AMHERST, Mass. — Chang Liu, associate professor in the Riccio College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, wants people to have access to at-home HIV tests sensitive enough for early diagnosis comparable to—or exceeding—lab standards. A new two-year, $1.3 million award from the National Institutes of Health will help him advance his proof-of-concept work toward commercialization. 

For more than two decades, the Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation has silently monitored high-energy electrons in Earth's radiation belts—but inconsistencies among its satellites have prevented scientists from fully trusting the combined data. 

In an innovative gas fermentation process, reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide was found to significantly improve microbial production of the biodegradable plastic, poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate]. Researchers found that hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria grown under safe, nonflammable gas conditions enable more efficient production of biodegradable plastic at lower CO₂ levels. The study provides a promising strategy for sustainable carbon recycling and efficient CO₂ utilization.

The effects of extreme space weather may be larger than previously thought reveals research in Nature led by Dr Nithin Sivadas of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. An example of space weather are extreme geomagnetic storms which are temporary disturbances in the plasma and magnetic field around the Earth causing disruptions in global satellite communication, extensive power outages, and even how much radiation astronauts and pilots are exposed to.

The team found evidence from more than a million solar wind measurements taken by Earth-orbiting NASA spacecraft, very close to our planet. Analysis of these observations showed a direct relationship between the strength of the solar wind and the currents in the upper atmosphere, suggesting there is no upper limit but rather Earth’s response will continue to increase along with the solar wind strength, and impacts to technology can increase as well.

MIT engineers found a way to engineer and control the growth of blood vessels by mechanically stretching them. The technology could advance efforts to replace a patient’s damaged or diseased tissue with a healthy, artificially grown version.