The Hidden Microbial Communities that Shape Health in Space
A new perspective article in npj Biofilms and Microbiomes outlines a roadmap for studying biofilms during long‑duration spaceflight, emphasizing their dual role in human and plant health. Researchers from the University of Glasgow, Maynooth University and UCD, working within NASA’s GeneLab Microbes Analysis Working Group, argue that spaceflight alters biofilm architecture, gene regulation, and stress responses. The paper advocates using multi‑omics to decode inter‑kingdom biofilm interactions, especially around plant roots, which are critical for future missions. Open‑science collaboration is highlighted as essential for translating space findings to Earth applications.
Common Apple Pay Scams, and How to Stay Safe
Apple Pay processes trillions of transactions annually, yet scammers exploit its popularity through social‑engineering tricks and NFC‑based malware. The most common frauds include phishing, marketplace overpayment, fake receipts, unsolicited payments, and public‑Wi‑Fi credential harvesting. Researchers observed a near‑doubling of NFC‑abusing...
Why Data-Driven Marketing Fails in Banking
In this episode of Banking Transformed, Jim Marous and a panel of senior banking leaders dissect why data‑driven marketing often falls short in the banking sector. They reveal that siloed data, over‑reliance on vanity metrics, and a lack of real‑time...
Why Your Electric Bill Is so High—And What Could Bring Down Rates
Electric bills have surged nationwide, with PG&E customers seeing a 70% increase over five years and double‑digit growth across many states between 2024 and 2025. While AI‑driven data centers often grab headlines, a Berkeley Lab study shows that when grid...
What If AI Didn’t Replace Us – But Made Us More Human? Untitled by Andrea Bonaceto Studio Has the Answer
Andrea Bonaceto Studio unveiled "Untitled," an AI‑driven living artwork in Hong Kong that transforms personal reflections into evolving cinematic portraits. Powered by OpenAI’s Sora and custom artistic presets, the immersive installation guides participants through a ten‑minute self‑reflection session, converting spoken...
Vahdam Teas Partners with 3PL for UK Multi-Channel Fulfilment
Vahdam Teas has teamed with UK third‑party logistics provider 3PL to run its B2B multi‑channel fulfilment operation across the United Kingdom. The partnership enables the tea brand to meet strict retailer requirements for Amazon, Costco, Holland & Barrett and others...
EdfaPay Wins Approval to Launch SmartPOS Service in Saudi Arabia
EdfaPay has secured technical approval from Saudi Central Bank’s Payments Authorization Center (SAMA) to launch its Smart SoftPOS service in Saudi Arabia. The solution enables merchants to accept payments on any Android smartphone or tablet, removing the need for traditional...
MIT Leader Joins Zapata Quantum in Davos Discussions on Quantum Commercialization
Zapata Quantum CEO Sumit Kapur addressed global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, stressing that quantum computing’s next phase hinges on reliable, hardware‑agnostic applications rather than hardware alone. The publicly traded pure‑play software firm highlighted its portfolio of...
Global AI Deploys Agentic AI Platform for a Leading Insurance Provider to Automate Compliance-Critical Workflows
Global AI has deployed its enterprise‑grade Agentic AI platform for a leading European insurance and asset‑management group, automating a high‑volume, compliance‑critical back‑office workflow that was previously manual and document‑intensive. The solution is fully governed, on‑premise, and tightly integrated with the...
Primark Owner Confirms Lowered Outlook and Festive Revenue Fall
Associated British Foods (ABF) confirmed a softened outlook for Primark, reporting a 2.7% like‑for‑like revenue decline over the 16 weeks to 3 January. European sales fell 5.7%, while the UK market posted a modest 1.7% increase and combined UK‑Ireland sales rose...
Token.io's Gideon Fourie Appointed to Berlin Group openFinance Advisory Board
Token.io’s Managing Director Gideon Fourie has been appointed to the Berlin Group’s openFinance Advisory Board, effective Jan 1 2026. The Berlin Group, a pan‑European consortium of 26 payments players, is developing the openFinance API framework to extend services beyond PSD2. Fourie brings...
SmarterMail Auth Bypass Exploited in the Wild Two Days After Patch Release
A critical authentication‑bypass flaw in SmarterTools' SmarterMail was patched on Jan 15, 2026, but attackers began exploiting it by Jan 17, 2026. The vulnerability allows unauthenticated users to reset the system administrator password via the /api/v1/auth/force-reset-password endpoint and then execute OS commands, yielding a...
Single Electrons Resolve Qubit Excitations in Coupled Trapped-Ion Quantum Computer
Researchers have demonstrated coherent coupling between free electrons and a trapped‑ion quantum computer by integrating a transmission electron microscope with a planar ion trap. Individual electrons, focused to nanometer scales, can induce qubit excitations with bit‑flip probabilities up to 0.1–1...
Scientists Marry DNA Origami and 2D Materials to Make Nanoelectronics
Skoltech and international collaborators have demonstrated a DNA‑origami method to deposit organic dye molecules onto a monolayer of molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) with nanometer‑scale precision. The DNA nanostructures, about 100 nm across, carry dyes in predefined positions, enabling Förster resonance energy transfer...
The Works Posts Improved Interim Performance
The Works reported a modest 0.3% rise in like‑for‑like sales for the 26 weeks to 2 November 2025, driven by a 4% surge in store sales that outpaced the broader UK non‑food market. Total revenue slipped 0.3% to £123.8 m, while e‑commerce...
One to One Health Raises $12M in Funding
One to One Health, a Chattanooga-based provider of employer-sponsored onsite and virtual primary care, announced a $12 million financing round led by Frist Cressey Ventures. The capital will fuel nationwide expansion and further development of its AI-enabled Intelligent Care Manager...
World Economic Forum Explores Quantum Computing’s Potential to Reduce Energy Use
The World Economic Forum highlighted quantum computing as a potential solution to the rising energy demands of data‑centres and AI workloads. By exploiting reversible quantum algorithms, the technology can theoretically bypass Landauer’s limit that forces energy loss in classical bit...
UNDP: Chinese Open‑Source AI Crucial to Prevent APAC Divide
A sobering UNDP report warns that unmanaged AI risks widening inequality between nations — and that China's open-source models are the only way for many nations not to be left behind The UNDP’s “The Next Great Divergence: Why AI May...
Forecasting Technology Group Tomorrow.io Announce AI-Enabled Constellation DeepSky
Tomorrow.io unveiled DeepSky, an AI‑enabled satellite constellation that delivers high‑revisit, radar‑based weather observations to close a long‑standing observation gap. The system feeds a proprietary AI engine trained solely on real sensor data, producing decision‑grade intelligence for clients such as Ford,...
Why Capital Efficiency Is Make-or-Break for Asia’s Insurers
Asia’s insurers are posting strong capital returns—4.8% versus benchmarks—yet face mounting pressures from natural‑catastrophe exposure, volatile markets and a low‑interest‑rate environment. The core challenge is capital efficiency: holding only regulator‑mandated capital while deploying it profitably across the enterprise. Dynamic asset‑liability...
Consumers Still Love Their Physical Cards Even as Digital Wallet Use Expands
Physical payment cards continue to dominate despite the rapid expansion of digital wallets, with over 80% of U.S. consumers still preferring cards at the point of sale. Contactless adoption is high—53% of shoppers favor tap‑to‑pay—but cards capture more than double...
Arizona Aurora
A G4‑level geomagnetic storm on the night of Jan. 19/20 produced a rare aurora borealis visible across the southern United States, including Arizona. The display peaked around 4:30 a.m. MST at Westwood Ranch, where photographer Greg Meyer captured the scene with a...
Financial Stress Drives a 17-Point Jump in Digital Wallet Use
A PYMNTS Intelligence survey of 2,108 U.S. adults shows financial stress is driving a sharp rise in digital‑wallet usage. High‑stress consumers were more than twice as likely to use a wallet for their last retail purchase (28% vs. 11%) and...
Targeted Therapy Shows Promise Against Aggressive Brain Tumors
A national Alliance trial reported that the CDK4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib slowed growth in aggressive grade 2‑3 meningiomas harboring NF2 or CDK‑pathway mutations. In the first genomically‑selected study of its kind, 58% of the first 24 patients achieved six‑month non‑progression, with a...
How Ecommerce Order Tracking Works: Types, Benefits + Tips
The episode explains how ecommerce order tracking works, outlining the three main system types—automated, manual, and hybrid—and why tracking is essential for customer satisfaction, reduced support load, and logistics insight. It walks listeners through each fulfillment stage, from order confirmation...
Wickes Boosted by Strong Performance in TradePro
Wickes posted a 6.3% rise in half‑year revenue, powered by a 6.2% increase in retail sales and an 8% year‑on‑year jump in its TradePro channel. DIY sales delivered mid‑single‑digit growth as customer transactions climbed, while the Design & Installation division...
New Nanoparticle Technology Offers Hope for Hard-to-Treat Diseases
A team led by Prof. Bingyang Shi at UTS has unveiled nanoparticle‑mediated targeting chimeras (NPTACs), engineered particles that bind and degrade disease‑causing proteins both inside and outside cells. The technology can cross the blood‑brain barrier, enabling precision treatment of hard‑to‑reach...
Tuning Color Through Molecular Stacking: A New Strategy for Smarter Pressure Sensors
Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University discovered that initially stacked benzene layers, specifically a [2.2]paracyclophane moiety, dramatically amplify fluorescence color shifts when subjected to pressure. The study compared two organoboron crystals: pCP‑H, which forms π‑stacked dimer layers and exhibits a pronounced...
Water Deluge System Tested for Lunar Landing Pad
Water deluge system test for a lunar crewed landing mission pad at Wenchang spaceport. Via Douyin/dyums21210av. https://t.co/PXJeBVKW4u
Are Forex Cards a Smart Choice for Indian Students Studying Abroad?
Forex cards are prepaid travel cards that let Indian students load foreign currency at a fixed rate, use them for tuition, purchases, and cash withdrawals abroad. They offer advantages over traditional debit or credit cards, such as zero or low...
EaseUS Disk Copy 7.0.0 Enables Backup, Restore, and Migration without Multiple Drives Connected
EaseUS released Disk Copy 7.0.0, adding full disk‑imaging capabilities to its previously cloning‑only tool. Users can now create compressed image files, store them independently, and restore them to physical or virtual disks without needing both drives connected. The update also...
B&M Issues Profit Warning
B&M reported a 2.9% rise in third‑quarter group revenue but issued a profit warning as near‑term earnings are pressured by strategic investments. UK revenue grew 1.9% while like‑for‑like sales slipped 0.6%, whereas the French operation posted 8.5% total revenue growth...
New ClickFix Campaign Exploits Fake Verification Pages to Hijack Facebook Sessions
A new ClickFix campaign is hijacking Facebook accounts by luring users into fake verification and appeal pages that instruct them to extract live session tokens (c_user and xs) from their browsers. The operation spans 115 phishing pages hosted on abuse‑friendly...
Increasingly Competitive Job Market Worries, Frustrates Biopharma Professionals
BioSpace’s 2026 U.S. Life Sciences Employment Outlook reveals a sharp rise in job‑search activity among biopharma professionals. In the latest survey, 52 % of employed or contract respondents are actively looking, up from 46 % in 2024, while 93 % of the unemployed...
The New Gold Rush in Brain Science
Venture capitalists are aggressively targeting the brain, with billions flowing into CNS drug development and neurotechnology after breakthroughs in biomarkers, imaging and patient stratification. Big‑pharma deals—Johnson & Johnson’s $14.6 billion acquisition of Intra‑Cellular Therapies and Sanofi’s $470 million purchase of Vigil Neuroscience—signal...
Enhanced Visible‐Light Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction of Perovskite Nanocrystals via Interfacial Acid Reaction
Researchers introduced an oil–water interfacial reaction to supply H⁺ and Br⁻ to CsPbBr₃ perovskite nanocrystals, achieving simultaneous defect passivation and proton source generation. This single‑step treatment raised photoluminescence quantum yields and boosted visible‑light photocatalytic CO₂ reduction activity. In‑situ DRIFTS identified...
Atomic Layer Deposition of Aluminum Phosphorus Oxynitride and Its Application as a Passivation Layer on Aluminum Metal Anode
Researchers have introduced aluminum phosphorus oxynitride (AlPON) thin films using plasma‑enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) as a novel passivation layer for aluminum metal anodes. The coating is deposited between 100 °C and 180 °C from trimethylaluminum, water, tris(dimethylamino)phosphine and oxygen plasma, yielding...
Enhancement of Antibacterial and Osteogenic Properties in Novel Ti‐Mo‐Hf‐Cu Medium Entropy Alloys (Small 5/2026)
Researchers have designed a Ti‑Mo‑Hf‑Cu medium entropy alloy that spontaneously forms nanoscale acicular (Ti,Hf)2Cu precipitates. The precipitates generate localized micro‑area potential differences, delivering strong antibacterial activity while simultaneously promoting osteogenic cell growth. Additionally, the alloy’s low elastic modulus closely matches...
Enhancement of Antibacterial and Osteogenic Properties in Novel Ti‐Mo‐Hf‐Cu Medium Entropy Alloys
Researchers have engineered a new class of Ti‑Mo‑Hf‑Cu medium entropy alloys (MEAs) that combine antibacterial activity with enhanced bone‑forming capability. By adding copper and hafnium to Ti‑Mo, nanoscale (Ti,Hf)₂Cu precipitates form without heat treatment, delivering 97% bacterial kill rates against...
Advancing Characterization for Magnetic Materials via Magneto‐Optical Kerr Effect Microscopy
The review outlines recent progress in magneto‑optical Kerr effect (MOKE) microscopy, emphasizing its surface‑sensitive, nondestructive, and real‑time imaging capabilities. It details the three operational modes—polar, longitudinal, and transverse—each tailored to specific magnetization orientations. The article surveys MOKE applications across magnetic...
Pure‐Red Light‐Emitting Diodes Based on Lead Halide Perovskite Nanoplatelets Obtained by Ostwald Ripening and Two‐Step Anion Exchange
Researchers leveraged Ostwald ripening to grow monodisperse five‑monolayer CsPbBr3 nanoplatelets, then applied a two‑step bromide‑to‑iodide anion exchange to convert them into pure‑red CsPbI3 nanoplatelets. The resulting nanocrystals exhibit near‑unity photoluminescence quantum yield. Light‑emitting diodes built from these plates deliver a...
Bacterial Membrane Vesicles: Next‐Generation Nanoscale Antibacterial Biomaterials
Researchers are positioning bacterial membrane vesicles (MVs) as next‑generation antibacterial biomaterials. Their natural lipid bilayer enables encapsulation and protected delivery of antimicrobial agents, while intrinsic bioactivity can stimulate immune responses. Functionalization strategies improve biosafety, targeting specificity, and cargo loading, turning...
Functionalizing Nucleic Acids: Synthesis and Purification Strategies for Bioconjugates as Biomaterials
The review outlines how DNA and RNA can be chemically linked to polymers, peptides, proteins, lipids, and saccharides to create hybrid biomaterials. It details synthesis routes and matches each to appropriate purification techniques such as chromatography, membrane filtration, and electrophoresis....
Unveiling the In Situ Dissolution and Reconstruction of CoMo for Electrocatalytic Nitrate Reduction to Ammonia
Researchers have engineered a Mo‑doped β‑Co(OH)₂/Co₈₅Mo₁₅ catalyst that undergoes in‑situ surface reconstruction, delivering abundant active hydrogen while strongly adsorbing nitrate ions. The catalyst achieves a Faradaic efficiency of ~96 % at –0.1 V vs RHE, 95 % ammonia selectivity, and maintains performance for...
Species‐Specific Antibacterial Materials: From Design to Application
Traditional broad‑spectrum antibiotics fuel resistance and disrupt the microbiome, prompting a shift toward species‑specific antibacterial materials that target only pathogenic microbes. These agents exploit unique bacterial signatures to preserve beneficial flora while eliminating disease‑causing strains. The review outlines selective mechanisms,...
Entropy‐Engineered HEO/Fe, N‐CNT Bioanode via Flash Joule Heating: Accelerated Electron Harvesting and Directed Geobacter Enrichment for High‐Power Microbial Fuel Cells
Researchers used ultrafast flash Joule heating to fabricate an entropy‑engineered bioanode that anchors high‑entropy oxide (HEO) nanoparticles onto Fe‑ and N‑doped carbon nanotubes. The hybrid HEO/Fe,N‑CNT electrode delivers a record 3.76 W m⁻² power density in microbial fuel cells, a 9.6% gain...
Amorphous Iron Vanadium on Anti‐Perovskite Nickel Zinc Nitride as an Electrocatalyst for Water‐Splitting
Researchers have engineered a bifunctional electrocatalyst by depositing an amorphous iron‑vanadium (FeV) layer onto anti‑perovskite nickel‑zinc nitride (NiZnN), designated FeV_NiZnN. The catalyst delivers low overpotentials of 201 mV for the oxygen evolution reaction at 10 mA cm⁻² and 115 mV for the hydrogen evolution...
Selenium‐Diffusional Precursor Engineering for High‐Efficiency CdSeTe Solar Cells with 80% Fill Factor
Researchers introduced O₂/CdCl₂‑assisted engineering of Se‑diffusional CdSe precursors, achieving deeper, uniform selenium interdiffusion and improved crystallization. The method yields dense, graded CdSeTe absorbers with fewer buried voids and reduced surface‑potential fluctuations, lowering interfacial recombination. Resulting solar cells reach 20.6% power...
Enhancing Lithium‐Oxygen Battery Performance by Optimizing the Interaction of Cathode Materials and Soluble FePc Redox Mediator
Researchers demonstrated that tuning the interaction between iron(II) phthalocyanine (FePc) redox mediator and cathode surfaces markedly improves lithium‑oxygen (Li‑O2) battery performance. By replacing sp2‑carbon cathodes with non‑sp2 materials such as MoN, TiN, and Ti3C2Tx, FePc adsorption weakens, boosting its solubility...
Advanced Analysis Techniques for Elucidating Failure Mechanisms in Silicon Anodes for Li‐Ion Batteries
The review dissects why silicon anodes fail in lithium‑ion batteries, pinpointing volume expansion, unstable SEI formation, and phase transitions as primary culprits. It showcases how cutting‑edge techniques—such as in‑situ transmission electron microscopy, X‑ray tomography, and operando spectroscopy—provide real‑time structural and...
