Researchers at University of Toronto’s Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry have made a key discovery about how certain bacterial strains produce a set of economically valuable chemicals — opening the door to new, more sustainable production methods. The finding, published in Nature Microbiology, shows how a family of molecules used in everything from cleaning products to cosmetics to nutritional supplements could be made via bacterial fermentation instead of from palm oil, as they are today.

An international team of physicists has achieved a significant advance in laser science, demonstrating for the first time a practical route to dramatically boosting the intensity of high-power laser light. The results, published today in Nature (22 April) could unlock the route towards creating the most intense light ever produced in a laboratory, opening the door to experiments that probe the fundamental laws of physics by directly interacting light with the quantum vacuum.

A web tool designed to spark reminiscence could help people with dementia and their caregivers feel more connected to each other and less impacted by feelings of pre-death grief, according to a clinical trial co-led by USC and Weill Cornell Medicine published in JAMA Network Open.

With features such as photo albums, autobiographical questions, and journaling prompts, the Living Memory Home for Dementia Care Pairs (LMH-4-DCP) website is a customizable virtual space that facilitates collaborative and interactive reminiscence therapy for both dementia patients and caregivers, said lead author Francesca Falzarano, assistant professor at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.