Industrial wastewater from electronics manufacturing, metal processing and other sectors often contains two difficult pollutants at once: high levels of salt and toxic heavy metals. Current treatment methods typically address those problems separately, creating costly, complex systems that can produce hazardous brines or metal-laden sludge. Now a group of researchers at Rice University and Vanderbilt University have created an electrochemical platform that could do both jobs at once.

A novel strategy has been developed to achieve the intermolecular asymmetric dearomative photocycloaddition of photoactive alkenes with non-photoactive (benzo)furans by employing enzyme-mimetic Δ/Λ-MOC-16 catalysts. This strategy features high yields, excellent stereoselectivity, and broad functional group tolerance, affording structurally diverse products. It establishes a new reaction manifold for photocatalytic dearomatization transformations.

Researchers from the University of Osaka and collaborating institutions developed an autonomous solid-state nanopore that combines sensing, memory, and signal generation in a single device. Unlike conventional nanopores, the sensor continually reshapes itself through chemical reactions, producing unique electrical signatures as molecules pass through, providing a basis for memory. The device successfully identified a variety of nucleotides and amino acids, providing a new platform for molecular sensing and future iontronic computing.

Researchers identify critical disconnects between end users and developers, offering a roadmap to align cost, usability, and design priorities for aging populations

How does the brain learn? Does it acquire new knowledge by creating new neural pathways, or by strengthening the connections that already exist? A new study from Bar-Ilan University offers evidence in favor of the latter, suggesting that learning is driven primarily by changes in the strength of existing neural connections rather than by expanding the brain's underlying architecture.

UCF's College of Medicine has opened a new clinic to help pilots meet all levels of FAA medical requirements to fly safely. 

After a heart attack, a scar-forming activity can persist for months and contribute to heart fibrosis and later heart failure. Treatment with mesenchymal stromal cell-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) reduced this process and limited harmful fibrosis beyond the damaged area. The study shows that MSC-EVs both reduce the scarring process and preserve heart function over time in a small-animal model, and that they have an acute cardioprotective effect in pig trials when administered directly into the coronary arteries.