Nanoimprint Lithography (NIL), first introduced in the 1990s by Professor Stephen Y. Chou at the University of Minnesota (later Princeton University), is a novel nanofabrication technology noted for its advantages in low cost, high resolution, and high throughput. The working principle involves directly imprinting mold patterns into polymeric materials, which are either cooled before demolding for thermoplastics or UV cured or thermal set for crosslinkable precursors to precisely replicate nanoscale features. With rapid advancements in science and industry, the demand for precise and efficient fabrication of semiconductor devices, optical components, and biomedical devices has significantly increased, making NIL an indispensable manufacturing method. The year 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of NIL. Through three decades of global efforts, NIL has emerged as the primary alternative to extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography for deep-nanoscale silicon electronics. Many semiconductor companies have recognized NIL's manufacturing quality and are actively evaluating its capability in producing advanced semiconductor devices. Moreover, with its high throughput and 3D patterning capabilities, NIL is becoming a key technology for emerging applications such as flat optics and augmented reality glasses, opening new avenues for material research and novel applications.

A research team led by a Ph.D. student at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science has developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool that can automatically identify and track tropical easterly waves (TEWs)—clusters of clouds and wind that often develop into hurricanes—and separate them from two major tropical wind patterns: the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the monsoon trough (MT).

Harvard physicists have developed a computational method that can uncover the rules that cells use to self-organize, translating the complex process of cell growth into an optimization problem a computer can solve.