A new global database brings together information on disease-causing microorganisms, antibiotic resistance genes, and virulence factors in coastal waters, giving researchers and public health professionals a practical tool for assessing biological risks in estuaries and other nearshore environments.

Engineers created a smart ring that simultaneously and continuously monitors up to four different chemical biomarkers — a combination of glucose, ketones, vitamin C, uric acid, lactate or alcohol — from finger sweat. The technology could aid in diabetes management, nutrition tracking and more.

The Office of Naval Research has released its new Science and Technology Strategy, which serves as a roadmap for the future to meet complex challenges facing the Department of the Navy and broader Department of War.

Researchers in University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Grainger College of Engineering have developed an electric-optic isolator for unidirectional light propagation. The compact, low-power and highly tunable design makes it ideal for optical signal routing in data centers.

Harvard engineers used standard industrial weft knitting to create dense fabrics that snap between multiple stable 3D shapes, turning ordinary textiles into mechanical metamaterials. 

UK astronomers are a step closer to playing a leading role in NASA's search for alien life in the coming decades, after receiving £3million to continue developing one of the core instruments of the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). The "exciting" mission – the US space agency's next flagship space telescope after the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope – is expected to launch in the 2040s. The UK-led plans follow a series of instrument studies funded by the UK Space Agency (UKSA), which have been shared with NASA and are helping to shape the mission as it moves into its next phase of development. "The Habitable Worlds Observatory is one of the most exciting space science missions now under development," said Professor Martin Barstow, of the University of Leicester, who is playing a leading role in the UK's involvement and gave an update on the mission at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting in Birmingham.