A groundbreaking primer design tool from the Zhang Liye Laboratory automates the search across entire genomes for pathogen detection, significantly enhancing the speed and accuracy of infectious disease diagnosis

A research team led by Professor Jia Pan and Professor Yifan Evan Peng from the Department of Computer Science and Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering under the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), in collaboration with the researcher at Australian National University, has recently developed a groundbreaking neuromorphic exposure control (NEC) system that revolutionizes machine vision under extreme lighting variations. Published in Nature Communications, this biologically inspired system mimics human peripheral vision to achieve unprecedented speed and robustness in dynamic perception environments.

The amount of nitrogen fertilizer needed to maximize the profitability of corn production in the Midwest has been increasing by about 1.2% per year for the past three decades, a trend driven by higher yields and wetter springs, according to new Iowa State University study.

In a recent development in power system research, a study published in Engineering has provided new insights into the power response of networks. As power electronic equipment becomes more integrated in power systems, the traditional understanding and analysis methods face challenges. The research focuses on the power response when networks are excited by voltage with time-varying amplitude and frequency. By using innovative mathematical calculations and simulations, the researchers uncovered multi-timescale characteristics of network power, which could offer useful guidance for engineers in understanding and analyzing power system dynamics.

In a recent development, a team of scientists from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and other institutions has come up with an innovative way to deal with plastic waste. Their study develops a photocatalytic method to degrade plastic waste, depositing polystyrene (PS) onto a durable tungsten oxide (WO₃) photoanode. Under light, PS undergoes oxidation, producing carbon dioxide at the anode and hydrogen gas at the cathode, offering an eco-friendly, cost-effective approach for waste treatment and fuel production.