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When we move, it's harder for existing wearable devices to accurately track our heart activity. But researchers found that a starfish's five-arm shape helps solve this problem. Inspired by how a starfish flips itself over -- shrinking one of its arms and using the others in a coordinated motion to right itself -- scientists have created a starfish-shaped wearable device that tracks heart health in real time.

Applied physicists have created a photon router that could plug into quantum networks to create robust optical interfaces for noise-sensitive microwave quantum computers.

Chemists report that radiation-induced chemical reactions may help mitigate the corrosion of metals in a new type of nuclear reactor cooled by molten salts.

An international research team has developed mechanical metamaterials with a high elastic energy density. Highly twisted rods that deform helically provide these metamaterials with a high stiffness and enable them to absorb and release large amounts of elastic energy. The researchers conducted simple compression experiments to confirm the initial theoretical results.

Researchers have developed an innovative method to study ultrafast magnetism in materials. They have shown the generation and application of magnetic field steps, in which a magnetic field is turned on in a matter of picoseconds.

A new kind of press-on nails come in all shapes and colors -- and when you're done with them, you can melt them down and reuse the materials to make your next look.

Scientists are working to create a new light-activated 'smart' bomb to treat aggressive breast cancer. The new light-sensitive chemicals called cyanine-carborane salts are used in photodynamic therapy, or PDT, to destroy metastatic breast cancer tumors in mice with minimal side effects.

Based on their findings, the researchers noted there are practical solutions that could have prevented collapse of the embankment slope investigated in this study. Their recommendations include using stabilizing agents, like cement, to reduce the impact of moisture and the placement of perforated pipes to drain the water quickly.

Smaller than a grain of rice, new pacemaker is particularly suited to the small, fragile hearts of newborn babies with congenital heart defects. Tiny pacemaker is paired with a small, soft, flexible wearable patch that sits on the patient's chest. The wearable patch detects irregular heartbeats and automatically emits pulses of light. The light then flashes on and off at a rate that corresponds to the correct pacing. After the tiny pacemaker is no longer needed, it dissolves inside the body.

When spring arrives and the heating season comes to an end, keeping warm becomes less of an issue. However, scientists remind us that it is not just a seasonal necessity -- heat is also a valuable energy resource that can be stored and used when needed most. Researchers have discovered an innovative solution beneath our feet: using soil as an efficient thermal energy storage system.

A collaboration between chemical engineers and animal scientists has created a system for recovering valuable industrial chemicals from animal waste, representing a major step towards circularity and environmental sustainability.

Researchers report their insights on the emerging field of complex frequencies excitations, a recently introduced scheme to control light, sound and other wave phenomena beyond conventional limits. Based on this approach, they outline opportunities that advance fundamental understanding of wave-matter interactions and usher wave-based technologies into a new era.

Researchers have created a bilayer metasurface made of two stacked layers of titanium dioxide nanostructures, opening new possibilities for structuring light.

A team of chemists found a way to see into battery interfaces -- tight, tricky spots buried deep inside the cell have long frustrated battery designers.

While the threat that microplastics pose to human and ecological health has been richly documented and is well known, nanoplastics, which are smaller than one micrometer (1/50th the thickness of an average human hair), are far more reactive, far more mobile and vastly more capable of crossing biological membranes. Yet, because they are so tiny and so mobile, researchers don't yet have an accurate understanding of just how toxic these particles are.

Self-healing coatings are advanced materials that can repair damage, such as scratches and cracks on their own. Researchers have developed an efficient method for preparing self-healing films consisting of alternating layers of highly cross-linked organosiloxane and linear polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Their film is more durable than conventional self-healing PDMS materials, offering superior hardness and greater thermal stability while self-healing at mild temperatures, paving the way for stronger, more reliable, and easier-maintained self-healing materials.

Researchers present gum tragacanth as a plant-based alternative to gelatin for creating edible films. The team developed films containing different concentrations of gelatin and gum tragacanth and monitored their survivability in water and saline solutions. They found the optimal combination of gum tragacanth and gelatin for maintaining the gelatin's gel-like behavior was a 3-to-1 ratio of the two, respectively. However, gum tragacanth's inclusion leads to a more porous film, making it prone to penetration by water or saline solutions. Though gum tragacanth cannot replace gelatin completely just yet, even a partial replacement is a step forward.

Medical imaging experts are adept at solving common optical illusions, according to new research. The research is the first to show that people can be trained to do better at solving visual illusions, which was previously thought to be near-impossible. The study shows that medical imaging experts are particularly accurate at judging the size of objects in common optical illusions. In other words, they also literally see better in everyday life!

AI mental health apps may offer a cheap and accessible way to fill the gaps in the overstretched U.S. mental health care system, but ethics experts warn that we need to be thoughtful about how we use them, especially with children.

Researchers have developed an innovative solution to a pressing environmental challenge: removing and destroying per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly called 'forever chemicals.' A new study unveils a method that not only eliminates PFAS from water systems but also transforms waste into high-value graphene, offering a cost-effective and sustainable approach to environmental remediation.