State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. today announced the inaugural class of Simons Empire Faculty Fellows in academic fields including neuroscience, mathematics, and physics. The fellowship supports 16 tenure-track faculty positions, four at each of SUNY's University Centers, the State University of New York at Albany, at Binghamton, at Buffalo, and at Stony Brook. The Simons Foundation and Simons Foundation International established the program to stimulate faculty hiring in mathematics and the basic sciences across New York State. Simons Foundation International provides funding to participating institutions, with the program administered by the Simons Foundation.

In collaboration with partners, researchers at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) have developed new hybrid compounds that, in laboratory studies, were shown to simultaneously reduce the viability of aggressive cancer cells and inhibit the growth of certain bacteria and fungi.

In JASA Express Letters, researchers set out to understand the acoustics behind "aegyo," the playful cuteness put on by adults to win someone’s affection. They discovered that speakers were increasing their formant frequencies when speaking with aegyo, suggesting they changed their voices to make it sound like they had a shorter vocal tract. This imitates a childlike voice, possibly eliciting a protective response from others and strengthening social bonds.

Most scientific research into snoring is aimed at treating sleep apnea, but snoring not caused by sleep apnea can still be debilitating. In Physics of Fluids, researchers developed a 3D model of the upper airway, complete with dynamic airflows, soft tissues, and sound generation, with the goal of understanding how these elements are related. They simulated the movement of air through the mouth, watching closely for any sound-producing vibrations, and found that the loudest sounds resulted from unsteady airflow across the soft tissues of the mouth, hinting at possible anti-snoring solutions.

A Kyushu University‑led team has provided direct evidence for the electric field long suspected to drive fast chemistry at water surfaces. By trapping water and air inside a carbon nanotube and imaging the interface in 3D, they resolved its shape at the nanoscale. The researchers then deduced forces exceeding classical predictions, consistent with a powerful electric field. This methodology could guide rational design of nanoporous materials for clean energy.

What if dolphins are listening in on their prey—and their prey are listening right back? Researchers spent two months eavesdropping on dolphins along Florida’s Atlantic coast, using an autonomous wave glider to capture their underwater sounds and clues about where they socialize and hunt. The study revealed distinct acoustic hotspots where dolphins gathered and socialized, and where they hunted in areas rich with sound-producing fish. The findings open a fascinating new question: Are dolphins and their prey listening to—and potentially responding to—each other?