In a new study, researchers found high levels of ultrashort-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in blood samples taken from Wilmington, N.C. residents between 2010-2016. Two ultrashort-chain PFAS – perfluoromethoxyacetic acid (PFMOAA) and trifluoracetic acid (TFA) – were detected at high levels in almost every sample. In contrast, GenX – the chemical that jumpstarted public concern about PFAS in the Cape Fear River Basin – was detected in 20% of the samples. The work adds to the body of evidence that short-chain PFAS can accumulate in the human body.

Georgia Tech researchers are rewriting robotics — swapping steel for soft, intelligent materials that move like muscle.
In Materials Horizons, Hong Yeo reveals how AI-driven “smart muscles” can respond and adapt in real time.
The discovery opens new doors for prosthetics, therapy devices, and human-machine collaboration.

In a new study, University of Arizona researchers created a model for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer, and identified two mutated tumor proteins, or neoantigens, that contain features of good candidates for a vaccine. At the same time, they used artificial intelligence to create 3D models to help them understand and predict which neoantigens could provoke T cells, a type of white blood cell critical to the immune system, to attack the cancer.