Scientists are exploring how web search engine technology might also keep the lights on, the water running and the trains moving.

The Open Brain Institute (OBI) launches as a global non-profit advancing neuroscience, AI, and brain research through digital brain simulation. Expanding on EPFL’s Blue Brain Project, OBI provides AI-powered Virtual Labs where researchers can build and simulate digital brains—from molecular pathways to entire brains—across species, ages, and disease states. By integrating open neuroscience data, advanced brain modeling tools, and AI-driven analysis, OBI enables breakthroughs in neurological disease research, brain-computer interfaces (BCI), neurotechnology, and artificial intelligence (AI). The first Virtual Labs open on March 28, 2025, marking a new era in simulation neuroscience, digital brain models, and brain-inspired AI. 

inait and Microsoft collaborate to deploy inait's unique innovative AI, powered by digital brains, across industries. inait is pioneering a new AI paradigm - moving beyond traditional data-based models to digital brains capable of true cognition. The partnership focuses on joint product development, go-to-market strategies, and co-selling, initially targeting the finance and robotics sectors, utilizing Microsoft Azure's global reach.

In advancing sustainable energy solutions, an international collaborative team of scientists has achieved a significant milestone in low-carbon chemical conversion. In their recent publication in Nature, the team, led by Professors Zhengxiao GUO of Department of Chemistry at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), Weixin HUANG of University of Science and Technology of China, Richard CATLOW of University College London and Junwang TANG of Tsinghua University, have discovered a photocatalytic approach to converting methane to ethanol with high selectivity of around 80% and a methane conversion rate of 2.3% in a single run using a packed-bed flow reactor. The system achieves an impressive apparent quantum efficiency (AQE) of 9.4%, which measures how effectively it converts incident photons into electrons that participate in the reaction under specific wavelength conditions.

Researchers at Heriot-Watt University have made a ground-breaking discovery paving the way for a transformative era in photonic technology.

However, to build a precise clock, researchers must fully characterize how the transition responds to external conditions, including temperature. That’s where this new investigation—an “Editor’s Choice” paper published in Physical Review Letters—comes in, as the team studied the energy shifts in the thorium nuclei as the crystal containing the atoms was heated to different temperatures.