CHICAGO—August 7, 2025—Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) hosted the third annual EV Readiness Community Award Ceremony this week, celebrating 17 local governments across northern Illinois for their leadership in preparing for the transition to electric vehicles (EVs). The ceremony, co-led by ComEd and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, brought together mayors, municipal leaders, industry experts, and elected officials to recognize communities that have earned EV Ready designations through actionable local policy, planning, and infrastructure. The event featured remarks from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Senator Dick Durbin, ...

When bacteria battle for survival, they do so with microscopic precision. Some produce toxins that target rival microbes, shaping not only their own fitness but the structure of entire microbial communities. Marcos de Moraes, assistant professor of biosciences at Rice University, is fascinated by these microbial skirmishes and how they might be harnessed for biotechnology. Now, with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER), de Moraes will study a little-understood family of bacterial toxins known as deaminases. The five-year, $1.2 million grant will fund research into the molecular ...

New research to be presented at this year’s Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna, Austria (15-19 September) shows, among people recently diagnosed with type with type 2 diabetes and no previous cardiovascular disease, a clear association exists between a person’s self-reported physical activity and their risk of all-cause mortality and major adverse cardiac events (MACE), that include heart attacks and strokes. The study is by Ms Line Eriksen and Dr Sidsel Domazet, Steno Diabetes Centre Odense, Odense University ...

PHILADELPHIA— For some patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancers like colorectal and pancreatic cancer, chemotherapy can cause severe, sometimes life-threatening side effects in those who carry certain genetic variants that can impact how their bodies process the drugs used to treat their disease. Testing for variants in two genes before starting chemotherapy can significantly improve patient safety by providing physicians with information to help tailor doses, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University ...

Glaciers carved the deep valleys of Banff, eroded Ontario to deposit the fertile soils of the Prairies and continue to change the Earth’s surface. But how fast do glaciers sculpt the landscape?   Published today in Nature Geoscience, University of Victoria (UVic) geographer Sophie Norris and her international team provide the most comprehensive view of how fast glaciers erode, and how they change the landscape. Most importantly, their research also provides an estimate of the rate of future erosion for more than 180,000 glaciers worldwide.  Using ...

The Barcelona CryoZoo is a one-of-a-kind project aiming to safeguard and study biological material from a wide range of animal species – especially those at risk of extinction – in order to preserve and better understand the planet’s biodiversity.  Born out of an initiative by the Barcelona Zoo Foundation, a space managed by BSM through the Barcelona Zoo Foundation, and that is developed jointly with University Pompeu Fabra (UPF), EMBL Barcelona, and the Natural Science Museum of Barcelona, CryoZoo has now been awarded a competitive grant from the wildlife conservation organisation Revive & Restore. This support ...

Scientists blocked a newly discovered anaphylaxis pathway in mice using Zileuton Mice went from 95% susceptible to anaphylaxis to 95% protected ‘A totally different, out-of-the-box approach to treat food allergy’ Clinical trial recently launched to test the same approach in humans CHICAGO --- A drug already FDA-approved for asthma was found to nearly eliminate life-threatening allergic reactions to food allergens in mice — a breakthrough that could lead to new protection for millions of people living with food allergies, reports a new Northwestern Medicine ...

FRANKFURT. Most of us find it difficult to grasp the quantum world: According to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, it’s like observing a dance without being able to see simultaneously exactly where someone is dancing and how fast they’re moving – you always must choose to focus on one. And yet, this quantum dance is far from chaotic; the dancers follow a strict choreography. In molecules, this strange behavior has another consequence: Even if a molecule should be completely frozen at absolute zero, it never truly comes to rest. The atoms it is made of perform a constant, never-ending quiet dance driven by so-called ...

New research in mice reveals that food-induced anaphylaxis is driven by distinct immune pathways involving inflammatory lipids called leukotrienes. The findings, published across two separate studies, identify genetic and cellular factors that influence susceptibility to severe allergic reactions and point to the potential of the drug Zileuton to block this life-threatening response. Food allergies arise when the immune system mounts an exaggerated response to certain proteins found in foods. This reaction is typically driven by Immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies, which recognize dietary allergens and activates mast cells throughout the body. In severe ...

In a Policy Forum, Mateo Aboy and colleagues argue that, instead of turning immediately to rigid regulation to govern emerging quantum technologies, the community should apply a standards-based governance approach tailored to the early, technically focused stage of development. Quantum technologies are poised to revolutionize everything from computing to medicine, offering performance leaps that far surpass the limits of current systems. Yet, this promise comes with complex governance challenges, as these powerful tools ...

A group of marine mollusks called chitons produce extraordinarily tough teeth, which they use to scrape algae off rocks for food. Now, researchers report the protein RTMP1 (radular teeth matrix protein 1) appears to guide the precise formation of the iron-based mineral magnetite in the ultra-hard teeth of chitons. The findings mark the first known instance of an iron oxide-forming protein in a eukaryote, offering new insights into biomineralization and potential inspiration for novel materials design. Throughout the animal kingdom, many organisms ...

A newly engineered antibody transport vehicle targeting the transferrin receptor enables enhanced delivery of anti-amyloid antibodies to the brains of mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers report. According to the study, the approach preserves key immune functions, such as microglial clearance of plaques, while offering a safer and more effective delivery strategy for anti–amyloid immunotherapies. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is marked by the buildup of amyloid-β (Aβ) protein plaques in the brain. ...

  Irvine, Calif. — Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and Japan’s Okayama and Toho universities conducted a first-of-its-kind study to understand how chitons, mollusks that feed on algae growing on intertidal rocks, develop such hard, wear-resistant and magnetic teeth, and what they learned is inspiring new ways to produce advanced materials for a variety of applications. The results were published today in Science. In its study, the team unveiled the process by which chiton-specific, iron-binding ...

The ability to detect single photons (the smallest energy packets constituting electromagnetic radiation) in the infrared range has become a pressing need across numerous fields, from medical imaging and astrophysics to emerging quantum technologies. In observational astronomy, for example, the light from distant celestial objects can be extremely faint and require exceptional sensitivity in the mid-infrared. Similarly, in free-space quantum communication—where single photons need to travel across vast distances—operating in ...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Recent research has developed a novel electrospun scaffold loaded with copper oxide (CuO@PG), which aims to restore copper homeostasis and modulate inflammation in TBI. The study shows that CuO@PG scaffolds significantly reduce neuronal pyroptosis (a form of programmed cell death), alleviate brain swelling, and improve motor and cognitive functions in animal models. These findings provide a promising therapeutic approach to mitigate the neurodegenerative effects ...

AUGUST 7, 2025, NEW YORK – Many major cancers, including those of the lung, breast and prostate gland, spread to the bones as they progress. These bone metastases are often debilitating, even deadly. They are also notoriously resistant to all kinds of treatment, including immunotherapy. Now a Ludwig Cancer Research study has identified in the microenvironment of bone tumors a key architect of that resistance. Researchers co-led by Taha Merghoub and Tao Shi of the Ludwig Collaborative Laboratory at Weill Cornell Medicine with colleagues at Nanjing ...

Adding crushed calcium carbonate — limestone — to agricultural fields can remove tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year while improving crop yields, a Yale-led study published in Nature Water found. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere hit a record high in 2024 reaching over 420 parts per million. The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has identified carbon removal as one key tool in limiting warming to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels to help mitigate climate change. To reach that target, 15 billion tons of carbon would have to be removed from the atmosphere each year. “There ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- About 49% of people are unaware of one or more vaccines recommended for them. Further, 86% have not received one or more of these vaccines. These are the findings of a University of California, Riverside-led study published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports. The study is the first national comprehensive vaccine surveillance study conducted in emergency departments, or EDs — the only health care access point for millions of underserved Americans. “Vaccination screening is one of the most fundamental public health interventions,” ...

Not all poisonous gases have a smell or a color. But a tiny grid of pastel- and candy-colored squares that effectively “sniffs” out hazardous chemicals in the air such as chlorosarin — a highly toxic nerve agent — could help detect them. Researchers report in ACS Sensors that the colorful patterns in their inexpensive and durable paper-based sensor array changed in the presence of poisonous gases, allowing for quick and accurate measurements within minutes.      Electronic noses, ...

Tiny extracellular vesicles known as exosomes are emerging as key regulators of the tumor microenvironment (TME), influencing how cancer progresses, spreads, and responds to treatment. In a new review published in Med Research, researchers from Haikou Affiliated Hospital of Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine explore the dual nature of exosomes—highlighting their roles in both tumor promotion and immune modulation. “Exosomes are not just passive carriers,” said Dr. Jiachong Wang, co-corresponding author of the paper. “They actively shape tumor biology by transferring RNAs, proteins, and ...

The University of Copenhagen is excited to announce Gordian Biotechnology as a Tier 5 Sponsor of the 12th Aging Research & Drug Discovery Meeting, the world's largest conference on aging research in the biopharmaceutical industry that will transpire on August 25 - August 29, 2025 on-site at the Ceremonial Hall, University of Copenhagen, and online.  Gordian Biotechnology is a therapeutics company transforming how the industry discovers and develops treatments for age-related diseases. By integrating pooled screening in naturally occurring disease models, single-cell analysis, and in vivo gene therapy, ...

Ten years ago, researchers discovered a small group of people who derive no pleasure from music despite having normal hearing and the ability to enjoy other experiences or stimuli. The condition, “specific musical anhedonia,” is caused by a disconnect between the brain’s auditory and reward networks. In a paper publishing August 7 in the Cell Press journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences, the team that discovered specific musical anhedonia describes the brain mechanisms behind the condition and discusses how understanding it could reveal other differences in how people experience ...

It sounds like science fiction: a spacecraft, no heavier than a paperclip, propelled by a laser beam and hurtling through space at the speed of light toward a black hole, on a mission to probe the very fabric of space and time and test the laws of physics. But to astrophysicist and black hole expert Cosimo Bambi, the idea is not so far-fetched.    Reporting in the Cell Press journal iScience, Bambi outlines the blueprint for turning this interstellar voyage to a black hole into a reality. If successful, this century-long mission could return data from nearby ...

Natural weathering processes are removing CO2 from the air in a wide range of environments across continents and ocean. Until recently these ‘CO2 vacuum cleaners’ were often studied separately, without properly examining their complex interactions. Now, an international team of earth scientists is proposing an integrated vision of the many factors that influence the removal of atmospheric CO2 from the highest mountain peaks to the deep ocean floor, including their various interactions. The so-called weathering continuum provides a much more complete picture on what controls and regulates the natural removal of CO2, which could ...

To the point Power relationships between female and male gorillas: They are less strictly male-biased than previously thought. Females can overpower males despite the extreme male-biases in size and strength. Revisiting traditional gender narratives: Females that overpower males have priority of access to food over these males, challenging the traditional narrative that females and males compete over different resources (females  over food and males over females). Over 50 years ago, the idea that males had universal ...