NIMS and its collaborators (IHI Corporation, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc., Kobe Steel, Ltd., Electric Power Development Co., Ltd., the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and Elix, Inc.) have developed a model designed to predict the long-term durability of a range of heat-resistant steel materials by performing machine learning while preserving the confidentiality of each organization’s data. This research was published online in Tetsu-to-Hagané on February 6, 2025.

Using the now-decommissioned Summit supercomputer, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory ran the largest and most accurate molecular dynamics simulations yet of the interface between water and air during a chemical reaction. 

What happens on the skin often begins much deeper. In women living with chronic inflammation, pain, and recurrent skin lesions, the root of the problem may be linked to hormonal, immune, and metabolic imbalances. This is the case with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), a condition that goes far beyond dermatology and severely impacts quality of life. In this context, nutrition emerges as a key tool—not as a miracle cure, but as a powerful ally to reduce symptoms, control flares, and regain well-being.

Propeller-driven aircraft are gaining renewed attention for sustainable aviation. Yet balancing efficiency with noise reduction remains a critical challenge—especially for emerging platforms such as eVTOL and hybrid-electric aircraft. Researchers from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics have developed a new optimization framework based on the unsteady adjoint method that successfully addresses this trade-off. Their work offers a powerful tool for designing quieter, more efficient propellers, paving the way for the next generation of low-emission, low-noise aviation.

Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture Vol. 27 No. 2 explores the healing power of philosophy through diverse perspectives—ranging from ancient Stoic and Socratic traditions to modern reflections on public space and health during the COVID-19 pandemic. This issue includes articles on the philosophical roots of counseling, medieval Arab efforts to calculate Earth’s circumference, and the overlooked impact of architecture on mental well-being. It also features a call for dialogue between science and religion, a special lecture on Aristotle’s views on women and Greek tragedy, and a review of Florangel Rosario Braid’s inspiring autobiography. Together, these works illuminate how philosophy can expose and ease the sources of human suffering by expanding our capacity for reflection, dialogue, and ethical action.

Scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed NAPTUNE, short for Nucleic Acids and Protein biomarkers Testing via Ultra-sensitive Nucleases Escalation, a point-of-care assay that identifies trace amounts of disease-related genetic material, including nucleic acid and protein markers, in less than 45 minutes. Importantly, it accomplished this without the need for laboratory equipment or complex procedures.