Using a tiny, acid-tolerant yeast, scientists have demonstrated a cost-effective way to make disposable diapers, microplastics, and acrylic paint more sustainable through biomanufacturing. Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Penn State University developed a bio-based method to produce 3-Hydroxypropanoic acid (3-HP), a precursor chemical for the acrylic acid used in those products, and validated its commercial potential for this lucrative market. The scientists are all part of the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Research Center.

New research published in Science introduces a promising solid electrolyte material that could improve the performance of next-generation lithium batteries, particularly at lower temperatures. Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) Research Professor of Chemistry James Kaduk, who co-authored the paper, contributed a key finding to the research: identifying where lithium atoms reside within the crystalline structure.

The flagellar tails of bacteria rotate clockwise or counterclockwise because of active mechanical forces that pressure the individual ‘teeth’ of a gear to cooperate. This revises a decades-old model of how bacteria tails switch their rotational direction. The study, led by scientists at the Flatiron Institute, appears in Nature Physics.

Physicists from Trinity College Dublin believe new insights into the behaviour of light may offer a new means of solving one of science’s oldest challenges – how to turn heat into useful energy. Their theoretical leap forwards, which will now be tested in the lab, could influence the development of specialised devices that would ultimately increase the amount of energy we can capture from sunlight (and lamps and LEDs) and then repurpose to perform useful tasks.

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) offer a clean alternative to fossil fuel-based power generation, but their high operating temperatures hinder widespread use. In a recent study, researchers from Japan developed ultra-thin, highly ordered samarium-doped cerium oxide electrolyte films that overcome the long-standing issue of grain boundary resistance, enabling efficient operation at much lower temperatures. Their design achieved record-setting oxide-ion conductivity and paves the way for safer, more affordable SOFCs for sustainable power generation.

In the first quantitative roadmap covering the entire forest-biomass value chain, researchers show that integrating selective harvesting, residue valorisation and advanced catalytic refining could raise carbon-use efficiency above 85 % and generate an annual mitigation wedge of 2.2 Gt CO₂—comparable to eliminating global aviation emissions twice over. The study, published today in Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, pinpoints lignin recalcitrance and volatile bio-chemical prices as the twin barriers preventing the sector from moving from pilot glory to gigatonne scale, and calls for an international “carbon-smart biorefinery” programme modelled on semiconductor R&D alliances.

When the cell’s recycling stations, the lysosomes, start leaking, it can become dangerous. Toxic waste risks spreading and damaging the cell. Now, researchers at Umeå University have revealed the molecular sensors that detect tiny holes in lysosomal membranes so they can be quickly repaired – a process crucial for preventing inflammation, cell death, and diseases such as Alzheimer’s.