We are changing our environment with steadily increasing carbon dioxide emissions, but we might be able to help. The authors here use a computer program called Community Climate System Model 4 to predict the effects of spraying small particles into the atmosphere to reflect away some of the sun's rays. The software predicts that this could reduce the amount of energy the Earth's atmosphere absorbs and may limit but will not completely counteract our carbon dioxide production.

Sound waves can be amazingly powerful, especially when they work together. Here the authors create an “acoustic lens” that focuses sound waves on a single location. This makes the sound waves very powerful, capable of causing damage at a precise point. In the future, acoustic lenses like this could potentially be used to treat cancer by killing small tumors without surgery.

Oil spills are one of the most devastating events for marine life. Finding ways to clean up oil spills without the need for harsh chemicals could help decrease the negative impact of such spills. Here the authors demonstrate that using a combination of several biodegradable substances can effectively adsorb oil in seawater in a laboratory setting. They suggest further exploring the potential of such a combination as a possible alternative to commonly-used non-biodegradable substances in oil spill management.

Solar and radio frequency harvesters serve as a viable alternative energy source to batteries in many cases where the battery cannot be easily replaced. Using specifically designed circuit models, the authors quantify the reliability of different harvested energy sources to identify the most practical and efficient forms of renewable energy.

The global mental health crisis has led to increased substance abuse among youth. Prescription drug abuse causes approximately 115 American deaths daily. Understanding intergenerational transmission of substance abuse is complex due to lengthy human studies and socioeconomic variables. Recent FDA guidelines mandate abuse liability testing for neuro-active drugs but overlook intergenerational transfer. Brown planaria, due to their nervous system development similarities with mammals, offer a novel model.

This study aimed to determine whether artificial sweeteners are harmful to the human microbiome by investigating two different bacteria found to be advantageous to the human gut, Escherichia coli and Bacillus coagulans. Results showed dramatic reduction in bacterial growth for agar plates containing two artificial sweeteners in comparison to two natural sweeteners. This led to the conclusion that both artificial sweeteners inhibit the growth of the two bacteria and warrants further study to determine if zero-sugar sweeteners may be worse for the human gut than natural sugar itself.

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria, such as the legume mutualist rhizobia, convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form that is usable by living organisms. Leguminous plants, like the model species Medicago truncatula, directly benefit from this process by forming a symbiotic relationship with rhizobia. Here, Rathod and Rowe investigate how M. truncatula responds to non-rhizobial bacterial partners.

In this study, the authors conduct a bibliometric analysis to understand the recent growth in and current state of peripheral nerve regeneration research. They also explored potential future studies.

The traditional alert system in California consists of Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs), which lack location specificity, and sign-up-based technology which is limited by the number of sign ups. Those who do not have phones or have a silence option on their devices are most at risk from the current alert system. Here the authors developed cloud-enabled crisis connection for disaster alerts (CRISIS-CONNECT) to mitigate problems associated with the current alert system.

In this study, the authors study features of exoplanet 189733 b. This exoplanet, or planets that orbit stars other than the Sun, is found in the HD star system. Using a DSLR camera, they constructed a high caliber exoplanet transit detection tracker to study the orbital periods, radial velocity, and photometry of 189733 b. They then compared results from their system to data collected by other high precision studies. What they found was that their system produced results supporting previously published studies. These results are exciting results from the solar system demonstrating the importance of validating radial velocity and photometry data using high-precision studies.