Julia Rock-Torcivia

Continuing a Biden-era push accelerated by the Trump administration, the NIH is making research findings available to the public and requiring NIH-funded researchers to deposit the author-accepted version of their peer-reviewed manuscript in PubMed Central (PMC) and make it available at the time of publication. Many publishers enforce a six to 12-month embargo period before…

Axiom Space and Prada unveiled the Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment (LCVG), the inner layer of the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU), this week. The garment was designed for NASA’s Artemis IV, which is scheduled to land on the moon in 2028.  “By bringing together the best in both aerospace engineering as well as luxury…

Researchers at Washington University have genetically engineered hookworms to produce and secrete a human antibody, creating a “living pharmaceutical biofactory,” according to the study published in Nature Communications.  To survive within the human gut, hookworms secrete over 800 molecules to modulate inflammation and maintain homeostasis.  “We thought: what if we make it secrete one more…

The Trump administration is dismantling the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), a $368 million network of over 900 deep-ocean instruments that provide researchers with real-time, long-term data on marine ecosystems, coastal environments and global climate patterns.  This could lead to permanent gaps in long-term oceanographic datasets, disrupting longitudinal studies on climate change and ocean health. The…

A team of researchers recently uncovered living microorganisms on the remains of the 5,300-year-old Iceman, revealing a methodological gap in modern genomics. In a study published in Microbiome, the team showed that while DNA analysis can map the presence of ancient genetic material, traditional petri dish cultivation remains necessary to determine if those microorganisms are…

Stanford scientists have discovered a new kind of cell death in flatworm immune cells. Called ruptosis, the mechanism results in the cell exploding and taking out approximately 70 cells surrounding it.  The flatworms, Schmidtea mediterranea, evolved to sacrifice healthy cells through this process in order to ensure the elimination of biological threats. Unlike vertebrate immune…

NASA today announced the four members of the Artemis III crew and gave updates on the mission, including how a recent explosion during a Blue Origin test is affecting the timeline.  The Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded during a hotfire test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on May 28. The incident destroyed the…

Blue Origin’s uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a hotfire test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station last week. No casualties were reported, but the incident destroyed the rocket and damaged the launch infrastructure.  The explosion could also threaten the timeline of NASA’s Artemis program, as Blue Origin is one of two primary contractors, alongside…

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a 400-page document last week outlining proposed revisions to the administration of federal awards. The document proposes expanding agency authority to monitor awards from pre-application through closeout and increasing the influence of political appointees and the White House over award decisions.  “The OMB’s proposed rule is an…

Under the leadership of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Department of Health and Human Services has endured the departure of top officials at the CDC, FDA and NIH as well as significant staff reductions across the agency. This could erode American science as scientists look to move abroad. More than 75% of scientists who…

Agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and NASA are reportedly imposing new limitations on international scientific collaborations. NIH is allegedly directing grantees to ask permission for any co-authorship with a scholar affiliated with a foreign institution, while NASA has reportedly told some grantees that papers co-authored with researchers in China may violate…

Nature issued new guidelines expanding the types of research and research fields that can use the Registered Report format.  Registered Reports are a format for empirical articles in which the hypotheses, methods and planned analyses undergo peer review before the research is conducted. Previously, Nature only considered these reports for confirmatory research in cognitive neuroscience…

Atomis, a Japanese startup advised by 2025 Nobel laureate Susumu Kitagawa, is bringing Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) to applications such as CO2 capture, refrigerant recycling and next-generation deodorization and coatings. One tool they are using to accomplish this is an AI-powered simulation platform from Matlantis.  MOFs have struggled to move beyond the lab due to…

During the 2018 to 2020 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the U.S. was the largest single-country donor to the response, investing over $516 million in various mitigation measures. Similarly, in the 2014 to 2015 outbreak in West Africa, the U.S. government allocated approximately $2.4 billion to the response.  So far,…

PacBio’s HiFi Solves Sub-fertility Consortium published a preprint of its first major study. The study focused on couples with unexplained subfertility or recurrent pregnancy loss after standard clinical evaluation had ruled out known causes. Subfertility affects approximately one in six couples globally. Genetic evaluation often remains fragmented, requiring multiple sequential tests over months to years…

Federal funding cuts are affecting scientists across the country. In academia, cuts are causing budget reductions, termination of ongoing research and disruption to the talent pipeline.  Universities are facing a 15% cap on facilities and administrative cost reimbursements. Usually, the government reimburses universities for about 60% of these indirect costs. Now, universities like UConn expect…

AI can help scientists accelerate their research, run powerful simulations and gather insights from vast amounts of data. However, these tools may not be up to the caliber needed for scientific papers. Recent studies have found thousands of papers featuring fake citations and other errors, likely from the use of AI. One study found that…

An outbreak of Andes virus (ANDV), a strain of hantavirus, on a cruise ship has made a diagnostic test more urgent than ever. The incubation period for ANDV ranges from four to 42 days, with symptoms becoming life-threatening in 24 to 48 hours, making early detection essential. ANDV is also the only known strain of…

According to measurements from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations averaged approximately 431 parts per million (ppm) last month, a record high.  In 1958, when continuous monitoring began, levels were below 320 ppm. Before the Industrial Revolution, levels were approximately 280 ppm or less.  NOAA data…

A new study published in Nature Climate Change concluded that atmospheric microplastics may significantly contribute to global warming. The study showed that microplastics’ warming effect equates to about 16.2% of that of black carbon, or soot.  In hotspots such as the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, the warming effect of microplastics can exceed that of local…

Elsevier has joined a class-action lawsuit against Meta, alleging that the company’s Llama language model was trained on datasets containing unauthorized copies of academic papers and literary works.  Elsevier claims that Meta used illicit repositories like Sci-Hub and LibGen to source the copyrighted text. The eventual ruling of this case could establish a critical legal…

SpaceX’s Starship megarocket, made up of SpaceX’s Super Heavy Version 3 (V3) booster and Starship, completed its launch rehearsal today in preparation for liftoff as soon as May 19. At nearly 150 meters tall, the Starship V3 is the tallest rocket ever assembled. It is designed to haul up to 150 metric tons of cargo…

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have developed an AI agent, LLMB, designed to accelerate the development-validation cycle of lithium metal batteries (LMBs). They published their work in ACS Central Science, and the agent is available in a GitHub repository. LLMB integrates a large language model for hierarchical text mining with…

A recent outbreak of the Andes (ANDV) strain of the hantavirus aboard a cruise ship has increased public interest in efforts towards a vaccine. However, a publicly available vaccine is likely still several years away. ANDV causes Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), which has a 30% to 50% fatality rate. Some research also indicated that the…

The speed of AI innovation is outpacing the evolution of regulatory frameworks like the FDA and EMA.  “By the time we create the law, the technology has already surpassed us along the way. And it’s getting faster and faster,” said Thomas Carganico, vice president of Marketing Strategy at PQE Group, a global consulting firm specializing…