The Universitat Jaume I of Castelló and GEA Biotechnology have developed an antifungal aqueous suspension for the prevention of fungal infections in crops and fruit during the pre- and post-harvest stages. The new formulation is aimed at the biotechnology and agricultural sectors, and the partners are seeking collaboration for further development and adaptation to commercial applications.

The technology is based on biodegradable chitosan microcapsules encapsulating anethole, a natural compound with antifungal activity, which improves its stability and enables controlled release on crop and fruit surfaces. According to the research team, led by Carolina Clausell from the Ecophysiology and Biotechnology research group coordinated by Aurelio Gómez Cadenas, the formulation “enhances the antifungal efficacy of natural compounds and offers a more sustainable alternative to conventional synthetic fungicides”.

Vortices in superconductors have so far been considered a disruption, as they can impair the superconducting properties. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) proved now in experiment that magnetic vortices can be used as controllable quantum systems in certain materials. This means that a previously unwanted phenomenon is becoming a potential resource in quantum technologies, opening up new avenues for the development of quantum computers, highly sensitive sensor systems, and innovative approaches in materials research. The results have been published in Nature.  (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10441-7)

EU-funded researchers have completed the most comprehensive assessment ever of Europe's "urban mine" — the critical raw materials embedded in waste streams including electronics, batteries, vehicles, wind turbines, and demolition debris. The  FutuRaM (Future Availability of Secondary Raw Materials) project mapped 42 critical elements across seven waste categories in 31 countries, finding that annual recovery could reach 4.1–5.7 million tonnes by 2050, potentially substituting up to 56% of primary material imports. Recovery of key metals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel could grow dramatically, reducing dependence on China and other suppliers. The project's Urban Mine Platform makes all data publicly accessible to guide investment and policy decisions.

Researchers have proposed a new conceptual framework called “Health Elements” that positions digital technologies and AI as core structural drivers of health alongside biological, behavioral, social, and environmental factors. Published in Health Data Science, the framework argues that health outcomes emerge from dynamic interactions across multiple domains rather than from isolated risk factors alone. The study reflects growing recognition that digital systems—including algorithms, wearable devices, AI-enabled diagnostics, and health data infrastructures—are increasingly shaping health behaviors, access to care, and population-level outcomes.

The authors also discuss how multimodal health data integration, complex systems science, and AI-based analytical methods could support more adaptive public health and clinical decision-making. At the same time, they warn that algorithmic bias, digital inequity, and governance challenges may reinforce existing health disparities if ethical safeguards are not built into future digital health systems. An accompanying editorial describes the framework as a significant extension of traditional Social Determinants of Health models for the digital era.

Dr. Hirokazu Masai of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) has developed a highly elastic pristine oxide glass using the conventional melt-quenching method. The transparent glass exhibits both high elastic modulus and thermal stability, making it suitable for vitrification and optical fiber drawing.

Artificial intelligence models using electronic health records and patient-reported outcomes may help identify cancer survivors at increased risk for emergency department visits, hospitalizations and worsening symptoms after treatment. Findings suggest AI-driven risk forecasting could help care teams intervene earlier with more proactive survivorship support.

A recent comprehensive review highlights that artificial intelligence, by integrating multiscale data from wearables, multiomics, imaging and largescale cohorts, can finally turn the “exercise is medicine” slogan into truly individualized clinical practice. This openaccess article entitled “Artificial intelligenceempowered multiscale data integration for precision exercise biomedicine” (DOI: 10.1515/teb20260009), was published in Translational Exercise Biomedicine (ISSN: 2942-6812), an official partner journal of International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS).

When people watch a scene in the film Jurassic Park where a giant dinosaur walks toward them, they naturally imagine a heavy, rumbling sound, as if the ground were shaking. This is because humans predict sound by considering not only the shape of an object, but also physical properties such as its size, weight, and speed of movement. However, existing video-to-audio generation AI mainly generates sound based on the category of objects or scene information in the video, and has not sufficiently reflected physical properties that vary depending on weight or speed.

Detecting melanoma before it becomes visible is a major challenge in dermatology. Now, with researchers from Université de Montréal, scientists at Université du Québec’s Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) have developed a promising solution tested on mice.

Called SMEAR-ULM, it’s a high-tech system that can detect skin cancers at their earliest stages by measuring tiny temperature variations at the surface of the skin. Led by INRS professor Jinyang Liang, the research team’s findings are published in Nature Sensors. 

The work was carried out in close collaboration with several research teams, including ones led by INRS professor Fiorenzo Vetrone and, at UdeM, pharmacology professor Davide Brambilla and medical professor Sylvain Meloche. 

The potential impact of the work is significant, the scientists say.