Kyoto, Japan -- Shisei Tei claims he is clumsy with technology and doesn't even own a smartphone, yet he has found himself thinking a lot about what we call generative AI.

Tei is cautious rather than optimistic about AI. As a researcher, he uses it to help with analyzing psychiatric data, and outside work it helps him plan personalized hikes. But Tei is concerned that AI will change how we think about death, which he discusses in a chapter he wrote for the book SecondDeath: Experiences of Death Across Technologies.

"Today, I often see how AI reframes grief and remembrance," says Tei. Though he thinks mental health chatbots have the potential to lower barriers to care, maladaptive use of chatbots that reconstruct deceased individuals can distort our perceptions of death and existence.

A research team led by Dr. Jong-Woo Kim from the Nano Materials Research Division and Dr. Da-Seul Shin from the Materials Processing Research Division at the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS) has successfully developed Korea’s first full-cycle magnetic cooling technology, encompassing materials, components, and modules. This breakthrough is expected to address the environmental issues associated with conventional gas-based refrigeration technologies and pave the way for eco-friendly, high-efficiency alternative cooling solutions to enter the market.

A mathematician who has helped transform our understanding of population genetics, one of the most eminent chemical engineers in China, and leading international innovators in biotechnology and retail marketing have been awarded Honorary Degrees from Heriot-Watt University as part of its 2025 winter graduation programme.