Michael Franklin, the computer scientist who co-founded the AMPLab at UC Berkeley and helped build UChicago's data science infrastructure, has been appointed Deputy Dean for Computational and Mathematical Sciences in the university's Physical Sciences Division.

A smartphone-based AI algorithm correctly identified occlusive heart attacks in 84% of cases among 1,490 patients who lacked the classic ST-elevation ECG sign, compared to 42% for standard diagnostic pathways, according to results presented at ESC Acute CardioVascular Care 2026.

Researchers found that the protein SHP suppresses cartilage-degrading enzymes MMP-3 and MMP-13 through the NF-kB pathway. SHP levels drop as osteoarthritis worsens, and restoring the protein via gene therapy reduced cartilage damage and pain in mouse models.

Sixteen years of road surveys across central South Africa reveal that half of 26 raptor and large terrestrial bird species have declined significantly, with the Secretarybird down 68%. Only three species showed clear increases, raising urgent conservation questions.

Scientists created the first lab-grown oesophagus that restored swallowing, developed functional muscle and nerves, and grew with the recipient animal over six months - all without immunosuppression. The advance targets children born with long-gap oesophageal atresia.

LazySlide, a new open-source tool published in Nature Methods, applies foundation AI models to whole-slide pathology images, letting researchers query tissue with plain language, link visual features to gene expression, and plug results into standard genomics workflows.

A Rutgers-led genomic study of 2.2 million people reveals that most genetic risk for addiction stems from genes governing reward processing, self-control, and risk-taking - not substance-specific pathways. Polygenic scores built on these shared pathways predicted risk across multiple substances.

AI foundation models trained on general time-series data from energy and transport sectors predicted river flows across 500+ U.S. basins nearly as well as models trained on decades of hydrological records. The approach could bring flood and drought forecasting to regions that lack monitoring infrastructure.

A scoping review by the University of Eastern Finland and Lakehead University finds Via Ferrata tourism growing fast but under-researched, particularly in North America. The study calls for collaboration between operators, land managers, and climbing organizations to guide sustainable development.

Swedish teenagers who played a fact-based migration simulation showed increased social understanding of immigrants, but their political attitudes remained largely unchanged. About 25% of players failed to reach their destination due to poverty, illness, or death - mirroring real-world barriers.

Nearly half of Norwegian adults surveyed use sleep apps, and most report learning more about their sleep. But people with insomnia symptoms are significantly more likely to experience increased worry and stress from the feedback, potentially worsening the problem they are trying to solve.

Ectotherms - fish, reptiles, invertebrates - do not physiologically adjust to daily temperature fluctuations, a Murdoch University meta-analysis of 26 studies finds. As climate change amplifies temperature variability, these animals may depend entirely on behavior and evolution to survive.

Queensland GPs report that compassionate care for patients seeking voluntary assisted dying is undermined by complex paperwork, absent Medicare rebates, and inconsistent training. With 90% of cases funneled through the public system, community-based doctors are being sidelined.

Machine learning models trained on quadrupole moments can predict molecular electrostatic potentials with high accuracy, sidestepping the days-to-weeks computational cost of quantum-chemical calculations. The approach could accelerate screening of battery electrolyte molecules.

Researchers found sulfuric acid absorbs atmospheric ammonia at 96% recovery with stable nitrogen isotope readings, far outperforming boric acid. Field tests distinguished emissions from cropland, livestock, orchards, and vegetable farms - critical data for targeting PM2.5 reduction strategies.

A 1,658-person trial across six U.S. medical centers used smart water bottles, health coaching, and financial incentives to increase hydration. Participants drank more, but kidney stone recurrence rates remained unchanged, pointing to a need for more personalized prevention.

A University of East Anglia systematic review of 5,000+ social media posts found misinformation rates as high as 56% on some platforms. TikTok scored worst: 52% of ADHD and 41% of autism videos were inaccurate, compared to 22% on YouTube and under 15% on Facebook.

Researchers at UC Riverside built a counterfeit drug detector from cheap infrared line-following sensors. By tracking how pills dissolve in water and converting the data into digital fingerprints, the open-source device correctly identified 90% of 30+ tested medications.

University of Utah geophysicists used airborne electromagnetic imaging to detect a deep freshwater reservoir beneath the Great Salt Lake, with saturated sediments reaching 3-4 km depth. The water could potentially be tapped to suppress toxic dust from the lake's exposed playa.

A Yale study using functional near-infrared spectroscopy found that pairs of people listening to harmonically consonant chord progressions during face-to-face eye contact showed heightened activity in brain regions linked to social perception and emotional connection.

In a 52-student trial across Chicago public schools, robots that openly admitted lacking emotions helped fourth-graders master social-emotional learning vocabulary more effectively than robots given fictional backstories and feelings.

New modeling from Rice University reveals that SMC proteins fold replicating bacterial DNA into accordion-like structures, creating repulsive forces that drive chromosome copies apart — explaining how bacteria split their genomes without the spindle machinery human cells require.

Eesha Oza, a freshman biomedical engineering student, led a study analyzing 62 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the colon spanning 70 years, producing the most comprehensive review of a cancer so rare it makes up just 0.02% to 0.1% of all colon cancers.

Researchers found banned antibiotic residues in fish from Brazil's Piracicaba River, then showed that the aquatic plant Salvinia auriculata can strip antibiotics from water — while also discovering that the plant's presence sometimes made remaining drugs more bioavailable to fish.

A new study maps the overlap between unregistered groundwater wells, former industrial zones, and known contamination sites across the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area, revealing that 22 million residents face an invisible water safety crisis driven by decades of unmonitored solvent pollution.