Hydropower is a key source of low-carbon electricity, but dams also trap sediment that sustains deltas, farms and fisheries. In the Mekong River Basin, decades of hydropower development have already reduced sediment supply to the delta by up to 75 per cent, threatening ecosystems and livelihoods. Researchers at the College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore have created an integrated water–sediment–energy planning framework to identify alternatives that can help avoid further sediment trapping by the remaining planned hydropower projects, thereby protecting the still-available sediment supply. Their study shows that replacing a set of 19 high-impact hydropower plants with solar, wind and battery storage can preserve up to 98 per cent of remaining sediment flows at only four to six per cent higher energy system costs — most of which are offset when ecosystem benefits are included. The approach provides a transferable framework for designing renewable energy systems that protect both climate and ecosystems worldwide.

Shanghai, September 2025 — Motion sickness is a major barrier to passenger comfort, particularly during nighttime journeys when visual cues are limited. A new study published in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems (AIAS) provides experimental evidence that warm red in-vehicle lighting can significantly reduce motion sickness, compared with cool blue light or driving in darkness. The article, “Passenger motion sickness binary classification model and analysis of vehicle lighting intervention effect,” authored by Bin Ren*, Xiaoyuchen Wang, Pengyu Ren and Menghan Wu from Shanghai University, investigates how different ambient lighting conditions affect passenger comfort during real-road nighttime driving.

The human brain does more than simply regulate synapses that exchange signals; individual neurons also process information through “intrinsic plasticity,” the adaptive ability to become more sensitive or less sensitive depending on context. Existing artificial intelligence semiconductors, however, have struggled to mimic this flexibility of the brain. A KAIST research team has now developed next-generation, ultra-low-power semiconductor technology that implements this ability as well, drawing significant attention.

KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on September 28 that a research team led by Professor Kyung Min Kim of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering developed a “Frequency Switching Neuristor” that mimics “intrinsic plasticity,” a property that allows neurons to remember past activity and autonomously adjust their response characteristics.

In a survey of Tokyo metropolitan residents, Osaka Metropolitan University researchers found that long commuting times predicted insomnia and daytime sleepiness, while small living spaces also predicted insomnia.