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Biohybrid crawlers can be controlled using optogenetic techniques

The body movements performed by humans and other animals are known to be supported by several intricate biological and neural mechanisms. While roboticists have been trying to develop systems that emulate these mechanisms for decades, the processes driving these systems’ motions remain very different.

Researchers at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern University and other institutes recently developed new biohybrid robots that combine living cells from mice with 3D printed hydrogel structures with wireless optoelectronics.

These robots, presented in a paper published in Science Robotics, have where the neurons can be controlled using optogenetic techniques, emulating the that support human movements.

US firm’s drone conducts strikes with next-gen loitering munition

A new military test has showcased potential that large drones can work as motherships for smaller loitering munitions. The plan could get a push following a recent air launch of a Switchblade 600 loitering munition (LM) from a General Atomics’ Block 5 MQ-9A unmanned aircraft system (UAS).

It marked the first time a Switchblade 600 has ever been launched from an unmanned aircraft.

The flight testing took place from July 22–24 at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Grounds Test Range.

Ant swarm simulation unlocks possibilities in materials engineering, robot navigation and traffic control

Think twice about eliminating those pesky ants at your next family picnic. Their behavior may hold the key to reinventing how engineering materials, traffic control and multi-agent robots are made and utilized, thanks to research conducted by recent graduate Matthew Loges and Assistant Professor Tomer Weiss from NJIT’s Ying Wu College of Computing.

The two earned a best presentation award for their research paper titled “Simulating Ant Swarm Aggregations Dynamics” at the ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium for Computer Animation (SCA), and a qualifying poster nomination for the undergraduate research competition at the 2025 ACM SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) conference.

Their study began with the observation that ant swarms behave in a manner similar to both fluid and . The duo began work in the summer of 2024. Loges became interested in research after he took an elective class with Weiss, IT 360 Computer Graphics for Visual Effects, at the Department of Informatics. This was his first project and research paper.

Increasing the level of the protein PI31 demonstrates neuroprotective effects in mice

One fundamental feature of neurodegenerative diseases is a breakdown in communication. Even before brain cells die, the delicate machinery that keeps neurons in touch—by clearing away protein waste at the synapses—starts to fail.

When the cleanup falters, the connections between are impaired and the flow of signals responsible for reasoning, language, memory, and even basic bodily functions are progressively disrupted.

Now, a new study identifies a novel strategy for preventing unwanted proteins from clogging synapses and ultimately congealing into protein plaques.

Mapping the universe, faster and with the same accuracy

If you think a galaxy is big, compare it to the size of the universe: it’s just a tiny dot which, together with a huge number of other tiny dots, forms clusters that aggregate into superclusters, which in turn weave into filaments threaded with voids—an immense 3D skeleton of our universe.

If that gives you vertigo and you’re wondering how one can understand or even “see” something so vast, the answer is: it isn’t easy. Scientists combine the physics of the universe with data from astronomical instruments and build , such as EFTofLSS (Effective Field Theory of Large-Scale Structure). Fed with observations, these models describe the “cosmic web” statistically and allow its key parameters to be estimated.

Models like EFTofLSS, however, demand a lot of time and computing resources. Since the astronomical datasets at our disposal are growing exponentially, we need ways to lighten the analysis without losing precision. This is why emulators exist: they “imitate” how the models respond, but operate much faster.

Observations investigate the nature of a newly discovered odd radio circle

Astronomers from Ruhr University Bochum in Germany and elsewhere have conducted radio spectropolarimetric observations of a recently identified odd radio circle designated ORC J0356–4216. Results of the observational campaign, presented Sept. 5 on the arXiv pre-print server, shed more light on the nature of this object.

The so-called odd radio circles (ORCs) are mysterious gigantic rings of radio waves and their origin is still unexplained. They are highly circular and bright along the edges at but they cannot be observed at visible, infrared or X-ray wavelengths. To date, only a few objects of this type have been identified, hence very little is known about their nature.

ORC J0356–4216 was identified in October 2023 with the MeerKAT radio telescope and shortly after its discovery, a group of astronomers led by Ruhr University Bochum’s Sam Taziaux, performed radio spectropolarimetry of this source using the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) and MeerKAT to investigate its properties and nature.

Systematic fraud uncovered in mathematics publications

An international team of authors led by Ilka Agricola, professor of mathematics at the University of Marburg, Germany, has investigated fraudulent practices in the publication of research results in mathematics on behalf of the German Mathematical Society (DMV) and the International Mathematical Union (IMU), documenting systematic fraud over many years.

The results of the study were recently posted on the arXiv preprint server and in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society and have since caused a stir among mathematicians.

To solve the problem, the study also provides recommendations for the publication of research results in mathematics.

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