A new study from the University of Delaware demonstrates a way to diminish the impact that tires have on the environment when they can no longer be used on vehicles. The process upgrades 6PPD – a useful but environmentally harmful molecule that helps tires last longer – into safe chemicals.

Researchers have developed a tiny, room-temperature device that creates a special type of structured light called radially polarized photons, which are highly useful for secure communication, advanced imaging, and precision optical tools. By carefully designing and positioning a quantum dot within a nanoantenna, they achieved high-quality light with over 93% polarization purity. This breakthrough helps improve the efficiency and practicality of devices that use structured light, paving the way for advancements in communication and optical technology.

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has awarded a two-year, $6 million grant to a team at the USC Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics and the USC Roski Eye Institute advancing a new treatment for one of the leading causes of blindness in older adults. The funding will enable the researchers to conduct preclinical studies needed before launching human trials. The investigators aim to accelerate progress in fighting dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which affects about 16 million people in the U.S. The disease is rooted in damage to the eye’s retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), the cells that support the photoreceptors of the retina. RPE cells protect, feed, and restore the rods and cones that convert light into signals readable by the brain. Dry AMD, which typically manifests in people 50 and older, is currently incurable and can eventually render those suffering legally blind. The USC strategy supported by CIRM takes a new approach - an injection containing a mixture of the restorative, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds that are released by stem cell-derived healthy RPE.