The ubiquitous plastic beverage bottle makes up about half of plastic waste collected for recycling in the U.S. Most recycled plastic is processed domestically, but a portion is traded overseas. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign draws on citizen science data to investigate how the global plastic waste trade contributes to litter along coastlines and waterways in importing countries.

Adolescents often sleep less than recommended and have substantially different sleep patterns between weekdays and weekends. Their mismatch in sleep timing between school and free days, known as social jet lag, has been linked to adverse physical, cognitive, and mental health outcomes, though the mechanisms have been poorly understood. In a first of its kind study, published in the journal SLEEP, researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital have found that social jetlag has widespread negative effects on fundamental aspects of the developing brain's function and structure, impacting areas of the brain that support processes such as emotional regulation and social function.

A new study led by the UvA suggests that even a fictional personality system, the Hogwarts houses from Harry Potter, can reveal meaningful patterns in real-world entrepreneurial mindsets. The research team, headed by Martin Obschonka, analysed nearly 800,000 responses to TIME Magazine Harry Potter Personality Quiz, discovering that regions with more ‘Gryffindors’ and ‘Slytherins’ tend to have higher start-up activity. The project involved collaborators from NEOMA Business School, The University of St. Gallen, and the University of British Columbia.

Researchers have managed to speed up a natural process that normally takes thousands of years, creating a lab “machine” to capture carbon dioxide. A new study shows how limestone, dolomite, and seawater can be used as a natural carbon absorption system and could help reduce emissions from power plants in the future. By running CO₂ and seawater through columns filled with these common rocks, the team demonstrated a controllable way to lock carbon safely in dissolved form, rather than letting it escape into the air. The system already works but currently captures only part of the CO₂, leaving clear room – and a clear roadmap – for engineering improvements toward a practical, nature-based carbon capture technology.