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Magnetic coil setup guides microrobots without seeing them

SMU researchers have created an electromagnetic coil system that can control microrobots without requiring continuous visual tracking of their position—a significant advancement that could enable microrobots to operate inside the body, within industrial pipes and other places that aren’t always visible with a camera.

“In real-world settings, imaging methods can be complex, slow, expensive, or unreliable,” said lead inventor Sangwon Lee, a postdoctoral researcher at the BAST Lab at SMU. “By reducing or eliminating the need for position tracking, the system can be simpler, more robust, and more practical for those hard-to-see environments, while still providing controlled motion.”

The instrument works by creating a uniform magnetic field gradient that applies consistent force to microrobots regardless of their location within the workspace, eliminating the need for constant position updates that have long been an obstacle for microrobot control systems, explained co-inventor MinJun Kim is the Robert C. Womack Chair Professor in the Lyle School of Engineering at SMU and principal investigator of the BAST Lab.

How nuclear batteries could speed the race to fusion power

Fusion reactions release tremendous amounts of energy by fusing two lighter atoms into a heavier one. But harvesting that energy has proven challenging. The most common approach is to heat water and spin a steam turbine, but that approach isn’t terribly efficient, harnessing at best around 60% of the power.

Avalanche Energy thinks it can capture more of that energy by developing new materials known as radiovoltaics. Radiovoltaics are similar to photovoltaics — traditional solar panels — in that they use semiconductors to transform radiation into electricity. They’ve been around for a while, but they’re not very effective. Existing radiovoltaics are easily damaged by the very radiation they harness and don’t produce that much electricity.

Today, Avalanche was awarded a $5.2 million contract from DARPA to develop new radiovoltaics, the company exclusively told TechCrunch.

Single-cell epigenomics uncovers heterochromatin instability and transcription factor dysfunction during mouse brain aging

Amaral et al. present a single-cell atlas of brain aging, revealing coordinated chromatin and gene expression changes across multiple regions from young to old mice. Their analyses show that aging involves loss of progenitor cells, dysregulation of master transcription factors, and destabilization of heterochromatin, driving a gradual erosion of cellular identity.

Species-specific oxygen sensing governs the initiation of vertebrate limb regeneration

Why mammals cannot regenerate limbs like amphibians do presents a long-standing puzzle in biology. To uncover the underlying differences, we compared amputation responses of embryonic mouse (Mus musculus) and Xenopus laevis tadpole limbs. Lowering environmental oxygen or stabilizing the oxygen-sensitive hypoxia-inducible factor 1A (HIF1A) induced rapid wound healing in mouse limbs. This response was accompanied by altered cellular mechanics, metabolism, and a histone landscape that primed regenerative cell states. Conversely, Xenopus tadpole limbs retained these features even under high oxygen levels. Their reduced oxygen-sensing capacity was associated with decreased HIF1A-regulating gene expression. Our results thus identify species-specific oxygen-sensing capacity as a fundamental, targetable mechanism that can unlock latent regenerative programs in mammals.

Striatal Dopamine Transporter and Rest Tremor in Parkinson DiseaseA Clinical Validation

【】 Full article: (Authored by Nader Butto, from Petah Tikva, Israel.)

This work presents a vortex-based geometric interpretation of atomic structure, in which electrons are described as localized vortex excitations embedded in a structured vacuum, offering a physically intuitive framework for understanding shells, subshells, orbitals, quantum numbers, and electron configurations without altering the formal structure of quantum mechanics. QUANTUM_NUMBERS vortex_geometry ElectronConfiguration.

1. Introduction

The atomic structure of matter represents one of the foundational achievements of modern physics and chemistry. Early experimental investigations by Rutherford established the nuclear model of the atom [1], while Bohr introduced the concept of discrete electronic energy levels to explain atomic spectra [2]. Sommerfeld subsequently extended this picture by incorporating angular momentum quantization and relativistic corrections [3]. These developments paved the way for the formulation of quantum mechanics, which replaced classical electron orbits with a wave-based description of electronic states.

The quantum-mechanical framework, formalized through the work of Schrödinger, Pauli, Born, and Dirac, provides a mathematically rigorous and highly successful description of atomic behavior [4]-[7]. Within this formalism, electrons are described by wavefunctions whose squared modulus gives the probability density of finding an electron in a given region of space. Atomic orbitals arise as solutions of the Schrödinger equation and are characterized by a set of quantum numbers that determine their energy, angular momentum, spatial orientation, and spin. This approach accurately predicts atomic spectra, selection rules, and chemical periodicity.

Low-Dose Rivaroxaban to Prevent Left Ventricular Thrombosis After Anterior Myocardial Infarction: The APERITIF Randomized Clinical Trial

Among patients with anterior myocardial infarction, adding low-dose rivaroxaban to dual antiplatelet therapy did not significantly reduce left ventricular thrombus formation at 1 month but increased minor bleeding.

Importance Anterior acute myocardial infarction is associated with increased risk of left ventricular (LV) thrombus. The benefit and risk of adding an oral anticoagulant to dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) in preventing LV thrombus remain uncertain.

Objective To determine whether the addition of low-dose rivaroxaban to DAPT reduces the incidence of LV thrombus at 1 month in patients with anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Design, Setting, and Participants This multicenter, open-label, blinded–end point randomized clinical trial was performed in 29 centers in France. The trial was nested in the ongoing FRENCHIE (French Cohort of Myocardial Infarction Evaluation) registry. Between October 2021 and January 2023, patients with anterior STEMI were enrolled. The last date of participant follow-up was in March 2023. Data analysis was performed from September 2024 to July 2025.

Targeting the DSTYK-ULK1 axis rewires TNFR1 signaling to overcome treatment resistance in lung cancer

DSTYK amplification enables lung cancer cells to evade T cell killing by sustaining ULK1-dependent suppression of TNF-α-induced apoptosis. Targeting ULK1 dismantles this survival pathway, restoring RIPK1-mediated cell death and sensitizing DSTYK-altered tumors to chemo-immunotherapy, revealing a promising therapeutic vulnerability in NSCLC.

The Controversy Over Proton Therapy for Prostate Cancer

Proton beam therapy continues to generate significant interest — and controversy — in prostate cancer. About 45 cancer centers in the US offer proton therapy to treat a variety of cancers, including prostate cancer.

The technology, however, faces ongoing debate about its role in prostate cancer. Despite the buzz, there is no randomized evidence demonstrating that proton therapy is superior to the current standard of care: intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). The core question has become: Is proton therapy for prostate cancer worth it?

Does the evidence line up with the buzz surrounding the use of proton therapy to treat prostate cancer?

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