For the nearly 3 million patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), what typically starts as shortness of  breath can rapidly worsen into a suffocating inability to breathe, often leading to a dangerous elevation in pulmonary artery pressure, related heart attacks or fatal respiratory failure within three to five years of diagnosis. USC physician-scientists Denis Evseenko and Toby Maher hope to offer these patients a better prognosis by developing a regenerative drug to block the cells that promote fibrosis, or scarring, in the lungs, with support from a five-year $3.2 million grant from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Evseenko has already developed two drug-like molecules designed to stop immune cells and small blood vessels from initiating the cellular stress response that triggers inflammation and fibrosis. By blocking inflammation and fibrosis, these drug-like molecules promote a healthier environment conducive to regeneration. To develop these drug candidates for IPF, Evseenko is teaming up with Maher, who is a professor of clinical medicine and director of interstitial lung Disease at the Keck School of Medicine. An experienced pulmonologist recently recruited to the USC Hastings Center for Pulmonary Research, Maher has a biorepository of patient lung specimens and has been involved in more than 100 clinical trials for IPF and other fibrotic lung diseases. Through their collaboration, the team will test the safety and therapeutic potential of the two drug-like molecules in animals and human cells, and develop the most effective one into an oral pill—ideally ready for human clinical trials by the time the grant concludes in five years.

Picture this: You’re on a Zoom call, Slack is buzzing, three spreadsheets are open and your inbox pings. In that moment of divided attention, you miss the tiny red flag in an email. That’s how phishing sneaks through, and with 3.4 billion malicious emails sent daily, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Researchers have uncovered how dissolved biochar—tiny carbon particles derived from burning plant material—affects soil nematodes, shedding light on both benefits and risks to these important ecosystem players. The study focused on the common laboratory worm, Caenorhabditis elegans, revealing that the impact of dissolved biochar strongly depends on the amount present in the environment.

In a comprehensive review that spans two decades, researchers are examining the profound impact of technological innovation on the journey towards carbon neutrality. The study, titled "Impact of Technological Innovation on Carbon Neutrality: Systematic and Bibliometric Review of Two Decades of Research," is led by Prof. Ephraim Bonah Agyekum from the Department of Nuclear and Renewable Energy at Ural Federal University Named After the First President of Russia Boris Yeltsin in Ekaterinburg, Russia. This review, conducted in collaboration with the Applied Science Research Center at Applied Science Private University in Amman, Jordan, and Tashkent State University of Economics in Tashkent City, Uzbekistan, offers a detailed analysis of how technological advancements have shaped the path to carbon neutrality.

MIT researchers found that subtle chemical patterns persist in conventionally manufactured metal alloys, despite the mixing involved. The surprising finding could be used to tune metallic properties for aerospace, energy, and more.