Entomology: In-Depth Description

Photo Credit: Lidia Stawinska

Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. Its primary goals are to understand the biology, behavior, physiology, ecology, evolution, and classification of insects, as well as their interactions with humans, other organisms, and the environment.

A new angle of study for unveiling black hole secrets

The balloon-borne telescope XL-Calibur was launched on a six-day flight from the Swedish Space Corporation’s Esrange Space Center in July 2024. During that flight, the telescope took measurements from the black hole Cygnus X-1, located about 7,000 light-years away. WashU researchers will use those results to improve computer models for simulating and uncovering further mysteries of black holes.
Photo Credit: NASA/SSC

An international collaboration of physicists including researchers at Washington University in St. Louis has made measurements to better understand how matter falls into black holes and how enormous amounts of energy and light are released in the process.

The scientists pointed a balloon-borne telescope called XL-Calibur at a black hole, Cygnus X-1, located about 7,000 light-years from Earth. “The observations we made will be used by scientists to test increasingly realistic, state-of-the-art computer simulations of physical processes close to the black hole,” said Henric Krawczynski, the Wilfred R. and Ann Lee Konneker Distinguished Professor in Physics and a fellow at WashU’s McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences.

Disrupting bacterial "chatter" to improve human health

Computer-rendered split image of bacteria on a tooth surface. When microbial communication is “on”, disease-associated species grow (left). Disrupting this communication (right) promotes health-associated bacteria.
Image Credit: University of Minnesota

Like all living things, bacteria adapt to survive. Over time, bacteria have been developing resistance to common antibiotics and disinfectants, which poses a growing problem for healthcare and sanitation. However, many species of bacteria are beneficial and even essential for human health. What if there was a way to change the behavior of bacteria in the body to prevent illness and poor health outcomes? 

Bacteria are very “talkative.” Constant streams of communication, known as quorum sensing, occur between and among the 700 species of bacteria that live in a human mouth. A number of them communicate via special molecules called N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs). 

Wastewater from most countries favors non-resistant bacteria

Joakim Larsson, Professor at the Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, and director of CARe, Centre for Antibiotic Resistance Research.
Photo Credit: Johan Wingborg

A global study led by researchers at the Centre for Antibiotic Resistance Research (CARe) in Gothenburg, Sweden shows that municipal wastewater is not always the breeding ground for antibiotic resistance it is often thought to be. By testing wastewater from 47 countries, the team found that while some samples could select for resistant E. coli, the majority instead selected against resistance. These insights reshape our understanding of when and where resistance is likely to evolve and spread. 

Municipal wastewater contains a large range of excreted antibiotics and has therefore long been suspected to be a spawning ground for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Now, a study published in Nature Communications led by a team from the University of Gothenburg provides a more nuanced picture. 

Two-step flash Joule heating method recovers lithium‑ion battery materials quickly and cleanly

(From left) Shichen Xu, James Tour, Alex Lathem, Karla Silva and Ralph Abdel Nour.
Photo Credit: Jared Jones/Rice University

A research team at Rice University led by James Tour has developed a two-step flash Joule heating-chlorination and oxidation (FJH-ClO) process that rapidly separates lithium and transition metals from spent lithium-ion batteries. The method provides an acid-free, energy-saving alternative to conventional recycling techniques, a breakthrough that aligns with the surging global demand for batteries used in electric vehicles and portable electronics.

Published in Advanced Materials, this research could transform the recovery of critical battery materials. Traditional recycling methods are often energy intensive, generate wastewater and frequently require harsh chemicals. In contrast, the FJH-ClO process achieves high yields and purity of lithium, cobalt and graphite while reducing energy consumption, chemical usage and costs.

“We designed the FJH-ClO process to challenge the notion that battery recycling must rely on acid leaching,” said Tour, the T.T. and W.F. Chao Professor of Chemistry and professor of materials science and nanoengineering. “FJH-ClO is a fast, precise way to extract valuable materials without damaging them or harming the environment.”

Oral insulin delayed onset of type 1 diabetes in some children with increased risk of the disease

Half of the participants received daily treatment with oral insulin, and the other half received placebo.
 Photo Credit: Kennet Ruona

An international team of researchers has investigated whether oral insulin can prevent early signs of type 1 diabetes and clinical diagnosis in children with an increased risk of developing the disease. Although treatment with oral insulin could not prevent development of diabetes-related autoantibodies, oral insulin delayed the rate of disease progression in children who developed such autoantibodies. The results from the POInT study are now published in The Lancet. 

The POInT study has investigated whether treatment with oral insulin can prevent diabetes-related autoantibodies and type 1 diabetes in children with an increased genetic risk of developing the disease. These autoantibodies are used as biomarkers for type 1 diabetes, and the presence of two or more autoantibodies is called early-stage type 1 diabetes. The international study includes 1,050 children from Sweden, Germany, Poland, Belgium and the United Kingdom. Half of the participants received daily treatment with oral insulin, and the other half received placebo during their first three years of life. In type 1 diabetes, the body’s immune system attacks the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas and destroys them. 

Engineering: In-Depth Description

Photo Credit: ThisisEngineering

Engineering is the application of scientific principles, mathematical knowledge, economic considerations, and practical experience to invent, design, build, maintain, and improve structures, machines, tools, systems, components, materials, and processes. The primary goal of engineering is to solve practical human problems safely, efficiently, and effectively.

A Microbial Blueprint for Climate-Smart Cows

Matthias Hess, with the UC Davis Department of Animal Science, and researchers at UC Berkeley, have identified which microbes in a cow's gut could help reduce methane. It brings them a step closer to engineering gut microbes to create more climate-friendly cows.
Photo Credit: Gregory Urquiaga / UC Davis

Each year, a single cow can belch about 200 pounds of methane. The powerful greenhouse gas is 27 times more potent at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. For decades, scientists and farmers have tried to find ways to reduce methane without stunting the animal’s growth or productivity. 

Recent research at University of California, Davis, has shown that feeding cows red seaweed can dramatically cut the amount of methane that is produced and released into the environment. Until now, however, scientists did not fully understand how red seaweed changes the interactions among the thousands of microbes in the cow’s gut, or rumen. 

Researchers Unveil First-Ever Defense Against Cryptanalytic Attacks on AI

Image Credit: Scientific Frontline

Security researchers have developed the first functional defense mechanism capable of protecting against “cryptanalytic” attacks used to “steal” the model parameters that define how an AI system works.

“AI systems are valuable intellectual property, and cryptanalytic parameter extraction attacks are the most efficient, effective, and accurate way to ‘steal’ that intellectual property,” says Ashley Kurian, first author of a paper on the work and a Ph.D. student at North Carolina State University. “Until now, there has been no way to defend against those attacks. Our technique effectively protects against these attacks.”

“Cryptanalytic attacks are already happening, and they’re becoming more frequent and more efficient,” says Aydin Aysu, corresponding author of the paper and an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State. “We need to implement defense mechanisms now, because implementing them after an AI model’s parameters have been extracted is too late.”

A sparkling ‘Diamond Ring’ in space: Astronomers in Cologne unravel the mystery of a cosmic ring

Stars Brewing in Cygnus X
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Harvard-Smithsonian CfA

The structure of gas and dust resembles a glowing diamond ring. Computer simulations and observations made on board the 'flying observatory' SOFIA are now able to explain the special shape. 

An international team led by researchers from the University of Cologne has solved the mystery of an extraordinary phenomenon known as the ‘Diamond Ring’ in the star-forming region Cygnus X, a huge, ring-shaped structure made of gas and dust that resembles a glowing diamond ring. In similar structures, the formations are not flat but spherical in shape. How this special shape came about was previously unknown. The results have been published under the title ‘The Diamond Ring in Cygnus X: an advanced stage of an expanding bubble of ionized carbon’ in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. 

The ring has a diameter of around 20 light years and shines strongly infrared light. It is the relic of a former cosmic bubble that was once formed by the radiation and winds of a massive star. In contrast to other similar objects, the ‘Diamond Ring’ does not have a rapidly expanding spherical shell, but only a slowly expanding ring.