Exciting new research at Tohoku University’s Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR) explains how to transform decades of scattered literature data into design rules for catalysts.

Brain stimulation techniques can correct abnormal activity in the neural circuits involved in conditions such as Parkinson's disease and depression. However, current transcranial stimulation methods delivered through the scalp reach only the brain’s surface, limiting their effectiveness. Deep brain stimulation, on the other hand, can target deeper structures but requires surgical implantation of electrodes. A team from the Synapsy Centre for Neuroscience and Mental Health Research at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with ETH Zurich, the Wyss Center Geneva and EPFL, has succeeded in improving a promising intermediate technology called "temporal interference stimulation". This method could allow deeper and more targeted non-invasive brain stimulation. The study can be found in Cell Systems.

With poppy seed-sized brains, jumping spiders compute distances in a highly efficient manner. Their eyes contain multiple retinal layers, each focused at a different depth. By comparing differences in sharpness, they estimate distance. New camera mimics this strategy while consuming less energy than a nightlight. It could enable a new generation of battery-powered devices that need to gauge their surroundings, like wearable technologies, assistive devices, robots and drones.

Camera could enable ultra-low-energy wearables, robots and drones

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have used simulations to show that a newly developed, compact X-ray telescope could be used to map the chemical composition of the entire Moon surface, a vital breakthrough for understanding its geological evolution. Detailed modeling of the detector and a realistic satellite mission show that two years would be enough to map five key elements, while an array of five-by-five detectors could improve resolution and get results faster.

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary amid deep political division, a major new bipartisan report from the State of the Nation Project asks a fundamental question: How are we really doing as a country? The first-of-its-kind State of the States report analyzes more than three decades of data and 4,000 indicators across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., ranking states on 31 measures of well-being, trust, education, health, inequality, the economy and more. The findings point to an increasingly unhappy nation: Despite sharp political divides, red and blue states are facing many of the same struggles, including worsening mental health, declining trust, rising social isolation and falling life satisfaction. No state is improving on eight key measures, including life satisfaction, adult and youth depression, fatal overdoses, trust in the federal government, income inequality, long-term unemployment and hourly earnings growth.