Scientists create a magnet with almost no magnetic field

A new paper in Nature Chemistry describes a molecular material that combines a stable internal magnetic structure with almost no external magnetic field. This could prove relevant for energy efficient electronics and spintronics

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Technical University of Denmark

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The illustration shows the structure of the new material Cr(pyrazine)₃, in which chromium atoms (purple) are connected in a regular three‑dimensional network by organic pyrazine molecules including nitrogen (blue) and carbon (grey). The structure repeats uniformly in all directions, forming a symmetric crystalline lattice. This regular and uniform structure underpins the stability and consistency of the material’s magnetic properties throughout the crystal. Illustration: DTU.

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Credit: DTU

An international research team led by DTU has developed a new magnetic material that features a stable internal magnetic structure, almost no external magnetic field, and retains these properties above room temperature.

These characteristics may be important for future generations of electronic technologies, for example within fields where magnetic properties are used instead of electrical charge to process information—so‑called spintronics. The results have been published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Chemistry.

The material belongs to a rare class known as compensated ferrimagnets. In such materials, the magnetic moments inside the structure point in different directions. Internally, magnetism is very strong, but the magnetic moments almost cancel each other out. As a result, the material exhibits only a very weak external magnetic field. This sets it apart from conventional magnets, which generate unwanted magnetic interference or “noise” that makes them difficult to integrate into electronic circuits.

“We now have a material with a very well‑ordered magnetic structure, but without the magnetic field that usually causes problems in electronics,” says Professor Kasper Steen Pedersen from DTU Chemistry, who led the development of the new material in collaboration with researchers from DTU Chemistry, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (France), Institut Laue‑Langevin (France), the University of Copenhagen, Jagiellonian University (Poland), and Universidad Andrés Bello (Chile).

Less disruptive magnetism

In today’s electronic components, information is mainly carried by electrical charge. In spintronics, by contrast, information is carried by the spin of electrons, which in principle can enable faster components and significantly lower energy consumption. One of the major challenges addressed by the researchers behind the present study has been the need for magnetic materials that do not simultaneously disturb their surroundings.

“Magnetic materials are difficult to work with when you want to pack many functions closely together. But when a material emits almost no magnetic field, it becomes possible, in principle, to place components much closer together without unwanted interference,” says Kasper Steen Pedersen.

“This opens an entirely new level of control. When magnetism is embedded in a molecular material, we can use chemistry to tune both magnetic and electronic properties.”

The new material is built as a metal–organic network in which metallic centres are connected by organic molecules. This molecular structure makes it possible to design and adjust the material’s properties chemically. This approach differs from the metal alloys and oxides that currently dominate magnetic electronics.

More specifically, the material consists of chromium atoms linked by the organic molecule pyrazine, which is well suited for binding metal atoms together. In this case, the pyrazine occurs as a radical with one unpaired electron, allowing it to contribute directly to the material’s magnetism.

Fundamental research with wide-ranging potential

Experiments show that the near‑perfect magnetic compensation remains stable over a wide temperature range and persists well above room temperature. This makes the material particularly interesting, as almost all related materials only exhibit such a balance at specific temperatures. As a result, the new material may potentially be applicable in a much broader range of contexts.

The researchers emphasise that the work represents fundamental research and that the material’s functionality has not yet been tested in concrete components or for any specific application. Nevertheless, the technological perspective of the discovery is clear.

“We have not created a finished technology, but we have shown that it is possible to achieve a combination of properties that many researchers have been looking for over many years,” says Kasper Steen Pedersen.

“That makes the material interesting as a platform for future development.”

The next step will be to investigate whether the material can be chemically tuned towards other properties like electrical conductivity, and whether it can be fabricated as thin films suitable for integration into electronic components.

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Journal

Nature Chemistry

DOI

10.1038/s41557-026-02131-8 

Article Title

Persistent compensated ferrimagnetism in the molecular framework Cr(pyrazine)3

Article Publication Date

23-Apr-2026

 

Rectal cancer is striking earlier and killing faster

Millennials face rising death rates as rectal cancer mortality accelerates across all groups

Digestive Disease Week

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BETHESDA, MD (April 23, 2026) — Rectal cancer deaths among older millennials are accelerating, with growth in mortality far outpacing colon cancer, suggesting primary care doctors should fully investigate early symptoms in patients under age 45, according to a study to be presented at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2026.

"Colorectal cancer is no longer considered predominantly a disease of older adults,” said Mythili Menon Pathiyil, gastroenterology fellow at SUNY Upstate Medical University and lead author of the study. “Rectal cancer, especially, is becoming a growing problem in younger individuals, and we need to act early to reverse this trend.”

Researchers analyzed U.S. death records from 1999 to 2023 for adults aged 20–44 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) WONDER database, calculating annual changes in mortality rates by sex, race and ethnicity, region, and age group. They then applied a machine learning model known as ARIMA to project trends through 2035, assuming current patterns continue unchanged.

The analysis found steadily increasing death rates for colorectal cancer overall, with rectal cancer mortality rising 2 to 3 times faster than colon cancer across every demographic. Among adults ages 35–44, the core of the millennial generation, rectal cancer mortality is projected to escalate through 2035, even as colon cancer mortality in the same age group rises more slowly. Hispanic adults and those living in Western states saw the steepest rise in rectal cancer deaths, with Hispanic adults experiencing the fastest-growing mortality rates of any demographic group.

Pathiyil said the findings support rethinking screening strategies, including greater use of flexible sigmoidoscopy to detect rectal cancers, and promoting increased awareness. She said young adults and primary care providers should pay more attention to symptoms like rectal bleeding and changes in bowel habits, which are often written off as hemorrhoids or other ailments in younger patients.

“It’s less about just changing guidelines overnight and more about changing how we think about it, recognizing that colorectal cancer in young adults is no longer rare, and it needs earlier attention,” Pathiyil said.

Pathiyil said she undertook the study because she saw a growing number of younger, otherwise healthy patients newly diagnosed with colorectal cancer at advanced stages. She said other research has shown that older patients begin treatment within a month of symptom onset, while it took seven months from the first symptoms to treatment for young adults, a crucial delay.

“Our study shows that rectal cancer is driving much of the increase in colorectal cancers, and it's most likely to worsen over time if we don't change what we are doing right now,” Pathiyil said.

DDW Presentation Details

Dr. Pathiyil will present data from the study, “A growing crisis: Two decades of rising early-onset colorectal cancer mortality and projected trends through 2035 in U.S. adults <45 years,” abstract Sa1371, at 12:30 p.m. CDT, Saturday, May 2. For more information about featured studies and a schedule of availability for featured researchers, please visit www.ddw.org/press. 

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Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) is the largest international gathering of physicians, researchers, and academics in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy, and gastrointestinal surgery. Jointly sponsored by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) and the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT), DDW is an in-person and online meeting from May 2-5, 2026. The meeting showcases more than 6,000 abstracts and more than 1,000 lectures on the latest advances in GI research, medicine and technology. More information can be found at www.ddw.org

 

Who do tipsters really work for?

Following tipsters on social media linked to higher gambling risk in adolescents

Universidad Miguel Hernandez de Elche

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Following tipsters—social media figures who share betting predictions—is associated with higher gambling risk among adolescents, according to a study co-led by Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) and the University of Vigo in Spain.

The study shows that adolescents who actively follow tipsters report higher gambling intention, increased gambling frequency, and psychosocial profiles linked to greater vulnerability. These include lower perceived risk, stronger normative perception (belief that gambling is widespread), and more intense gambling motives—particularly financial ones.

Importantly, the findings indicate that active exposure—following tipsters—rather than simple awareness is what is most strongly associated with risk indicators.

Tipsters operate across social media, messaging apps, and specialised platforms, promoting betting as a routine, profitable, and socially accepted activity. Within digital environments shaped by influencer culture and sports content, their messages are embedded in aspirational narratives and everyday online experiences.

“Tipsters are not just providing information; they act as amplifiers of a broader gambling culture,” explains UMH professor Daniel Lloret Irles, co-leader of the study.

Their content often emphasises winning bets while downplaying losses, contributing to a distortion of perceived control—a cognitive bias that leads individuals to overestimate their ability to predict uncertain outcomes.

The study analysed data from 782 secondary school and vocational students (mean age ~15.8 years), who were classified into three groups: those unfamiliar with tipsters, those aware but not following them, and those who actively follow them.

Results reveal a clear gradient: adolescents who follow tipsters consistently show the highest levels of gambling intention, frequency, and severity. Differences between those unaware of tipsters and those who simply know about them are small or negligible, particularly among girls.

“This suggests that feeling connected to this content—not just knowing it exists—is what increases risk,” Lloret notes.

The study also identifies gender differences. Boys report higher gambling intention and frequency, consistent with previous evidence linking male adolescents to earlier and more frequent engagement in sports betting.

Researchers describe a convergence between tipster narratives—focused on success, strategy, and control—and male gambling profiles, which may reinforce engagement.

The influence of tipsters operates through two main mechanisms. First, normative influence: repeated exposure reinforces the idea that gambling is common and socially accepted. Second, the illusion of control: selective presentation of wins creates the perception that outcomes can be predicted and controlled.

The findings highlight limitations in current regulation, particularly regarding affiliate marketing on social media. Tipsters often act as intermediaries that attract users to betting platforms, while their content is not always clearly identified as advertising.

Researchers call for stronger regulation of tipster-related marketing, transparency in success rates and commercial intent, and restrictions on gambling content accessible to minors. They also emphasise the need for media literacy programmes targeting adolescents, families, and schools to address persuasive strategies, reduce the illusion of control, and improve risk awareness.

“Exposure to tipsters can act as an early marker of vulnerability, even before adolescents begin to gamble,” Lloret concludes.

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Journal

Journal of Gambling Studies

DOI

10.1007/s10899-026-10487-2 

Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Who do tipsters work for? Tipster exposure and adolescent gambling

 

Climate change leads to significant loss of soil inorganic carbon

Science China Press

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SIC change rates of soil depths are shown, attributed to vertical leaching and lateral export via subsurface water movement. The Black and red numbers indicate SIC loss and SIC accumulation in specific layers, respectively.

 

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Credit: ©Science China Press

The research team, led by Professors Ganlin Zhang from the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has made significant progress in understanding how SIC responds to climate change.

SIC—primarily in the form of carbonate minerals such as CaCO3—is the dominant carbon (C) pool in more than half of the world’s soils, storing an estimated 2,305 petagrams (Pg) of C within the top 2 m. For decades, this vast reservoir has been regarded as geochemically stable, with residence times at the scale of millennia under natural conditions. However, emerging evidence now challenges this long-standing paradigm, revealing the unprecedented sensitivity of SIC pools to contemporary environmental perturbations.

The team has developed a novel process-based Soil Inorganic Carbon Turnover Model (SINOCOM) with a vertical resolution of 10 cm to quantify the effects of climate change on SIC dynamics across China from 2015 to 2100. The model integrates a physically based soil water balance module with carbonate geochemical equilibrium, excluding acidification processes, to isolate climate-driven effects on SIC. The water balance module regulates SIC leaching and accumulation through precipitation and evapotranspiration. The carbonate equilibrium module exerts its influence through temperature, net primary productivity and CO2-driven carbonate dissolution and precipitation reactions.

A substantial decline in the total SIC stock of 209–225 Tg in 2 m soils in China is projected from 2015 to 2100 under the four SSPs. A total SIC loss of 307–321 Tg will occur in the topsoil (0–10 cm). Semi-arid regions experience more severe total topsoil SIC loss (124 Tg C, 10.5%) than those in humid (107 Tg C, 51.7%), dry sub-humid (63 Tg C, 40.0%), arid (16 Tg C, 1.1%), and hyper arid (1 Tg C, 0.2%) regions. Approximately 1% of topsoil SIC is lost through groundwater into aquatic systems (lateral export), whereas 29% to 31% of SIC is leached and accumulated in 10–200 cm soil layers, and the remaining 68% to 70% is leached out of the 200 cm soil layer (vertical translocation).

The study also highlights notable seasonality of the temporal SIC fluxes. Warm-season precipitation (March to August) in arid climates accounts for 68% of the mean annual input and results in 85% of the mean annual SIC loss. Similarly, intense seasonal precipitation accounts for 76–81% of the mean annual SIC loss under humid conditions. These findings challeng previous empirical models that emphasized mean annual precipitation as the sole predictor.

Overall, this work challenges the traditional view of SIC stability in terrestrial carbon cycles. By integrating climate change, hydrological processes, and carbonate chemical equilibrium modules, SINOCOM clarifies the climatic controls on SIC redistribution, reveals the relative contributions of SIC vertical translocation and hydrological export, and may provide a mechanistic foundation for improving predictions of SIC dynamics under climate change.

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Journal

National Science Review

DOI

10.1093/nsr/nwag075 

Method of Research

Experimental study

 

The cause might be vibrating pipes rather than restless spirits’: increased stress and irritability from infrasound exposure may explain paranormal experiences

Humans exposed to infrasound don’t detect it, but have raised cortisol and irritability levels — offering a possible explanation for ‘haunted’ locations

Frontiers

Infrasound is very low-frequency sound, below 20 Hertz (Hz), which humans typically can’t hear. It can come from natural sources like storms, or from anthropogenic sources like traffic. Some animals use it to communicate, while others avoid it. Scientists investigating humans’ ability to sense infrasound determined that we can’t detect it, but we do respond to it: it’s linked to increased irritability and higher cortisol levels. 

“Infrasound is pervasive in everyday environments, appearing near ventilation systems, traffic, and industrial machinery,” said Prof Rodney Schmaltz of MacEwan University, senior author of the article in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. “Many people are exposed to it without knowing it. Our findings suggest that even a brief exposure may shift mood and raise cortisol, which highlights the importance of understanding how infrasound affects people in real-world settings.  

“Consider visiting a supposedly haunted building. Your mood shifts, you feel agitated, but you can't see or hear anything unusual. In an old building, there is a good chance that infrasound is present, particularly in basements where aging pipes and ventilation systems produce low-frequency vibrations. If you were told the building was haunted, you might attribute that agitation to something supernatural. In reality, you may simply have been exposed to infrasound.” 

Sound of the underground 

The scientists recruited 36 participants and invited them to sit alone in a room while either calming or unsettling music was played. For half the participants, hidden subwoofers played infrasound at 18 Hz. After listening, they were asked to report their feelings, their emotional rating of the music, and whether they thought the infrasound was present. They also gave saliva samples before and after listening.  

The scientists found that participants’ salivary cortisol levels were higher if they had been listening to infrasound. These participants also reported feeling more irritable and less interested, and thinking the music was sadder. But they couldn’t tell they were listening to infrasound. 

“This study suggests that the body can respond to infrasound even when we can't consciously hear it,” said Schmaltz. “Participants could not reliably identify whether infrasound was present, and their beliefs about whether it was on had no detectable effect on their cortisol or mood.”  

“Increased irritability and higher cortisol are naturally related, because when people feel more irritated or stressed, cortisol tends to rise as part of the body’s normal stress response,” said Kale Scatterty, first author and PhD student at the University of Alberta. “But infrasound exposure had effects on both outcomes that went beyond that natural relationship.” 

Felt but not heard 

These results indicate that humans can sense but not identify infrasound, though the mechanism remains unclear. They also suggest we may need to investigate whether prolonged infrasound exposure could impact health through consistently elevated cortisol levels and wellbeing issues related to lowered mood and increased irritability. 

“Increased cortisol levels help the body respond to immediate stressors by inducing a state of vigilance,” said Prof Trevor Hamilton of MacEwan University, corresponding author. “This is an evolutionarily-adapted response that helps us in many situations. However, prolonged cortisol release is not a good thing. It can lead to a variety of physiological conditions and alter mental health.”  

Because the sample was comparatively small, the scientists carried out sensitivity analyses before drawing conclusions from their results. They confirmed that their study could detect moderate to large effects of infrasound, which includes their main findings. However, more research with greater, more diverse participant samples will be needed to fully understand how infrasound influences human emotion and behavior. 

“This study was in many ways a first step towards understanding the effects of infrasound on humans,” cautioned Scatterty. “So far, we’ve only tested a specific frequency. There could be many more frequencies and combinations that have their own differential effects. We also only collected subjective reports of how the participants felt after exposure, without directly observing their responses during the trial.” 

“The first priority would be testing a wider range of frequencies and exposure durations,” added Schmaltz. "Infrasound in real environments is rarely a single clean tone, and we don't yet know how different frequencies or combinations affect mood and physiology. If those patterns become clearer, the findings could eventually inform noise regulations or building design standards. As someone who studies pseudoscience and misinformation, what stands out to me is that infrasound produces real, measurable reactions without any visible or audible source. So, the next time something feels inexplicably off in a basement or old building, consider that the cause might be vibrating pipes rather than restless spirits.” 

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Journal

Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

DOI

10.3389/fnbeh.2026.1729876 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Infrasound Exposure is Linked to Aversive Responding, Negative Appraisal, and Elevated Salivary Cortisol in Humans

Article Publication Date

27-Apr-2026

 

Data-driven leakage diagnosis methods across pipeline and energy transportation system

KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.

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Future suggestion for pipeline leakages diagnosis. 

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Credit: Dazhong Ma

A review recently published in the Journal of Pipeline Science and Engineering presents leakage diagnosis methods ranging from single pipelines to Energy Transmission Systems (ETS) — marking the first systematic attempt to connect single pipeline analysis with ETS. Its focus lies in summarizing leakage detection techniques under complex environmental conditions.

In leakage detection, despite theoretical advances, model-based methods face challenges in pipeline applications due to modeling inaccuracies and high computational costs. In contrast, data-driven approaches, especially deep learning models, show good potential by virtue of their strong capabilities in nonlinear mapping and spatiotemporal feature extraction, effectively addressing key ETS challenges such as highly coupled signals, background noise, and false alarms under multiple operating conditions.

Current research to improve detection in complex scenarios mainly proceeds in two directions: advanced signal processing and multi-modal fusion to enhance signal quality, SNR, and feature discriminability; and generative networks and transfer learning to solve few-shot or zero-shot learning problems for reliable detection with insufficient samples.

For leakage localization, the TDOA method remains fundamental due to its maturity, with research focusing on improving time-delay estimation via advanced signal processing and cross-correlation (CC) algorithms. To address weak signal attenuation in long-distance pipelines, novel localization methods based on attenuation model matching and adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) have been developed, redefining localization as a model parameter optimization problem. It paves a new avenue for the accurate localization of minor leakages in complex pipeline environments.

Notably, while data-driven methods have made significant progress, they still have limitations, including inherent constraints of pure data-driven models, weak self-learning ability, field deployment difficulties, and preventive maintenance issues.

Future research directions include data-physics fusion approaches for pipeline leakage diagnosis, self-learning pipeline leakage diagnosis method, large scale model-based leakage diagnostics, lightweight deployment of leakage detection models, locating multiple-point leakages in pipelines, pipeline leakage warning mechanism.

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Contact the author: Dazhong Ma, School of Information Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China, madazhong@ise.neu.edu.cn

The publisher KeAi was established by Elsevier and China Science Publishing & Media Ltd to unfold quality research globally. In 2013, our focus shifted to open access publishing. We now proudly publish more than 200 world-class, open access, English language journals, spanning all scientific disciplines. Many of these are titles we publish in partnership with prestigious societies and academic institutions, such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).

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Journal

Journal of Pipeline Science and Engineering

DOI

10.1016/j.jpse.2026.100459 

Method of Research

Literature review

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

A review of data-driven leakage diagnosis methods across pipeline and energy transportation system