Plain words, straight from the source. Every item links to the original document. No news outlets, no hot takes.
A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, reports a chemo-enzymatic process that converts cellulose into amylose. The authors report a 96.9% yield and a 95% drop in cellulase loading, and these results are not yet peer-reviewed.
A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, reports a study in mice in which raised blood glucose cut the strength of daily activity rhythms by 50%, and restoring normal levels reversed the effect. The authors also report that diabetic animals re-entered their rhythm more slowly after a simulated jet lag, and they say blood glucose and the body clock affect each other.
A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, reports that connectivity in the hippocampus switches between two opposing network states over minutes, and that the default mode network state is overrepresented in depression. The authors say electroconvulsive therapy shifts this balance, an effect linked to a positive treatment response.
A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, is an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies on COVID-19 vaccination and long COVID in the Omicron era. Pooled results show vaccinated adults had lower odds of long COVID than unvaccinated adults (odds ratio 0.75), with booster doses associated with a further reduction, though the authors note that evidence in high-risk groups remains limited.
A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, describes a group of immune T cells, which the authors call E-sensors, that respond to increased levels of a molecule normally present on healthy cells. The authors report that these cells can eliminate highly activated immune cells and infected cells, and they propose a link to spontaneous control of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending its regulations to provide for the safe use of chromium propionate as a source of chromium in food for laying hens and breeder chickens. The rule responds to a food additive petition filed by Kemin Industries, Inc., and it is in effect from October 14, 2026.
How to weigh in: The rule is final, but the agency takes comments until November 13, 2026.
A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, models how frontier AI compute should be split between customers and capability research to pay for safety work. In one calibration with a tight service budget, early safety paid for by customers lowers the probability of catastrophe from 75 to 51 percent, within one point of the best rule the authors found.
A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, uses a search-and-matching labor market model in which AI systems apply for jobs, get hired and get dismissed alongside humans. In its runs, AI entry at 70% of the human wage raised unemployment by 4.1 percentage points and left 12.2 fewer humans employed, while at price parity the unemployment effect was largest, at 9.2 percentage points.
A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, presents a game-theoretic model of consumers, content producers and an AI source that synthesizes information. The model finds that once AI becomes reliable enough, producers shift toward horizontally differentiated content, which the authors say increases polarization, even though AI itself gives more balanced information.
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service propose regulations that would amend an individual taxpayer's eligibility for the premium tax credit, how it is computed, and tax liability from excess advance payments. The changes would affect people who enroll themselves or a family member in individual health insurance through a Health Insurance Exchange, and the document also gives notice of a public hearing.
How to weigh in: Comment by November 30, 2026.
The Homeland Security Department (DHS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) propose removing a rule that generally gives deference to a prior approval involving the same facts when extending a petition for an alien's employment or stay. The agency says the change would align its regulations with a statute that places the burden of proving eligibility on the petitioner, applicant or beneficiary.
How to weigh in: Comment by November 13, 2026.
The Homeland Security Department (DHS) has issued a final rule, in effect from October 14, 2026, that ends the automatic extension of employment authorization documents (EADs) for some applicants who timely filed to renew them in certain categories. The rule finalizes an earlier interim rule and says the change lets the department vet and screen applicants before granting a new period of employment authorization.
How to weigh in: No comment period: this is a final rule.
The Homeland Security Department (DHS) issued an interim final rule, in effect from October 14, 2026, that cuts the response period to a Notice of Intent to Terminate from thirty days to ten days. It applies when DHS determines an alien was not a refugee within the meaning of the Immigration and Nationality Act at the time of admission, and it aims to expedite termination of refugee status.
How to weigh in: The rule is final, but the agency takes comments until November 13, 2026.
A final rule from the Homeland Security Department, the Justice Department and the Executive Office for Immigration Review, in effect from October 14, 2026, streamlines how civil penalties are assessed under the Immigration and Nationality Act for aliens who fail to leave during a voluntary departure period or who are caught improperly entering the United States. It finalizes an earlier interim rule with one change: it allows a late-filed appeal where documented mail delays beyond the alien's control are found.
How to weigh in: No comment period: this is a final rule.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issues a direct final rule making technical revisions to its Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) regulations to reflect statutory changes. The changes make virtually all federal civilian service and certain honorable active military service count toward FMLA eligibility, and the rule is effective from December 14, 2026.
How to weigh in: The rule is final, but the agency takes comments until November 16, 2026.
A peer-reviewed study in PNAS uses a theoretical model to test how evolution and spatial self-organization together affect dryland resilience under climatic drying. In the model, more than half of vegetation transitions are abrupt, with biomass losses above 50%, which the authors link to widespread abrupt vegetation losses observed in drylands.
A peer-reviewed study in PNAS uses isotope measurements from nine winter-long campaigns at two sites in South Asia to estimate the sources of carbon monoxide. It finds that combustion supplies 68 to 74% of regional carbon monoxide and atmospheric oxidation supplies 26 to 32%, which the authors say suggests about twice the role in model estimates.
A peer-reviewed study in PNAS by Roope Halonen presents a theory of when new particle formation happens in the atmosphere, based on the binding free energy of a molecular pair and on temperature and humidity. Applied to sulfuric acid and dimethylamine, the theory reproduces observed clustering across laboratory and field sites without kinetic fitting parameters, and it helps explain why formation peaks at midday.
A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, uses a spatially explicit computer model to study how microbial communities release carbon dioxide (CO2) as temperatures rise. The authors report that interactions between species and spatial structure make this temperature response steeper, and they say future climate carbon models should include these effects.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to extend certain compliance dates for trichloroethylene (TCE) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The proposal would cover certain chemical processors, including the processing of TCE and its industrial and commercial use as a processing aid, and refrigerant manufacturers phasing down TCE feedstock used to make HFC-134a.
How to weigh in: Comment by November 13, 2026.
This is a draft UK statutory instrument, laid before Parliament, that would make amendments on persistent organic pollutants. It would become law only if approved and made, and the draft is made under Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1021.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issues significant new use rules under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for certain chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices and are covered by an EPA order. Persons must notify EPA at least 90 days before starting manufacture, including import, or processing for a designated significant new use, and the rules come into effect on December 14, 2026.
How to weigh in: No comment period: this is a final rule.
The Transportation Department (DOT) is delaying the effective date of its September 3, 2026 final rule on cause categories for airline delays and cancellations. The rule was issued under section 511(b) of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, and the delay postpones when its requirements start to apply.
How to weigh in: No comment period: this is a final rule.
This temporary rule from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) transfers 15 metric tons of Atlantic bluefin tuna quota from the Reserve category to the Angling category large school and small medium subquota. It is intended to give more harvest opportunities to recreational Angling category fishermen, and it is effective from October 13, 2026.
How to weigh in: No comment period: this is a final rule.
This temporary rule from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) prohibits retaining the incidental catch allowance for Pacific Ocean perch in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska, except for vessels checked in to the Central GOA Rockfish Program that fish with a rockfish cooperative quota permit. The agency says the 2026 total allowable catch for this allowance will soon be or has been reached, and it is effective from October 14, 2026.
How to weigh in: No comment period: this is a final rule.
This is UK law, made on October 12, 2026, and it comes into force on October 15, 2026. It creates a sanctions regime under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 to deter, and provide accountability for, serious violations of certain human rights by states, serious violations of international humanitarian law, and obstruction of humanitarian assistance.
This is UK law, made on October 12, 2026, which supplements powers in the Licensing Act 2003 that let the Mayor of London call in and determine certain licensing applications of potential strategic importance to Greater London. It comes into force on November 3, 2026.
This is UK law covering England. It amends the prescribed period of time and the prescribed requirements for empty dwelling management orders, as its title states.
A peer-reviewed study in PNAS, by Mingxing Chen and colleagues, maps informal settlements in 1,914 cities of the Global South using satellite imagery and deep learning. It finds that they cover about 12.94% of urban areas, with sub-Saharan African cities the most vulnerable and East Asian cities showing relatively low vulnerability.
A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, describes a bionic computing system built on a metasurface array with electromagnetic controls, which the authors say could compute with very low energy use. The paper describes a design and an expected integration with DNA computing, so these are claims about a proposed system rather than demonstrated results.
A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, reports seven experiments across four studies, with a total sample of 1,386, on how people make sustainable decisions. The authors found that sustainable choices were more often made when they seemed mutually beneficial, and that intranasal oxytocin increased sustainable choices relative to placebo.
A peer-reviewed study in Nature reports a year-long single-blind test of space-based methane detection. It finds that multiple satellites can accurately detect and quantify methane emissions from point sources.
A peer-reviewed study in Nature describes an AI framework, probabilistic bias correction, that corrects weather forecast errors 2 to 6 weeks ahead. The abstract reports that it boosts forecast skill and is promising for improved extreme weather prediction.
A peer-reviewed study in Nature reports that commodity microplastics show intrinsic chemical activity at water interfaces, including spontaneous generation of reactive oxygen species. The abstract says this challenges the view that plastics are inert and has implications for human health and the environment.
A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, compares two battery cathodes with different grain sizes and finds the fine-grained one keeps its structure better over 100 cycles. The authors report 13% higher capacity retention for the fine-grained cathode, even though it shows more crystal misorientation, while the coarse-grained cathode suffers extensive intergranular cracking.
A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, describes a monolayer MoS2 photoelectrode with plasmonic enhancement that the authors say stays stable in neutral water under one-sun illumination. The authors report up to 2.7 times more photocurrent and estimate that hydrogen could cost less than $1 per kilogram at 3.4% solar-to-hydrogen efficiency, though these are their own projections.
MIT News reports that a new machine-learning approach broke records for weather forecasting over two to six weeks, a time frame important to emergency planning. This is the institution's own account of the work, so its claims are attributed to it.
Pew Research Center reports that 44% of Americans had trouble paying for a basic necessity in the past year, with lower-income adults hit hardest. The announcement is the research center's own account of the findings.
The Federal Maritime Commission proposes a per-voyage fee of $200,000 on all Spanish vessels, plus restrictions on certain Spanish goods imported into the United States, in response to unfavorable shipping conditions created by the Government of Spain. The Commission says it would rely on additional statutory authority because Spain has unduly impaired access of U.S. flag vessels to trade between foreign ports.
How to weigh in: Comment by December 14, 2026.