Scientists aren’t comedians, but it turns out a joke or two can go a long way. That’s according to a new University of Georgia study that found when researchers use humor in their communication — particularly online — audiences are more likely to find them trustworthy and credible.

Researchers have created a light-powered soft robot that can carry loads through the air along established tracks, similar to cable cars or aerial trams. The soft robot operates autonomously, can climb slopes at angles of up to 80 degrees, and can carry loads up to 12 times its weight.

Annealing processors, used for solving combinatorial optimization problems based on fully coupled Ising models, are limited in capacity and precision. While previous studies have developed scalable systems that allow scaling of the number of spins or capacity, their precision or interaction bit width remains fixed. In a new study, researchers have developed a novel dual scalable annealing processing system that allows both expansion in the number of spins and interaction bit width.

Even well-known proteins can surprise us; some go beyond their recognised roles, stepping in to awaken latent viruses and trigger oncogenic pathways. A newly established team of researchers at Åbo Akademi University, led by Academy Research Fellow Silvia Gramolelli (Faculty of Science and Engineering), has discovered an additional function for Heat Shock Factor 2 (HSF2), a human transcription factor not previously associated with viral processes.