A new long-term study reveals that biochar, a carbon-rich material derived from crop residues, can significantly enhance soil carbon storage, but its effectiveness depends strongly on land use and soil type.

Biochar has long been promoted as a promising tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural soils. However, new research suggests that its climate benefits may not be as stable as once believed.

Cell spheroids are some of the most realistic models available for drug testing, disease research, and regenerative medicine. However, their dense structures limit cell survival and function — halting their production at scale. A new assembly method proposed by researchers from Penn State, detailed in a paper recently published in Advanced Science, facilitates spheroids that can rapidly self-assemble or “snowball” in size, while still allowing life-supporting oxygen to reach the cells inside.

A newly identified disease affecting corn and sorghum can closely resemble iron deficiency, potentially leading farmers to apply costly nutrient treatments that do not address the underlying problem. New research published in Plant Health Progress documents the discovery and identification of a bacterial pathogen responsible for the symptoms.

Hydrological models represent water movement in natural systems, and they are important for water resource planning and management. But the models depend on reliable input data for weather factors, and precipitation can be very difficult to measure and represent accurately. A new study from an international research team describes a novel method to better represent precipitation uncertainty in hydrological models, thereby improving their performance. 

Utilization of biomass as a chemical resource is a promising strategy for establishing a circular economy. Cellulose, a polymer composed of glucose units, is the most abundant form of biomass, and glucose is a versatile feedstock for chemicals. However, cellulose is a highly recalcitrant material due to its extensive hydrogen-bond (H-bond) network. Kobayashi, Nishimura, and their colleagues discovered that simply dipping cellulose in an aqueous NaOH solution below −28 ℃ makes it more reactive. Thereby, the efficiency of saccharification (the process of breaking down cellulose into sugars) increased 2.2 times.

In a survey study of U.S. teens, more than half (55.3%) reported that they had created at least one image using nudification tools, which use generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to show what an individual may look like without clothing. Chad Steel of George Mason University, Virginia, U.S., presents these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on March 18, 2026.