New type of DNA damage found in our cells’ powerhouses

Linlin Zhao (left) and Yu Hsuan Chen
Photo Credit: Courtesy of University of California, Riverside

A previously unknown type of DNA damage in the mitochondria, the tiny power plants inside our cells, could shed light on how our bodies sense and respond to stress. The findings of the UC Riverside-led study are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and have potential implications for a range of mitochondrial dysfunction-associated diseases, including cancer and diabetes. 

Mitochondria have their own genetic material, known as mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is essential for producing the energy that powers our bodies and sending signals within and outside cells. While it has long been known that mtDNA is prone to damage, scientists didn't fully understand the biological processes. The new research identifies a culprit: glutathionylated DNA (GSH-DNA) adducts.

An adduct is bulky chemical tag formed when a chemical, such as a carcinogen, attaches directly to DNA. If the damage isn’t repaired, it can lead to DNA mutations and increase the risk of disease.

‘Worms in space’ experiment aims to investigate the biological effects of spaceflight

Petri Pod
Photo Credit: University of Exeter

A crew of tiny worms will be heading on a mission to the International Space Station in 2026 that will help scientists understand how humans can travel through space safely, using a Leicester-built space pod. The experiment is based upon a concept and early development by the University of Exeter over more than 8 years 

A team of scientists and engineers at Space Park Leicester, the University of Leicester’s pioneering £100 million science and innovation park, have designed and built a miniature space laboratory called a Petri Pod, based around the principle of the biological culture petri dish invented in 1887 and based upon earlier development work by the University of Exeter and Leicester, that will allow scientists on Earth to study biological organisms in space. 

There is a burgeoning global drive for humans to colonize space, the Moon, and other planets of our Solar System, but one of the challenges is the harmful effects of extended exposure to the effects of the space environment on human physiology. This includes microgravity which can lead to bone and muscle loss, fluid shift, and vision problems in humans as well as radiation-induced effects of genetic damage, increased cancer risk, etc. 

Rocks on Faults Can Heal Following Seismic Movement

At the Cascadia subduction zone in the Pacific Northwest, one tectonic plate is moving underneath another. New experimental work at UC Davis shows how rocks on faults deep in the Earth can cement themselves back together after a seismic movement, adding to our knowledge of how these faults behave.
Photo Credit: of Otter Rock, Oregon by USGS

Earthquake faults deep in the Earth can glue themselves back together following a seismic event, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Davis. The work, published in Science Advances and supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, adds a new factor to our understanding of the behavior of faults that can give rise to major earthquakes. 

“We discovered that deep faults can heal themselves within hours,” said Amanda Thomas, professor of earth and planetary sciences at UC Davis and corresponding author on the paper. “This prompts us to reevaluate fault rheological behavior, and if we have been neglecting something very important.” 

How plants search for nutrients

In the case of nutrient deficiency, efficient plants are able to grow long, lateral roots to broaden the radius from which they can take nutrients.
Photo Credit: Andreas Heddergott / Technische Universität München

What makes plants tolerant to nutrient fluctuations? An international research team led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and involving the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) has investigated this question on the micronutrient boron. The researchers analyzed 185 gene data sets from the model plant Arabidopsis. Their goal is to then be able to transfer the findings to the important crop plant rapeseed. 

Boron is one of the key micronutrients for the growth and fertility of many plants. However, extreme weather events reduce the availability of this nutrient: drought reduces boron uptake, while flooding washes the nutrient out of the soil – less boron reaches the plants. In the context of climate change, this deficiency represents an additional stressor for plants. Their tolerance to these fluctuations is a decisive factor in determining their yields. 

Study shows waste cardboard is effective for power generation

Photo Credit: Jon Moore

A new study has shown for the first time that waste cardboard can be used as an effective source of biomass fuel for large scale power generation. 

Engineers from the University of Nottingham have provided the first comprehensive characterization of cardboard as a potential fuel source and created a new method to assess the composition of the material providing a practical tool for fuel assessment for cardboards. The study has been published in the journal Biomass and Bioenergy. 

Human biology is ill-adapted to modern cities

A new study has found that modern cities are having a huge impact on our health and wellbeing.
Photo Credit: Patrick Robert Doyle

Researchers from Loughborough University and the University of Zurich found that rapid industrialization has reshaped human habitats so dramatically that our biology may no longer be able to keep up. 

The paper, published in Biological Reviews, highlights that densely populated, polluted, and industrialized environments are impairing core biological functions essential for survival and reproduction (i.e., the ‘evolutionary fitness’ of our species). 

Scientists observe metabolic activity of individual lipid droplets in real time

LipiPB Red shows longer fluorescence lifetimes in stable lipid droplets (red) and shorter lifetimes as they undergo degradation (blue). This probe revealed that lipid droplets sequentially degrade, where lipolysis precedes lipophagy.
Image Credit: Issey Takahashi, Nagoya University

A research team has developed a fluorescent probe that allows scientists to visualize how individual lipid droplets break down inside living cells in real time. The probe changes its fluorescence properties depending on the chemical composition of each droplet, which allows researchers to observe not only their location within cells, but also their metabolic activity during lipid breakdown. The findings, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, may contribute to the development of new strategies to treat metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes, as well as cancers associated with abnormal lipid metabolism. 

“Lipid droplets are cellular organelles that not only store excess lipids but also play critical roles in lipid metabolism. However, understanding how individual droplets function has been challenging,” Professor Shigehiro Yamaguchi, from the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM) at Nagoya University, explained. 

Extending the Lifespan of Electrocatalysts

The image shows the nanosized atom probe tomography specimens on a silicon microtip coupon.
Photo Credit: © Tong Li

A research team has discovered how to keep a cobalt-based oxide electrocatalyst active and stable. The element chromium plays a crucial role in this process.  

Although chromium itself is not an active element, its continuous dissolution enables a reversible surface transformation that keeps the Co-Cr spinel oxide electrocatalyst active and stable. This could significantly improve the efficiency of hydrogen production. These findings stem from researchers at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, the Max Planck Institutes for Sustainable Materials in Düsseldorf and for Coal Research in Mülheim, Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Helmholtz Institute for Renewable Energies in Erlangen-Nürnberg. They report their results in the journal Nature Communications. 

Seeing infrared with organic electrodes

Organic electrodes
Electrophysiological recording of retinal activity on a precision setup using controlled red-light conditions that do not alter the retina’s response. The experiment captures how the retina reacts to infrared photovoltaic stimulation
Photo Credit: Technische Universität Wien

In some people, the light receptors on the retina are damaged, but the underlying nerve structure is still intact. In this case, a visual implant could potentially help in the future: Biocompatible, thin photovoltaic films register radiation, convert it into electrical signals, and use these to stimulate living nerve tissue. This has now been achieved for the first time in laboratory tests at TU Wien. 

Microplastics hit male arteries hard

Changcheng Zhou Professor, Biomedical Sciences
Photo Credit: Courtesy of University of California, Riverside

A mouse study led by University of California, Riverside biomedical scientists suggests that everyday exposure to microplastics — tiny fragments shed from packaging, clothing, and countless plastic products — may accelerate the development of atherosclerosis, the artery-clogging process that leads to heart attacks and strokes. The harmful effects were seen only in male mice, offering new clues about how microplastics may affect cardiovascular health in humans.

“Our findings fit into a broader pattern seen in cardiovascular research, where males and females often respond differently,” said lead researcher Changcheng Zhou, a professor of biomedical sciences in the UCR School of Medicine. “Although the precise mechanism isn’t yet known, factors like sex chromosomes and hormones, particularly the protective effects of estrogen, may play a role.”

Researchers link Antarctic ice loss to ‘storms' at the ocean's subsurface

Mattia Poinelli, a UC Irvine postdoctoral scholar in Earth system science and NASA JPL research affiliate, outlines in a newly published study the impact of submesoscale events – small, subsurface ocean eddies and vortices – on Antarctica’s ice sheets. “Despite being largely overlooked in the context of ice-ocean interactions,” he says, “[they] are among the primary drivers of ice loss.”
Photo Credit: Steve Zylius / UC Irvine

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have identified stormlike circulation patterns beneath Antarctic ice shelves that are causing aggressive melting, with major implications for global sea level rise projections.

In a paper published recently in Nature Geoscience, the scientists say their study is the first to examine ocean-induced ice shelf melting events from a weather timescale of just days versus seasonal or annual timeframes. This enabled them to match “ocean storm” activity with intense ice melt at Thwaites Glacier and Pine Island Glacier in the climate change-threatened Amundsen Sea Embayment in West Antarctica.

The research team relied on climate simulation modeling and moored observation tools to gain 200-meter-resolution pictures of submesoscale ocean features between 1 and 10 kilometers across, tiny in the context of the vast ocean and huge slabs of floating ice in Antarctica.

Researchers build bone marrow model entirely from human cells

Scanning electron microscopy image of the engineered 3D bone marrow tissue colonized with human blood cells (red).
Image Credit: Andrés García-García, University of Basel, Department of Biomedicine

Our body’s “blood factory” consists of specialized tissue made up of bone cells, blood vessels, nerves and other cell types. Now, researchers have succeeded for the first time in recreating this cellular complexity in the laboratory using only human cells. The novel system could reduce the need for animal experiments for many applications.

The bone marrow usually works quietly in the background. It only comes into focus when something goes wrong, such as in blood cancers. In these cases, understanding exactly how blood production in our body works, and how this process fails, becomes critical. 

Typically, bone marrow research relies heavily on animal models and oversimplified cell cultures in the laboratory. Now, researchers from the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel have developed a realistic model of bone marrow engineered entirely from human cells. This model may become a valuable tool not only for blood cancer research, but also for drug testing and potentially for personalized therapies, as reported by a team of researchers led by Professor Ivan Martin and Dr Andrés García-García in the journal Cell Stem Cell. 

Floating solar panels show promise, but environmental impacts vary by location

The Canoe Brook Floating Solar Photovoltaic (FPV) project, the largest in the United States at the time of completion at 8.9 MW, is located on a water storage reservoir is New Jersey.
Photo Credit Prateek Joshi / NREL

Floating solar panels are emerging as a promising clean energy solution with environmental benefits, but a new study finds those effects vary significantly depending on where the systems are deployed.

Researchers from Oregon State University and the U.S. Geological Survey modeled the impact of floating solar photovoltaic systems on 11 reservoirs across six states. Their simulations showed that the systems consistently cooled surface waters and altered water temperatures at different layers within the reservoirs. However, the panels also introduced increased variability in habitat suitability for aquatic species.

“Different reservoirs are going to respond differently based on factors like depth, circulation dynamics and the fish species that are important for management,” said Evan Bredeweg, lead author of the study and a former postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State. “There’s no one-size-fits-all formula for designing these systems. It’s ecology - it’s messy.”

A new way to trigger responses in the body

Photo Credit: Courtesy of University of Tokyo

Researchers at the University of Tokyo developed an experimental method to induce a strong physiological response linked to psychological pressure by making participants aim for a streak of success in a task. Their findings suggest this approach reproduces pressurelike conditions in a laboratory setting more effectively than traditional methods, affording easier access to the study of this state. That in turn could open up research into how pressure influences human performance in physical and intellectual tasks.

Whether in an exam hall or on the field, to “crack” under pressure is a common trope. But what’s the reality behind this idea? It’s easy to assume that with greater pressure comes greater chance of losing your composure. To know, then, how to overcome this could yield greater performance benefits. But the path to study such ideas is far from simple. Being rigorous in the field of psychology is extremely difficult, as there are limitless factors that can impact different people in different ways. Previous experimental methods have been limited in that they failed to induce strong physiological arousal.

SwRI turbocharges its hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine

SwRI has a multidisciplinary team dedicated to Hydrogen Energy Research initiatives to deploy decarbonization technologies across a broad spectrum of industries. In 2022, SwRI began modifying a heavy-duty natural gas-fueled engine to run on 100% hydrogen fuel, successfully demonstrated in 2024. SwRI continues to research, design and innovate on H2-ICE technology. 
Photo Credit: Southwest Research Institute

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has upgraded its hydrogen-powered heavy-duty internal combustion engine (H2-ICE) with a state-of-the-art turbocharger. The upgrades have significantly improved performance across the board, making the engine competitive with current long-haul diesel engines focused on fuel economy while maintaining near-zero tailpipe emissions.

In 2023, SwRI converted a traditional natural gas-fueled internal combustion engine to run solely on hydrogen fuel with minimal modifications. It was integrated into a Class-8 truck as part of the Institute’s H2-ICE project to demonstrate a cost-efficient hydrogen-fueled engine as an option for zero-tailpipe carbon dioxide heavy-duty transportation.