A new study led by Colorado State University Distinguished Professor Eugene Chen outlines a path to creating advanced, recyclable plastics. Published in Nature, the study describes a breakthrough method for upconverting a natural polymer that is usually made by microorganisms into a wide range of new and more sustainable high-performance materials as well as valuable chiral small molecules for organic and polymer synthesis.

Astronomers using the European Space Agency’s Cheops mission have caught an exoplanet that seems to be triggering flares of radiation from the star it orbits. These tremendous explosions are blasting away the planet’s wispy atmosphere, causing it to shrink every year.

This is the first-ever evidence for a ‘planet with a death wish’. Though it was theorised to be possible since the nineties, the flares seen in this research are around 100 times more energetic than expected.

To build a modern-day electrical grid with the flexibility and resilience to handle ebbing and flowing energy sources like solar and wind power, West Virginia University engineers have designed and successfully tested a fuel cell that can switch between storing or making electricity and also generate hydrogen from water.

Unprecedented experiment reproduces phase transition in system with short-range interactions, challenging traditional predictions of physics

Professor Lei Ren’s team has proposed ProcessFM, the first foundational model framework tailored for the process industry. ProcessFM integrates data, mechanisms, knowledge, and computation across four systematic layers. It is designed to address industrial challenges through six core capabilities, enabling trustworthy and intelligent solution for manufacturing industry.

By creating artificial ageing in mice, researchers at Lund University in Sweden have been able to track the formation of aneurysms in the walls of blood vessels. One finding of the study, now published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, surprised the researchers: the mice were simultaneously protected against hypertension by activating a different signalling pathway in the cells of the vessel wall – compensating for the strain exerted on the ageing vessels. The findings create potential for future complementary blood pressure medicines.