September 2026
All columns and Brief analyses.
10 results
Trapped infrared light at Cornell becomes a 300-femtosecond magnetic field with no magnet involved
A germanium metasurface designed by Shivaksh Rawat, Samyobrata Mukherjee and Gennady Shvets at Cornell University traps mid-infrared light. When the array is lit by a short near-infrared pulse, electron-hole pairs appear, the refractive index changes abruptly and part of the stored optical energy passes into a static magnetic field. Neither a magnet nor a magnetic material takes part. The field lasts about 300 femtoseconds, roughly 20 cycles of the mid-infrared wave.
Tyson widens its beef-loss forecast as its outgoing CEO defends a three-plant network overhaul
Tyson Foods now expects its beef segment to post an adjusted operating loss of 625 million dollars to 775 million dollars in fiscal 2026, an increase from its earlier forecast as a historic US cattle shortage squeezes margins. Chief executive Donnie King, who is retiring next month, tied the pressure to industry-wide cattle-cycle dynamics behind restructuring the beef network around three central-US facilities. A JPMorgan analyst told investors softer foodservice demand also drove a revised chicken-segment guidance, while softening hog prices squeezed the pork unit.
Türkiye's annual inflation eases to 31.51 per cent in August, just below forecasts
Türkiye's annual consumer inflation eased to 31.51 per cent in August from 31.75 per cent in July, coming in just under the 31.52 per cent economists had forecast. Monthly prices rose 1.84 per cent as transport jumped 4.82 per cent and housing costs rose 2.26 per cent, while food added only 0.22 per cent. The 12-month average inflation rate reached 31.79 per cent, with cumulative prices up 22.07 per cent since the end of 2025.
Uber and Wayve open London's first robotaxi service with 15 cars and safety drivers at the wheel
Passengers in London who book an UberX, Uber Comfort or Uber Electric trip can now be matched with a Ford Mustang Mach-E running Wayve's software, with a licensed safety driver in the front seat. Uber holds a licence for 15 autonomous cars in the city, the first such service in the United Kingdom. The cars work from cameras and radar rather than lidar, and fares match standard rates.
Uber cuts 3,300 jobs and leaves Nigeria and Uganda in largest overhaul since the pandemic
Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi told staff the company is cutting about 3,300 corporate roles, roughly 10 per cent of staff, while ending ride-hailing operations in Nigeria and Uganda. The restructuring cuts the number of managers by 20 per cent and shrinks one- or two-person micro-teams by about half, bringing Uber's total headcount below 30,000 for the first time since 2021.
Under a high-emissions pathway Alaska's burned area more than doubles, and reaches up to eightfold in the Arctic
Jeremy Littell and colleagues drove the ALFRESCO landscape model with temperature and precipitation from five CMIP5 climate models to project this century's fire in boreal Alaska. In the study published in Earth's Future the median annual burned area rises under both emissions pathways, and more than doubles under high emissions. In the Arctic and western Alaska, where fire has historically been sparse, the increase reaches up to eightfold, and deciduous trees gain ground as repeated fire pushes spruce out.
US 30-year mortgage rate reaches a four-week high of 6.79 per cent
The average contract rate on a 30-year conforming mortgage in the United States rose to 6.79 per cent from 6.78 per cent, a four-week high, while total applications edged up 0.8 per cent in the week ended 28 August. Purchase applications rose 2 per cent and refinance applications fell 1 per cent. The Mortgage Bankers Association's chief economist tied the move to investors' worries about inflation and deficits lifting yields worldwide.
Waller conditions a September rate hold on next week's inflation data as bond yields fall
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he could support holding the federal funds rate at its current level in September if August inflation data continues to show improvement, though a hot reading could still push him toward a hike. Bond yields fell and traders cut the odds of a rate increase by about twelve percentage points to roughly 55 per cent after his remarks, market commentary said, with record diesel prices and services inflation flagged as risks to that outcome.
Washington University finds Alzheimer's brain damage in mice traces to lymph-node immune cells
Washington University School of Medicine researchers found that classical dendritic cells in peripheral lymph nodes activate the T cells that drive tau-related neurodegeneration in mice, even though the brain itself holds very few of these cells. Removing the dendritic cells left brain tau levels unchanged but sharply cut T cell buildup and preserved cognition. Senior author David Holtzman said future treatments might target the immune system outside the brain rather than crossing the blood-brain barrier.
WMO's El Niño forecast now points to the most extreme event in four decades of monitoring
The World Meteorological Organization says forecasts now show a nearly 100 percent likelihood that El Nino persists through February, the strongest certainty it has voiced in such an update. Secretary-General Celeste Saulo told reporters the event could exceed anything recorded in roughly four decades of monitoring. Central Pacific waters have already run 2.2°C to 2.6°C above average, with WMO forecasting a peak anomaly near 3.6°C, above the 1997-98 and 2015-16 peaks, by the end of 2026.