As city dwellers may know, escaping to the beach can provide a much-needed change of scenery or a mental reset. Historically, some doctors even prescribed trips to the sea to treat diseases. And now, research published in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters provides another reason to visit the coast. A pilot study found that urban air contained pathogenic strains of Candida yeast that were absent in coastal air samples, revealing a potential transmission method.

Seoul National University College of Engineering announced that a research team led by Professor Sunghoon Kwon from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, in collaboration with Professor Eun Ju Lee from the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Seoul National University Hospital and Professor Tae Hyun Kim from the KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology at Korea University, has successfully developed a rapid sterility test (NEST: Nanoparticle-based Enrichment and rapid Sterility Test) that can determine the sterility of pharmaceuticals within a single day—dramatically shortening the conventional 14-day testing process.

 

The research findings were published on October 1st in Nature Biomedical Engineering, one of the world’s most prestigious journals in the field of biomedical engineering.

A team of researchers from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities College of Science and Engineering and the University of Houston’s Cullen College of Engineering has discovered and measured the fraction of an electron that makes catalytic manufacturing possible. This discovery provides insight for designing new breakthrough catalytic materials that could lead to more efficient and lower-cost manufacturing of fuels and chemicals.

Two distinct stem cell lineages that drive tooth root and alveolar bone formation have been identified by researchers from Science Tokyo. Using genetically modified mice and lineage-tracing techniques, the team shed light on the cell signaling mechanisms guiding differentiation in stem cells in the developing teeth, offering key insights for future regenerative dental therapies.

On October 7, 2025, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) celebrates its anniversary. On the same day, exactly 200 ago, Ludwig I, Grand Duke of Baden, signed the founding decree for the Karlsruhe Polytechnic School, the first predecessor institution of today’s University of Excellence. The Grand Duke founded it out of his “concern for the education of our dear and loyal bourgeoisie.” Today, KIT is a place where science is shaping the future by contributing energy, mobility, and climate research as well as robotics and artificial intelligence.

New research published in Nature Ecology & Evolution sheds light on the timelines and pathways of evolution of fungi, finding evidence of their influence on ancient terrestrial ecosystems. The study, led by researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) and collaborators, indicates the diversification of fungi hundreds of millions of years before the emergence of land plants.