Researchers from Science Tokyo have contributed to an international collaboration that recently published a perspective article in the prestigious journal Nature Physics. The team, led by Professor Ginestra Bianconi of Queen Mary University (UK), addressed the most recent developments and challenges in complex systems from the angle of higher-order networks, with applications ranging from climate science to machine learning.

A groundbreaking study led by Professor Ginestra Bianconi from Queen Mary University of London, in collaboration with international researchers, has unveiled a transformative framework for understanding complex systems. Published in Nature Physics, this pioneering study establishes the new field of higher-order topological dynamics, revealing how the hidden geometry of networks shapes everything from brain activity to the climate and artificial intelligence (AI). 

Eddies are large, rotating currents that contribute to ocean mixing and transport of heat and salt in seawater. Importantly, eddies modify ocean circulation and can influence climate variability by interacting with larger, more dominant ocean currents, or mean flow. A research team recently decomposed the eddy-mean kinetic energy exchange into three parts, all of which are important for eddy-mean energy exchange, and linked them with parameters for eddy geometry through a geometric diagnosis.

The 2025 Finalists of the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the United Kingdom were announced today. They include:

­­­Life Sciences Finalists

Nicholas R. Casewell, PhD - Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine – a toxinologist, uses molecular and biochemical approaches to understand variations in snake venom toxins to identify new treatment strategies for snakebite envenoming, a neglected tropical disease.

Andrew M. Saxe, PhD - University College London – a neuroscientist, has developed mathematical analyses illuminating learning mechanisms in artificial and biological systems, advancing AI understanding and insights into memory-related neurological diseases.

Christopher Stewart, PhD - Newcastle University – a microbiologist, has developed novel microbiome-based approaches to prevent necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), the leading cause of death in preterm infants around the world.

Chemical Sciences Finalists

Liam T. Ball, PhD - University of Nottingham – an organic chemist, is developing efficient methods for the safe and sustainable synthesis of molecules vital to healthcare and agriculture.

Brianna R. Heazlewood, PhD - University of Liverpool – a physical chemist, has developed instruments that characterise complex chemical reactions at extremely cold temperatures, providing new insights into the chemistry of space and other challenging environments.

Chunxiao Song, PhD - University of Oxford – a chemical biologist, is developing a state-of-the-art sequencing method to detect DNA and RNA modifications, enabling early cancer detection and leading to the founding of a $410 million biotech company.

Physical Sciences & Engineering Finalists

Benjamin J.W. Mills, PhD - University of Leeds – a biogeochemist, is developing long-timescale models of the Earth, linking geology and biology and giving insight into our planet's connected atmospheric and geologic history, co-evolution of life and the Earth, the future of our planet, and the habitability of other worlds.

Hannah Price, PhD, University of Birmingham – a theoretical physicist, has authored groundbreaking theories and innovative experimental collaborations employing synthetic analogues to simulate higher dimensions, giving insight into physics with more than three spatial dimensions, including the fourth dimension.

Filip Rindler, DPhil – The University of Warwick – a mathematician, has developed the first rigorous theory describing how crystalline materials, like metals, deform through microscopic defects called dislocations. This theory advances foundational mathematics and opens new research avenues in materials science.

As Australia’s road toll continues to rise, with more than 1300 fatalities in 2024 marking an increase of 6% compared to 2023, a new study reveals the reasons why Australia won’t achieve its zero-fatalities vision by 2050.