The film, an adaptation of Daniel Kraus’ 2023 novel, tells the story of a young man with an extremely challenging task: make it out of a whale’s stomach alive

Tiny fragments of plastic are making their way deep inside our bodies in concerning quantities, particularly through our food and drink. But research suggests there is something you can actually do about it. Scientists in China found a simple and effective means of removing them from water – and it starts with something already sitting on your stove. Back in 2024, the team ran tests on both soft water and hard tap water (which is richer in minerals). They added nanoplastics and microplastics to the water before boiling the liquid and then filtering out any precipitates. The tests showed that boiling and then filtering the water can make a significant difference to the plastic contaminants you might otherwise ingest. "Tap water nano/microplastics (NMPs) escaping from centralized water treatment systems are of increasing global concern, because they pose potential health risks to humans via water consumption," the researchers explained in their published paper. Watch the video below for a summary of the findings: In some cases, up to 90 percent of the NMPs were removed by the boiling and filtering process, though the effectiveness varied based on the type of water. Of course, the huge benefit is that most people can do it with what they already have in their kitchen. "This simple boiling water strategy can 'decontaminate' NMPs from household tap water and has the potential for harmlessly alleviating human intake of NMPs through water consumption," biomedical engineer Zimin Yu from Guangzhou Medical University and colleagues explained. A greater concentration of NMPs was removed from samples of hard tap water, which naturally forms a buildup of limescale (or calcium carbonate) as it is heated. Commonly seen inside kitchen kettles, the chalky substance forms on the plastic's surface as changes in temperature force the calcium carbonate out of solution, effectively trapping the plastic fragments in a crust. "Our results showed that nanoplastic precipitation efficiency increased with increasing water hardness upon boiling," the team wrote. "For example, from 34 percent at 80 mg L−1 to 84 percent and 90 percent at 180 and 300 mg L−1 of calcium carbonate, respectively." Even in soft water, where less calcium carbonate is dissolved, roughly a quarter of the NMPs were snagged from the water. Any bits of lime-encrusted plastic could then be removed through a simple filter like the stainless steel mesh used to strain tea, the researchers say. Past studies have measured fragments of polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate in potable tap water, which we're consuming daily in varying quantities. This simple boiling water strategy can 'decontaminate' NMPs from household tap water. (Yu et al., _Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett_., 2024) To put the strategy to the ultimate test, the researchers added even more nanoplastic particles, which were effectively reduced in number. "Drinking boiled water apparently is a viable long-term strategy for reducing global exposure to NMPs," wrote Yu and team. "Drinking boiled water, however, is often regarded as a local tradition and prevails only in a few regions." The scientists hope it might become a more widespread practice as plastics continue to take over the world. Tiny pieces of plastic are an increasingly big problem. Microplastics originate from clothing, kitchen utensils, personal care products, and countless other everyday objects. Their durability makes them persistent in the environment – including in human bodies. Human exposure to NMPs through drinking water consumption. (a) World map of drinking water hardness. (b) Daily consumption of NMPs through boiled and tap water in 67 regions. (Yu et al., _Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett._ , 2024) Not only are many people on Earth already contaminated by microplastics, but we're also still being exposed every day, as there is minimal regulation of these insidious specks. According to a 2025 literature review from The University of Texas at Arlington, a significant portion of our microplastic exposure may come from drinking water, as wastewater treatment plants are still not effectively removing microplastics. Roughly 9 billion metric tons of plastic have been produced globally since plastic production began, much of which has progressively degraded into ever-smaller fragments without truly breaking down, forming a fine plastic dust that now pervades the planet. Wastewater treatment plants actually do remove a lot of these small particles, the new review indicates, but not enough. **Related:Glass Bottles Actually Contain More Microplastics, Scientists Find** While it's still not certain exactly how damaging this plastic is to our bodies, it's clearly not the healthiest of snacks. Plastics continue to take over the world. (mbala mbala merlin/Canva) Plastics have already been linked to changes in the gut microbiome and the body's antibiotic resistance. The team behind this study wants to see more research into how boiled water could keep artificial materials out of our bodies – and perhaps counter some of the alarming effects of microplastics that are emerging. "Our results have ratified a highly feasible strategy to reduce human NMP exposure and established the foundation for further investigations with a much larger number of samples," Yu and colleagues conclude. The research was published in _Environmental Science & Technology Letters_. This article was fact-checked by Jess Cockerill and edited by Fiona MacDonald. While we pride ourselves on our process, we are only human. If you spot a mistake, please let us know.

A dark, shark-shaped nebula 650 light-years away has won Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2026. See the overall winner and the best category images.

A gut pathogen that causes diarrhea and vomiting is morphing into a dangerous and difficult-to-treat sexually transmitted infection (STI). In the United States, roughly 450,000 people acquire shigellosis each year, which can lead to dysentery. Historically, this highly contagious bug has mostly been spread through contaminated food or water during travel, and among young children in day care. But since the turn of the century or so, _Shigella_ bacteria have emerged as a sexually transmitted infection as well. _Shigella_ infections can make anyone sick, but they are now considered 'endemic' in some communities of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM). Several of the strains transmitted in these communities have grown resistant to multiple antibiotics. Some are now superbugs, on the brink of becoming untreatable. A recent analysis from the US CDC found that among nearly 17,000 _Shigella_ isolates, versions that were extensively drug-resistant (XDR) rose from 2011 to 2023. In 2011, isolates that were resistant to five commonly used antibiotics made up 0 percent of the samples. By 2023, they made up 8.5 percent. The vast majority of these drug-resistant versions had infected adult men, many of whom had not traveled internationally in recent months. Molecular biologist Shangxin Yang says hospital workers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) are now seeing roughly one case of extensively drug-resistant _Shigella_ a month. In 2022, by comparison, they saw just one case all year. "It's almost like an explosion of this pathogen in the community," Yang told CIDRAP News at the University of Minnesota. Percentage of _Shigella_ isolates that showed an extensively drug-resistant (XDR) phenotype or genotype in the US, by year, 2015–2022. (CDC) Sexually transmissible shigellosis was first reported in 1974, but it represented a minority of cases at the time. Now, emerging evidence suggests that sexual contact is a major route of transmission. It's difficult to verify this information, however, as patients and clinicians may not realize that _Shigella_ can be sexually transmitted, and sexual history may not be recorded. That said, according to US CDC data, more than a third of patients with extensively drug-resistant shigellosis were hospitalized, and nearly half of those with known HIV status had HIV. "Together, it's a very concerning pattern of XDR Shigella strains that are being seen among vulnerable populations," epidemiologist Naeemah Logan from the CDC told CIDRAP News. "This is by no means unique to the US, but really part of a broader global pattern." Geneticist Kate Baker from the University of Cambridge, senior author of a recent study in _The Lancet Infectious Diseases_ , has identified a similar surge in the United Kingdom. "Many men who have sex with men are unaware of the serious and increasing risk posed by sexually transmitted _Shigella_ ," said Baker in a July press release. "This disease has gone from being relatively treatable with off-the-shelf drugs to being close to untreatable over the course of the last decade or so." In March, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warned that while most cases of _Shigella_ resolve without treatment, more severe cases do require treatment, and "the options available are becoming limited." In 2025, 86 percent of _Shigella sonnei_ samples and 94 percent of _Shigella flexneri_ samples tested by UKHSA researchers showed resistance to antibiotics. These are the two most commonly spread strains through sexual contact among GBMSM in England. In previous research by Baker and others, up to a third of patients with sexually transmitted _Shigella_ were hospitalized for an average of four to five days. "This isn't just one form of sexually transmissible diarrhea," says Baker. "This is multiple overlapping variants emerging that are all quickly becoming resistant to the drugs we use to treat them. It's highly likely that if you contracted your _Shigella_ through sex, you require different treatment to someone who contracted it through travel." No one knows why that is, but Baker's 2026 study points to 'bystander resistance' as one driver. This means that an antibiotic meant for one pathogen may not be the right drug or dose for another present pathogen, thereby breeding resistance as a side effect. In response to the recent study, Alicia Calvo-Villamañán, a researcher at the Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine in Lisbon, Portugal, pointed out an intriguing association. "When the UK's national treatment guidelines stopped recommending the use of [azithromycin] to treat gonorrhea infections," they wrote, "the emergence of azithromycin resistance in _Shigella_ slowed down." That doesn't mean one is causing the other, but it suggests that treating other STIs may be a risk factor for drug-resistant _Shigella_ infections, which aren't often screened as STIs. The California Department of Public Health says that the best way to prevent _Shigella_ infection from sex is to not have sex with someone who has had diarrhea in the last two weeks. Using barriers during oral and anal sex is also advised, as is washing up before and after sex. To minimize transmission, anyone who suspects they may have _Shigella_ should get tested and seek treatment if necessary. "Clinicians should be asking patients with dysentery about sexual transmission and giving advice accordingly," said Daniel Richardson, a consultant in sexual health at University Hospitals Sussex in July. "They need to know that sexually transmitted _Shigella_ has more antimicrobial resistance than other forms of the disease, and that patients may need checking for other sexually transmissible illnesses." This article was fact-checked by Rebecca Dyer and edited by Rebecca Dyer. While we pride ourselves on our process, we are only human. If you spot a mistake, please let us know.

The 2026 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to three scientists – Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel – for their work developing a technique to decode the inner workings of the brain.

Every winter, Antarctica roughly doubles in size as sea ice locks into place over the ocean. Typically, Breid Bay in East Antarctica is entirely covered in a frozen crust from July through August. But in August 2024, satellite images revealed a massive hole in the ice, formally known as a polynya, which is a region of open seawater surrounded by sea ice. It's something scientists have never seen before at that time of year. At its largest, the hole reached an area of 89,121 square kilometers, which is only slightly smaller than the entire landmass of Portugal. According to a research team from India led by earth scientist Jeebanjyoti Swain, the hole was the result of a series of extreme weather conditions, including a series of intense atmospheric rivers and marine heatwaves. Swain and team have published their findings in _Geophysical Research Letters._ (a) Polynya event captured by NASA Worldview satellite, (b) Bathymetry of the Breid Bay, (c) Daily sea‐ice concentration showing the evolution of the open‐ocean polynya. The magenta contour denotes the 30 percent sea ice concentration threshold, and the dashed black rectangle highlights the same polynya region (16–31°E, 65–68°S) shown in panel (b) and (c). (Swain et al., _Geophysical Research Letters,_ 2026) "A series of intense atmospheric rivers, commonly known as 'rivers in the sky,' transported large amounts of moisture from lower latitudes into the Antarctic region, accompanied by a persistent southward flow that drove sea‐ice poleward," the authors write. Six atmospheric rivers carrying warm moist air occurred from July 2024 through August. The scientists note these specific atmospheric rivers are among the strongest mid-winter moisture transport events on record. "Together, they produced enhanced downwelling long-wave radiation, atmospheric warming, warm snowfall, and positive heat flux into the ocean, which collectively suppressed sea‐ice growth," the authors explain. "At the same time, strong winds induced Ekman suction, bringing warmer subsurface water toward the surface and contributing to upper‐ocean warming, with sustained marine heatwaves further inhibiting sea‐ice freezing." Ekman suction is a phenomenon that occurs when large volumes of surface water are displaced by the friction of wind blowing across the ocean. In this case, the Ekman suction carried upper circumpolar deep water to the surface, which is relatively warmer and more turbulent than the surface water usually is at that time of year, slowing and preventing freezing. Swain and team predict we will be seeing more of these Antarctic polynyas in the future, as climate change strengthens atmospheric rivers, produces more frequent and persistent heat waves in both air and sea, and heats up the upper layers of the Southern Ocean. "The low sea‐ice conditions and polynya formation may become frequent in regions where sea‐ice has historically remained stable," the team writes. This year, Antarctica reached its third-lowest level of winter sea ice extent on record. All four of the lowest winter sea ice records have occurred within the past four years, with 2023 being the record minimum, and 2024 (the year the massive hole appeared at Breid Bay) in second. In June this year, a large area of the Bellingshausen Sea (on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula) failed to freeze over, leaving an area of ocean roughly the size of France exposed, which would usually have been covered by sea ice. Sea ice comes and goes throughout the year, and it floats, so it's not directly involved in changes to sea level. But it creates a buffer around the ice shelves and glaciers that do have the potential to accelerate sea level rise. Without a wide skirt of sea ice through the winter, more of Antarctica's ice sheet will be exposed to the increasingly warm ocean water, which is what scientists are really concerned about. Sea ice is also very important to Antarctic ecosystems: food webs that feed much of the world's oceans hinge on the ice's regular return. There's clear evidence that these changes to our global climate are the result of human activities: primarily, burning fossil fuels. This also means we can change the trajectory of these concerning trends. The research has been published in _Geophysical Research Letters_. This article was fact-checked by Fiona MacDonald and edited by Fiona MacDonald. While we pride ourselves on our process, we are only human. If you spot a mistake, please let us know.

Robots and rovers in deep space sometimes need to make their own decisions

Half of our genome is made of transposons — snips of DNA that can move and copy themselves. But they’re more than parasites or genetic junk.

From urban seagulls to snorkeling penguins.

Voting starts September 22 with a final winner crowned on September 29.

If you’ve felt a complete sense of exhaustion lately, join the club. New research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that fatigue is running rampant in the good ol’ U.S. of A. CDC scientists examined nationally representative data of Americans across the country. Nearly three-quarters of people over 18 reported they felt fatigued in the past three months, they found, while over 15% felt fatigued most or all of the time. People with frequent fatigue were also substantially more likely to have other health problems, including depression. “This report provides a unique look at the prevalence and distribution of fatigue symptoms that are not condition-specific in the general U.S. population,” the authors wrote in their paper, published this month by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. ## The fatigued states of America Though everyone feels tired from time to time, fatigue is a state of extreme exhaustion that doesn’t necessarily improve with rest or sleep. It can be the primary sign of a persistent medical issue, as with myalgic encephalomyelitis (also known as chronic fatigue syndrome), or a symptom of acute, self-limiting illnesses like the flu. According to the CDC researchers, studies looking at the prevalence of fatigue have typically focused on smaller groups of people with specific medical conditions, such as cancer. For this study, the researchers wanted to measure fatigue more broadly in the general public. To do so, they turned to data from the 2024 version of the National Health Interview Survey, a long-running survey of Americans’ reported medical conditions, health care use, and other health-related behaviors conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The researchers defined fatigue in this study as people saying yes when asked if they had felt “very tired or exhausted.” In 2024, a total of 71.5% of respondents said they were fatigued in the preceding three months. Of these, 54.9% said they had fatigue some days, 10.7% said it was most days, and 5.9% felt it every day. A majority of people with frequent fatigue said they felt it most (34.5%) or all of the day (20.2%). Based on the overall U.S. adult population, that would amount to about 190 million people who have recently experienced at least some fatigue. As often the case with health problems, the risk of fatigue wasn’t evenly distributed in the population. Women were more likely to report frequent fatigue than men (20% compared to 13%), for instance, as were the youngest adults (roughly 19% of people ages 18 to 34 compared to 13% of people over 65). Indigenous populations had the highest rates of frequent fatigue compared to other racial demographics; people in the southern U.S. had the highest regional rates; the poorest Americans had the highest rates compared to other wealth groups; and people in rural areas had higher rates than those living in large and medium-sized cities. ## The burden of fatigue Unfortunately, people with frequent fatigue often face other challenges, the authors note. Nearly 90% reported having trouble in at least one out of nine areas related to healthy functioning, for instance, such as difficulty concentrating, being unable to take care of their basic needs like washing or dressing themselves, or mental health symptoms like depression and anxiety. More than half said they had trouble in three or more of these areas, compared to about 17% of adults without frequent fatigue who said the same. About 29% of frequent fatigue sufferers also reported having limitations participating in social activities, and 36% reported having workplace limitations. The findings are based on people’s self-reported feelings of fatigue, which can be subjective. Also, this study is cross-sectional, meaning it only looked at a snapshot of people’s current health. As such, it’s not possible to tell which factors might be contributing to people’s fatigue, or vice versa. Some people’s fatigue might worsen their pre-existing depression symptoms, for instance, or a separate condition might be responsible for a person’s fatigue and their other issues (the authors cite the example of a person recovering from a stroke). What this study does show is that fatigue is a widespread problem among Americans and that frequent fatigue can be especially disruptive to a person’s life.

“The numbers are just really mind-boggling."

The phrase "water is life" is true – water makes all known life on Earth possible. It's also a key component in lubricating the super-slow movement of Earth's mantle layer, hydrating those rock layers enough for them to ooze and slide past each other. This is important to the tectonic cycle, which in turn helps regulate climate over geological time. That water also allows for important recycling of rocks and volatile compounds through the mantle. "Liquid water is the key component of Earth's habitability," geoscientist Alfred Wilson from the University of Leeds in the UK writes in a commentary accompanying a new study about Earth's interior waters. How did that water get into the mantle? One model suggests asteroids brought the water to Earth, and it stayed hydrated as the planet formed. Or maybe the water came later, hydrating a previously dry mantle. Where exactly that water is currently located within the miles-deep mantle layer of the planet's interior hasn't previously been well understood. The new research suggests the water is likely located near the boundary between the mantle and its liquid outer core, where seismic tests have shown there are mysterious "ultralow velocity zones." The lower mantle extends from about 660 to 2,900 kilometers (373–1,802 miles) beneath the surface. Its most abundant minerals, including bridgmanite and ferropericlase, are thought to be largely dry. Other minerals can hold water at depth, but many either need unusual compositions to remain stable or break down at the high temperatures found in the deepest mantle. So the researchers went looking for another possibility. They used laser-heated diamond anvil cells – devices that squeeze tiny samples between two diamond tips just a paper-thickness-width apart, while lasers blast them with heat – to recreate high temperatures and pressures. Pressure–temperature conditions for the formation of iron oxyhydroxides. (Yuan et al., _Nature Geoscience_ , 2026) Under those conditions, the scientists have identified two previously unknown iron oxyhydroxides (Fe5O12Hx and Fe7O12Hx), that could lock away enormous amounts of water. The experiments show that these phases can exist under deep-mantle conditions, but do not directly demonstrate that they are present inside Earth. "Identifying these iron oxyhydroxides is important because they are seemingly stable, dense phases that capture and retain water across a wide range of lower-mantle conditions," writes Wilson in his commentary. These minerals formed even when water was scarce. In some experiments, the starting material contained less than 0.1 percent water, yet even those trace hydrogen concentrations were enough to stabilize the new phases. That's important because Earth's deep interior isn't like some giant underground ocean. Any water stored there would have to be incorporated into minerals, often under conditions where free water is essentially absent. These new minerals appear unusually well suited to the job. They are both stable at the extreme conditions of the lowermost mantle and substantially denser than surrounding mantle rock. That means that when a primordial molten "basal magma ocean" cooled and crystallized early in Earth's history, these water-bearing minerals could have formed and then sunk toward the core-mantle boundary. frameborder="0″ allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen> This hidden water may not necessarily stay hidden, because as water-bearing material is dragged upward by mantle circulation, decreasing pressure could destabilize the minerals, releasing their water into other mantle phases. Eventually, some of that water could, and probably does, make its way back toward the surface through mantle plumes and volcanism. The discovery also sheds light on a previous mystery. A mineral known as the "H-phase," observed in earlier high-pressure experiments, appears to match one of the newly identified oxyhydroxides. The researchers suggest that hydrogen contamination from trace moisture – rather than an entirely new dry mineral – may have helped produce the puzzling phase in earlier experiments. "Apparently, even very small amounts of hydrogen are sufficient to stabilize these highly hydrated iron compounds," says mineral physicist and crystallographer Leonid Dubrovinsky from the University of Bayreuth. **Related:Colossal 'Anomalies' in Earth's Mantle Aren't What We Thought** There are still big unanswered questions, and the picture is "incomplete" according to Wilson. Exactly how much water these minerals contain needs to be determined, and what happens when they reach the core-mantle boundary remains uncertain. It is also unclear how easily and over what time periods water stored in these deep minerals can ultimately return to the surface. Still, the discovery suggests that Earth's water cycle may extend all the way to the edge of the core, and according to Wilson, these newly identified minerals "represent a breakthrough in the mystery of how the Earth obtained and retained its water." The research is published in _Nature Geoscience_. This article was fact-checked by Rebecca Dyer and edited by Rebecca Dyer. While we pride ourselves on our process, we are only human. If you spot a mistake, please let us know.