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Using Claude Science to produce the first complete map of the sky in UV light

Anthropic released a study demonstrating how autonomous AI agents using Claude generated the first complete, seamless map of the entire sky in ultraviolet (UV) light.

While complete all-sky maps have long existed in visible, infrared, radio, and X-ray spectrums, UV astronomy faced a major bottleneck: Earth’s atmosphere absorbs ultraviolet light, requiring space telescopes like NASA’s GALEX and Swift. Because those missions only surveyed targeted regions, roughly one-third of the celestial sky had never been observed in UV, leaving the existing data fragmented with blank spots and calibration artifacts.

How Claude Created the Map.

Rather than simply generating an image, Claude acted as an orchestrator across a complex scientific data pipeline:

1. Data Ingestion & Cleaning: Claude ingested decades of public observation data from space missions—including NASA GALEX, Swift-UVOT, SPEAR/FIMS, and star catalogs from ESA’s Gaia mission.

2. Artifact Correction: The system diagnosed and fixed systematic errors across 38,000 individual telescope observations—such as stray atmospheric glow and bright star contamination—which human teams hadn’t standardized due to sheer volume.

3. Statistical Inpainting: To fill the unobserved third of the sky, Claude used multi-wavelength templates (combining dust maps and stellar catalogs) to predict the missing UV emission. When cross-referenced against ground-truth test regions, its predictions were accurate to within 10%.

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Patient-derived tissue cultures complement neurospheres for preclinical evaluation of AAV-mediated gene delivery in glioblastoma

Glioblastoma (GBM) is characterized by extensive intratumoral heterogeneity and a complex tumor microenvironment that complicate the preclinical evaluation of gene therapy vectors. We investigated how culture model, epidermal growth factor (EGF) supplementation, and adeno-associated virus (AAV) serotype influence vector-mediated gene delivery in patient-derived GBM models. Patient-derived neurospheres (PDNS) and patient-derived tissue slice cultures (PDTC) were transduced with AAV2 or AAV6 vectors encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP). Transduction was evaluated by live confocal imaging, quantitative PCR, flow cytometry, and immunofluorescence under EGF-containing and EGF-free culture conditions. In PDNS, AAV6 produced significantly greater GFP expression than AAV2 and demonstrated a dose-dependent increase in transduction at both 2 and 5 days after vector exposure. EGF supplementation altered transduction patterns and was associated with changes in PDNS growth and marker-defined stem-like cell populations. In contrast, PDTC preserved tissue architecture and stromal, vascular, and immune-associated compartments while revealing substantial interpatient variability in AAV-mediated transduction. AAV-mediated gene delivery in GBM is influenced by culture model, growth factor conditions, and capsid serotype. Patient-derived tissue slice cultures complement neurosphere models by preserving features of the native tumor microenvironment and may improve the preclinical evaluation of gene therapy vectors for GBM.

Heat-storing gel could cut buildings’ energy consumption

Heating and cooling buildings account for a large portion of global energy use. A research team in the Texas A&M University Department of Materials Science and Engineering was featured on the cover of ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces for a study that aims to reduce that energy consumption.

The June 10 issue’s cover art was designed around a class of materials that the research team is calling “salogels.” Salogels are gel-like hybrid materials that pair polymer structures with inorganic salt hydrates to store and release heat.

Salt hydrates already store a large amount of thermal energy and have a high resistance to burning. This is why they work so well at storing heat during the day and releasing it at night. The main problem is that, on their own, they can leak and break down with repeated use. Introducing a polymer network or structure into them can resolve many of these concerns without sacrificing storage capacity.

Gravity and light reveal how liquids turn into thin fibers

From spiders spinning their webs to the manufacturing of textiles, the formation of fibers from liquids plays an important role in both nature and industry. Yet accurately predicting the properties of such fibers remains a challenge. The fiber is often much thinner than the nozzle from which a polymer or solution is extruded. Factors such as temperature, flow conditions and chemical reactions ultimately determine a fiber’s thickness and strength.

In a new experimental study, researcher Jan Siemen Smink (Faculty of Engineering Technology) demonstrates the physical processes involved in the formation of fibers from liquids. To investigate this phenomenon, he developed an experimental setup in which gravity continuously stretches a jet of highly reactive liquid resin. Ultraviolet (UV) light is then used to solidify the liquid at a precisely controlled moment, transforming it into a thin fiber.

Using this approach, Smink and his fellow researchers were able to study in detail how factors such as UV light intensity, gravity, inertia and capillary forces influence both the rate at which the liquid solidifies and the properties of the resulting fiber.

Liquid-crystal-like magnetism explains puzzling properties in a rare-earth compound

In some materials, physical properties don’t emerge from their individual particles, but from the collective behavior of their quantum spins. Now, researchers led by Pengcheng Dai at Rice University in the U.S. have discovered that in one compound containing the rare-earth element ytterbium, these spins can behave much like the molecules in a liquid crystal: favoring a certain direction without lining up to create magnetism on larger scales.

Their research has been published in Physical Review X.

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