The authors present a framework for the selection of immune aging biomarkers suitable for clinical trials in geroscience, alongside a translational roadmap for biomarker development to support the next generation of clinical studies on immune aging.
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Team uses 3D printing to develop zinc-ion hybrid battery with seven times more energy
Storing solar and wind energy to meet the increasing power needs of the electrical grid calls for devices that can deliver power quickly, recharge quickly and last for decades at low cost. A new study led by UCLA has uncovered a technology that could meet all these criteria: a zinc-ion hybrid battery with a 3D-printed electrode that stores more than seven times the charge of similar hybrids.
Energy storage based on zinc instead of lithium would be cheaper and more sustainable because zinc is 100 times more abundant, easier to mine and easier to recycle.
“The future of energy storage won’t be defined by a single technology,” said co-corresponding author Maher El-Kady, an assistant researcher in UCLA College’s chemistry and biochemistry department. “At some point, we will need to look for something to complement the current options for grid-scale energy storage. What we’ve done in this study essentially gives us zinc-ion hybrid devices that can store nearly one order of magnitude higher capacity.”
Light switch wakes sleeping cancer cells and makes them vulnerable again
Some cancer cells can enter a dormant, sleep-like state that helps them survive treatment. Instead of continuing to grow and divide, these cells become largely inactive, allowing them to avoid the effects of many cancer drugs.
In certain forms of cancer, including some types of lung cancer, stress hormones can trigger this response. Specialized proteins called glucocorticoid receptors detect those hormones inside tumor cells. Once activated, the receptors can push the cells into a dormant state where cell division slows dramatically. As a result, many therapies become far less effective.
NASA testing advanced capabilities for moon, Mars rovers
On a bleak stretch of the Colorado Desert in Southern California, a compact four-wheeled rover recently trundled 16 miles (26 kilometers) with minimal intervention from the team of engineers trailing it. Called ERNEST (Exploration Rover for Navigating Extreme Sloped Terrain), this prototype is being used by NASA to advance both robotic autonomy and the ability to traverse challenging landscapes.
Developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, ERNEST is 4 feet (1.2 meters) long. Not only can it lift each of its mesh wheels to get past obstacles that would stymie Curiosity and Perseverance, NASA’s six-wheeled Mars rovers, but the prototype also has enhanced independent decision-making capabilities. These mobility and autonomy advances could be infused into future missions that will venture into previously inaccessible areas of the red planet or the moon.
In the field, ERNEST served as a testbed for a potential future lunar mission requiring higher speeds and much greater mileage than can be accomplished by current rovers. This technology could be used to inform future designs for exploration efforts on the moon and beyond.
Soundwaves could power a new kind of chip inspired by the human brain
Neuromorphic computing is a computing approach that mimics how the human brain works. Our gray matter is a marvel of nature, capable of handling huge volumes of data with incredible energy efficiency. While modern AI hardware is becoming better at processing complex tasks, it consumes vast amounts of energy.
One of the promises of neuromorphic computing is that it places memory and processing in the same location, using far less energy than traditional AI chips. However, even the most sophisticated neuromorphic systems are fairly simple and don’t come close to matching the number of connections among human neurons.
But a new study published in the journal Science Advances suggests that by using sound waves instead of electricity, hardware can better mimic the parallel processing of neurons with even greater efficiency.
Common mucus-clearing treatments don’t help ICU patients breathe easier and may cause harm, clinical trial finds
For patients struggling to breathe because of acute respiratory failure, clearing mucus from the airways is a routine part of treatment. Mucoactive agents are widely used for this purpose. But after years of clinical use, one question remains: Do mucoactive agents actually help?
To figure this out, researchers designed a large study called the MARCH (Mucoactives in Acute Respiratory Failure: Carbocisteine and Hypertonic Saline) randomized trial, which included nearly 2,000 adults across 71 hospitals in the United Kingdom who were on ventilators and having trouble clearing mucus. The focus of the study was to determine the effectiveness of two widely used mucoactive agents: carbocisteine and hypertonic saline (HTS).
The drugs did not deliver the hoped-for benefits. Those who were on carbocisteine spent about the same amount of time on the ventilator as those who didn’t get any treatment, and the same was true for HTS. Instead, the medications appeared to do more harm than good. Patients treated with these mucoactive agents had side effects like bleeding in the stomach, tightened airways and a drop in blood oxygen levels.
Human red blood cells form without central ‘hub’ seen in mouse models, upending understanding of our physiology
Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered that one of the body’s most fundamental biological processes—how red blood cells are made—works differently in humans than previously thought, according to a new study published in Nature Genetics. The findings overturn decades of assumptions based largely on animal research, said study senior author Peng Ji, MD, Ph.D., the Marie A. Fleming Research Professor of Pathology.
In the study, Ji and his collaborators used advanced spatial mapping tools to directly observe microscopic environments, known as erythroblastic islands (EBIs), inside intact tissues. EBIs have long been understood to act as “nurseries” where red blood cells mature. But until now, scientists lacked a clear picture of what these structures look like in humans.
“For decades, our understanding of these structures has come almost entirely from mouse studies,” said Ji, who is also vice chair for research in the Department of Pathology. “Most experiments relied on isolating cells and studying them in flat, two-dimensional systems, which disrupt their native organization.”
A COF-graphene hybrid opens new horizons for lithium-sulfur batteries
Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries combine the abundance and affordability of sulfur with an energy storage capability far beyond that of current lithium-ion technologies. Practical deployment, however, has been slowed by a longstanding challenge known as polysulfide shuttling, whereby dissolved sulfur intermediates migrate within the battery, leading to active-material loss and premature performance decay.
Now, researchers from Tohoku University and collaborating institutions have tackled this problem by developing a molecularly designed covalent organic framework (COF)-graphene interlayer. This lightweight interface mitigates polysulfide shuttling by combining chemical trapping, rapid charge transport and sulfur-conversion promotion.
The work was published in the journal Small.
Two prostate cancer mutations reveal opposite responses to ferroptosis therapy
A new study by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has identified genetic factors that determine whether prostate cancers are susceptible to a type of cell death known as ferroptosis. These findings, published in Nature Communications, could help guide treatment strategies for patients whose tumors do not respond to current treatment options.
The study was led by Di Zhao, Ph.D., associate professor, and Boyi Gan, Ph.D., professor, both of Experimental Radiation Oncology.
“Prostate cancer is such a genetically diverse cancer that there are many possible treatment options, so getting patients on the right treatment as quickly as possible is crucially important,” Zhao said. “The two genetic findings in this study could help identify some patients who are more likely to respond, as well as some patients who are significantly less likely.”
