Synchrotron in a closet: Bringing powerful 3D X-ray microscopy to smaller labs
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 26-Oct-2025 02:11 ET (26-Oct-2025 06:11 GMT/UTC)
For the first time, researchers can study the microstructures inside metals, ceramics and rocks with X-rays in a standard laboratory without needing to travel to a particle accelerator, according to a study led by University of Michigan engineers.
A new study led by a pair of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst turns long-held conventional wisdom about a certain type of polymer on its head, greatly expanding understanding of how some of biochemistry’s fundamental forces work. The study, released recently in Nature Communications, opens the door for new biomedical research running the gamut from analyzing and identifying proteins and carbohydrates to drug delivery.
In Physics of Fluids, researchers have developed a foolproof recipe for cacio e pepe, based on their findings studying the physics of mixing cheese in water and determining the mechanism that causes the cheese sauce to go from creamy to clumpy. The team found that a 2%-3% starch-to-cheese ratio produced the smoothest, most uniform sauce; they recommend using powdered starch, rather than relying on an unknown amount of starch in pasta water.
A harmful form of the tau protein, which builds up in Alzheimer’s disease and similar brain disorders, can directly damage blood vessels in the brain, according to a new study by researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. It does this by changing how the cells lining the blood vessels produce energy, which leads to inflammation and makes the blood-brain barrier – the brain's protective shield – weaker.
The discovery, reported online in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, the journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, uncovers a novel molecular mechanism that potentially explains tau-mediated vascular dysfunction in the brain and highlights the importance of focusing on early neurovascular changes mediated by tau to help prevent or slow down damage to the blood-brain barrier in Alzheimer’s disease.
The state-of-the-art digital detector array, developed by the Institute of Modern Physics offers a high - precision measurement tool for the study of exotic nuclei decay. This system demonstrates unique advantages in accurately measuring rare decay processes such as β-delayed proton emission, α decay, and direct proton radioactivity. Verified by experiments on the radioactive isotope 32Ar and its neighboring nuclei, the system achieves excellent timing and energy resolution, promoting our understanding of nuclear structure and astrophysical processes.
A research paper by scientists at University of Rome Tor Vergata represented proof of principle of the use of optically-induced dielectrophoresis (ODEP) analysis for the classification of patient-derived endometrial stromal cells, which could be exploited to help clinicians to stratify patients experiencing reproductive failure.