Researchers at Bielefeld University have analyzed how reliably AI methods can detect pulse rates from simple video recordings. The technique, known as rPPG—remote photoplethysmography, an optical form of contactless pulse measurement—is considered a future tool of telemedicine. But a new study in the journal npj Digital Medicine reveals clear weaknesses as soon as heart rates rise.

A new doctoral dissertation from the University of Vaasa, Finland, argues that healthcare cybersecurity will remain fragile unless technology, humans and organisational processes are treated as a single unified system. According to Doctoral Researcher Pius Ewoh, the healthcare sector needs socio-technical solutions rather than purely technical defences to protect patient data and maintain trust.

Described in a study published Dec. 8 in Nature Electronics, BISC includes a single-chip implant, a wearable “relay station,” and the custom software required to operate the system. “Most implantable systems are built around a canister of electronics that occupies enormous volumes of space inside the body,” says Ken Shepard, Lau Family Professor of Electrical Engineering, professor of biomedical engineering, and professor of neurological sciences at Columbia University, who is one of the senior authors on the work and guided the engineering efforts. “Our implant is a single integrated circuit chip that is so thin that it can slide into the space between the brain and the skull, resting on the brain like a piece of wet tissue paper.”

In organic synthesis, replacing lithium with sodium would be a significant achievement because it is >1000 times more abundant and its extraction from seawater is sustainable and inexpensive. This research demonstrates the first environmental-friendly organosodium methodology that could sustainably replace lithium in modern day organic synthesis. These findings are published in Nature Synthesis on December 8, 2025.

Acoustic waves can move objects like tiny hands. Zhenhua Tian’s team has devised new tools for this task in work published in Nature Communications.

New non-invasive device conforms to the skull and delivers complex sequences of light through bone. Scientists tested the device on mice with neurons that were genetically modified to respond to light. With information transmitted via light, mice learned to discriminate patterns to complete tasks.