The scientific community has long believed that polymers—very large molecules—are too big to migrate out of products into people and therefore pose no health risks. As a result, polymers have largely evaded regulation. For example, polymers are exempt from the major toxics acts: Toxic Substances Control Act in the U.S. and REACH in the E.U. However, a breakthrough peer-reviewed study published today in Nature Sustainability demonstrates that polymers used as flame retardants can break down into smaller harmful chemicals.

First study to reveal the brain encodes pitch accents separately from the sounds that make up words. Heschl’s gyrus region of the brain, an earlier stage of auditory processing, plays a much larger role than previously thought 

Findings could transform speech therapy, AI-driven voice recognition and our understanding of what makes human communication unique