Researchers from Penn have developed HoloRadar, a system that allows robots to see around corners by using radio waves and AI to reconstruct hidden spaces in 3D. Unlike previous approaches based on visible light, HoloRadar works reliably in darkness and despite occlusions, with potential applications in autonomous vehicles and indoor settings like warehouses and factories.

After high-profile water crises like the one in Flint, Michigan, some Americans distrust the safety of tap water, choosing to purchase drinking water from freestanding water vending machines or kiosks. Yet this more expensive water may contain different pollutants than local tap water, according to a study in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology. Researchers report that water sampled from 20 kiosks in six states sometimes contained lead at levels above public health recommendations.

The art of mummification has long been shrouded in mystery, but new research shows the musty smell of mummified remains helps unlock important information about the ancient practice.

Bone fractures heal more slowly with age, increasing health risks for older adults. A new study reveals that rising levels of the liver-produced protein apolipoprotein E (ApoE) interfere with bone repair by suppressing osteoblast activity. Using aged mouse models and human cells, scientists showed that neutralizing circulating ApoE restores bone formation and accelerates fracture healing. The findings highlight a promising noninvasive therapeutic strategy to improve bone healing in the elderly.

A team of researchers from the Università Statale and the Politecnico di Milano has developed a new optical imaging system for real-time visualisation of how a plant’s leaves, stem and roots communicate with each other in response to environmental stress. Mappi (MAcro Plant Projection Imaging) offers the opportunity to study plants comparable in size to those grown in greenhouses (this has been very difficult to do until now), thus taking a decisive step towards understanding the response of plant organisms to climate change. The study was published in Science Advances

Seoul National University College of Engineering announced that a research team led by Prof. Sunkyu Yu and Prof. Namkyoo Park of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, in collaboration with Prof. Xianji Piao of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Seoul and Prof. Jensen Li of the University of Exeter (UK), has successfully implemented a programmable spinor lattice on a photonic integrated circuit (PIC). This platform enables the realization of non-Abelian physics, in which the outcome of operations depends on their sequence, within an integrated photonic system.

A team of researchers led by PAN Jianwei, ZHANG Qiang, and BAO Xiaohui from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), along with other colleagues, has, for the first time, provided a critical building block for scalable quantum repeaters, enabling the team to subsequently achieve device-independent quantum key distribution (DI-QKD) over 100 km.