Despite evidence grasslands and shrublands can adapt to periods of moderate drought, they can’t withstand prolonged periods of extreme dryness. An international collaboration, including researchers from Murdoch University, has found even native systems capable of acclimatising to moderate drought are no match for more extreme conditions.

The “tumor-on-a-chip” recreates the body’s tumor environment in miniature, complete with blood vessels and immune cells, so researchers can “see” what helps or hinders engineered immune cells inside solid tumors.

Adding vildagliptin, a drug currently used to treat type 2 diabetes, to the chip, allows many more CAR T cells to break through the protective tumor microenvironment and attack the tumor.

These chips could help accelerate the development of more efficacious and safer immunotherapies for cancer patients while reducing the need for the use of other preclinical models.

Scientists know dark energy makes up about 70% of the universe and is responsible for the universe’s accelerating expansion. Beyond that, little about it is certain, so a West Virginia University engineer is enhancing the calibration of radio telescopes that can tell astronomers about dark energy by measuring the “neutral hydrogen” in the universe, a simple form of hydrogen with no net electric charge.

Electrical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated the ability to print fully functional and recyclable electronics at sub-micrometer scales. The technique could impact the more than $150 billion electronic display industry and its environmental impact while providing a toehold for U.S. manufacturing to gain traction in a vital and quickly growing industry.

For the first time, researchers from Florida International University (FIU), working in collaboration with the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, have detected a dozen different “forever chemicals” known as PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances) within the Miccosukee Indian Reservation in the Everglades. The findings, published in Environmental Research, raise new questions about potential impacts to water quality, ecosystem health and ongoing Everglades restoration efforts.

University of Texas at Dallas researchers have developed a technology that enables same-day, 3D-printed dental restorations made of zirconia, the gold-standard material for permanent dental work.

The team is working to make the technology, which could be used for crowns, bridges, veneers and other restorations, commercially available with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Researchers have created a class of robots made from thin sheets of material that can snap into hundreds of stable shapes – allowing them to execute a wide variety of actions despite the fact that they have no motor and are made of a single, flat material. These “metabots” essentially resemble animated sheets of plastic, capable of moving around a surface or grasping objects.