In Chaos, researchers establish a theory for how microplastic particles may accumulate in a circular current. They began by modeling how fluid moves in a rotating cylinder and accounted for the complication of microplastics having inertia and disrupting the fluid around them, which causes them to slowly stray from the fluid’s usual path. Exploiting the mathematics behind this allowed them to develop a theory for how and where particles accumulate, and applying the theory to ocean flows can help determine subsurface areas with high concentrations of microplastics.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, Colorado, have for the first time succeeded in using existing laser technology to continuously vary the magnetic properties of two-dimensional materials. This simple and fast method should make a large number of applications possible, including techniques for data storage and processing. 

In an interesting turn of botanical events, University of Houston engineers report that while melatonin keeps us asleep, it wakes up plants, helping them grow.

BOULDER, COLO. — December 9, 2025 — A new study led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) links quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) in solar flares to dynamic oscillations in magnetic reconnection, a phenomenon that can drive space weather and affect technology on Earth. This research could help refine traditional solar flare models and provide new insights into the mechanisms driving them.

For roughly two billion years of Earth’s early history, the atmosphere contained no oxygen, the essential ingredient required for complex life. Oxygen began building up during the period known as the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), but when and how it first entered the oceans has remained uncertain.

A new study published in Nature Communications shows that oxygen was absorbed from the atmosphere into the shallow oceans within just a few million years—a geological blink of an eye. Led by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the work provides new insight into one of the most important environmental shifts in Earth’s history.

University of Warwick scientists discover “hot spots” around atomic defects in diamonds – challenging assumptions about the world’s best heat conductor.