Think you need marathon gym sessions to build muscle? Think again. A new FAU study reveals that just one to two focused sets per workout can lead to serious strength gains—no endless reps required. By analyzing dozens of studies, researchers found that training smart, not just hard, is the key. The secret? Prioritize quality over quantity, target muscles directly, and spread your sessions throughout the week. More isn’t always better—sometimes, it’s just wasted effort.

In 2021 PROMICON set out to support the bioeconomy by harnessing the power of microbiomes. Bringing together researchers from 10 institutions across 7 European countries, the consortium studied microbial communities in diverse ecosystems and translated this knowledge into real-world applications, developing new biotechnological solutions for the production of bioplastics, butanol, hydrogen, and other bio-based products.

Four years later, PROMICON delivered over 30 scientific publications, five targeted policy briefs, and a range of educational videos and tools designed to inform researchers, industry representatives and policymakers. Explore the project’s legacy in the newly released booklet and video.

The Healthy Donor Cohort at the University of Alabama at Birmingham formed last year to find healthy participants who would donate a small amount of blood for clinical studies. The HDC today has 948 preregistered volunteers who respond in two days or less to blood requests. Now this cohort, ages 18 to 86, is starting to serve the research community more broadly, giving clinicians access to a large group of people who are willing to participate in other clinical research. The HDC sends out research descriptions to its largely healthy cohort. The cohort reads the description and, if interested, contacts the study to see if they meet requirements to enroll.