Chemistry
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-77732-5 At a glance Human urine is a concentrated source of nitrogen and phosphorus, but its composition begins changing soon after collection. Urease converts urea into ammonia/ammonium and bicarbonate, raising pH and promoting uncontrolled mineral precipitation. This process can lead
Chemistry
Source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.5012045 At a glance Polystyrene is useful precisely because its carbon backbone and aromatic rings are difficult to disrupt, but that durability also complicates chemical recycling. Oxidative methods can shorten PS chains and form oxygenated aromatic products, while deeper oxidation can
Chemistry
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-77629-3 At a glance Polaritons are hybrid waves formed when light couples to collective excitations in matter. Their ability to confine electromagnetic energy far below the free-space wavelength makes them important to nanophotonics and possible on-chip optical systems. A
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-77786-5 At a glance Photoelectrochemical water splitting uses semiconductor electrodes to turn light energy into chemical fuel. Its charges must remain separated long enough to reach different reaction sites. Near the semiconductor-electrolyte interface, band bending produces a space-charge layer
Chemistry
Source: https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.6c11237 At a glance Lithium metal offers high theoretical capacity and a low electrochemical potential, making it a promising anode for high-energy batteries. Its surface, however, changes continuously during lithium plating and stripping. Uneven ion transport can lead to porous deposits, inactive
Chemistry
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-77708-5 At a glance Fischer–Tropsch synthesis can turn syngas into liquid hydrocarbons and is an established route from feedstocks such as biomass to sustainable aviation fuel. The catalyst faces a linked challenge: raising carbon monoxide conversion does not necessarily place
Chemistry
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41929-026-01613-9 At a glance Nickel-based anodes are active and relatively low-cost catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline water electrolysis. Under operating conditions, their oxidized surfaces have commonly been described as nickel oxyhydroxide (NiOOH). A team from
Career
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02793-x Must science always present itself seriously? A Nature editorial uses the 2026 Ig Nobel prizes to argue that humour, curiosity and unconventional questions can make a meaningful contribution to research culture. The piece treats playfulness not as an alternative to
Career
Source: https://www.science.org/content/article/academic-scientist-u-s-i-m-learning-live-uncertainty In a first-person Working Life essay for Science, Violeta J. Rodriguez describes a decision that felt both urgent and impossible to predict: applying for tenure three years earlier than usual. Her account is
Career
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02026-1 Why would a leading artificial-intelligence researcher stay at a university when technology companies can offer dramatically higher salaries? A Nature Career Feature by Ben Deighton explores that question through an economic analysis and conversations with 14 academics, mainly in
Career
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02827-4 Academic career advice often treats "the mentor" as a single person, usually a principal investigator. A Nature news article by Mohana Basu reports evidence for a different model: early-career researchers may benefit from a network of people
Career
Source: https://www.science.org/content/article/how-supervise-junior-peers-and-become-mentor Many researchers begin supervising students or junior colleagues before anyone has taught them how to do it. A Science Careers article by Elisabeth Pain brings together researchers at different career stages to discuss how they learned