Three investigations funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and sponsored by the International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) National Laboratory are launching on SpaceX’s 32nd Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission, contracted by NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration. These experiments leverage the microgravityThe condition of perceived weightlessness created when an object is in free fall, for example when an object is in orbital motion. Microgravity alters many observable phenomena within the physical and life sciences, allowing scientists to study things in ways not possible on Earth. The International Space Station provides access to a persistent microgravity environment. environment to advance fundamental science that could lead to improved pharmaceutical manufacturing, new materials with valuable industrial applications, and the next generation of soft active materials with lifelike properties.

Research by West Virginia University behavioral expert Julian Givi, associate professor of marketing at the WVU John Chambers College of Business and Economics, shows many people won’t ask to join others’ plans because they think — often wrongly — that “self-invitations” tend to be resented.

Scientists found Escherichia albertii, an emerging foodborne pathogen, in 64% of retail chicken meat in Bangladesh. The study revealed widespread contamination, cross-contamination during processing and high antimicrobial resistance. The findings highlight urgent public health risks and the need for improved hygiene, antibiotic regulations and global monitoring.

A novel approach called Counterfactual Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) has been developed to tackle the persistent issue of imbalanced data in healthcare. Traditional models trained on imbalanced datasets often overlook rare but critical conditions, such as diseases, leading to biased predictions. By combining SMOTE with counterfactual generation, Counterfactual SMOTE creates synthetic data points near decision boundaries while minimizing noise. This method significantly enhances model performance, enabling better detection of rare conditions without overwhelming false positives. Tested across 24 healthcare datasets, Counterfactual SMOTE outperforms existing methods, offering a robust solution for improving medical diagnostics and extending to other fields.

Tackling high-grade neuroendocrine tumors, unlocking the mysteries of kidney cancer metabolism, making comprehensive cancer services more accessible, emerging trends after an FDA committee ruling favors using a new endpoint in multiple myeloma trials, and more are in this month’s tip sheet from Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.