Scientists have developed a material that can grow and coordinate its own movement until the entire structure pulses in unison, paving the way for versatile robots that behave more like living systems.

Publishing their findings on Oct. 14 in Nature, engineers from the University of Birmingham working with the Universities of Amsterdam, Lyon, Delft, Leiden and Cambridge reveal that they have created a mechatronic metamaterial that behaves as a ‘time crystal.'

Every organ and tissue progressively loses function as it ages, but aging tissues retain a latent capacity for rejuvenation. A new study, led by Wyss Institute Core Faculty member George Church, used gene expression data and machine learning to develop a novel “transcriptomic age predictor,” which pinpoints the “transcriptional age” of cells. Using this predictor as a readout in an over-expression screen, the team identified the RNA processing factor SRSF1and demonstrated that it can rejuvenate several “hallmarks of aging,” and significantly increase the healthspan and lifespan of aged mice. 

A team of researchers headquartered at the University of Oklahoma is taking an innovative approach toward advancing grassland conservation and management, with grant support from the the U.S. National Science Foundation. The project brings together experts and observatory sites from across the state.

SUNY Polytechnic Institute Assistant Professor of Accounting Dr. Katie Matt, collaborating with Daniel Hebert of Syracuse University, has published new research examining fraud in the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a key COVID-19 relief initiative for small businesses. Using publicly prosecuted fraud cases, the researchers found that limited oversight and verification procedures enabled widespread abuse, including the use of falsified financial records, fictitious businesses, and weak application screening processes. The research underscores the challenge of balancing the rapid distribution of emergency aid with accountability safeguards that protect taxpayer resources and ensure assistance reaches intended recipients. Their findings offer practical recommendations for policymakers designing future disaster and economic relief programs.

Perovskites, manufactured crystals used in solar cells, have long promised to boost solar power, but internal defects have blunted their potential. Now, researchers at Princeton Engineering have corrected the defects by adding a novel combination of chemicals during fabrication.

A new commentary on the evolving role of artificial intelligence in healthcare makes an urgent plea to physicians.

A genetic switch that activates immune cells as they fight tumours: this is the new strategy developed by an international research team coordinated by Velia Siciliano at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT – Italian Institute of Technology) in Naples and described in the scientific journal Nature Communications. The study marks another step towards engineering precise and more effective synthetic immunotherapies against solid tumours, such as melanoma and breast cancer.

A research team has developed a support-bath bioprinting method that enables fragile, mature human adipocytes to be incorporated into geometrically defined three-dimensional (3D) constructs while retaining their viability, characteristic lipid-filled morphology, and metabolic activity. 

Novel Sillén oxyhalides, exhibit high oxide-ion conductivity at low temperatures, chemical stability, and negligible chemical expansion. One of the materials achieves 0.01 S cm⁻¹ bulk conductivity at 233 °C—within the “Norby gap.” The discovery reveals an unexpected vacancy-mediated mechanism for oxide-ion transport despite excess oxygen, introducing a new materials-design concept for fast oxide-ion conductors and low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells. The present findings may open a new research field, “Oxide Ionics.”