A team of researchers including Rice University’s James Tour and Shichen Xu has developed an ultrafast, one-step method to recover rare earth elements (REEs) from discarded magnets using an innovative approach that offers significant environmental and economic benefits over traditional recycling methods. Their study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Sept. 29, 2025.

Wolves had long been extinct in parts of Central Europe. Thanks to strict regulations to protect species, in recent decades they have become more widespread again. This brings new challenges: in many areas, protecting farm livestock is essential to prevent animals such as sheep, goats and cattle from being killed by hungry wolves. An international research team at the University of Göttingen, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU), Dresden University of Technology in Germany, together with KORA in Switzerland, conducted a survey to find out how farmers feel about measures such as wolf-repelling electric fences or guard dogs, and whether the availability of subsidies influences this. The survey showed that the willingness to protect livestock depends primarily on social pressure. Financial support is associated with a greater willingness to use electric fences against wolves. The study was published in the journal People and Nature.

Meaningful 340B reform must end “spread pricing,” the practice where providers buy discounted drugs and bill insurers at higher rates, pocketing the difference.

Lifestyle-related diseases are rapidly increasing, particularly among the lower socioeconomic brackets of the society. To address this public health concern, Japan introduced the Specific Health Checkups and Specific Health Guidance policy in 2008. The policy mandates municipalities across Japan to standardize health checkups for all populations. This study explored how the policy and its resultant expansion in municipal healthcare funds have impacted health outcomes and lifestyle behaviors among self-employed and unemployed individuals.