MIT researchers developed a tunable, chip-based infrared “lens” that can focus on different wavelengths pixel by pixel to improve detection of gases and heat.

A report developed through the EU Science Service for Biodiversity identifies hydrological regime as the key determinant of ecosystem condition in both inland peatlands and coastal lagoons and warns that degradation of these habitat types can turn long-term carbon sinks into net sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

Warmer temperatures bring out ticks that spread diseases such as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. But another class of emerging tick-borne pathogens — nairoviruses — is on the rise. Some nairoviruses cause high fevers and reduce organ function in people exposed to certain tick’s bites. In ACS Infectious Diseases, researchers report how these viruses evade the human immune system. The findings could be used to help develop a surveillance system to monitor these viruses. 

Ultrafine particles (UFPs) –smaller than 100 nanometres and invisible to the naked eye – contribute substantially to illness and mortality worldwide. That is the finding of an international study led by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz and The Cyprus Institute, with cardiologists from Mainz University Medical Center among the co-authors. The researchers estimate that around 1.99 million deaths per year worldwide are attributable to exposure to ultrafine particles. That accounts for about five percent of all deaths from non-communicable diseases. Roughly half of these are due to cardiovascular disease. The researchers therefore advocate for binding limit values. The study appears in the journal Cardiovascular Research (Oxford University Press, the journal of the European Society of Cardiology).