University of Victoria expert unpacks possible reasons for declining alcohol consumption in Canada.

At the NUS Energy Solutions Hub, researchers and partners are pooling expertise across disciplines to reimagine from the ground up how tropical cities can stay cool, connected and carbon-conscious.

A reusable, biodegradable ice material captures methane rapidly, paving the way for safer and cleaner storage of natural gas and biomethane.

AI-based “scribes” are increasingly being adopted in emergency medicine to reduce the administrative burden on clinicians by automatically recording and summarizing patient interactions. While these tools may improve documentation efficiency and help address clinician burnout, UVA data science expert Tom Hartvigsen cautions that they also raise important concerns about care quality, system incentives, and patient data privacy.

Hartvigsen notes that because efficiency is easier to measure than quality of care, AI systems may unintentionally steer healthcare delivery toward speed and cost reduction rather than clinical excellence. He also highlights risks related to patient data being processed by generative AI systems, including the potential for sensitive information to be retained or exposed in unintended contexts.

As hospitals weigh adoption decisions, Hartvigsen emphasizes that patients and providers are still actively navigating how AI scribes should be governed, and encourages transparency about whether and how patient data are used in AI systems.

A Lehigh University bioengineering researcher is developing a new method to improve detection of critical congenital heart disease in newborns. Using seismocardiography—an approach that measures chest vibrations—the work aims to address key limitations of pulse oximetry, including reduced accuracy in some patients and missed conditions that do not affect blood oxygen levels.

Professor of Theoretical Physics Risto Paatelainen from the University of Turku in Finland has spent nearly ten years working on a single unanswered question in particle physics. He aims to find out whether so-called quark matter can form under the extreme densities found in neutron stars. The answer is getting close.

Operations underground, for example in underground stations, tunnels or mines, are risky and difficult for rescue teams. This is especially true if the technical infrastructure has collapsed due to explosions or fire, and there are no mobile phone signals, electricity, light, Wi-Fi or GNSS, while smoke, debris and damaged paths make orientation even more difficult. In the NIKE MATE project, funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), a research team consisting of Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), the University of Leoben, the Federal Ministry of Defence, OHB Austria and the Laabmayr Engineering Office has developed a system for such missions. It combines sensor data from robots and rescue teams with a self-built UWB (ultra-wideband) network. This creates a dynamic map of the environment in which the team can locate and coordinate itself.

University of Tennessee, Knoxville neuroscientist Keerthi Krishnan studies how genes, especially MECP2, shape brain plasticity across development and disease. Using cellular, behavioral, and machine learning tools, her lab examines how disrupted communication among diverse brain cells contributes to disorders like Rett syndrome, aiming to preserve or restore plasticity and improve neurological outcomes.