Although abundant, sustainable, and strong, bamboo as a construction material remains underused and in need of increased international standardization. Researchers Kent Harries at the University of Pittsburgh and Luisa Molari at the University of Bologna, in Italy, are helping to change that. Through a Fulbright Visiting Scholar Award, Molari has been on the Pitt campus collaborating with Harries. The two are sharing extensive experience and insight to advance and standardize a material that can help provide sustainable, affordable housing worldwide. 

Scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have developed a powerful new computational tool that could transform how cancer tissues are analyzed and help pave the way for more personalized treatments. The study, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, introduces MARQO, a next-generation image analysis process that extracts detailed cellular and spatial information from tumor tissue slides with unprecedented accuracy and scalability.Scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have developed a powerful new computational tool that could transform how cancer tissues are analyzed and help pave the way for more personalized treatments. The study, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, introduces MARQO, a next-generation image analysis process that extracts detailed cellular and spatial information from tumor tissue slides with unprecedented accuracy and scalability.

A previously untapped source of data sheds new light on the climate of the early Earth: fossilized dinosaur teeth show that the atmosphere during the Mesozoic era, between 252 and 66 million years ago, contained far more carbon dioxide than it does today. An international research team at the Universities of Göttingen, Mainz and Bochum made this discovery by analysing oxygen isotopes in tooth enamel. They used a newly developed method that opens up opportunities for research into the Earth's climate history. In addition, the researchers found that total photosynthesis from plants around the world was twice as high as it is today. This probably contributed to the dynamic climate during the time of the dinosaurs. The results were published in the journal PNAS.

Kennesaw State University’s Lei Shi, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, is working to change how doctors diagnose and treat gastrointestinal disorders with virtual replicas of human stomachs.

Computer scientists at Princeton are working to bring virtual reality into the physical world, with the potential to enhance a variety of experiences, including remote collaboration, education, entertainment and gaming.

On August 8, 2024, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope captured the sharpest-ever images of a solar flare at the H-alpha wavelength (656.28 nm), revealing dark coronal loop strands in unprecedented detail. The observations, made during the decay phase of an X1.3-class flare, measured loop widths averaging 48.2 km, with some even half as narrow. By using the Inouye Solar Telescope to isolate light at the H-alpha wavelength, emitted by hydrogen atoms, solar physicists can identify fine structures in the lower solar atmosphere too small to observe in the past—offering a potential breakthrough in determining the fundamental scale of coronal loops and advancing solar flare modeling. By improving researchers’ ability to model solar flares, these observations will also improve forecasting for space weather events that are hazardous to satellites, power grids, and communications on Earth.