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15x Power Boost for Solar Thermoelectric Generators via Synergistic Spectral and Thermal Management

2025-08-30

15x Power Boost for Solar Thermoelectric Generators via Synergistic Spectral and Thermal Management

Researchers significantly improved the power output of solar thermoelectric generators (STEGs) by optimizing both hot- and cold-side thermal management. They employed a selective solar absorber (SSA) to maximize solar energy absorption and minimize radiative losses, while using an air film to reduce convective losses on the hot side. On the cold side, a micro-dissipator (μ-dissipator) was designed for efficient heat dissipation through convection and radiation. Experiments demonstrated a 15x peak power enhancement when combining both hot- and cold-side optimizations, enough to power an LED, showcasing the potential for applications in IoT and beyond.

(www.nature.com)

Tech Thermoelectric Generator Solar Energy Thermal Management

Global Collaboration Leverages AI for Glaucoma Diagnosis

2025-08-29

Global Collaboration Leverages AI for Glaucoma Diagnosis

Hundreds of ophthalmologists and AI researchers from dozens of institutions worldwide collaborated on a deep learning system for glaucoma diagnosis. The study integrated vast clinical datasets and underwent rigorous validation, promising significantly improved accuracy in early glaucoma detection and better patient outcomes.

(www.nature.com)

Tech Glaucoma Medical Imaging

Multimodal Siamese Networks for Dementia Detection from Speech in Women

2025-08-24

Multimodal Siamese Networks for Dementia Detection from Speech in Women

This study leverages a multimodal Siamese network to detect dementia from speech data, specifically focusing on female participants. Utilizing audio recordings and transcripts from the Pitt Corpus within the Dementia Bank database, the research employs various audio analysis techniques (MFCCs, zero-crossing rate, etc.) and text preprocessing methods. A multimodal Siamese network is developed, combining audio and text features to enhance dementia detection accuracy. Data augmentation techniques are implemented to improve model robustness. The study offers a comprehensive approach to multimodal learning in the context of dementia diagnosis.

(www.nature.com)

AI Dementia Detection Multimodal Learning Speech Analysis

Coercive Citations in Peer Review: A Preprint's Shocking Findings

2025-08-22

Coercive Citations in Peer Review: A Preprint's Shocking Findings

An analysis of 18,400 open-access articles reveals that reviewers are significantly more likely to approve a manuscript if their own work is cited in subsequent versions. This preprint study, analyzing data from four open-access publishers, found that reviewers who were cited were more likely to approve articles than those who weren't. The study also analyzed reviewer comments, finding that reviewers requesting citations used more coercive language when rejecting papers. This raises concerns about potential conflicts of interest and academic integrity in the peer-review process.

(www.nature.com)

Tech citation manipulation

Global Fertility Crash: A Silent Crisis

2025-08-19

Global Fertility Crash: A Silent Crisis

A dramatic decline in global fertility rates is causing widespread concern. From Mexico to South Korea, many countries have fertility rates far below the level needed to sustain their populations. This not only leads to labor shortages and slower economic growth, but can also weaken national strength. While some countries are trying to raise fertility rates through economic incentives and other measures, the effects are limited. Experts recommend shifting the focus from raising fertility rates to increasing societal resilience to adapt to the challenges posed by demographic change. Sub-Saharan Africa is an exception, with its population expected to continue growing.

(www.nature.com)

Misc fertility rates

Sunlight-Powered Flight: Battery-Free Atmospheric Explorers

2025-08-16

Sunlight-Powered Flight: Battery-Free Atmospheric Explorers

Harvard researchers have designed a battery-free, miniature flying device that uses sunlight for propulsion, allowing it to levitate in the upper atmosphere. The device consists of two ultrathin layers of aluminum oxide, generating lift through a thermal difference created by sunlight and a clever hole design, acting like a miniature 'solar-powered helicopter'. This technology promises to explore understudied regions of Earth's atmosphere, even the edge of space, opening new avenues for atmospheric science research.

(www.nature.com)

Tech flying device atmospheric exploration

Brain Implant Decodes Inner Speech with Password Protection

2025-08-16

Brain Implant Decodes Inner Speech with Password Protection

Researchers have developed a brain-computer interface (BCI) that can decode a person's internal speech with up to 74% accuracy. The device only begins decoding when the user thinks of a preset password, safeguarding privacy. This breakthrough offers hope for restoring speech in individuals with paralysis or limited muscle control, addressing previous concerns about BCI privacy breaches. The system uses AI models and language models to translate brain signals from the motor cortex into speech, drawing from a vocabulary of 125,000 words.

(www.nature.com)

AI

Walkability and Physical Activity: Evidence from Millions of Smartphone Users

2025-08-14

Walkability and Physical Activity: Evidence from Millions of Smartphone Users

Researchers analyzed anonymized data from over 2 million US smartphone users in the Azumio Argus health app, focusing on 5,424 participants who relocated across 1,609 cities. The study found a significant positive correlation between moving to a more walkable city and increased daily steps, consistent across various demographic and activity levels. This suggests that improving urban walkability can effectively boost physical activity. A nationwide simulation further estimated the impact of walkability improvements on US residents' physical activity, providing data-driven insights for urban planning.

(www.nature.com)

Tech

PLOS ONE Retractions: 45 Editors Linked to Over 30% of Retracted Papers

2025-08-06

PLOS ONE Retractions: 45 Editors Linked to Over 30% of Retracted Papers

A study in PNAS reveals a shocking pattern of misconduct at PLOS ONE. 45 editors, responsible for only 1.3% of published articles, were linked to over 30% of the journal's 702 retractions by early 2024. Twenty-five of these editors even authored retracted papers themselves. The research suggests a coordinated network potentially involving paper mills, highlighting systemic flaws in peer review. Specific editors, like Shahid Farooq (52 out of 79 edited papers retracted), demonstrate exceptionally high retraction rates. PLOS acknowledges the issue and states it has taken action, but the incident underscores the vulnerabilities of open-access journals to manipulation.

(www.nature.com)

Tech retractions journal editors

Breakthrough in High-Energy Density Materials: Novel Nitrogen Allotropes

2025-08-04

Breakthrough in High-Energy Density Materials: Novel Nitrogen Allotropes

Recent years have witnessed remarkable progress in polynitrogen chemistry. Researchers have synthesized various novel nitrogen molecular structures, such as hexazine rings and caged nitrogen molecules, using high pressure and other methods. These molecules possess extremely high energy densities, promising to become next-generation high-energy materials. However, the synthesis and stability of polynitrogen compounds remain significant challenges, with factors such as quantum tunneling effects profoundly influencing their properties. This research not only expands our understanding of nitrogen but also opens new avenues for developing novel high-energy materials.

(www.nature.com)

Tech high-energy materials quantum chemistry

Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent and Cold Seep Ecosystems: A Research Review

2025-08-03

Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent and Cold Seep Ecosystems: A Research Review

This review summarizes recent advances in research on deep-sea hydrothermal vent and cold seep ecosystems, covering biogeochemical observations and studies of biological communities in several regions, including the Japan Trench and Mariana Trench. Studies reveal unique chemosynthetic-based biological communities in these extreme environments and illuminate the complex relationship between deep-sea methane cycling, fluid venting, and biodiversity. These findings are crucial for understanding deep-sea ecosystems and the global carbon cycle.

(www.nature.com)

Tech deep-sea ecosystem chemosynthesis biogeochemistry

India's University Ranking System to Penalize Retracted Papers

2025-08-02

India's University Ranking System to Penalize Retracted Papers

India's national university ranking system will for the first time penalize institutions for a significant number of retracted papers published by their researchers. This move aims to address the country's rising number of retractions due to misconduct. While some retractions correct honest mistakes, India's retraction rate, second only to China and the US, largely stems from misconduct or research integrity concerns. The new policy will penalize universities based on the number of retractions in Scopus and Web of Science databases over the past three years. While intended to deter misconduct, its effectiveness is debated. Some researchers worry that simply adjusting ranking mechanisms won't address underlying issues like incentives for high publication counts at the cost of quality.

(www.nature.com)

Tech research misconduct university ranking

Retraction of the Controversial 'Arsenic Life' Paper After 15 Years

2025-07-26

Retraction of the Controversial 'Arsenic Life' Paper After 15 Years

A controversial paper claiming the existence of a microorganism thriving on arsenic, published in Science nearly 15 years ago, has been retracted. The paper, which suggested a bacterium could substitute arsenic for phosphorus, faced intense criticism. Follow-up studies failed to reproduce the results, with critics citing phosphate contamination in the experiments and the chemical instability of arsenic in biomolecules. While the authors maintain their data's validity, Science editors determined the experiments didn't support the key conclusions, leading to the retraction. This highlights science's ongoing commitment to rigorous data.

(www.nature.com)

Tech arsenic life paper retraction

The Unsung Heroes of Science: Null Results

2025-07-26

The Unsung Heroes of Science: Null Results

A survey of 11,069 researchers reveals a striking paradox: while 98% recognize the value of null results (outcomes that don't confirm the hypothesis), only 30% attempt to publish them. Fear of rejection, uncertainty about suitable journals, funding concerns, and peer pressure contribute to this significant underreporting. This wastes resources and hinders scientific progress. Researchers who successfully published null results reported benefits such as inspiring new hypotheses and preventing redundant research. The findings call for a shift in how research productivity is assessed, emphasizing the importance of sharing null results for a more accurate and honest scientific record.

(www.nature.com)

Tech null results data sharing

40-Hour Whole-Body Connectome Mapping of a Mouse: A Breakthrough Imaging Technique

2025-07-16

40-Hour Whole-Body Connectome Mapping of a Mouse: A Breakthrough Imaging Technique

Scientists have developed a high-speed imaging technique that can map the detailed three-dimensional connectome of a mouse's entire nervous system in just 40 hours, achieving micrometer-scale resolution. This technique utilizes a custom-built microscope to scan a cleared and labelled sample, enabling precise tracing of nerve fibers from the brain and spinal cord to organs throughout the body. This provides a powerful tool for connectomics research. Published in *Cell*, this breakthrough represents significant progress in the field and lays the foundation for future understanding of neurological diseases and the development of new treatments.

(www.nature.com)

Tech Imaging Technology

East Asian Emissions Reductions and their Impact on Global Warming: RAMIP Simulation Results

2025-07-14

East Asian Emissions Reductions and their Impact on Global Warming: RAMIP Simulation Results

A new study uses RAMIP simulations to quantify the impact of recent East Asian air pollution emission reductions on climate change. The study finds that a 20 Tg/year reduction in East Asian SO2 emissions led to a 0.07 ± 0.05 °C increase in global mean surface temperature and significant warming in the North Pacific. Simulation results match MODIS observations of aerosol optical depth changes, suggesting that RAMIP effectively captures the impact of real-world reductions. The study also notes that other factors, such as increased methane concentrations and shipping emission reductions, likely contributed to global warming, but East Asian emission reductions played a significant role in the accelerated rate of global warming over the past decade.

(www.nature.com)

Tech RAMIP Simulations

Fabrication of a Superconducting Qubit Chip: A Detailed Process

2025-07-12

Fabrication of a Superconducting Qubit Chip: A Detailed Process

This paper details the fabrication process of a superconducting qubit chip, improving upon existing methods to enhance reproducibility. The process involves: using a 6-inch silicon wafer as substrate, sputtering a 200nm niobium film, photolithography and plasma etching to pattern the niobium, electron beam lithography to prepare Josephson junctions, aluminum deposition to form the junctions, and finally dicing and lift-off. The paper also describes the experimental setup for qubit characterization and measurement, including the cryogenic measurement system and signal processing chain. The fabricated Josephson junctions exhibited lower-than-expected critical currents, resulting in low EJ/EC ratios.

(www.nature.com)

Development superconducting qubit chip fabrication Josephson junction

Nanoplastics: The Hidden Killer in Our Oceans

2025-07-10

Nanoplastics: The Hidden Killer in Our Oceans

A new study reveals a hidden source of ocean plastic pollution: ubiquitous nanoplastic particles! Researchers found three types of nanoplastics—PET, PS, and PVC—at alarming concentrations in the North Atlantic at various depths. An estimated 27 million tons of nanoplastics are present in just the surface layer of the temperate to subtropical North Atlantic. Unlike microplastics, nanoplastics, due to Brownian motion and other factors, distribute widely in the water column and can even pass through cell walls, entering the marine food web and posing a serious threat to both marine ecosystems and human health. This discovery underscores the severity of plastic pollution and the urgent need for effective solutions.

(www.nature.com)

Tech ocean pollution

Arabidopsis Wound Healing: Unraveling the Low Oxygen and Ethylene Signaling Pathways

2025-07-09

Arabidopsis Wound Healing: Unraveling the Low Oxygen and Ethylene Signaling Pathways

Researchers utilized Arabidopsis to investigate the molecular mechanisms behind plant wound healing. They discovered that low oxygen and ethylene signaling pathways play crucial roles in the wound response. Through a series of experiments, including gene cloning, surgical injury, chemical treatments, and oxygen measurements, the study revealed the expression regulation of specific genes during wound healing and the roles of related proteins in cell wall formation and periderm regeneration. This research enhances our understanding of plant wound responses and offers insights into strategies for improving plant resilience in agriculture and horticulture.

(www.nature.com)

Tech Plant Biology Wound Healing Molecular Mechanisms

Breakthroughs in Photonic Quantum Computing: Paving the Way for Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computers

2025-07-08

Breakthroughs in Photonic Quantum Computing: Paving the Way for Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computers

Recent years have witnessed significant advancements in building fault-tolerant quantum computers using photons. Researchers have employed various techniques, such as generating Schrödinger cat states and grid states through superpositions of photon number states, and combining them with quantum error correction codes like Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) codes. This has led to the creation of more robust photonic qubits, laying a solid foundation for building scalable fault-tolerant quantum computers. These groundbreaking results, published in top journals such as Science and Nature, mark a new milestone for photonic quantum computing technology.

(www.nature.com)

Tech photonics

Ancient Egyptian Genomics: Unraveling the Origins and Evolution of Nile Civilization

2025-07-03

Ancient Egyptian Genomics: Unraveling the Origins and Evolution of Nile Civilization

A large-scale study utilizing ancient DNA technology delves deep into the genetic history of ancient Egyptian civilization. Researchers analyzed ancient Egyptian genomes spanning from the Neolithic period to the post-Roman era, revealing the complex composition of the ancient Egyptian population, including gene flow from the Near East, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Mediterranean. The study also traces changes in diet, lifestyle, and disease among ancient Egyptians, offering new insights into the rise and fall of this ancient civilization. This research not only enriches our understanding of ancient Egyptian history but also provides a valuable case study for ancient population genetics research.

(www.nature.com)

Tech population genetics

Bogong Moths Navigate by the Stars: A Magnetic-Free Lab Unveils Neural Mechanisms

2025-06-27

Bogong Moths Navigate by the Stars: A Magnetic-Free Lab Unveils Neural Mechanisms

Scientists built a ferromagnetic-free laboratory to study the nocturnal migration of Bogong moths in Australia. By simulating natural starry skies and employing electrophysiology, they discovered that these moths use celestial cues for navigation. Specific neurons in their brains exhibited heightened sensitivity to the rotation of the projected star patterns, revealing the intricate neural mechanisms behind celestial navigation in insects.

(www.nature.com)

Tech Insect Navigation Neurobiology

RFK Jr.'s Controversial Plan to Make America Healthy Again

2025-06-24

RFK Jr.'s Controversial Plan to Make America Healthy Again

Since taking office, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has implemented radical changes to US health policy, sparking concern among public health experts. His administration has slashed budgets and staff, replaced vaccine advisory board members with skeptics, and largely ignored leading causes of death such as car accidents, drug overdoses, and gun violence. While acknowledging the high rates of chronic disease in the US, Kennedy's approach has been criticized for promoting misinformation and overlooking other significant factors contributing to lower life expectancy, including obesity, lack of universal healthcare, and social issues. This article analyzes the multifaceted causes of America's health crisis and challenges the effectiveness of some of Kennedy's proposed solutions.

(www.nature.com)

Tech Healthcare Reform Chronic Disease

PhD Explosion: Too Many Doctors, Not Enough Jobs?

2025-06-23

PhD Explosion: Too Many Doctors, Not Enough Jobs?

The number of PhD graduates globally is booming, especially in countries like China and India. However, academic jobs are failing to keep pace, leaving many with degrees struggling to find relevant employment. While graduates in STEM fields often find suitable roles and report high job satisfaction, those in humanities and social sciences face greater challenges, highlighting a growing mismatch between PhD training and the needs of the job market. This raises concerns about the future of doctoral education and the need for reform to better align with societal and labor market demands.

(www.nature.com)

Misc

The Contagious Yawning Mystery: Mirror Neurons, Empathy, and Robots

2025-06-20

The Contagious Yawning Mystery: Mirror Neurons, Empathy, and Robots

This literature review explores the neural mechanisms and social implications of contagious yawning. Studies suggest a link between contagious yawning and the mirror neuron system, and empathy, found across primates and some other species, and even explored in robotics research. Researchers examined the relationship between contagious yawning and kinship, familiarity, social interaction, and compared differences across species through experiments and observations. This research offers new insights into understanding social cognition in humans and animals, and the development of more socially intelligent robots.

(www.nature.com)

AI mirror neurons contagious yawning

Citizen Science Illuminates Night Light Data: Analyzing the Nachtlichter App

2025-06-19

Citizen Science Illuminates Night Light Data: Analyzing the Nachtlichter App

The Nachtlichter project engaged citizen scientists in observing and recording night-time light sources using a dedicated app. Participants surveyed pre-defined routes, classifying and counting lights by type, size, color, and brightness. Researchers corrected for the effects of lights turning off during the night and combined the data with satellite observations to analyze the relationship between ground-level light counts and satellite-measured radiance. The study demonstrates that Nachtlichter data offer a more comprehensive picture than existing public databases, providing valuable insights into urban lighting patterns.

(www.nature.com)

Tech night lights

Spatially Enabling a Millennial Global City Population Dataset

2025-06-18

Spatially Enabling a Millennial Global City Population Dataset

This paper details the creation of a massive global city population dataset integrating the work of Chandler and Modelski, spanning 3700 BC to 2000 AD. The original data, residing in print books and disparate digital formats, presented significant digitization and spatialization (geocoding) challenges. OCR attempts failed due to font and page quality issues, necessitating manual transcription. Geocoding leveraged CartoDB, GeoNames, the Ancient Locations database, and the Getty Thesaurus, with manual verification crucial for accuracy. The final dataset contains 1599 city locations, offering broad global and temporal coverage, yet limitations remain: data sparsity, ambiguous city definitions, and uncertainties in ancient city locations. Despite these, the digitized and spatialized dataset offers readily accessible data for researchers (historians, geographers, ecologists, etc.) to analyze global urbanization trends.

(www.nature.com)

Misc historical population data data digitization

High-Energy Nitrogen: Breakthroughs and Challenges

2025-06-18

High-Energy Nitrogen: Breakthroughs and Challenges

Recent years have witnessed significant progress in the research of polynitrogen compounds as high-energy-density materials. Scientists have successfully synthesized compounds containing hexazine rings and conducted in-depth studies on their structure and stability. However, the synthesis and stability of polynitrogen compounds remain a significant challenge, with factors such as quantum tunneling effects playing a crucial role. Future research will focus on overcoming the challenges in synthesis and stability to develop safer and more efficient polynitrogen high-energy materials.

(www.nature.com)

Tech high-energy-density materials polynitrogen compounds quantum tunneling effect

Breathing Patterns: A Unique Biometric Identifier?

2025-06-17

Breathing Patterns: A Unique Biometric Identifier?

A new study suggests that a person's breathing pattern, much like fingerprints, could be unique. Researchers tracked the breathing of 97 healthy individuals for 24 hours and found they could identify participants with high accuracy based solely on their breathing patterns. These patterns also correlated with BMI and signs of depression and anxiety, suggesting breathing analysis could be a powerful diagnostic tool. The study indicates that it may be possible to 'read the mind through the nose'.

(www.nature.com)

Tech breathing patterns

Nature to Publish Peer Reviews, Boosting Scientific Transparency

2025-06-16

Nature to Publish Peer Reviews, Boosting Scientific Transparency

Nature journal announced that starting June 16th, all newly published research articles will automatically include their peer review files and author responses. This aims to open up the 'black box' of science, increasing transparency and building trust in the scientific process. This shift reflects a reevaluation of research assessment and recognition of the importance of peer review, informed by the increased openness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Publishing peer reviews allows a wider audience to understand how research is conducted, fosters scientific communication, and provides valuable learning opportunities for early-career researchers.

(www.nature.com)

Tech scientific transparency

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