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Chemistry & Physics

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Oct-2026 21:17 ET (22-Oct-2026 01:17 GMT/UTC)

New monolithic ion trap developed for accessible quantum simulations

Rice University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Rice University’s Guido Pagano, along with collaborators at Duke University and Translume Inc., has developed a new kind of trapped-ion simulator, called a monolithic segmented 3D ion trap. This trap allowed the team to study these complex systems using heavy ions like ytterbium. The work was recently published in Physical Review Applied.

Journal: Physical Review Applied

NJIT study finds overlooked 'forever chemicals' widespread in New Jersey tap water and bottled beverages

New Jersey Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An NJIT team detected trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), a largely overlooked class of "forever chemicals," in more than 91% of tap-water samples collected across all 21 New Jersey counties and nearly 80% of bottled beverages tested.

Journal: Environmental Science & Technology Letters

Reprogrammed NK immune cells target cancer and autoimmune disorders

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

MIT engineers developed lipid nanoparticles that deliver mRNA to program natural killer (NK) cells inside the body. These CAR NK cells could be used to treat T cell cancers or autoimmune disorders caused by autoreactive T cells.

Journal: Nature Biotechnology
Funder: Sanofi, Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute

Natalia Berloff and Mikhail Epstein are the 2026 George Gamow award laureates

Russian-American Science Association
Grant and Award Announcement

Natalia Berloff and Mikhail Epstein are the 2026 George Gamow award laureates. The award is established by the Russian American Science Association (RASA-America) in honor of the distinguished Russian American physicist Professor Georgy Antonovich Gamow (1904–1968), and to recognize members of the Russian-speaking scientific diaspora for outstanding achievements widely acknowledged by the scientific community.

Natalia Beloff, professor at the Cambridge University is awarded for her groundbreaking contributions to quantum hydrodynamics and physics-inspired computing, and for her extraordinary breadth of interdisciplinary research connecting fundamental theoretical advances with experimental realizability and technological potential across the logistics, fintech, pharmaceutical, and data management sectors.

Mikhail Epstein, professor at Emory University is awarded for his pioneering contributions to the study of Russian postmodernism and conceptualism, significant advances in the philosophy and literary theory, construction of alternative concepts and propositions to multiple symbolic systems and theoretical models; and for his role as a public intellectual and advocate for the humanities and their transformative potential, articulating a vision of scholarship as a creative and forward-looking process.

New model informs lighting design that works better for aging eyes

Optica
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from Fudan University and OPPLE Lighting have developed an age-adaptive computational model that optimizes white lighting spectra to improve color discrimination in older adults. Published in Optics Express, the study demonstrates that tailoring light wavelengths to counteract age-related lens yellowing restored up to 49% of lost color discrimination in testing, while maintaining natural color rendering and neutral daylight color temperatures. This spectral optimization approach enables everyday ambient lighting in homes and care facilities that supports aging vision without disrupting viewing experiences for younger individuals.

Journal: Optics Express

UCF awarded $19.2 million to study light in complex environments

University of Central Florida
Grant and Award Announcement

UCF Professor of Optics and Photonics Guifang Li is leading a five-year, $19.2 million Army Research Office-funded program to advance the understanding and control of light traveling through complex environments. The multi-institutional team will combine optical sensing, computational imaging, inverse methods and artificial intelligence to explore ways to measure and correct distortions in light. The award will support the next chapter of UCF’s Townes Laser Institute while providing research and training opportunities for students across participating universities.

Funder: Army Research Office

Bacteria DNA has evolved to withstand copper

American Institute of Physics
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In Biointerphases, researchers study the genetic characteristics of various bacteria species responsible for their survival on copper surfaces, a step toward inhibiting copper-resistant genes and managing biofouling on ship hulls. The researchers sequenced the genomes of bacterial colonies that grew on PVC panels placed in the Chesapeake Bay to identify the copper-resistant genes and tested each colony’s tolerance against copper-based water treatments. They hope to use their findings to target the molecular pathways that help bacteria express copper-resistant genes, weakening their ability to survive in copper-rich environments.

Journal: Biointerphases

SwRI-led team develops improved model for mapping the Sun

Southwest Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

SAN ANTONIO — October 13, 2026 — A Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)-led team has developed an improved model for predicting solar events that incorporates activity on the far side of the Sun. The team studied near-simultaneous maps of the whole solar surface from 2010 to 2014, combining Earth observations with data from space-based assets showing the opposite side. The resulting framework constructs surface flux transport (SFT) models that are more complete and accurate than any previous model.

Journal: The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series

Decades of work by husband-and-wife team yields new Parkinson's drug

University of Virginia Health System
Business Announcement

The drug could offer a "second honeymoon" for patients for whom the existing gold-standard Parkinson's treatment has stopped working.

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