Led by Professor Bartosz A. GRZYBOWSKI, researchers at the Center for Robotized and Algorithmic Synthesis (CARS) within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in Ulsan, South Korea, put their robots to the challenge and extend the traditional view of chemical reactions. Historically, such reactions have been represented as one-line formulas describing the conversion of substrates into a desired and rigidly defined major product, with byproducts acknowledged but undesirable and generally considered unproductive. The CARS work, to be published in Nature on Sept 24, tells us that reactions should be thought of as complex networks programmable to yield different products under different conditions.

The 12th Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) has come to a close. This year’s HLF took place from September 14 to 19 and brought together 28 Laureates of the most prestigious prizes in mathematics and computer science as well as 200 of those disciplines’ brightest Young Researchers of the next generation.

What if we told you that the plastic shopping bag from last week’s grocery run could one day help detect toxic metals in drinking water? Sounds like science fiction? Think again. A dazzling new breakthrough led by Dr. Indriana Kartini from the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, is doing exactly that—turning plastic waste into glowing nanomaterials that can sense pollution in water. And yes, it’s as cool as it sounds.

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation selected Boston College Assistant Professor of Physics Qiong Ma as one of five creative scientists in the tenth cohort of Moore Inventor Fellows. Professor Ma’s invention of “twistronic” artificial synapses is connecting discoveries in advanced materials directly with neuroscience-inspired computing. The fellowship was launched in 2016 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Moore’s Law, the groundbreaking prediction by Gordon Moore of exponential growth in computing power. The 2025 awards mark the fulfillment of a ten-year $35 million commitment to support “50 inventors to shape the next 50 years.” In that time, the program has been supporting breakthrough tools and technologies that accelerate progress in scientific discovery, environmental conservation, and patient care.

As climate change accelerates, the world is experiencing more frequent extreme weather events and rising temperatures. This is driving up the demand for cooling to make cities liveable, especially in fast-growing megacities with populations exceeding 10 million.

While cooling is essential, it also creates a challenge, as conventional cooling systems consume vast amounts of energy and contribute to carbon emissions, creating a vicious cycle that worsens global warming. To break this cycle, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), Aalborg University and Aarhus University in Denmark have embarked on a new five-year research initiative, supported by US$9.4 million (DKK 60 million or S$12 million) in funding from the Grundfos Foundation. This is the foundation’s largest individual research grant to date and the first to include a university outside Denmark.

 

Titled Sustainable Water-based cooling in Megacities (SWiM), the three universities will develop intelligent and sustainable cooling systems that can reduce energy consumption in large cities by up to 30 per cent, lowering both costs and carbon emissions.