The Press Junction - The best of the international press, available…

For first time in 40 years, deep water off Panama's coast hasn't risen: ocean system appears to be on verge of collapse

Mar 23, 2026 14:30

For more than four decades, the ocean along Panama's Pacific coast followed a precise and reliable rhythm. Between January and April, cold, nutrient-rich water masses rose from the depths, feeding the marine food chain and protecting coral reefs and local fisheries. In 2025, however, this mechanism came to a sudden halt. The Panama upwelling didn't take place, leaving scientists without historical references and questioning the stability of tropical ocean systems.

Microplastics: could tamarind seeds help our bodies get rid of them?

Mar 23, 2026 13:30

In recent years, microplastics have gone from being just an environmental problem to a very real presence inside the human body.

Easy to talk about stress! Scientists distinguish 7 forms of mental stress - which is yours?

Mar 23, 2026 12:00

There's one thing almost everyone takes for granted when talking about mental stress: that it's a singular feeling, more or less intense, more or less manageable. A vague burden, hard to describe, that brings with it some anxiety, some insomnia and moments of irritability. However, that assumption might be incorrect, or at least quite incomplete.

Invisible but always there: a study reveals what really happens to cigarette butts in the ground

Mar 23, 2026 11:30

We see them on the ground, on sidewalks, at the edge of gutters. Then the rain comes, cars go by, seasons change, and after a while they're gone. Or rather: we no longer see them. Because in the meantime, they've simply changed shape.

A connected ring on every American's finger by 2030: Trump's grand plan

Mar 20, 2026 13:30

Un anneau en titane, quelques capteurs, une application pour tout gérer : à première vue, ce n’est pas exactement le cœur d’une révolution sanitaire.

YouTube engineer made car run on 500 batteries from disposable e-cigarette

Mar 20, 2026 09:10

There are objects that enter our lives with the promise of making our lives easier, but disappear just as quickly. Disposable e-cigarettes are one of the clearest examples of this contemporary paradox: a few days of use, a perfectly working lithium battery, followed by a noiseless journey to the trash can.

How much cocaine is consumed in Milan? Sewage has the answer

Mar 19, 2026 21:30

Sewage doesn't lie. At the Nosedo wastewater treatment plant, on the southeastern outskirts of Milan, a faithful portrait of citizens' consumption habits (including food, tobacco and drugs) is drawn every year.

Is sucralose really safe? Find out EFSA's new opinion on the sweetener used in light and sugar-free products

Mar 19, 2026 16:30

EFSA has published the conclusions of its re-evaluation of sucralose, the sweetener E 955 used in many light and sugar-free products.

Wanted: volunteers for one month in a mountain hut in Stelvio Park at over 2000 meters free of charge

Mar 19, 2026 10:00

Two hundred million people worldwide live above two thousand meters. Science has barely cared about this for decades - the focus was mainly on the extreme altitudes of four- and five-thousand meters - leaving this huge group of people in a blind spot of medical research. This is precisely why Eurac Research, the private research center headquartered in Bolzano, wants to fill that gap - and to do so it needs people willing to spend a month in a mountain hut.

PFAS in water: in Italy, technology is being that can remove 'eternal toxins' up to 99%

Mar 17, 2026 15:00

PFAS in water has been increasingly discussed for several years, and not only in technical or scientific circles. The subject pops up in local news, in daily concerns, in political choices. And each time the same problem recurs: these substances persist, accumulate, move. Disappearing is an entirely different story.