Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Speaking to the media in Barcelona, the Minister for Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and the 2030 Agenda, Pablo Bustinduy, announced that the ministry will ban the sale of energy drinks to minors under the age of 16 in Spain. The regulation will also apply to minors under the age of 18 when the drinks contain more than 32 milligrams of caffeine per 100 millilitres.

New research analysing more than 33,000 fish populations in the northern hemisphere between 1993 and 2021 reveals that chronic ocean warming is driving a long-term decline in biomass of up to 19.8% per year for species in the Mediterranean, North Atlantic and North-East Pacific. At the same time, in the short term, more fish are thriving in cold areas due to the heat, but these increases are temporary and the authors warn that relying on them would lead to unsustainable exploitation. The study, by the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC) and the National University of Colombia, is published in Nature Ecology & Evolution.

A study published in PNAS reveals the effects of large-scale wildfire smoke and aerosols from major volcanic eruptions on global atmospheric temperatures. Using satellite observations, the team estimated the temperature disturbances associated with the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, the 2019–2020 Australian wildfires, and the 2022 eruption of the submarine Hunga Tonga volcano in Tonga. All three events had measurable impacts on global atmospheric temperatures. Sulfate particles from Pinatubo caused cooling in the troposphere and warming in the stratosphere, confirming previous measurements. Aerosols from the Australian wildfires —though only about 5 % of the aerosol mass emitted by Pinatubo— also produced both effects, while water vapor from Hunga Tonga led to tropospheric cooling.

In February 2025, lithium concentrations suddenly increased around 96 km above sea level some 20 hours after a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle re-entered the atmosphere. This is the first direct detection of pollution in the upper atmosphere due to the re-entry of a spacecraft, according to a study published in Communications Earth & Environment. Lithium is used in spacecraft components, but it is only found naturally at these altitudes in trace amounts, and its accumulation could have consequences on the climate.

Various studies have shown that exercise benefits the brain. Now, an international team has studied in mice how physical activity affects the brain and how these changes influence the effects of exercise. The research, published in Neuron, has shown that physical activity causes brain changes in a region of the hypothalamus involved in how the body uses energy and in regulating blood sugar. If these neurons were blocked immediately after exercise, the animals showed no improvement in endurance or metabolism with training. The authors suggest that activating these neurons may help the body recover faster, allowing other parts, such as the muscles, lungs, and heart, to adapt more quickly to more intense workouts.

A study published in Science shows a global increase in the toxicity and ecological harm caused by pesticides, contrary to the United Nations’ goal of halving pesticide-related risks by 2030. The authors analysed Total Applied Toxicity (TAT), which accounts for both pesticide use and toxicity, at a global scale between 2013 and 2019. The data covered the risks of 625 pesticides across eight species groups and 65 countries, representing 79.4% of global cropland. TAT increased in six of the eight species groups, including all invertebrate groups and terrestrial plants, and only Chile would meet the target of reducing pesticide risk by 50% by 2030.

AlphaGenome is a deep learning model developed by Google DeepMind capable of predicting the function of DNA sequences up to one million base pairs long. An evaluation of the tool shows that it matches or improves upon the predictive ability of existing models in 25 of the 26 tests performed. According to the authors, who are part of Google DeepMind itself, AlphaGenome can help scientists "better understand genome function, the biology of diseases, and ultimately drive new biological discoveries and the development of new treatments." The results are published in Nature. 

A study based on models and data concludes that adverse health effects related to plastic emissions could more than double by 2040 if current practices do not change. The authors note that their model could not assess the potential impacts associated with many chemicals contained in plastics, nor with the microplastics and nanoplastics that form throughout their life cycle, due to a lack of data and “a serious lack of transparency regarding their composition.” The results are published in The Lancet Planetary Health. 

A new report from the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) toughens the discourse on the current water emergency by referring to an era of "global water bankruptcy". According to the report, the terms "water stress" or "water crisis" are no longer sufficient, as we find ourselves in a situation that goes beyond a temporary crisis, characterised by irreversible losses of natural water resources and the inability to return to historical levels. The report points out that, although not all basins are in water bankruptcy, "enough critical systems around the world have crossed these thresholds" and are interconnected through trade, migration, climate or geopolitics.

When a rhinovirus, the most common cause of the common cold, infects the lining of our nasal passages, cells work together to fight it off by activating an arsenal of antiviral defences. An article published in the journal Cell Press Blue demonstrates how they do this and suggests that it is the body's defences, rather than the virus itself, that determine whether we catch a cold or not, as well as the severity of the symptoms.