Polytechnic University of Madrid

A team from the Netherlands has studied the role that salt marshes might play in protecting coastal areas subject to heavy swells from flooding. To this end, they transported and installed 306 square metres of salt marsh and vegetation in the Delta Flume, one of the world’s largest wave flumes. After 21 hours of exposure to waves up to two metres high, they found that the vegetation can reduce wave height by more than 10 per cent and by up to 50 per cent on low-energy marshy coasts — that is, those where waves reach a maximum of one metre. According to the authors, the restoration and conservation of salt marshes on storm-exposed coasts could be a promising strategy for mitigating the effects of storms. The findings are published in Nature.

The transition zone between land and sea in glaciers is an indicator of their stability. An analysis of satellite measurements from 1992 to 2025 has shown that 77% of Antarctica’s coastline has experienced no change. The 23% that did see a reduction in area was concentrated in regions where deep troughs allow access to warmer waters and where the bed slopes inland. These include the Antarctic Peninsula, Wilkes and George V Lands, and West Antarctica, where retreat of this transition line ranged between 10 and 40 km. A total of 12,800 km² of ice has been lost —an area roughly equivalent to almost half the size of Galicia— most of it in West Antarctica. The results are published in the journal PNAS.

The inclusion of transgender women in women's sports categories is a controversial decision. To compare body composition and physical fitness between transgender and cisgender women, a team from Brazil has conducted a meta-analysis encompassing 52 studies and 6,485 individuals, analysing these values before and after gender-affirming hormone therapy. Although trans women showed greater lean mass—an indicator of muscle mass—there were no significant differences in upper or lower body strength, nor in maximum oxygen consumption, compared to cis women one to three years after hormone therapy. ‘The current evidence is, for the most part, of low certainty and heterogeneous quality, but it does not support theories about the inherent athletic advantages of trans women over cis women,’ say the authors of the study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

The General Assembly of the United Nations has declared 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer. This initiative aims to ‘raise awareness and focus policy attention on the obstacles and challenges faced by women and girls in agriculture,’ as well as to promote actions to address these issues. But what are these obstacles? We answer questions about the situation of women farmers with data and expert sources. 

Forests cover approximately 40% of Europe's land area. Between 1990 and 2022, they absorbed around 10% of the continent's emissions from human activity, but this process is slowing down. An international team, including CREAF and CSIC, analyzes this decline and its causes in an article and proposes possible solutions. The work is published in the journal Nature.  

UNESCO has proclaimed 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. This initiative aims to ‘raise public awareness of the importance of quantum science and its applications’, as well as to celebrate and recognise 100 years since the initial development of quantum mechanics. But why is this scientific discipline so relevant? We explore with experts the key issues and the impact of quantum science and technology on the development of our society.

A study published today in Science reveals a new plastic as durable as conventional plastics that decomposes in seawater. According to the authors, this new material could help reduce microplastic pollution accumulating in the oceans and eventually entering the food chain.

Exposure to agrochemicals, even in doses too low to kill insects, causes significant damage to their behavior, development and reproduction, which is aggravated when the temperature rises, according to a study published in Science. The research analyzes the effects of 1,024 molecules - insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, plant growth inhibitors - on the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and on other insects.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2024 to researchers John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton for discovering the foundations that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks. Hinton for discovering the foundational basis that enables machine learning with artificial neural networks. This technology, inspired by the structure of the brain, is behind what we now call ‘artificial intelligence’. 

A study has compared data from 2,100 accidents involving autonomous vehicles and just over 35,000 accidents involving human-driven vehicles between 2016 and 2022, mainly in California (US). Their findings are that autonomous vehicles are safer in many driving situations, but suffer more accidents in situations such as turning times or during dawn and dusk. The results are published in the journal Nature Communications.