Image reveals Purkinje cells (gray) and their dendrites, as well as an accumulation of protein deposits (red dots). Credit: Ackerman Lab/UC San Diego

Protein ‘proofreading’ errors lead to neurodegenerative disease. UCSD researchers found that the ‘Ankrd16’ gene acts like a failsafe in proofreading and correcting errors to avoid the abnormal production of improper proteins. Usually, the information transfer from gene to protein is carefully controlled – biologically “proofread” and corrected – to avoid the production of improper proteins...

A human-like 3D-printed smart gel walks underwater. Credit: Daehoon Han/Rutgers University-New Brunswick

New technology has biomedical, soft robot and other applications. Engineers have created a 3D-printed smart gel that walks underwater and grabs objects and moves them. The watery creation could lead to soft robots that mimic sea animals like the octopus, which can walk underwater and bump into things without damaging them. It may also lead to artificial heart, stomach and other muscles, along with devices for diagnosing diseases, detecting and delivering drugs and performing underwater inspections.

Soft materials like the smart gel are flexible, often cheaper to manufacture than hard materials and can be miniaturized...

This is an image of stellar nursery NGC 604 (NASA/HST), where star systems are closely packed and asteroid exchange is thought to be possible. Asteroid (514107) 2015 BZ 509 emigrated from its parent star and settled around the Sun in a similar environment. Credit: NASA / Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI)

A new study has discovered the first known permanent immigrant to our Solar System. The asteroid, currently nestling in Jupiter’s orbit, is the first known asteroid to have been captured from another star system. The work is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. The object known as ‘Oumuamua was the last interstellar interloper to hit the headlines in 2017...

Dr. Cao-Thang Dinh, left, and Dr. Md Golam Kibria (both ECE) demonstrate their new catalyst. In a paper published today in Science, their team demonstrated most efficient and stable process for converting climate-warming carbon dioxide into the building blocks for plastics, all powered using renewable electricity. Credit: Laura Pedersen

Engineering team designs most efficient and stable process for converting climate-warming CO2 into a key chemical building block. A new technology from U of T Engineering is taking a substantial step towards enabling manufacturers to create plastics out of two key ingredients: sunshine and pollution...