Unexpectedly high concentrations of forever chemicals found in dead sea otters
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 20-Dec-2025 19:11 ET (21-Dec-2025 00:11 GMT/UTC)
A new paper in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry finds high qualities of toxic “forever” chemicals in sea otters recovered off the Pacific Ocean.
Researchers have developed a highly sensitive method for detecting hotspots in the environment, such as bushfires or military threats, by harnessing the focussing power of meta-optical systems.
The key to the approach is innovative lens technology thinner than a human hair, which can collect and process infrared radiation from fires and other heat sources with much improved efficiency. Crucially it does not need cryogenic cooling, unlike current sensors.
The result is sensor technology that promises to enhance devices in both the civilian and military spheres, said Dr Tuomas Haggren, lead researcher on the project.
An international team of scientists, led by the University of Oxford, has achieved a world-first by creating plasma "fireballs" using the Super Proton Synchrotron accelerator at CERN, Geneva, to study the stability of plasma jets emanating from blazars. The results, published today (3 November) in PNAS, could shed new light on a long-standing mystery about the Universe’s hidden magnetic fields and missing gamma rays.