This archive covers milestones and breakthroughs from the scientific and academic world — researchers, universities, and institutions whose work advances human knowledge. Stories here highlight discoveries, studies, and scholarly efforts that point toward a better future.
PFAS are used in nonstick cookware, stain-resistant fabrics, and firefighting foams, and have been linked with higher cholesterol, lower fertility, developmental delays in children, and a greater risk of cancer.
Hadassah-University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem has announced an “unprecedented achievement” in the treatment of multiple myeloma cancer – the second-most common hematological disease.
“A universal influenza vaccine would be a major public health achievement and could eliminate the need for both annual development of seasonal influenza vaccines,” said Dr. Hugh Auchincloss, acting NIAID Director.
Fusion energy just took a big step from lab to grid: Helion Energy has signed the world’s first commercial fusion power purchase agreement, promising Microsoft at least 50 megawatts of electricity from a plant targeted to come online in 2028. That timeline is roughly a decade ahead of most expert projections for commercial fusion. Helion has already built six prototypes and reached the 100-million-degree plasma temperatures considered necessary for self-sustaining reactions, with Constellation handling the grid-side logistics. The engineering road ahead is steep, and nothing is guaranteed. But moving fusion from research aspiration onto a real buyer’s procurement list is a meaningful shift, hinting at a future where zero-carbon baseload power becomes a practical piece of the climate puzzle.
Compared to existing methods, the researchers found that CoDE-ACS could rule out a heart attack in more than double the number of patients, with an accuracy of 99.6%.
Parkinson’s disease may finally have a name attached to its cause: researchers at the University of Helsinki have identified specific strains of Desulfovibrio bacteria in the gut as the likely trigger behind most cases. Professor Per Saris estimates that about 90 percent of cases trace back to environmental exposure to these bacteria, with genetics accounting for only the remaining sliver. Because the culprit lives in the gut, it can in principle be screened for and cleared, opening a real path toward slowing the disease or preventing it before symptoms ever begin. For the eight million people worldwide living with Parkinson’s, and for a global health movement increasingly focused on the microbiome, knowing where to look changes everything.
“In our first treated case, we were thrilled to see that the aggressive decline usually seen after birth simply did not appear,” said lead author Professor Darren Orbach of Boston Children’s Hospital.
Scientists at Johns Hopkins University have developed a hydrogel that can be applied to the cavity in the brain left behind after a tumor is removed, slowly releasing medication to kill any cancer cells left behind.
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon, Florida International, and Santa Clara Universities have developed an automated screening tool using machine learning that can predict strokes with 84% accuracy, outperforming existing diagnostic models.
“The launch of condensed batteries will usher in an era of universal electrification of sea, land and air transportation…,” according to Chinese battery manufacturer CATL.
