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Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 1-Sep-2025 17:11 ET (1-Sep-2025 21:11 GMT/UTC)

KAIST develops eco-friendly, nylon-like plastic using microorganisms

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Using microorganisms, KAIST researchers have successfully developed a new bio-based plastic to replace conventional plastic.

Journal: Nature Chemical Biology
Funder: Ministry of Science and ICT

Good and bad bacteria: What microorganisms can do in our food

BfR Federal Institute for Risk Assessment
Meeting Announcement

What do cheese, sauerkraut and yeast dough have in common? Their production is only possible with the help of bacteria or fungi. The microorganisms initiate fermentation or maturing processes and thus create foods that have been on the human menu for, in some case, centuries. On the other hand, microorganisms contribute to the rotting and spoilage of food and can even make people ill, as outbreaks caused by pathogens in food have repeatedly shown, e.g. with Salmonella. "Food microbiology is a very multifaceted field of research," says Professor Andreas Hensel, President of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). "It investigates the properties of a wide variety of microorganisms and touches on topics from the fields of food technology, food safety, animal health and environmental and consumer protection." In order to discuss current research, the BfR, the German Society for Microbiology and Hygiene (DGHM) and the Association for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM) are inviting researchers to the 19th Food Microbiology Conference in Berlin from 1 to 3 April.

Developing nonviral gene delivery system in Primate

Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Biology (ASHBi), Kyoto University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Genetic engineering in non-human primates has long been limited by the need for virus-based gene delivery methods. Recently, researchers in Japan successfully used a nonviral system to introduce a transgene—that is, a gene that has been artificially inserted into an organism—into cynomolgus monkeys, which is a species of primate closely related to humans.

Journal: Nature Communications

POSTECH unveils world’s first dynamic shape-morphing OLED panel with built-in speaker — all while maintaining ultra-thin flexibility

Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

POSTECH Unveils World’s First Dynamic Shape-Morphing Smartphone sized OLED Panel with Built-In Speaker — All While Maintaining Ultra-Thin Flexibility.

Journal: npj Flexible Electronics

Uncovering the brain’s flexible mechanisms for representing diverse numbers

National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) has revealed, through fMRI-based brain activity analysis, that multiple regions in the human cerebral cortex flexibly represent numerical quantity. This finding comes from research by HAYASHI Masamichi (Researcher (Tenure-Track)) at Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), part of NICT’s Advanced ICT Research Institute, in collaboration with the University of Tokyo’s graduate student KIDO Teruaki (NICT cooperative visiting researcher), and Prof. YOTSUMOTO Yuko.

Although certain brain areas are known to respond to numerical quantity, this study expands that understanding by showing that some regions respond to relative quantity (e.g., “extra-small,” “small,” “large,” and “extra-large”) rather than absolute quantity (i.e., specific quantity). Moreover, these context-dependent, relative representations become more pronounced along the pathway from the parietal to the frontal lobe.

These results highlight the flexible nature of numerical quantity processing in the brain, and they are expected to advance our understanding of how the brain handles other types of “magnitude” concepts, including time and size.

This work was published in the journal “Nature Communications” on January 6, 2025.

Journal: Nature Communications

E-scooter crashes mainly caused by reckless driving

Chalmers University of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Crashes on electric scooters are mostly due to the behaviour of the riders, with one-handed steering and riding in a group being some of the largest risk factors. The researchers are also concerned about riders who deliberately crash or cause dangerous situations when riding, a phenomenon that seems to be specific to electric scooters. This is shown by a study from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, which for the first time examines the causes behind crashes with electric scooters from naturalistic data within an urban environment.

Journal: Accident Analysis & Prevention
Funder: Swedish Transport Administration

From parity to progress: Women in STEMM call for equity, mentorship and inclusive leadership at 2025 symposium

Duke-NUS Medical School
Meeting Announcement

Hosted by Duke-NUS, the International Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics & Medicine (STEMM) Symposium draws over 350 attendees from healthcare, academia and public sectors

Symposium sparks cross-sector dialogue in leadership, mentorship and shaping a more equitable STEMM ecosystem in Singapore

Keynote by Professor Tan Chorh Chuan spotlights inclusive strategies and structural support to retain and grow women in science and medicine