Technology

At the 2025 ISTE Live conference, Samsung Electronics America is showcasing interactive displays, digital signage, and training programs to boost engagement and efficiency in K–12 schools. From June 29 to July 2, visitors to Samsung’s booth (#2436) can explore the new Interactive Display WAF series, Color E-Paper signage, and the updated VXT Content Management Solution. Additionally, coach-led workshops will empower educators to drive innovation in their schools.

In Australian invention history, Edward “Ted” Both and his brother Donald Both were once prominent figures. Their South Australian factory produced groundbreaking technologies like heart monitors, wooden respirators, electric delivery vans, and Olympic scoreboards in the mid-20th century. Despite their significant impact, today, few Australians remember their contributions, except through some museum exhibits and family stories. They were once celebrated as Australia’s answer to Thomas Edison.

A collaborative team of researchers from TU Braunschweig, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), and the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) has revealed remarkable magnetocaloric properties in the desert mineral atacamite—paving the way for a new class of energy-efficient cooling technologies. Published in Physical Review Letters (DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.216701), the study demonstrates that atacamite’s magnetocaloric effect at cryogenic temperatures far exceeds expectations, offering fresh insights into the physics of magnetically frustrated materials and their potential applications.

One in five people worldwide suffers from chronic pain—a condition defined by persistent discomfort lasting more than three months. As populations age, the prevalence of chronic pain is rising, straining healthcare systems and diminishing quality of life for millions. Traditional treatments, including opioid medications and conventional spinal cord stimulators, often fall short due to side effects, limited efficacy, or the inconvenience of bulky hardware. In response, engineers and clinicians are collaborating to develop next-generation implantable devices that deliver precise, adaptive pain relief without the drawbacks of existing therapies.

Gastric cancer (GC), once largely confined to older populations, is increasingly diagnosed in younger adults across developed nations. A comprehensive review led by researchers at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) sheds new light on how dietary habits and the complex community of stomach microbes—collectively known as the gastric microbiome—interact to drive or suppress cancer risk. Their findings, published May 12 in the journal Research, map out a multifaceted strategy for GC prevention through personalized nutrition and microbiome-targeted therapies.

Beltsville, Md., June 24, 2025—In a modest industrial park just outside Washington, D.C., a small team of scientists and engineers is challenging decades of conventional wisdom in the battery industry. Ion Storage Systems, a spin-out of University of Maryland research, has begun producing novel solid-state lithium batteries at its pilot factory in Beltsville. Backed by Energy Department funding and investors such as Toyota Ventures and ARPA-E, the company’s hydrogen-inspired approach promises energy densities up to 50 percent higher than today’s best lithium-ion cells, faster charging, and dramatically improved safety. As the global race for advanced batteries intensifies, Ion’s progress suggests the U.S. could close the gap with China’s battery giants—if the technology scales as hoped.

Researchers have unified two methods for calculating parton distribution functions (PDFs) into a single, powerful framework. Led by Professor Xiangdong Ji at the University of Maryland, this breakthrough combines Large-Momentum Effective Theory (LaMET) with Short-Distance Expansion (SDE). This unified approach accurately predicts how quarks and gluons, known as partons, distribute momentum within hadrons like protons, neutrons, and pions. This method enables first-principles determinations of PDFs using lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD), providing new insights into the strong force that binds visible matter in the universe.

Physicists from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and the University of Bayreuth have developed a revolutionary permanent magnet setup that surpasses the traditional Halbach array in generating powerful, uniform magnetic fields. Their research, featured in Physical Review Applied, merges theoretical optimization with practical testing to produce compact magnet systems. These innovations could significantly reduce costs and complexity in various technologies, including MRI, particle accelerators, and magnetic levitation systems.