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Traditional Korean paper becomes breathable patch for future wearable health care

Wearable health-monitoring devices are becoming increasingly important for personalized health care, but conventional patches often rely on substrates that restrict airflow, trap sweat and cause skin discomfort during prolonged use. These limitations can also interfere with the reliable collection and analysis of sweat, highlighting the need for breathable materials that support both comfortable wear and accurate sensing.

Addressing this challenge, researchers led by professor Sooman Lim at Jeonbuk National University, South Korea, have developed a breathable wearable patch using traditional Korean mulberry paper, known as hanji. The platform combines 3D-printed microneedles for potential drug delivery with printed electrodes for wireless uric acid sensing. The study, published in Chemical Engineering Journal, demonstrates the feasibility of incorporating both functions into a single paper-based platform. The first authors of the study are Aqila Che Ab Rahman and Habibulla Imran, who contributed equally.

“Conventional wearable patches often struggle to balance skin comfort with reliable sweat collection. By using breathable mulberry paper, we aimed to develop a platform that supports moisture transport while accommodating both microneedles and printed sensing electrodes,” says Lim of Jeonbuk National University.

First direct observations reveal hydrogen dissolved in tiny gaps between metal atoms

University of Sydney researchers have made a breakthrough by directly observing hydrogen in the tiny spaces between the atoms in metal alloys. The world-first observation of hydrogen dissolving in these ‘metal crystal lattices’ offers fresh insights into why hydrogen can weaken metals and how more hydrogen-resistant materials might be developed.

Hydrogen’s role in a cleaner energy future is well known, but storing and transporting it safely remains a challenge. Hydrogen can enter metal pipelines and storage equipment, sometimes making otherwise strong metals prone to unexpected cracking. This is known as hydrogen embrittlement.

To understand and reduce this risk, scientists need to know how much hydrogen enters a metal, where it goes and how it interacts with the metal from within. But hydrogen atoms are tiny and very mobile, and so observing where they lie within alloys is a holy grail for metallurgy researchers.

AlphaFold 3 predicts complex immune interactions using protein sequences alone

Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), part of City of Hope, have developed a new approach using the artificial intelligence platform AlphaFold 3 to predict whether a T cell receptor will recognize a specific antigen based solely on its genetic sequence. The advancement could help scientists more rapidly decode immune responses to infectious diseases, tumors and other health threats.

Published in Science Advances, the study demonstrates how AlphaFold 3 can accurately model a complex three-part molecular interaction that lies at the center of the body’s adaptive immune response. By revealing how these molecules fit together, the approach may help researchers better predict which immune cells can recognize and respond to specific pathogens or cancer targets.

Molecular imaging reveals how shape-shifting protein complex captures DNA and holds separate sections together

Researchers at Kanazawa University and the National Institute of Genetics in Japan have used high-speed atomic force microscopy to observe how a group of proteins known as Smc5/6 interacts with DNA. The images reveal how this structure opens and closes, captures DNA and brings separate sections together. The researchers also observed Smc5/6 holding twisted sections of DNA in place, producing more tightly packed arrangements. The findings, published in Nature Communications, provide new insights into the molecular processes that contribute to the maintenance and repair of genetic material.

Every living cell must protect and maintain its DNA. This genetic material contains the instructions needed for life, but it is constantly subjected to stresses that can damage its structure. DNA must also be copied accurately when cells divide. To accomplish these tasks, cells rely on proteins that interact with DNA, control its arrangement and support the processes needed to maintain its integrity.

One of these is Smc5/6, a structure made up of several proteins that work together. It belongs to a family of proteins involved in maintaining chromosomes, the structures that carry DNA inside cells. Although scientists have known that Smc5/6 is important for DNA maintenance and repair, precisely how it captures and handles DNA has remained difficult to observe.

New Research Reveals That Honey Beehives Act as a Living Immune System

Scientists have discovered that honey beehives possess a surprisingly sophisticated system for protecting colonies against disease.

A honey bee colony relies on more than its workers to fight disease. The hive itself acts as a “living immune system,” using carefully arranged natural materials to create layers of antimicrobial protection around developing bees and stored food. New research shows that these defenses are closely linked to the surrounding landscape, with local vegetation influencing how effectively a colony can resist harmful microbes.

“Hives are not only homes for bees, but also act as their workplaces, restaurants, and hospitals, and now we can add immune systems to the list,” said lead researcher Dr. Kenya Fernandes.

A Devastating Disease Is Threatening the World’s Chocolate Supply — but Scientists May Have Found the Answer

A change to just two DNA letters reduced disease in cacao by about 42% under laboratory conditions, suggesting a possible way to protect future chocolate harvests.

Black pod disease is estimated to reduce cacao yields by roughly 30% worldwide, threatening the livelihoods of farmers who grow the crop used to make chocolate. Shifting weather patterns and other environmental stresses are making production even more difficult. With millions of farmers depending on cacao, these pressures are raising concerns about the future of the global chocolate supply.

Scientists at Penn State have developed a new variety of cacao that shows significantly improved resistance to black pod disease in laboratory tests. The researchers used gene editing and traditional breeding to strengthen the plant’s natural defenses, offering a potential way to reduce losses without introducing foreign DNA into the final plant. The promising results are now moving toward field testing and possible commercial production.

Researchers Discover Earth May Have Made Its Own Water 4.5 Billion Years Ago

Laboratory experiments suggest that rocky planets could generate their own water as they form, potentially giving distant worlds an essential ingredient for life.

Rocks, hydrogen gas, and intense heat might sound like an unlikely recipe for an ocean. Yet experiments suggest that these ingredients could have produced much of Earth’s water while the planet was still taking shape.

One leading explanation for Earth’s water involves small particles containing ice, known as icy pebbles. These formed in colder regions of the early solar system, where water could remain frozen, and may have carried that water to the growing Earth. Questions remain about how the particles traveled such long distances and whether those deliveries can fully explain Earth’s chemical composition.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Discovers Something Unexpected Hidden in the Chaos of Space

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has uncovered hidden order in space turbulence, a finding that could help scientists understand magnetic storms on Earth.

Smoke rising from an incense stick can begin as a thin, steady stream before curling and spreading unpredictably. The smoke makes turbulence in the air visible. Turbulence also occurs in space, where the moving material is plasma, an ionized gas containing electrically charged particles. Electric and magnetic fields strongly influence how those particles move, making this turbulence different from the movements of ordinary air.

Space plasma is also so dilute that its particles rarely collide, making it effectively collisionless. Physicists are still working to understand how turbulence develops under these conditions and how its energy is distributed. Measurements from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe have now revealed an organized pattern within that irregular activity.

Comets Probably Didn’t Bring Life’s Ingredients to Earth After All, New Study Reveals

New research suggests Mars may have been better suited than Earth to receive life’s chemical ingredients from comets, although the chances remain surprisingly slim.

Comets have long been considered possible sources of the chemical ingredients that helped life emerge on Earth. But new research suggests these icy visitors were extremely unlikely to deliver those molecules in sufficient quantities, challenging a theory that has shaped scientific thinking for nearly a century.

Using advanced computer simulations, researchers led by the University of Cambridge found that comet impacts would almost always destroy fragile organic compounds before they could contribute to the chemistry of early life. Even under favorable conditions, successful delivery would have been extraordinarily rare. The findings, published in Scientific Reports, also suggest that Mars may have offered slightly better conditions for receiving these molecules.