IOP Publishing’s annual highlights report is out now. It was published on the March 4th. See below. The report includes key milestones across the organisation’s strategy, such as continued growth in open access publishing, with more than half (51%) of all research in 2025 published openly, underscoring IOPP’s commitment to making high quality scientific knowledge accessible to the world.

Across the drylands where ICARDA works, Ramadan is widely observed as a month during which Muslims fast from dawn till dusk and gather each evening for iftar, the meal that breaks the fast. From Egypt to Morocco, Oman to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and beyond, millions begin that meal with a date, a highly nutritious fruit that holds significant religious and cultural importance. But if red weevil is not stopped, how long will this ancient tradition last?

Teaching staff from eight Spanish universities, coordinated by the Universitat Jaume I in Castelló, have contributed to improving legal certainty in the management of information by public administrations and to reconciling the right to data protection with the duty of transparency and the fight against corruption. They have done so by proposing regulatory improvements after analysing, comparing and identifying legal gaps in the various national and regional regulations governing these matters.

The study of the application of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the public sphere has made it possible to identify the challenges faced by administrations in implementing these fundamental rights, to design training initiatives to convey this knowledge to those working within them, and to improve the public service they provide to citizens. In addition, the team has provided regulatory tools to ensure compatibility between guaranteeing access to public information and protecting personal data.

In the opinion of the research team, “by ensuring that data protection is not used as a pretext to restrict transparency, access to information of general interest has been strengthened, enabling society to participate more actively in public affairs”. They also highlight as one of the most significant contributions in the field of data protection “the identification of mechanisms to strengthen the protection of individuals who report corruption”.

The impact of the project “Reconciling the right to data protection with compliance by public authorities with the duty of transparency and the fight against corruption (DATATRANSCO)”, funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, has extended beyond the public administration and legal sectors to others such as technology and artificial intelligence. The research team has incorporated into its analysis and comparison the European Artificial Intelligence Regulation (AI Act), adopted in 2024, which includes requirements regarding transparency and explainability (understanding how an algorithm works).

After 20 years of leading the Univeristy of Central Florida’s College of Medicine and advancing the university’s clinical efforts, Deborah German will conclude her tenure as founding dean of the UCF College of Medicine and vice president for health affairs.

Six months after receiving a groundbreaking, experimental new surgery for spina bifida at UTHealth Houston, Nova continues to flourish. 

Wild food systems comprise of a diverse array of naturally occurring foods and medicines that help meet key nutritional and cultural needs for billions of people around the world. In Alaska, wild foods, and the public forests that support them, include a vast assortment of species—some of which may immediately come to mind when you think of a “forest”—such as deer, berries, and mushrooms. Others, like salmon, halibut, and crab, may not immediately come to mind as being forest-related species, but it’s important to think of national forests and their surrounding areas as interconnected landscapes. 

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have provided the first comprehensive analysis of the specific costs of power outages to local customers across the nation. It found that the average yearly cost of major outages topped $67 billion over the past seven years.

The total annual burden on customers rose sharply over that time, with the price tag of major outages climbing to $121 billion in 2024. These power disruptions pose serious risks to public health and safety and drain billions of dollars from the U.S. economy.

Robert J. (Bob) Gray, PhD, a central figure in ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group for more than 25 years, has retired from his position as Group Statistician, Therapeutics. Dr. Gray will continue to serve the group in a senior advisory capacity.