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Chemistry & Physics

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 24-Aug-2025 12:11 ET (24-Aug-2025 16:11 GMT/UTC)

Semaglutide and Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Risk Among Patients With Diabetes

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: The results of this cohort study suggest that semaglutide use was associated with an increased risk of nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy in patients with diabetes. However, the study’s retrospective design presents limitations, as it can only infer associations rather than establish causality; further studies are needed.

Journal: JAMA Ophthalmology

The Protein Society announces its 2025 Award Recipients

The Protein Society
Grant and Award Announcement

The Protein Society, the premier international society dedicated to supporting protein research, announces the winners of the 2025 Protein Society Awards, which will be recognized at the 39th Annual Symposium, June 26 – 29, 2025, in San Francisco, USA. Plenary talks from award recipients will take place throughout the 3.5-day event. The winners’ scientific accomplishments, described by their nominators below, demonstrate their profound impact on protein science.

Meeting: The Protein Society 39th Annual Symposium

Physics meets art: A new twist on interference patterns

Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A team led by researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, has discovered brand new interference patterns in twisted two-dimensional tungsten ditelluride lattices. These so-called moiré patterns can be tuned to look like periodic spots or even one-dimensional bands by adjusting the twist angle between layers, and they can drastically alter the physical properties of the material.

Journal: ACS Nano

Human urine, a valuable resource as fertilizer for sustainable urban agriculture

Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The reuse of human urine would allow for the production of sustainable fertilizers for urban agriculture, with significant environmental benefits. This is the conclusion of a study conducted by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), which evaluates the environmental impact of nitrogen recovery from the yellow waters of buildings. In addition to promoting sustainable agriculture, it would reduce CO2 emissions and water consumption.

Journal: Resources Conservation and Recycling

Damaging cluster of UK winter storms driven by swirling polar vortex miles above Earth

University of Leeds
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Powerful winter storms which led to deaths and power outages in the UK and Ireland were made more likely by an intense swirling vortex of winds miles above the Arctic, say scientists.

Journal: Communications Earth & Environment

Polymerlike worms wriggle their way through mazes

Universiteit van Amsterdam
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a crowded room, we naturally move slower than in an empty space. Surprisingly, worms can show the exact opposite behaviour: in an environment with randomly scattered obstacles, they tend to move faster when there are more obstructions. Viewing the worms as ‘active, polymerlike matter’, researchers at the University of Amsterdam have now explained this surprising fact.

Journal: Physical Review

Wits researchers find a way to shield quantum information from “noise”

University of the Witwatersrand
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa (Wits University) in collaboration with Huzhou University in China have discovered a way to protect quantum information from environmental disruptions, offering hope for more reliable future technologies.

Journal: Nature Communications