Organic Solar Cells Show Promise for Space Exploration with Potential Self-Healing Capabilities

Hello and welcome to our January 10th edition. The STEAM Digest is a curated newsletter that brings you the latest news in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.

In today’s edition:

• Science - Breakthrough in Energy Transport: Advancing Sustainable Organic Materials for Optoelectronics, New Research Suggests Existence of Paraparticles Beyond Bosons and Fermions, Microwave-Enhanced Catalyst Device Converts Polysaccharides to Simple Sugars Efficiently.

• Materials - Advancing Technology: Eco-Friendly Organic Metal Halide Hybrids Revolutionize LEDs and X-Ray Imaging, One-Step Flame Retardant Coating for Cotton Textiles Developed.

• Engineering & Technology - Organic Solar Cells Show Promise for Space Exploration with Potential Self-Healing Capabilities, Dialysis Offers Breakthrough in Treating High-Salinity Organic Wastewaters.

• Astronomy & Space - JWST Detects Water and Carbon Dioxide in Hot Super-Neptune WASP-166 b, Japanese Startup ispace Prepares for Second Moon Mission After Learning from Failure, Jupiter’s Clouds Found to Be Composed of Ammonium Hydrosulfide.

• Biotechnology - Glowing 'RNA Lanterns' Illuminate Real-Time RNA Tracking in Living Organisms, mvGPT: A Versatile Gene-Editing Tool for Treating Genetic Diseases, Engineered CRISPR Enzymes Reduce Immune Responses for Safer Gene Therapies, RNA-Based Crop Protection Shows Promise Without Harming Microbial Communities.

• Health & Medicine - Dietary Choices Linked to Colorectal Cancer Risk in Large-Scale Study, Global Study Reveals Progress and Challenges in Reducing Lung Cancer Mortality, Fiber's Role in Anti-Cancer Gene Regulation Uncovered by Stanford Study.

• Neuroscience - Neurotransmitters Drive Emotional Response to Language in Groundbreaking Study, Linking Memory Systems: The Shared Neural Basis of Working and Long-Term Memory.

• Environment - New Study Uncovers Atmospheric Arsenic Pathways, Earth’s Hottest Year on Record: 2024 Breaks Major Climate Threshold.

• Nature - Soil Fungus Shows Promise for Sustainable Pest Control, Illuminating Growth: Discovery of Photoreceptor Roles in Plant Stems Could Boost Crop Success.

• Other Sciences & The Arts - Unveiling the Ancestral Blueprint: Evolution of the Ventral Nerve Cord in Ecdysozoans.

Keep warm,

~The STEAM Digest

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SCIENCE

Breakthrough in Energy Transport: Advancing Sustainable Organic Materials for Optoelectronics: A collaborative research team has uncovered new insights into energy transport in covalent organic frameworks (COFs), paving the way for advancements in optoelectronic technologies. Using advanced spectroscopic techniques such as photoluminescence microscopy and terahertz spectroscopy, researchers demonstrated that COF thin films exhibit remarkably high energy diffusion coefficients and lengths, surpassing the capabilities of similar organic materials. The study revealed that energy transport in COFs is efficient even across structural defects like grain boundaries. The research highlights the interplay of coherent and incoherent energy transport mechanisms and underscores the role of molecular structure in optimizing these processes. This discovery offers promising applications for COFs in sustainable technologies, including photovoltaic systems and organic LEDs (OLEDs). The study emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in advancing the design and functionality of organic materials for future optoelectronics and photocatalysis.

New Research Suggests Existence of Paraparticles Beyond Bosons and Fermions: Physicists have demonstrated the theoretical possibility of paraparticles, a new class of particles distinct from bosons and fermions. Using advanced mathematical techniques, they showed that paraparticles could emerge in condensed matter systems like magnets, challenging long-standing quantum mechanics assumptions. Unlike traditional particles, paraparticles exhibit unique behaviors during exchanges, with their internal states changing in the process. While experimental confirmation and applications are still speculative, this discovery could pave the way for breakthroughs in quantum information, computation, and material science.

Microwave-Enhanced Catalyst Device Converts Polysaccharides to Simple Sugars Efficiently: Researchers have developed a novel device that uses a microwave-assisted flow reaction and a sulfonated carbon catalyst to efficiently convert complex polysaccharides into monosaccharides like glucose. The continuous-flow hydrolysis process, tested with cellobiose, utilizes microwaves to selectively heat the catalyst and the liquid substrate, improving reaction efficiency at relatively low temperatures (100–140℃). This innovative method separates microwave-generated electric and magnetic fields to optimize heating, leading to higher catalytic activity and product yields. The research highlights the potential for microwave-driven catalytic systems in biomass conversion, offering a greener and more sustainable approach to chemical production.

MATERIALS

Advancing Technology: Eco-Friendly Organic Metal Halide Hybrids Revolutionize LEDs and X-Ray Imaging: Florida State University researchers are pioneering the development of organic metal halide hybrids (OMHHs), a class of materials with exceptional versatility and environmental benefits. These hybrid materials combine organic molecules with metal halides, enabling customizable properties for various applications, including solar cells, LEDs, and X-ray imaging technologies. In a series of recent studies, the team demonstrated the potential of OMHHs in creating high-performance white LEDs and cost-effective, environmentally friendly X-ray scintillators. Their work also explored OMHHs for direct X-ray detectors, offering advantages like high sensitivity, low toxicity, and solid stability over traditional materials like silicon and selenium. The team's breakthroughs highlight the potential of OMHHs to transform industries ranging from medical diagnostics to security screening, while significantly reducing costs and environmental impact. Ongoing collaborations aim to further enhance these technologies and commercialize their applications.

One-Step Flame Retardant Coating for Cotton Textiles Developed: Researchers have developed a single-step, water-based coating process to reduce the flammability of cotton textiles. This scalable, non-toxic polyelectrolyte complex coating, created using a volatile base such as ammonia, simplifies the flame-retardant treatment, making it more cost-effective and efficient than traditional multi-step methods. The coating, applied via the common industrial pad-dry process, offers broad applicability for clothing, upholstery, and other textiles. By reducing fire hazards, this innovation has the potential to protect lives and property on a large scale while being environmentally friendly and safe for everyday use. This groundbreaking study paves the way for further collaboration with industries to adapt the technology for other materials like wood, foam, and fabric.

ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

Organic Solar Cells Show Promise for Space Exploration with Potential Self-Healing Capabilities: A University of Michigan study published in Joule highlights the potential of organic solar cells for space applications. Small-molecule organic solar cells exhibited excellent durability, retaining efficiency after three years of simulated proton radiation exposure. In contrast, polymer-based cells lost half their efficiency due to radiation-induced "electron traps," caused by broken molecular bonds. Researchers found that heating the cells to 100°C could repair these bonds, offering a potential self-healing mechanism for space environments. The study suggests organic solar cells could be a lightweight, flexible, and cost-effective alternative to silicon and gallium arsenide for long-term space missions.

Dialysis Offers Breakthrough in Treating High-Salinity Organic Wastewaters:
Researchers have adapted dialysis, a medical filtration technique, for treating high-salinity organic wastewaters. This method efficiently separates salts from organic compounds without the dilution, energy, or fouling issues common in conventional processes like thermal methods and ultrafiltration. The study highlights how diffusion-driven dialysis reduces water and energy consumption, minimizes fouling, and allows for resource recovery, such as valuable salts or chemicals. While not a standalone solution, dialysis significantly lowers salinity, enhancing the efficiency of complementary treatments. This sustainable approach has the potential to transform wastewater management in industries like petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and textiles.

ASTRONOMY & SPACE

JWST Detects Water and Carbon Dioxide in Hot Super-Neptune WASP-166 b:
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have identified water and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of WASP-166 b, a hot super-Neptune located 368 light-years away. The planet, seven times the size of Earth, has an estimated temperature of 1,270 K and orbits its star every 5.44 days. Observations also revealed high atmospheric metallicity and a carbon-to-oxygen ratio lower than its host star. The findings, published on the arXiv server, suggest the planet’s composition may result from processes like planetesimal accretion and photoevaporation.

Japanese Startup ispace Prepares for Second Moon Mission After Learning from Failure: Japanese startup ispace is set to launch its second unmanned lunar mission, Hakuto-R Mission 2, on January 15, aiming to succeed where its first mission failed. In April 2023, ispace's initial spacecraft made a "hard landing," dashing hopes of being the first private company to land on the moon. This mission, featuring the lander Resilience, will deploy a micro rover and experiments, including a project to split water into hydrogen and oxygen for potential fuel applications. Resilience will rideshare with Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander and is expected to land on the moon by late May or June.

Jupiter’s Clouds Found to Be Composed of Ammonium Hydrosulfide: A study reveals that Jupiter’s clouds are primarily composed of ammonium hydrosulfide mixed with smog-like photochemical products, rather than ammonia ice as previously believed. The discovery, initiated by amateur astronomer Dr. Steven Hill and validated by Professor Patrick Irwin using data from the Very Large Telescope, shows the clouds form deeper in the atmosphere where temperatures are too warm for ammonia ice to condense. The research highlights the role of photochemistry in Jupiter's atmosphere and demonstrates how simple, accessible methods can enable amateur astronomers to contribute to planetary science. Similar findings were also observed in Saturn's atmosphere.

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Glowing 'RNA Lanterns' Illuminate Real-Time RNA Tracking in Living Organisms:
Researchers have developed a groundbreaking method to tag RNA with bioluminescent molecules, enabling real-time visualization of RNA activity within living cells and organisms. This study uses luciferase—the enzyme responsible for firefly bioluminescence—to create "RNA lanterns" that reveal RNA's movement and function. This tool has vast implications, from understanding viral RNA propagation during infections to exploring RNA's role in memory formation within the brain. The discovery addresses long-standing challenges in observing RNA dynamics by producing a glow bright enough for detection, offering insights into cellular processes critical for growth, adaptation, and neurological connections.

mvGPT: A Versatile Gene-Editing Tool for Treating Genetic Diseases: Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed minimal versatile genetic perturbation technology (mvGPT), a tool that can simultaneously edit DNA, activate, and repress gene expression. mvGPT combines multiple functions into a single platform, simplifying treatments for genetic diseases. In tests, mvGPT corrected a mutation linked to Wilson's disease while regulating genes associated with type I diabetes and transthyretin amyloidosis, achieving all tasks with high precision. Its compact design also makes it easier to deliver into cells, offering significant potential for treating complex genetic conditions.

Engineered CRISPR Enzymes Reduce Immune Responses for Safer Gene Therapies: Researchers have engineered CRISPR nucleases (Cas9 and Cas12) to evade immune system detection, addressing a key challenge in genome-editing therapies. Using mass spectrometry and computational modeling, the team identified and modified immune-triggering sequences in the enzymes, creating variants with reduced immunogenicity while maintaining gene-editing efficiency. Tested in human cells and mice with human immune components, the redesigned nucleases showed significantly lower immune responses compared to standard versions. These findings mark a step toward safer and more effective CRISPR-based gene therapies. Future work aims to develop immune-evasive delivery systems to complement these innovations.

RNA-Based Crop Protection Shows Promise Without Harming Microbial Communities: Researchers have found that spray-induced gene silencing (SIGS), a new RNA-based technique for combating Fusarium head blight in cereal crops, does not significantly disrupt microbial communities on crop surfaces. This method uses double-stranded RNA to silence pathogen-specific genes, targeting the fungus Fusarium graminearum that threatens global food security. The study revealed minor changes in bacterial diversity and no significant impact on fungal communities, indicating that SIGS can effectively protect crops while maintaining essential microbial ecosystems. These findings highlight the potential of SIGS as a sustainable, environmentally friendly alternative to chemical fungicides and genetically modified crop

HEALTH & MEDICINE

Dietary Choices Linked to Colorectal Cancer Risk in Large-Scale Study: A study by researchers at the University of Oxford examined data from over 542,000 UK women over 16.6 years, identifying significant dietary links to colorectal cancer risk. Alcohol and red/processed meats were associated with increased risk, while calcium and dairy foods like milk and yogurt showed protective effects, reducing the risk of cancer. Other protective factors included whole grains, fruits, leafy greens, and vitamin C. The findings underscore the role of modifiable dietary choices in colorectal cancer prevention and highlight the need for further research into calcium’s protective mechanisms.

Global Study Reveals Progress and Challenges in Reducing Lung Cancer Mortality: A study in eClinicalMedicine shows an 8% decrease in global lung cancer deaths from 1990 to 2019, but challenges persist due to tobacco use, air pollution, and asbestos exposure. Tobacco remains the leading cause of lung cancer, though its global impact has declined. Air pollution accounts for 20% of deaths, with particulate matter (PM 2.5) causing an 11% increase. Asbestos-related deaths in the U.S. are still double the global average despite bans. Researchers call for stronger policies, improved public awareness, and updated screening guidelines to address rising lung cancer rates in younger, non-smoking populations.

Fiber's Role in Anti-Cancer Gene Regulation Uncovered by Stanford Study: A study from Stanford Medicine, has revealed how fiber's digestion by gut microbiota produces short-chain fatty acids, propionate and butyrate, that directly influence gene expression with anti-cancer effects. These compounds promote epigenetic changes in genes regulating cell growth, differentiation, and programmed cell death, which are crucial for cancer prevention. With less than 10% of Americans meeting recommended fiber intake levels, researchers highlight the importance of fiber-rich diets to support a healthy microbiome and increase the production of these protective molecules. The findings could inform further research on diet and its potential role in enhancing cancer treatments, particularly as colon cancer rates rise among younger adults.

NEUROSCIENCE

Neurotransmitters Drive Emotional Response to Language in Groundbreaking Study: In a pioneering study, researchers have demonstrated that neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine are released during the processing of the emotional content of words. This research bridges the biological and symbolic realms, revealing how brain systems that evolved for survival also interpret the emotional weight of language. By measuring neurotransmitter activity in patients undergoing brain surgeries and validating results in animal models, the team found that emotionally charged words (positive, negative, or neutral) triggered distinct neurochemical patterns across various brain regions, including the thalamus, an area not traditionally linked to emotional or linguistic processing. These findings provide new insights into how language influences decision-making and mental health, highlighting the broader role of neurotransmitter systems in interpreting the emotional significance of human communication.

Linking Memory Systems: The Shared Neural Basis of Working and Long-Term Memory: A study by researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has uncovered a connection between working memory (WM) and long-term memory (LTM), traditionally considered separate cognitive systems. By analyzing single-neuron activity in the medial temporal lobes of 41 epilepsy patients, the team found that persistent activity of category-selective neurons in the hippocampus during WM tasks predicted the formation of LTMs. This shared neural mechanism suggests that hippocampal neurons support both memory maintenance and encoding, bridging the gap between WM and LTM processes. These findings provide new insights into memory function and could inspire further research on memory system interactions.

ENVIRONMENT

New Study Uncovers Atmospheric Arsenic Pathways: ETH Zurich researchers have traced the atmospheric transport of arsenic using advanced measurement techniques at the Pic du Midi Observatory in the Pyrenees. Their findings reveal that clouds contain significantly more arsenic than rainwater and highlight the toxin's dilute yet global presence. The study identified arsenic sources, including sea salt, land-based organic carbon, and human activities like coal burning. Notably, biological processes such as bacterial and algal activity play a larger role than previously thought in converting and mobilizing arsenic globally. These insights call for updated models to better understand arsenic's environmental impact.

Earth’s Hottest Year on Record: 2024 Breaks Major Climate Threshold: In 2024, Earth experienced its hottest year on record, with global temperatures surpassing the critical 1.5°C warming threshold set by the Paris Agreement for the first time in recorded history, according to several leading weather agencies. This milestone highlights the escalating impacts of climate change, which include deadly weather events, rising sea levels, and biodiversity loss. The year saw 27 climate disasters in the U.S. alone, each causing over $1 billion in damage, with Hurricane Helene being the most devastating. Experts attribute the unprecedented heat primarily to greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion, compounded by an El Niño event. Although the long-term average warming is currently at 1.3°C, scientists warn that breaching the 1.5°C threshold, even temporarily, signals proximity to irreversible climate impacts. Predictions suggest 2025 may be slightly cooler but still among the hottest years recorded, reflecting the ongoing intensification of climate change’s effects.

NATURE

Soil Fungus Shows Promise for Sustainable Pest Control: Researchers have discovered how the soil fungus Mortierella alpina produces malpinins, bioactive molecules that naturally combat harmful nematodes. These compounds, containing a unique amino acid called dehydrobutyrin, disrupt the worms' digestive processes, effectively controlling them without immediate lethality. This study highlights malpinins as a potential alternative to chemical pesticides, offering an environmentally friendly solution to protect crops and promote sustainable agriculture. Further research is needed to safely and effectively apply Mortierella alpina in agricultural practices.

Illuminating Growth: Discovery of Photoreceptor Roles in Plant Stems Could Boost Crop Success: Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have identified specific regions within plant stems where photoreceptors, particularly cryptochrome-1 (cry1), influence growth, marking a significant breakthrough in plant biology. The study used genetic manipulation, machine learning, and high-throughput computing to pinpoint how photoreceptors direct stem elongation in seedlings. This discovery reveals that cry1 not only limits stem elongation initially but also reserves energy and stem length to help plants reemerge if they are reburied after sprouting. This finding offers new strategies for enhancing crop resilience by genetically optimizing seeds to improve the role of cry1, aiding crops like soybeans in overcoming early growth challenges and increasing overall yield potential.

OTHER SCIENCES & THE ARTS

Unveiling the Ancestral Blueprint: Evolution of the Ventral Nerve Cord in Ecdysozoans: An international team of scientists has revealed how the ventral nerve cord, a key component of the central nervous system, evolved in ecdysozoan animals—encompassing arthropods, nematodes, and priapulids. Their study analyzed exceptionally preserved Cambrian fossils, including Scalidophorans, to trace the origins of this structure. Their findings suggest that the common ancestor of ecdysozoans likely possessed a single ventral nerve cord. Subsequent evolutionary changes, such as paired nerve cords in arthropods and kinorhynchs, likely developed independently. This study connects the evolution of nervous systems with body segmentation and appendage development during the Precambrian-Cambrian transition, offering insights into complex locomotion in early animals.