Dark energy confirmed as universe's expansion continues to accelerate

Dark energy survives major challenge as universe keeps accelerating New research led by the University of Southampton debunks a 2025 claim that cosmic acceleration was an illusion, confirming dark energy's role. The study, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, includes Nobel Prize winners Adam Riess and Brian Schmidt. 1

Chemists develop 'molecule editing' method to speed up drug discovery A University of Vienna team led by Nuno Maulide created 'Alkyl Swap' – a technique to directly modify N-methylamines without rebuilding molecules. Published in Nature Chemistry, it enables rapid testing of hundreds of drug variants. 23

General Atomics to design first full-scale fusion blanket test facility A new public-private partnership with the DOE will design a facility to test lithium-based fusion blankets at full scale, a critical step toward commercial fusion power. 4

Adding salt to lipid nanoparticles improves mRNA and gene therapy delivery University of Houston researchers found that salt-loaded lipid nanoparticles overcome the 'endosomal escape' bottleneck, potentially making vaccines and gene medicines more effective. Published in Small. 5

Complete sugar removal may harm gut health, mouse study finds A study presented at ENDO 2026 shows that mice on a sucrose-free low-fat diet developed worse blood sugar control, inflammation, and fatty liver compared to those eating some sugar, emphasizing balanced diet over total elimination. 6

Physicist creates miniature universe to study the nature of time Professor Giovanni Barontini of the University of Birmingham built a 24,000-atom quantum system that generates its own internal time, showing time emerges from particle disorder. Published in Physical Review Research. 7