The deep sea is a unique ‘evolutionary engine’ with one of the richest and most unexplored sources of genetic diversity on Earth, according to a major new study that has assessed its potential to transform biotechnology and DNA sequencing technologies.

When comparing different types of antifouling paints against fouling on leisure boats, the results were the opposite of what many would expect. Of the paints tested, the biocide-free silicone paint worked best, and the paint marketed as environmentally friendly turned out to be extremely toxic. The study, led by Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, was conducted in Swedish, Danish and French coastal waters, and also showed that coatings with a low copper content can be just as effective as those containing more copper.

Pack enough string-like objects together, and they will begin to align with one another. But replace the strings with worms or bacteria living in your gut, and this self-organisation becomes much more difficult. A team of University of Amsterdam (UvA) researchers have demonstrated that activity can fundamentally alter one of the most important phase transitions in soft matter physics.

Chemists at Brown University have shown the first experimental evidence that carbon buckyballs, which launched the nanotechnology revolution, have a cousin made from 80 atoms of the element boron.

A new catalyst strategy may help unlock the full potential of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for advanced technologies. By combining iron (Fe) with scandium (Sc), the researchers extended catalyst lifetime to approximately 18 minutes at 900 °C—more than twice that achieved with comparable rare-earth cocatalysts. Sc helped maintain Fe in a stable oxidized state and suppressed catalyst degradation, enabling longer CNT growth under demanding conditions. The findings provide valuable new directions for future catalyst design.

The sensors, which are being developed by soil scientists at Lancaster University and researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Manchester, track biological activity in soil by having a degradable substrate that is nibbled on by microbes.

The sensors offer the potential to reveal soil secrets including how they respond to climate events as well as their important role in storing carbon.