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.

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.

On World Wetlands Day, the recent report released by the Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory (MWO) warns that despite their vital importance for populations and biodiversity, Mediterranean wetlands remain fragile ecosystems, subject to multiple pressures (intensive agriculture, overexploitation of water, artificialisation, and climate change) that are causing rapid and continuous losses. Historically, more than half of Mediterranean wetlands have already disappeared, and between 1990 and 2020 alone, losses are estimated at 12%. Faced with this alarming situation, the MWO has identified five concrete and immediately actionable levers for change in Mediterranean wetlands. Preserving and restoring these areas is a strategic challenge for Mediterranean countries in order to ensure socio-economic resilience, peace and stability in the region.

Central goals of the circular economy include closing material cycles, reducing waste, and permanently keeping raw materials in the economic system. Achieving this requires innovative technologies that open up new avenues for recycling. Gas fermentation is a promising technology; however, some aspects are still in the research phase. The biotechnological process uses exhaust gases such as carbon dioxide as feedstocks to produce valuable products and enable a new approach to industrial emissions. With his research, Professor Ralf Takors, head of the Institute for Biochemical Engineering (IBVT), wants to help gas fermentation reach market maturity. He explains what is important in this regard in an interview. 

Rail vehicles are exposed to extreme operating stress: strong dynamic forces and frequent load changing leave their mark during every journey. While lightweight design approaches, energy efficiency and resource conservation are increasingly important considerations, continued compliance with the strict safety requirements for rail transport still has to be assured. Officially opened today at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Structural Integrity in Rail Vehicle Design will focus on these challenges, as well as developing scientific principles for the next generation of rail vehicles.