Fungi are stepping out of the forest and into our built environment, offering more than just the compressed mycelium composites used for packaging and insulation. The focus is shifting towards harnessing fungi as living materials, capable of complex functions like self-repair, environmental sensin ...
Thermal energy storage (TES) is a critical technology for managing energy resources effectively. It involves capturing thermal energy—either heat or cold—for later use, bridging the gap between energy availability and demand. This capability is vital for integrating intermittent renewable energy sou ...
Paleoecology delves into the history of life, examining the interactions between organisms and their environments across vast timescales. It's a field that pieces together ancient worlds, using clues preserved in the geological record to understand not just what lived, but how it lived, and how ecos ...
Regenerative medicine aims to restore, maintain, or improve damaged tissues or entire organs by harnessing the body's natural healing capabilities. Central to achieving this goal is the development and application of advanced biomaterials. These materials go beyond simply providing structural suppor ...
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) models, particularly complex ones like deep neural networks, become increasingly integral to scientific research, the need to understand their decision-making processes is paramount. These sophisticated models excel at identifying intricate patterns in vast datasets, ...
Robotic systems are increasingly venturing where humans cannot or should not go, performing critical tasks in environments fraught with danger. From the radioactive confines of nuclear facilities undergoing decommissioning to the chaotic aftermath of natural disasters and the crushing pressures of t ...
Given the limitations in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions efficiently, intentional large-scale interventions in the Earth's climate system, often referred to as climate intervention or geoengineering, are receiving increasing attention. These strategies aim to counteract some effects of glob ...
Touch is a fundamental human sense, crucial for how we perceive and interact with the world. As our lives become increasingly digital and reliant on remote interactions, the absence of realistic touch sensations creates a significant gap. Advanced haptic feedback systems are bridging this divide, mo ...
Historical linguistics traditionally relies on the comparative method, meticulously comparing sounds and words across languages to uncover historical relationships and reconstruct ancestral tongues. While powerful, this approach faces challenges with vast datasets and quantifying uncertainty. Enter ...
The ongoing absorption of excess carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere by the world's oceans is causing a significant shift in seawater chemistry known as ocean acidification. This process lowers the pH of seawater, making it more acidic, and poses a serious threat to marine ecosystems and the bi ...