Science Central

U.S. science leaders are pushing back against a shift in White House priorities toward artificial intelligence and technology by defending the central role of the American university in research and innovation. Writing in STAT, they argue that universities remain essential to scientific progress even as federal attention and funding tilt toward AI and the tech sector.

Scientists have digitized thousands of handwritten weather records from the Congo Basin, a region long underrepresented in climate change assessments. The recovered data show significant warming in Central Africa beginning in the 1960s. Researchers highlight the fragility of the paper archives and say the work helps correct a major blind spot in global climate science coverage.

A researcher at the University of Central Florida reports experimental evidence of a new type of magnetism, according to a news release. The discovery could expand scientific understanding of magnetic materials beyond known categories such as ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism. Details of the underlying mechanism and potential technological applications have not been widely reported yet.

New attention is being drawn to research suggesting mitochondria do far more than generate energy, potentially coordinating signalling and regulation across the whole body. Science communicators are presenting the idea that these organelles, long taught as simple cellular powerhouses, act as central players in how organisms function.

The Albuquerque Journal takes readers inside Sandia National Laboratories' Z machine in New Mexico, the world's most powerful pulsed-power facility. Originally built to study materials under nuclear weapons conditions, the device is now central to research on fusion energy, exploring how the same physics that powers warheads could one day deliver clean, abundant power.

American economists Robert Hall and Michael Woodford have been awarded the Nobel Prize in economics for their work on New Keynesian models and economic stabilisation policy. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences recognised their research on how monetary and fiscal policy can stabilise economies, work that has shaped how central banks respond to recessions and inflation. Coverage across major outlets has focused on the practical influence of their models.

Ipsos has announced The Human Advantage Conference 2026, an event focused on navigating a complex world through behavioural science, artificial intelligence and human intelligence. The announcement highlights the firm's push to position research and behavioural insight as central to understanding a fast-changing global environment, combining AI tools with human expertise.

India's Central Industrial Security Force is drawing attention after CISF personnel mounted an intensive search at Kolkata airport following a bomb threat, weeks after a Flydubai incident there. Separately, CISF staff completed a 12-week cybersecurity training programme at the National Forensic Sciences University in Delhi, and the deputation of senior IPS officer A K Digambar Fulzele as Inspector General of the BSF was extended.

The Swedish academy has awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences to researchers recognized for their work on macroeconomic stabilization. Folha de S.Paulo reports the prize honors scholars who advanced understanding of how governments and central banks can steady economies through policy. The announcement is drawing attention in Brazil, where debates over inflation control and fiscal policy remain prominent in economic news coverage.

Archaeologists are working to reconstruct perishable Stone Age technologies such as rope, thread and twine, materials that rarely survive in the archaeological record. By studying markings on artifacts and using experimental methods, researchers are revealing that early humans possessed sophisticated fiber and cordage skills far older than once assumed, reshaping views of prehistoric technological capability.

Meteorologist Shel Winkley, with the nonprofit research group Climate Central, has released a video explaining the interaction between climate change and the El Nino weather pattern, dated 2026. The explainer breaks down how rising global temperatures influence El Nino's effects on rainfall, drought and heat around the world. It forms part of Climate Central's ongoing effort to connect climate science to everyday weather for general audiences.

Cambridge University's student newspaper Varsity is questioning biology's 'central dogma' — the long-standing principle that genetic information flows one way, from DNA to RNA to protein. The article examines evidence suggesting the rule may be more nuanced than textbooks claim, reigniting debate among students and scientists about how strictly the classic model of molecular biology should be taught and understood.

A New York Times opinion piece argues that new scientific findings are rattling oil companies as a case heads to the US Supreme Court. The science in question is expected to play a central role in litigation over fossil fuel companies' climate liability. Commenters are sharing the article widely, debating how attribution science could reshape the legal exposure of major oil producers.

The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded to American economists Robert Hall and Michael Woodford, according to Al Jazeera. Hall is known for work on productivity, growth and recession economics, while Woodford is a leading authority on monetary theory and central banking policy. Further details about the citation and the specific contributions honoured have not been widely reported yet.

Quanta Magazine explores how the 'landscape' metaphor — the idea that biological development follows paths across a landscape of possible states — is gaining renewed traction in biology. The piece examines how researchers use this framework to describe how cells and organisms unfold from genetic instructions, and why it has become central to modern debates in developmental and systems biology.