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Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 14-Nov-2025 03:11 ET (14-Nov-2025 08:11 GMT/UTC)

FDA grants orphan drug designation to UAB-developed gene therapy for ALS

Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Grant and Award Announcement

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to a new gene therapy for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) developed at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and licensed to the U.S. company Klotho Neurosciences, Inc.

Sweet discovery: sugars from the salty ocean are responsible for a large part of the ice nuclei in clouds over the remote oceans of the southern hemisphere

Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Current climate models have so far been unable to adequately reproduce the clouds over the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. An international team has now taken an important step towards filling this gap: The researchers were able to prove that the majority of ice nuclei in the atmosphere there are due to sugar compounds from marine microorganisms in the seawater. They enter the clean air above the sea through sea spray and evaporation, causing water droplets to freeze and thus affecting cloud and precipitation formation. Ice formation in clouds has a major influence on the climate as ice particles in clouds reflect sunlight much more strongly than pure water clouds. These results emphasize the importance of biological sources for precipitation formation in remote marine regions such as around the Antarctic, as researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) and the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø recently published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Funder: German Research Foundation (DFG)
Meeting: European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2025

RNA viruses may differentially shape carbon recycling in the ocean

Bar-Ilan University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study by researchers at Bar-Ilan University has uncovered that certain ocean viruses—specifically RNA viruses—may disrupt how carbon and nutrients are recycled in the ocean, potentially altering the global carbon cycle.

Journal: Science Advances

HKUST’s next-gen QRLEDs transform smartphone & TVs with ultra-bright and color-rich displays

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) School of Engineering have cracked a major challenge in display technology by inventing the world’s brightest and most energy efficient quantum rod LEDs (QRLEDs). These next-generation QRLEDs feature optimized deep green emission at the top of the colour triangle, enabling displays with unprecedented colour purity and a maximized colour gamut. Boasting a longer lifespan and triple the brightness of previous models, these cutting-edge light sources deliver energy-efficient, ultra-vivid visuals for smartphones, televisions, and AR/VR devices while further enhancing colour performance.

Journal: Advanced Materials

Meet your digital twin

Weizmann Institute of Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Recently, researchers from Prof. Eran Segal’s laboratory at the Weizmann Institute of Science have harnessed artificial intelligence to create a personalized “digital twin” that allows them to detect a risk of developing diseases, initiate preventive treatment and even run simulations to predict which treatment will be most effective. This new development, detailed in Nature Medicine, was made possible by the Human Phenotype Project, in which scientists involved in the initiative, along with colleagues worldwide, have collected extensive, in-depth medical information from over 13,000 people.

Journal: Nature Medicine

Connect four: new semiconductor for future computer chips

Forschungszentrum Juelich
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have developed a material that has never existed before: a stable alloy of carbon, silicon, germanium, and tin. What makes this material special is that all four elements, like silicon, belong to Group IV of the periodic table. This ensures compatibility with the standard manufacturing method used in the chip industry — the CMOS process — a crucial advantage for applications at the interface of electronics, photonics, and quantum technology.

Journal: Advanced Materials

RCSI researchers develop 3D printed implant to help repair spinal cord injuries

RCSI
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A research team at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences has developed a 3-D printed implant to deliver electrical stimulation to injured areas of the spinal cord offering a potential new route to repair nerve damage.

Journal: Advanced Science