Stanton McHardy, director of the Center for Innovative Drug Discovery (CIDD) and professor of chemistry, is contributing to three groundbreaking research programs aimed at developing safe, non-opioid medications for managing pain.

For many in Texas, opioids are a common prescription for pain relief, but these powerful drugs carry significant risks, including addiction and overdose. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), Texas’s drug poisoning deaths, which are largely attributed to opioid overdoses, have increased by more than 75% in the past five years.

Universidad Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M), through its Department of Mechanical Engineering and in collaboration with the organizing entity MADCUP, took part in the national final of the educational competition Stem Racing Spain supported by Formula 1®, formerly known as F1® in Schools.

The KIMM research team, led by Principal Researcher Dr. Jun Young Park at the Department of Energy Storage Systems, independently designed and manufactured a turbo expander and cold box, achieving Korea’s first successful air liquefaction test for energy storage. The system can produce up to 10 tons of liquid air per day, providing a foundation for future commercialization.

UCF's Dr. Marcy Verduin, associate dean of students and professor of psychiatry, helped create Always Ready for the Road Ahead, a two-part mental health guidance program she is providing to all 3,000 sworn and civilian employees of the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Julia Hoyda worked full-time as a science teacher for the last two years of her doctoral neuroscience program at the University of Cincinnati and says the combination of research and teaching has made her a better science communicator and fueled her passion to continue educating the next generation of scientists.

Texas pecan growers are preparing for the 2025 harvest season with a crop outlook that reflects the state’s diversity in weather and geography, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert.

Monte Nesbitt, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension pecan specialist and assistant professor in the Texas A&M Department of Horticultural Sciences, Bryan-College Station, forecast the state’s crop at 32 million pounds, a number that falls near the middle of Texas’ recent production history.

Texas’ all-time high pecan production was 91 million pounds in 1979, while the record low – 5 million pounds – occurred in 1951.