A groundbreaking technology developed by Heriot-Watt University has received funding to revolutionise how eczema is diagnosed and treated, potentially ending years of suffering for millions of patients across the UK.

The innovative vibroacoustic sensor, which measures material changes in each layer of skin using small vibrations on the surface, has received £275,000 from Scottish Enterprise and just over £200,000 from the Medical Research Council's Gap Fund to advance clinical testing. This research will support the development of a spin-out company based on the TissueMetrics project.

TissueMetrics’ solution addresses a critical gap in eczema and psoriasis treatment, where patients currently face a lengthy and frustrating cycle of trial and error with various creams and medications. Eczema, also called atopic dermatitis, affects up to 20% of children and 10% of adults in the UK, costing the NHS approximately £179 million annually in GP visits alone. Patients who suffer from this also end up spending on average over £500 per year on creams, soaps and moisturisers.

A groundbreaking study has provided the first in-depth look at vast, understudied deep-ocean habitat—the waters that lie just a few meters above the abyssal seafloor—revealing a dynamic community that may be far more sensitive to seasonal changes than previously understood. The research also concluded that deep-sea mining could have significant and unavoidable impacts on biodiversity in that region, regardless of the time of year.

Four physicists from Rice University have received a $4.4 million grant over three years from the U.S. Department of Energy to establish the Rice Laboratory for Emergent Magnetic Materials (RLEMM). This new research center will investigate the fundamental interactions of magnetism and its role in next-generation technologies.

MIT engineers developed a palladium membrane, used for filtering gas mixtures to produce pure hydrogen, that remains resilient at much higher temperatures. The filters could be used in advanced separation methods that enable cheaper, more efficient generation of hydrogen fuel.