New Horizons

A black hole and a neutron star were caught spiraling into each other on an oval-shaped orbit — the first time this has ever been seen. It suggests the universe is far more chaotic and surprising in how it births these extreme objects than scientists had assumed.

Lithium has powered our devices for decades — but it's scarce and expensive to mine. A simpler alternative is arriving: batteries made from sodium, one of the most abundant elements on Earth. Essentially salt. And it might quietly change how the world stores energy.

Scientists have grown and harvested chickpeas in simulated moon dirt. The key ingredients: worm compost and symbiotic fungi. A small harvest with enormous implications for how humans might one day live on the Moon.

Amino acids come in two mirror-image forms. Life uses almost exclusively one. Scientists have now found that the other version can sneak inside certain cancer cells and quietly shut them down, leaving healthy cells untouched.

From bacteria to lizards, every living thing on Earth follows the same underlying curve when it comes to temperature. Scientists at Trinity College Dublin have found the universal rule — and it raises a sobering question about life's ability to adapt to a warming world.