators challenge the current view of how carbon dioxide is “fixed” in the sunless ocean depths. UCSB microbial oceanographer Alyson Santoro and colleagues, publishing in the journal Nature Geoscience, present results that help to reconcile discrepancies in accounting for nitrogen supply and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) fixation at depth.

Journal: Nature Geoscience

Studying accelerator science

Goethe University Frankfurt
Business Announcement

With the new trilateral master's program “Particle Accelerator Science” the Rhine-Main universities are pooling their expertise in accelerator science, which is unique in Europe.

Bird-of-paradise inspires darkest fabric ever mad

Cornell University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The color “ultrablack” – defined as reflecting less than 0.5% of the light that hits it – has a variety of uses, including in cameras, solar panels and telescopes, but it’s difficult to produce and can appear less black when viewed at an angle. Now, a Cornell University lab has devised a simple method for making the elusive color.

Journal: Nature Communications

Are university policies holding science back? Study shows how patenting boosts pure research.

University of California - Berkeley Haas School of Business
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study published in the journal Science reveals that researchers who both publish papers and file patents—dubbed “Pasteur’s quadrant researchers”—produce work that is more novel and more influential than those who stick to just one activity.

Journal: Science

Artificial tendons give muscle-powered robots a boost

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

MIT engineers developed artificial tendons that could connect robotic skeletons and biological muscle tissue. Made from tough and flexible hydrogel, the tendons could be used in various bio-hybrid robots.

Journal: Advanced Science
Funder: U.S. Department of Defense Army Research Office, MIT Research Support Committee

Where do microplastics go once they sink into the ocean?

Kyushu University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have developed a new method to more accurately analyze small microplastics in the ocean. They collected seawater from 12 ocean layers across 4 regions in the North Pacific Ocean to find that the concentrations of small microplastics ranged from 1,000 to 10,000 particles per cubic meter of seawater. Additionally, small microplastics enter the ocean by either reaching near-neutral buoyancy to drift at specific depths or rapidly sink to the seafloor.

Journal: Environmental Science & Technology
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science