Researchers have long sought to explain biology in terms of the unbreakable laws of thermodynamics. Through his research, Dr Richard L. Summers at the University of Mississippi, USA, outlines the mathematical foundations of a ‘theoretical biology’. His theory aims to express living organisms in terms of the information flowing through…

COVID-19 infection affects people very differently, even when factors such as age, sex and ethnicity are accounted for. Why are some people more likely to become very ill with COVID-19? Professor Richard Bucala at Yale University, USA, reveals that a particular gene’s expression may explain the tremendous variation in COVID-19…

A powertrain is the system that propels any energy-demanding machine. All industries developing engines, including the automotive, marine and aviation industries, and energy producers, use powertrains. The range of potential powertrain concepts has led to a huge increase in manufactures’ development costs. Artificial intelligence (AI) can help to make the…

For highly skilled immigrants, commensurate employment makes them feel included. Drs Luciara Nardon and Amrita Hari, from Carleton University in Ottawa, have studied how such immigrants integrate in Canada. The outcome of their study is a book titled Making Sense of Immigrant Work Integration. They investigate the ‘wicked problem’ of…

Social mobility refers to the link between a person’s family origins and later social and economic life outcomes. Greater social mobility indicates a fairer society with more equality of opportunity. Dr Emma Gorman and Professor Franz Buscha at the University of Westminster, and Professor Patrick Sturgis at the London School…

Manganese (Mn) is the fifth most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust, widely used in metal alloys and batteries, but difficult to produce. Current Mn production methods have high energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Professor Jafar Safarian from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) developed the HAlMan process…

Extended reality (XR) technology and generative artificial intelligence (AI) have reached a critical moment. Dr James Hutson of Lindenwood University in the USA is pioneering their role in education. The gamification of education — or adding gaming elements to learning — has multiple benefits for teachers and students. Excitingly, Hutson…

Launched in 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has already sent home breathtaking images that have inspired the public and intrigued astronomers. Research Features caught up with Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist John C Mather, Senior Project Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope, Senior Astrophysicist at the Observational Cosmology Laboratory…

Animation, simulators, video games, architectural design, and TV special effects employ rendering to generate images and animations. Rendering algorithms fall into two groups: rasterization and ray tracing. Producing a high-quality visual experience is challenging for rasterization but realisable for ray tracing. Ray tracing using mobile devices is difficult due to…