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Science news this week: AMOC's collapse signal, the sun's galactic migration, the world's smallest QR code and oil's dying days

March 14, 2026: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Seattle’s biotech scene is world-class — Life Science Washington is teaching it how to brag

Despite world-class AI-biotech research, a Nobel Prize-winning protein design lab and proximity to global AI expertise, Washington's life sciences sector is still learning to tell its story.

Africa’s great divide: Why the continent’s split is so exciting for science

The African continent is splitting along a triple junction of rifts that converge in Afar, Ethiopia. A new ocean may take millions of years to form, but that is giving scientists ample time to glean important discoveries from one of the world’s most inhospitable regions.

Scientists create a new state of matter at room temperature using light and nanostructures

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) have created a new and unusual state of matter—known as a supersolid—by engineering how light and matter interact inside a nanoscale device. The work,

Hundreds of students compete in Science Olympiad at Kutztown University

Hundreds of students from across the region are taking part in a science showdown at Kutztown University. They're competing in the Central Eastern Regional Science Olympiad. Teams of middle and high school students from nine counties squared off.