Rice University launched the Global Brain Economy Initiative Jan. 21 during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Type One Energy and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT), are partnering to establish a world-class high-heat flux (HHF) facility to evaluate how materials react under extreme conditions in a fusion device. The HHF facility will accelerate the development of plasma-facing components (PFCs), which experience the harshest operational conditions in fusion energy devices, and enable both private and public entities to qualify and validate the materials used in fusion pilot plant designs.

The University of Bonn has opened its own supermarket, in which pineapples, canned tomatoes, and toast are neatly lined up on black shelves. The space measuring 55 square meters (approx. 600 square feet) has pretty much everything you’d need in everyday life. The ‘clientele’, however, is very special: they are subjects participating in scientific studies. Here, researchers from the fields of food and resource economics, psychology, economics, and behavioral science are investigating how health- and sustainability-oriented purchases can be encouraged, for example, through product placement and other incentives. Robots are also demonstrating their capabilities here. 

Hexagonal tungsten oxide nanorods are highly promising for sodium-based near-infrared electrochromic windows. However, conventional dopants limit the performance of these devices. In a new study, researchers have leveraged thermally removable dopants to unlock the electrochromic capacity of sodium-based smart windows, paving the way for enhanced thermal regulation and efficient energy consumption in buildings and automobiles.  

The mechanism underlying how seasonal allergies recur year after year with precise timing remains largely unknown. An international team led by Professor Rudolf Valenta has identified a specific type of immune cell—the IgE-positive plasmablast (IgE⁺ plasmablast)—as the central player responsible for the seasonal recall of allergy symptoms. This discovery not only provides evidence for understanding the pathogenesis of allergy, but also points the way toward targeted, on-demand therapies.