A new international analysis now published in Global Change Biology warns that penguin survival hinges on a shift in how science and conservation policy approach climate change: rather than examining extreme events in isolation, it is their cumulative effects that must be assessed. Applied for the first time in a quantitative way across habitats of all 18 penguin species in the Southern Hemisphere, this perspective provides a crucial tool to anticipate risks and design more effective conservation policies.

From decoding genomes to predicting protein structures, artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming a cornerstone of biology. To help harness its potential for discovery through data analysis, the Stowers Institute for Medical Research has appointed Sumner Magruder, Ph.D., as its first AI Fellow. The new role within the Stowers Fellows Program is designed to accelerate the integration of advanced computational methods into biological research.

Professor Wang's team and their collaborators have creatively combined the three-dimensional (3D) magic cube configuration with the design structure of metamaterials, opening up a channel connecting information science and mathematical physics. A new paradigm of mechanically reconfigurable metamaterials characterized by high information entropy and visual interactivity has been successfully established. Different magic cube architectures and variable meta-elements allow for complicated and precise customization of electromagnetic waves, holding potential applications in electromagnetic shielding, target camouflage, and holographic encryption. The results of this work were recently published in Science Bulletin.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Waters Corporation have revealed that lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) — the delivery vehicles for RNA therapies — come in a surprising range of shapes and structures. Reported in Nature Biotechnology, the study shows that these structural differences directly influence how well LNPs deliver their therapeutic cargo, offering a blueprint for tailoring nanoparticles to specific diseases. The findings open the door to a new era of precision design for RNA medicines, moving beyond today’s trial-and-error approach.

Researchers have developed an improved method of gene editing that is precise, more efficient than other similar methods and can correct many disease-causing mutations at once in mammalian cells. The new method uses genetic elements from bacteria called retrons that help protect the microbes from viral infection.

New research from Queen Mary University of London shows that plastic pollution may linger at the ocean’s surface for more than a century. The study explains how buoyant plastics slowly sink through the water column, reshaping understanding of marine pollution.

In the high-altitude and extremely remote region of Dolpo in north-west Nepal, there are numerous Buddhist temples whose history dates back to the 11th century. The structures are threatened by earthquakes, landslides and planned infrastructure projects such as the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. There is also a lack of financial resources for long-term maintenance. Researchers from the Institute of Architectural Theory, History of Art and Cultural Studies and the Institute of Engineering Geodesy and Measurement Systems at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) want to prevent the loss of this cultural heritage, which has hardly been researched up to now. With the support of the Austrian Science Fund FWF, they have documented, analysed and measured buildings as part of several expeditions and preserved some of the temple complexes as 3D computer models – and could thus also have contributed to the preservation of the real buildings. The results have now been published in the journal “Heritage”.