The University of Pittsburgh’s Tevis Jacobs and the University of Freiburg’s Lars Pastewka have teamed up with Saarland University’s Martin Müser and Jacobs’ graduate student Arushi Pradhan to conduct a worldwide challenge to increase awareness of how surface topography is measured and described. The results of their research are published in the article “The Surface-Topography Challenge: A multi-laboratory benchmark study to advance the characterization of topography” (DOI: 10.1007/s11249-025-02014-y) in Tribology Letters.

A Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts study shows that natural variation in Schizophyllum commune, coupled with glycerol or PEG crosslinking, produces films with specific strengths from 0.03–3 MPa·(m³/kg) and elongations up to 98 %, offering a genetic roadmap for sustainable materials.

A study in Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts presents yarn-free cellulose fibers extracted from wild paper-mulberry bast and functionalized with renewable suberin. The resulting textiles show 0.43 GPa tensile strength, broad-spectrum antibacterial activity and cradle-to-gate CO₂ emissions 90 % lower than PET, while 95 % of the coating can be recovered and reused.

Researchers in China and Germany have engineered a leaf-inspired smart bandage that integrates blueberry-derived anthocyanins as a pH-sensitive dye and neomycin-grafted cellulose as a non-leaching antibacterial scaffold. The dual-network aerogel rapidly converts to a hydrogel upon absorbing wound exudate, generating gentle negative pressure that continuously cleans the wound and prevents reinfection. In infected mouse models, the dressing achieved 88% wound closure in seven days, outperforming a leading commercial product, while its color shift from pink to brown instantly alerts clinicians to rising pH and potential infection.

Indigenous agroforests (food-producing agroecosystems where trees and crops grow together in forest-like environments) may offer valuable insights for addressing two of the world’s biggest challenges: declining biodiversity and rising non-communicable disease, according to research led by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researchers. Published in July 2025 in Global Food Security, the study found that agroforests with greater ecological diversity also offer a more nutritionally diverse food supply. 

Most people envision vibration on a large scale, like the buzz of a cell phone notification or the oscillation of an electric toothbrush. But scientists think about vibration on a smaller scale—atomic, even.

A new material developed by researchers from University of Toronto Engineering could offer a safer alternative to the non-stick chemicals commonly used in cookware and other applications. 

The new substance repels both water and grease about as well as standard non-stick coatings — but it contains much lower amounts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a family of chemicals that have raised environmental and health concerns.