Faulty protein cleanup gene tied to severe early-onset neurological disorders

Evidence builds for the role malfunctioning protein removal systems play in neurodegenerative diseases
Left: Nerve fibers from healthy brain tissue are shown in magenta with support cells called glia in green. Right: Neurons deprived of PI31 are swollen and damaged. Glia are activated and enlarged as they try to remove faulty connections between cells. Credit: Steller lab

Though protein clumps associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s were discovered more than a century ago, researchers remain largely unable to prevent them from forming or eliminate them from the brain. And though a variety of therapies have taken aim at tau tangles, beta-amyloid plaques and Lewy bodies, among other notorious aggregates, none have been very effective at stopping disease progression.

Rockefeller’s Hermann Steller and his team in the Strang Laboratory of Apoptosis and Cancer Biology have long been fo...

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Transparent OLED advance could improve AR displays and smart windows

A collaborative research team led by professor Yongtaek Hong develops 'high-performance transparent top electrode technology for OLEDs'
Schematic illustration of the high-resolution metal mesh electrode fabrication process on OLED devices and the resulting transparent OLEDs incorporating transparent metal mesh top electrodes. Credit: Materials Horizons (2026). DOI: 10.1039/d5mh02144h

Seoul National University College of Engineering announced that a research team led by Prof. Yongtaek Hong from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has developed a high-performance transparent organic light-emitting diode (OLED) incorporating highly conductive transparent metal mesh top electrodes fabricated using a selective metal deposition technique. The research was published in the journal Materials Horizons and was selected as the outside front cover image for the issue.

Transparent OLEDs have attracted signifi...

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Earth’s energy imbalance has doubled—here’s why that matters

Heatwaves across Europe and South Asia have dominated the news recently. But these events are really a surface expression of more fundamental changes affecting our planet: Earth itself is accumulating heat faster than ever before.

We lead a large international team of scientists who come together every year to provide an update on the state of the climate system. This year, we find that Earth’s energy imbalance—the difference between the amount of energy entering and leaving the planet—has doubled in recent decades and is now at record levels.

This extra heat is a key indicator of the pace and scale of human-caused climate change. In a climate unaffected by human greenhouse gas emissions, Earth’s energy imbalance would be zero...

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Battery ‘bath’ restores spent lithium-ion cells to 95% power, cuts recycling costs 56%

Electrochemical bath recycles critical minerals in batteries
Credit: Shea Oleksa/Cornell University

The critical minerals that power lithium-ion batteries are in high demand and short supply, especially for the U.S., which must rely on importing resources such as nickel and cobalt to manufacture the technology.

Cornell researchers have now developed a more efficient and cost-effective way to recover almost the full life of these batteries after they are spent. By using an electrochemical solution to regenerate their electrodes, the recycled batteries can regain up to 95% of their original power and last longer when reused, the researchers demonstrated.

The process could also slash current recycling costs by 56% and would be more environmentally friendly than current methods.

The findings were published in Energy & Environmental Science...

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