Tiny ‘xenobots’ assembled from cells promise advances from drug delivery to toxic waste clean-up. Scientists repurposed living frog cells – and assembled them into entirely new life-forms. These tiny ‘xenobots’ can move toward a target and heal themselves after being cut. These novel living machines are neither a traditional robot nor a known species of animal...

The ancient stardust reveals a ‘baby boom’ in star formation. Scientists have discovered the oldest solid material on Earth: 7-billion-year-old stardust trapped inside a meteorite. This stardust provides evidence for a ‘baby boom’ of new stars that formed 7 billion years ago, contrary to thinking that star formation happens at a steady, constant rate.

Stars have life cycles. They’re born when bits of dust and gas floating through space find each other and collapse in on each other and heat up. They burn for millions to billions of years, and then they die...

New marathon runners reduced blood pressure, arterial stiffness equivalent to a 4-year reduction in vascular age. The new year means it’s time to set resolutions for 2020 and new research from the Journal of the American College of Cardiology suggests running a marathon for the first time could have several health benefits. The study found that for first-time marathon runners, training and completion of the marathon was associated with reductions in blood pressure and aortic stiffening in healthy participants that were equivalent to a four-year reduction in vascular age, with the greatest benefits seen in older, slower male marathon runners with higher baseline blood pressure.

“As clinicians are meeting with patients in the new year, making a goal-oriented exercise training recomme...

Scientists develop a cheap and efficient copper-based catalyst that can be used to convert glycerol, one of the main by-products of the biodiesel industry, into a valuable compound called dihydroxyacetone. In addition, this same process produces hydrogen molecules from water, and these could be used as a clean type of fuel, further highlighting the impact of this research in terms of energy sustainability.

Hydrogen (H2) is a very attractive candidate as a replacement of fossil fuels because it can be produced from water (H...