Connecting Science and Society

Physicists typically have two frameworks for considering mechanics – a classical picture, looking at larger-scale objects, or a quantum picture, considering things on a subatomic scale. Where the boundary between these two pictures lies is an open question. Dr Khaled Mnaymeh from National Research Council Canada and Carleton University argues that this boundary does not exist. Through his analysis of Bell’s inequality, configuration space, and counterfactual definiteness, his work highlights the importance of considering these foundational principles in our study of the world around us.

Category 5 hurricanes, financial crashes, and global pandemics are just a few examples of rare events whose high risks necessitate understanding and mitigation. Developments in artificial intelligence (AI) could go a long way towards improving our ability to model and mitigate the impacts of such extreme events, but current training methods are often unable to deal effectively with outliers in data – which is exactly what extreme events are. If outliers are present in training data, they skew the AI’s expectations, but if they’re omitted entirely, models will wrongly assume they never occur. To address this shortcoming, the Photrek team, led by Dr Kenric Nelson, has developed a new training technique to design more robust AI systems that can cope with rare, extreme events.

A significant debate continues between scholars in the astronomical community regarding the early history of our solar system. It’s been hypothesised that the solar system experienced a dramatic cataclysm a short while —in cosmological terms— after the Earth and Moon solidified. Dubbed the Late Heavy Bombardment theory, disturbances in gas giant orbits may have caused a sudden hailstorm of comets and asteroids to be hurled towards the inner planets. Lunar rock samples collected from craters during Apollo missions seemed to support the idea, but new evidence is demanding a rethink.

Professor Yi-Gang Xu and his team examined samples recovered from the Chang’e-6 mission in 2024, and they suggest a more gradual change in the frequency of asteroid impacts, rather than a sudden, violent cataclysm.

In 1977, Professor Aleyamma George, head of statistics at Kerala University, dreamed of establishing a new centre for mathematical sciences in Kerala’s coastal capital Trivandrum. Her mission was to encourage talented young mathematicians to engage in frontline research in the mathematical sciences. But, for many years, it struggled to obtain regular government funding and survived only because of the Herculean efforts and personal funds of both Prof George and its Director since 1985, Professor Arak Mathai.
Later, it supported the operations of eight different dedicated research groups producing award-winning work, and regularly hosts undergraduate-level workshops; it fulfilled the original mission of training and educating new generations of mathematicians, so that they may contribute to cutting-edge, internationally recognised research.

For people with special healthcare needs, something as basic as visiting a dentist can be nearly impossible. A ground-breaking paper by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) exposes the scale of this crisis. By outlining potential paths forward, Dr Ray Stewart and Dr Ben Meisel offer hope for significant improvements in access to essential dental care.

MELAS is a rare and serious genetic condition that affects how the body’s cells produce energy, leading to extreme fatigue, muscle weakness, and a range of other symptoms. With no cure currently available, treatment focuses only on managing complications.
A team of researchers led by Dr Liisa Laakso at the Mater Research Institute-University of Queensland, Australia, is exploring an innovative, non-drug therapy called photobiomodulation, which uses light to stimulate mitochondria to work more efficiently. This pioneering study will provide intial evidence on whether PBM can safely reduce fatigue and improve quality of life for people living with MELAS, paving the way for future clinical trials.

The way in which viruses invade and replicate within their hosts involves a multilayered system of protein-based interactions, and understanding the mechanisms at play is crucial when developing potential treatments. Utilising new techniques such as genetic code expansion, Professor John Paul Pezacki and his team of researchers at the University of Ottawa in Canada have designed a novel, highly specific artificial protein complex which can halt the progression of viral infections in human cells. They have identified and described a novel approach to wider preventative and restorative therapeutics in human disease.

The SHAPE STEM program at Siena Heights University is transforming how students engage with science, tackling urgent environmental challenges in Michigan while preparing the next generation of problem-solvers. Led by Professor Jun Tsuji and Professor Steven Wathen, the program combines research, mentorship, and financial support to help low-income and underrepresented students thrive in STEM, with outcomes that ripple far beyond the classroom.

Nothing can ever be perfectly still, no matter how cold you make it. Take solid nitrogen, for example, which freezes at a bone-chilling -210 °C. You might expect its molecules to be frozen rigidly in place but, even at such extreme temperatures, they have a life of their own. At the microscopic level, quantum effects become important and random fluctuations ensure that molecules of solid nitrogen will jitter unceasingly. In the limit of absolute zero temperature, these tiny movements can have a considerable influence on the properties and behaviour of whole materials. New work published by a collaboration of scientists from Slovenia and the UK has sought to develop a better understanding of the effects of this quantum motion.

Sustainable decision-making requires balancing the costs borne by today’s society with those that will fall on future generations. Climate change is intensifying extreme weather, making floods more severe because a warmer atmosphere can hold and deliver a larger volume of water as precipitation. It may also be the case that severe floods are becoming more frequent as drought becomes more frequent, average conditions rarely occur, and weather oscillates between short duration wet and long duration dry extremes. Worryingly, traditional infrastructure (often designed using outdated, backward-looking models) risks failing under these evolving conditions.
Nick Martin from Vodanube LLC, and his colleagues have applied Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) to flood inundation. Their research optimises current adaptation and future mitigation strategies, even while acknowledging PRA’s limitations. The team demonstrates how this approach can guide more resilient water resource management, and highlights opportunities for further study.