QUT researchers have developed a new material that achieves record-high thermoelectric performance, paving the way for more efficient conversion of waste heat into clean electricity.

A new paper by UMBC researchers, led by physicist Sebastian Deffner, demonstrates quantum computing’s potential to optimize urban train scheduling, using Baltimore’s Light RailLink as a model. Their study, published with collaborators from the Polish Academy of Sciences, leverages quantum “noise” to model unpredictable train delays. Tested on IonQ and D-Wave quantum devices, the approach solves small-scale scheduling but highlights the need for advanced hardware for larger networks. This interdisciplinary work could revolutionize logistics, finance, and drug discovery by tackling complex systems affected by randomness.

Results from two studies find new implant restores blood pressure balance after spinal cord injury. In a rare double publication in both Nature and Nature Medicine, a pair of landmark studies by Dr. Aaron Phillips, PhD, UCalgary, Dr. Grégoire Courtine, PhD, EPFL, and Dr. Jocelyne Bloch, MD, UNIL, describe the development of a targeted therapy to address blood pressure regulation in 14 participants across four clinical studies conducted at three separate medical centers in Canada, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. The implantable neurostimulation system evaluated in these studies was developed by ONWARD Medical. The company recently received FDA approval to initiate a pivotal trial of this therapy, which is expected to involve approximately 20 leading neurorehabilitation and neurosurgical research centers across Canada, Europe and the United States.