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Feature Stories

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 30-Apr-2025 21:08 ET (1-May-2025 01:08 GMT/UTC)

Public Health Emergency Surveillance System celebrates 20 years of service

Regenstrief Institute

Designed to meet the need for a rapid-response infrastructure capable of identifying emerging public health threats and created by Regenstrief Institute, the Indiana University School of Medicine, the Indiana State Department of Health and the Marion County Health Department, the Public Health Emergency Surveillance System (PHESS) has served Indiana’s foundational syndromic surveillance network for 20 years. PHESS has served as an essential public health tool, enabling early detection of bioterrorism threats and other health emergencies through chief complaint data received from emergency departments statewide.

Chung-Ang University researcher explores enhancing online civility through comment history disclosure systems

Chung Ang University

Online comments section offers a space for everyone to share their thoughts and engage in discussions, but can also spiraling into negativity. Encouraging digital citizenship and responsible behavior in online spaces is key to promoting healthy interactions. However, achieving this is easier said than done. Now, a study investigating the impact of disclosing online comment histories on user behavior has found that creating a sense of accountable anonymity can significantly reduce malicious comments.

Journal: Communications of the ACM

Smarter shipboard power

Lehigh University

Wenxin Liu, a professor of electrical and computer engineering in Lehigh University’s P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, recently received an $800,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research to develop a deep reinforcement learning (DRL)-based algorithm that integrates energy scheduling with power control.

Funder: Office of Naval Research

Plant adaptation research could help find ways to make crops more resilient to climate change

University of Calgary

A team at the University of Calgary is making scientific advances in understanding plant adaptation, which could ultimately be used to find ways to make agricultural crops more resilient to heat, drought and climate change.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: National Research Council Canada, Alberta Innovates

Snapshots of urban climate science

DOE/Argonne National Laboratory

Research from the heart of Chicago is helping scientists get a better picture of heat islands and air quality. The data will help homeowners and businesses strategize for energy security and climate resilience.

The science of looking beneath the surface

Kobe University

There have been dramatic advances in the natural sciences thanks to inventions such as telescopes and microscopes that enable us to see things invisible to the naked eye. The arrival of X-ray photography, CT (computed tomography), and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) has transformed healthcare, and the pioneers of CT and MRI both received Nobel Prizes. Professor KIMURA Kenjiro has developed a technology that can produce 3D images of the inner structure of an object by applying waves (for example, radio waves) to the object and measuring the wave scattering.

He has recently drawn attention for advances in microwave mammography technology, a system that revolutionizes breast cancer screenings by visualizing the cancer to a high level of accuracy using very faint microwaves. He has also used magnetic fields to develop a system that visualizes abnormal electric currents in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries and the memory of advanced semiconductors. With research that pursues the science of visualization and a startup to ensure that their findings can benefit society at large, Kimura and his team are contributing to the health and security of humanity.

Illuminating the elements under our feet

DOE/US Department of Energy

Using a unique measurement tool, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have expanded our knowledge of the elements in soil and plants.

OIST mathematicians develop new math to forecast natural phenomena and detect early cancer development

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University

Mathematicians at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) are developing a new approach to detect cancer early. This technique could provide a powerful new tool against the disease and involves solving partial differential equations (PDEs).

Prof. Ugur Abdulla, head of the Analysis and Partial Differential Equations Unit, joined OIST with the goal of making it one of the world’s leading centers in mathematics. "We want OIST to be a key place for sharing math knowledge globally," he said. "Our work with partner institutes helps us connect with different parts of the world, sharing knowledge and providing opportunities for PhD students to work on cutting edge problems in the frontline of mathematics."

NUS Medicine students bring hearing care to Cambodian villagers

National University of Singapore, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

NUS Medicine students and WS Audiology collaborate on Project Battambang to conduct screenings for hearing loss and donate hearing aids to villagers in Poipet, Cambodia

National lab collaboration enables faster, safer inspection of nuclear reactor components, materials

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

A research partnership between two Department of Energy national laboratories has accelerated inspection of additively manufactured nuclear components, and the effort is now expanding to inspect nuclear fuels. Idaho National Laboratory is using a software algorithm developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory to check for flaws in additively manufactured components as part of the process of identifying promising metals and alloys for 3D printing the next generation of nuclear reactors.

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