A team at the University of Cambridge is helping to drive biological discovery through innovation in microscope technologies. Dr Lisa-Maria Needham, who leads the University’s Microscopy Bioscience Platform, said: “We’re in a unique position here in Cambridge of being surrounded by amazing biological research. The thing I love most about developing new microscopes is collaborating with the biologists to create technology with real-world applications in mind. We’re developing microscopes that don’t exist anywhere in the world.”

She added: “Technical staff are often not as highly regarded as researchers, but we’re all scientists. I have an amazing, intelligent, creative team of people who love tech and they’re enabling science that wouldn’t otherwise happen.”

“I believe advances in technology go hand in hand with biological discovery. Scientists get to a certain point in their research where they know there’s something going on, but nothing exists to help them see it. That’s driving technological innovation.”

These images show some of the groundbreaking research supported by Needham’s team.

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) the Advanced ICT Research Institute, ASTRODESIGN, Inc. , and Fujikura Ltd. have developed a multi-core fiber cable consisting of eight 4-core, standard cladding diameter multi-core fibers, and they have successfully implemented it for the first time as an ultrahigh-capacity data transmission unit in a real system handling uncompressed 8K video.

In an uncompressed 8K video system, approximately 70 Gbps of data must be transmitted per video stream, requiring one single-core single-mode fiber for each uncompressed 8K camera. The developed multi-core fiber cable contains a total of eight standard cladding diameter (125 μm) single-mode 4-core multi-core fibers of two different types within a 3 mm diameter cable, which is equivalent to the 32 single-core single-mode fibers that are conventionally used in uncompressed 8K video systems.

In this implementation, by introducing a transmission unit that utilizes the multi-core fiber cable, we successfully achieved stable system operation by transmitting high-volume video data from multiple 8K cameras installed in a cleanroom, through limited-capacity information conduits and building interior spaces, over 300 m to an 8K video composition device located in a separate building.

This achievement enables the deployment of systems requiring high-capacity data transmission, such as uncompressed 8K video systems, even in cases in which conventional installation was difficult owing to limited space in information conduits or wiring pathways within or between buildings.

Someone born in 1990 is up to three times more likely to be diagnosed with bowel cancer than someone born in 1950. University of South Australia researcher Professor Michael Samuel is on a quest to find out why.

When hundreds of Missouri high school students gathered in an auditorium at the University of Missouri, there was a buzz of excitement for a unique lecture on the chemistry of NASCAR.

Students in the Missouri Scholars Academy (MSA) soaked up lessons on the chemical reactions that power racecar engines and the science behind fire-retardant suits that protect drivers.

St. Louis, Mo. (June 23, 2025) Scoliosis is a relatively common orthopedic condition that affects anywhere from 6 to 9 million kids across the United States. In the last three years, Shriners Children’s St. Louis has seen 203 patients who needed surgical correction for scoliosis. As leaders in scoliosis treatments, the nonprofit healthcare system is now offering an innovative new treatment to help kids avoid intensive spinal fusion surgery and get back to living their lives sooner.

ETRI researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) technique for the early screening of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The technology is designed to detect early signs of ASD in children more quickly, which could expand opportunities for early screening and intervention and greatly improve accessibility.