Researchers created an AI-based learning tool to help neurotypical people learn how to better communicate with autistic people.

The SETI Institute announced that alliant Global CEO, Dhaval Jadav, joined its Board of Directors. Dhaval brings a deep lifelong passion for space science, a strong commitment to STEM education, and a shared belief in the SETI Institute’s mission to explore one of humanity’s most profound questions: Are we alone in the universe?

This marks the beginning of a strategic partnership that gives the SETI Institute the ability to leverage alliant’s resources and AI capabilities in the search for extraterrestrial life.

“As a kid nothing got me more excited to learn about space than the thought of extraterrestrials being out there,” said Dhaval. “I think we’ve lost some of that sense of wonder, the curiosity that drives people to look beyond their screens and ask big questions about the universe. I wholeheartedly believe in the SETI Institute’s mission, and I hope alliant can help the SETI Institute be a beacon that rekindles that curiosity and inspires people to seek answers to life’s biggest mysteries.”

Rice University’s SynthX Center, directed by Han Xiao, has received an up to five-year, $18 million award from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Lymphatic Imaging, Genomics and pHenotyping Technologies (LIGHT) program to develop innovative solutions for lymphatic diseases. This project award has the potential to transform the diagnosis and treatment of complex lymphatic anomalies (CLAs) and lymphedema, which are rare conditions that arise from abnormal growth of lymphatic vessels and can affect multiple organs. 

Scientists have created a fingertip‑scale spectrometer‑on‑a‑chip that brings lab‑grade hyperspectral sensing into the near‑infrared range long considered out of reach for silicon. By engineering photon‑trapping textures onto silicon photodiodes and using a neural network to decode their combined signals, the device accurately reconstructs spectra from 640 to 1100 nanometers—well beyond the limits of conventional silicon spectrometers. Despite its tiny 0.4‑mm footprint, the chip delivers ~8‑nm resolution, maintains high accuracy with fewer than 16 detectors, and remains stable even under heavy electronic noise. The team also demonstrated precise hyperspectral imaging of a butterfly dataset, highlighting the technology’s potential for compact biomedical, environmental, and remote‑sensing tools.

A UCLA-led, multi-institution research team has discovered a metallic material with the highest thermal conductivity measured among metals, challenging long-standing assumptions about the limits of heat transport in metallic materials. Thte team reported that metallic theta-phase tantalum nitride conducts heat nearly three times more efficiently than copper or silver, the best conventional heat-conducting metals. The study was published in Science.

SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, is celebrating the inaugural Biophotonics Discovery's Impact of the Year Award as well as its first recipient, Stanford University Associate Professor of materials science and engineering, Guosong Hong. Hong was officially honored at the Biophotonics Focus: Light-Based Technologies for Reproductive, Maternal, and Neonatal Health plenary during SPIE Photonics West on Sunday evening.