Social hierarchies are everywhere—think of high school dramas, where the athletes are portrayed as most popular, or large companies, where the CEO makes the important decisions. Such hierarchies aren’t just limited to humans, but span the animal kingdom, with dominant individuals getting faster food access, higher mating priority, and bigger or better territories. Whilst it’s long been thought that winning or losing can influence the position of an individual within a social hierarchy, the brain mechanisms behind these social dynamics have remained a mystery. In iScience, researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) investigate the neurological basis of social hierarchy in male mice, pinpointing the neurons they believe crucial in determining these social hierarchy dynamics.

Scientists have set a record for solar technology, creating the largest and most efficient triple-junction perovskite-perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell reported, a vital step to stabilise next-generation renewable energy technology.

Scientists have created one of the most detailed mammalian brain maps to date using artificial intelligence to predict cellular regions based on molecular data. CellTransformer, the powerful AI model, used a ChatGPT-like process to understand regional organization based on brain cell (transcriptomic) data.

Researchers at Columbia Engineering have developed a compact light source that generates dozens of high-power wavelengths, paving the way for a new generation of data center hardware and portable sensing technologies.

Lentiviral vectors, long used in ex vivo gene therapy, are gaining attention for in vivo use. Luigi Naldini, Director of the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy and a pioneer in the field, emphasizes their untapped potential across tissues and diseases. Rising academic and industry interest marks a new era for scalable, versatile gene therapies.

A review reveals that the interplay between technology, identity, and languages involves and encourages multiple identities, language mixing, and support for minority languages