A team of researchers from the Bhatnagar Lab at Boston University recently published a paper in Nature Cities that studied the difference in microbial communities of street trees and non-urban forest trees. By analyzing fungal and bacterial diversity, tree size, and soil properties, their research shows the impacts of urban environmental stressors upon city tree microbiomes.

Trying to document how single brain cells participate in networks that govern behavior is a daunting task. A newly developed brain probe, called Neuropixels Ultra, overcomes some key technical challenges in recording the cell type and activity of thousands of individual cells across many brain regions. The project is part of the NIH BRAIN Initiative to create innovative neurotechnologies to map and analyze brain dynamics. 

A study comparing evacuation patterns in response to two 2024 hurricanes, Milton and Helene, found that people in coastal areas with frequent hurricane exposure were much more likely to travel out of harm’s way compared to people in inland areas who were more likely to stay put. Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health led the study. Their findings appear in the journal Environmental Research Letters.  

A technology that maps entire networks of RNA-protein interactions inside human cells could offer new strategies for treating diseases ranging from cancer to Alzheimer's.