In a student-centered teaching project, undergraduates analyzed botanical elements in Taylor Swift music videos to activate prior knowledge and reinforce complex plant science concepts. The experience reports improved comprehension, high student satisfaction, and potential to counter “plant blindness” through popular culture.

Kronenberg wants to know exactly how T cells do their jobs. Which molecular pathways push T cells into action when they meet an invader? He's especially interested in unusual T cell subsets—the ones that defy long-standing rules of immunology.

Natural language processing (NLP), a subfield of artificial intelligence that uses computational techniques to interpret, analyze, and generate human language, encompasses a range of tasks and techniques. These include the large language models (LLMs) that power chatbots and other types of systems, as well as specific approaches (some employed by LLMs), including information extraction and text mining.

Korean researchers have achieved a breakthrough in the safety of generative AI. They developed a vision language model optimized for safety and released it for the first time. In this model, AI can preemptively analyze both images and text, even detecting risks. The research team is paving the way for a safe AI era. ETRI announced that it has unveiled a new type of vision language model called “Safe LLaVA,” which structurally enhances safety in generative AI models.

Imagine soaring more than 400 feet in the air before landing on skis, launching off a nearly 50-foot platform strapped to a snowboard, or sledding face first over 80 miles an hour down a sheet of ice—on purpose. Spectators of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games may wonder if the brains of elite athletes are wired differently than the rest of us mere mortals. For neuroscientist Sayamwong Hammack, professor of psychological science at the University of Vermont, the answer is much more complicated.

Sandia National Laboratories earned eight honors in the 2025 R&D 100 Awards, including seven technology awards and the program’s Researcher of the Year professional award. 

Researchers at the University of Maine created a new, water- and oil-proof food packaging material made of mycelium from mushrooms and cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) from wood that easily decomposes once its purpose is finished. They selected the fungus Trametes versicolor, or turkey tail mushroom, which grows in decaying trees in the wild. This meant the mycelium could use wood-derived CNFs for its own growth. Similar fungi have been used for things like binding particle boards together.

Kansas State University is preparing tomorrow's nuclear industry leaders to enter the workforce. Between the top-notch education and research opportunities at K-State and the real-world career experience through Evergy internships at Wolf Creek, the future of the nuclear industry is bright.