The development of personalized medicine to treat diseases depends heavily upon a highly detailed level of understanding of biological processes that are inherently difficult to measure. Now, nanomaterial technology developed at the University of Arizona and licensed to startup Scintillation Nanotechnologies is making it possible for scientists to take a closer look at the processes that drive diseases in order to improve patient outcomes.

Along with flying and invisibility, high on the list of every child’s aspirational superpowers is the ability to see through or around walls or other visual obstacles. That capability is now a big step closer to reality as scientists from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Universidad de Zaragoza in Spain, drawing on the lessons of classical optics, have shown that it is possible to image complex hidden scenes using a projected “virtual camera” to see around barriers.

Planting more vegetation, using reflective materials on hard surfaces and installing green roofs on buildings can help cool potentially deadly urban heat islands -- a phenomenon that exists in nearly all large cities -- a new study from Portland State University shows. Those solutions, however, present a growing challenge to developers and planners as neighborhoods become increasingly dense and single-family homes give way to apartment buildings.