New wireless system could power medical implants as they stretch

Variation-tolerant wearable-to-implant WPT system.

Over the past few decades, electronics engineers have developed increasingly sophisticated implantable medical devices. Reliably powering some of these devices, however, can be challenging, particularly when they are based on stretchable materials that move along with the body.

Researchers at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul National University and other institutions in South Korea recently developed a new wireless power system that could provide energy to soft implantable devices, even when they are stretching or moving. The new system, introduced in a paper published in Nature Electronics, was initially used to develop a cardiac pacemaker, a medical device that uses electrical pulses to control heartbeats.

“This wor...

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Largest 2D map of the universe helps scientists discover new gravitational lenses

Gravitational lensing infographic
This infographic shows how the gravitational lensing effect works: when a very massive foreground galaxy bends spacetime, acting as a cosmic magnifying glass that enlarges and distorts the image of a more distant galaxy behind it.
Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/R. Proctor

Using data from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys, with help from artificial intelligence, an international team of scientists has discovered 70 new gravitational lenses—rare cosmic alignments that act as natural magnifying glasses. The new lenses further expand one of the largest collections of confirmed lenses to date and will allow scientists to study dark matter, galaxy evolution and the structure of the universe.

In August 2026, the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys tea...

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Helping others linked to younger-looking adult brains, even after accounting for health and lifestyle

Study links helping others to younger-looking adult brains
Credit: Generated with ChatGPT

Population surveys and research studies suggest that meaningful social connections are strong predictors of health and longevity. In other words, a sense of belonging to a social group and strong social bonds appear to be linked with better health and a longer lifespan.

Most earlier studies, however, primarily focused on the possible health-related benefits of receiving social support or interacting with others regularly. In contrast, the potential benefits of supporting and helping others remain largely unexplored.

Researchers at Georgetown University, Emory University and the University of Wisconsin–Madison recently carried out a study investigating the possibility that time spent supporting others is associated with brain health...

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Undergraduate student may have solved puzzle regarding isolated galaxies that have stopped producing stars

Julian Shapiro poses in front of the Richard Treffers Telescope on the rooftop of UC Berkeley’s Campbell Hall.
Photo courtesy of Shannon Kelli

An undergraduate astrophysics student at UC Berkeley has found three unusual galaxies—cataloged as Shapiro Dwarf Galaxies I, II and III. Each galaxy is far from other galaxies and has stopped making stars, a combination that is extremely rare. The discovery, published in The Astrophysical Journal, provides compelling observational evidence of a long-held astronomical theory.

“Dwarf galaxies exist both in isolation and as satellites around larger galaxies like our own Milky Way,” said Julian Shapiro, the study’s sole author, who conducted his research while still in high school...

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