Methane emissions from the New York City metropolitan area are largely driven by natural gas use, according to a new study published today in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics by researchers at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, part of the Columbia Climate School. The findings may offer cities an overlooked pathway for reduce methane emissions while potentially saving consumers millions of dollars lost to wasted natural gas.

In the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, researchers have solved a rigid manufacturing compromise between geometric complexity and magnetic performance by laser 3D-printing, successfully weaving metal powders into intricate and highly responsive magnetic devices.

In a major step forward in wearable technology, researchers have used machine learning to reveal how stretching flexible materials impacts their electrical performance. The study shows that pulling a material in one direction can boost conductivity by over 50%, while pulling it in another can hinder it, providing a crucial design guide for future electronic skin and sensors.

In the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, researchers paired an ultrafast picosecond laser with a recurrent neural network that acts as an automated optical sculptor to address an enduring dilemma: devices sensitive enough to register a faint arterial pulse usually max out under moderate contact, while sensors built for heavy loads fail to detect gentle touch.

Recognized for pioneering work on adhesive and electroconductive hydrogels for biological tissue regeneration

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) responds poorly to immune checkpoint blockade, largely because of an immunologically cold tumor microenvironment (TME) characterized by deficient antigen presentation and impaired cytotoxic T cell responses. Analysis of numerous HCC clinical cohorts, including our institutional datasets, reveals that stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway activity is positively correlated with patient survival, enhanced antigen presentation capacity, and an immune-activated TME. However, achieving effective and controllable STING activation in immune-cold HCC tumors remains challenging. Here, we develop a biomimetic nanomedicine that integrates photothermal therapy (PTT), STING pathway activation, and immune checkpoint blockade to treat refractory HCC. A coordination nanomedicine MCI-NP is engineered by co-encapsulating the STING agonist MSA-2 and indocyanine green (ICG) via Cu²⁺-mediated chelation, enabling stabilized PTT-induced immunogenic cell death together with robust STING-driven innate immune activation. Further cloaked with PD-1-overexpressing cell membranes, MCI-NP@mPD-1 achieves an approximately fivefold increase in tumor accumulation compared with uncoated MCI-NP and enables localized PD-1/PD-L1 axis blockade. Following a single treatment, MCI-NP@mPD-1-based photothermal immunotherapy effectively suppresses primary tumor growth and significantly prolongs survival by remodeling the TME toward an immune-active state, while inducing durable systemic immune memory that effectively limited postoperative lung metastasis. Without introducing additional nanocarriers or excipients, MCI-NP@mPD-1 offers a promising therapeutic paradigm for photothermal immunotherapy of immune-cold HCC.

UK: An eye surgeon with a passion for space since childhood predicts that as astronauts start to make journeys to the Moon and Mars in the near future, eye surgery in space will eventually become a necessity. Speaking at the 44^th Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS), Dr Morgan Micheletti said that cataract surgery, in particular, will be needed as people travel through space and stay in space stations for longer periods of time. Therefore, it was vital to know how medical supplies such as intraocular lenses (IOLs) and the other equipment needed for surgery could best be packed, transported, stored and protected from the space environment.

Researchers developed a zebrafish–Yersinia ruckeri model to quantify how pathogen levels, exposure time and Far-UVC irradiation shape infection outcomes. As illustrated in the figure, the cumulative exposure parameter Λ combines pathogen level and exposure time and marks a critical boundary for infection control. Far-UVC can shift the system below this boundary by reducing viable pathogens. This quantitative framework may guide smarter infection-control strategies for crowded indoor spaces and strengthen preparedness for future pandemics.

- Delivers stable electrical stimulation while reducing the influence of sweat or dead skin cells, and automatically detaches when the skin overheats to enhance safety

- Remotely controlled via smartphone and capable of automatic operation triggered by physiological signals, offering the potential for personalized pain management