The eastern tropical Pacific Ocean is known for its large low-oxygen zones that are increasing in size, putting marine life at risk. New research shows that 15 million years ago, the opposite was true. A Michigan State University study found that oxygen-deficient waters were distributed very differently during the mid-Miocene Epoch than they are today. The Pacific Ocean’s oxygen-deficient zones were much smaller, while the Atlantic’s were much larger. Scientists had never documented this reversal before. A computer model helped explain why. By recreating ancient ocean conditions, Associate Professor Dalton Hardisty’steam learned that a channel between North and South America allowed water to move freely between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, reshaping ocean circulation and changing where low-oxygen waters formed.

The Ceramics Industries Research Association (AICE), in collaboration with the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló and 15 additional partners, is developing a project to test safe and clean industrial technologies that reduce risks to human health and biodiversity. The project is linked to the new Environmental Engineering Laboratory, whose technical committee includes Irina Celades and Eliseo Monfort. The project kick-off meeting was held on 15 and 16 June at the headquarters of the Ceramic Technology Institute (ITC) on the UJI campus. BRISA addresses the urgent challenge posed by emerging airborne industrial pollutants, which are linked to approximately 125,000 deaths annually. The aim is that its implementation in 600–800 industrial facilities will protect more than 45,000 workers by 2035, prevent hundreds of premature deaths each year, and reduce material consumption by 5% and energy consumption by 15%.

Salk scientists explore long-standing mystery of why iron that builds up in neuronal cells becomes harmful over time in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, finding a new cellular process, named chronoferroptosis, wherein chronic iron dysregulation in neurons makes them more vulnerable to stressors. The study complements other ongoing research at Salk to design compounds that inhibit this pathway, and could be a promising future avenue for creating therapies that boost resilience in aging brains.

Researchers have developed a frequency-domain thermoreflectance (FDTR) microscopy approach to visualize thermal conductivity and interfacial thermal conductance in thermal interface materials (TIMs) at the microscale. The study, published in Thermo-X, provides a direct imaging method for revealing structure–property relationships in particle-filled thermal composites used for electronic thermal management.

Photodetectors require complex evaporation-based fabrication processes and exhibit relatively high dark currents and noise levels under operation. Besides, system size, cost, and the mismatch in responsivity between different types of photodetectors hinder further commercial application. Now, researchers from Dalian Minzu University have proposed the construction of a perovskite/In0.53Ga0.47As thin-film heterojunction, thereby realizing broadband photodetectors covering the deep-ultraviolet to short-wavelength infrared range.