Trees in tropical forests are dying at an increased rate, with consequences for biodiversity, carbon storage, and the global climate. While deforestation is the primary cause of forest loss, intact forests are also experiencing a rise in tree death. Drought, higher temperatures, and fires have been the leading suspects, but a new paper led by Evan Gora, a forest ecologist at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, identifies an underappreciated threat: thunderstorms, which are becoming more frequent with climate change.

Engineers and plant scientists worked together to improve a basic tool of plant research. The result is more efficient and consistent gene editing. That could help researchers develop crops that withstand hot weather, provide better nutrition or contribute to renewable energy production.

A collaborative multidisciplinary team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine and New York University has developed a miniature chip that could transform how blood cancer treatments are tested and tailored for patients. “This device addresses a significant gap in preclinical research, offering an advanced tool for studying CAR T cell therapy’s dynamic and multifaceted responses to leukemia,” says Saba Ghassemi of the Perelman School of Medicine at the Unviersity of Pennsylvania.

MIT researchers developed a new system that enables a robot to use reflected Wi-Fi signals to identify the shape of a 3D object that is hidden from view, which could be especially useful in warehouse and factory settings. 

Neuromorphic computing, which mimics architecture of brain, could support growing energy demands of AI

In the U.S., fungal spore allergy season started, on average, more than three weeks ealier in 2022 than it had been in 2003.

Sustainable materials—powered by sunlight and living microbes—that remove pollutants from water, release oxygen into a wound or heal themselves after damage could become simpler to create thanks to new research by a team of biologists and engineers at UC San Diego. 

Researchers led by UCLA bioengineers, have developed a seemingly simple yet effective tool: a smart, self-powered magnetoelastic pen that could help detect early signs of Parkinson’s by analyzing a person’s handwriting.