On Aug. 7 and 8, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team assessed the observatory’s solar panels and a visor-like sunshade called the deployable aperture cover — two components that will be stowed for launch and unfold in space. Engineers confirmed their successful operation during a closely monitored sequence in simulated space-like conditions. On the first day, Roman’s four outer solar panels were deployed one at a time, each unfolding over 30 seconds with 30-second pauses between them. The visor followed in a separate test the next day. These assessments help ensure Roman will perform as expected in space. Roman is slated to launch no later than May 2027, with the team working toward a potential early launch as soon as fall 2026.

SAN ANTONIO — August 26, 2025 — NASA has launched Surya, its new heliophysics artificial intelligence foundation model to empower solar scientists with tools to enhance research and space weather forecasting. Southwest Research Institute’s Dr. Andrés Muñoz-Jaramillo led a team of scientists from several institutions and universities who played a crucial role in tailoring the scientific data and validating a powerful application to predict solar activity such as coronal mass ejections and other space weather events.

Researchers at EPFL and the University of Geneva have developed a new algorithm that cracks an outstanding challenge in network science: dealing with directionality to detect communities. 

The American Thyroid Association has released new guidelines for the management of adult patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC), the most prevalent cancer of the thyroid. The guidelines are published in the peer-reviewed journal Thyroid^®, the official journal of the American Thyroid Association^® (ATA^®). 

When a research team from Eurac Research entered the warehouses of the National Archaeological Museum in La Paz a couple of years ago, they were stunned to find more than 50 mummified individuals and over 500 pre-Columbian skulls, preserved with good intentions but in conditions that put them at risk of contamination by fungi and bacteria. This is a situation that often occurs in countries that cannot devote large sums of money to the conservation of cultural heritage, but also in countries such as Italy, where the heritage is so vast that it is difficult to take care of everything. The problem of protecting organic cultural heritage also arises when it needs to be transported or studied. Environmental conditions can have a significant impact on the most sensitive items, such as mummified human remains, textiles, paper, and wood. A research team coordinated by Eurac Research has been experimenting with conservation techniques and materials for years and has now developed an innovative, versatile, and inexpensive system called the Conservation Soft Box. It was recently presented in an article in the Journal of Cultural Heritage and at the 11th World Congress of Mummy Studies in Cuzco, Peru.