From Maine’s Acadia National Park to the wilds of Australia—and in thousands of places in-between—geological conditions exist that slow the effects of climate change on the local ecology and inhabitants. How these “climate refugia” remain relatively protected from climate change impacts over time, and how they might help local plant and animal species survive, is the focus of a special issue of the journal Conservation Science and Practice spearheaded by Toni Lyn Morelli, adjunct full professor of environmental conservation at UMass Amherst and U.S. Geological Survey research ecologist.

A team of physicists from the University of Amsterdam’s Institute of Physics has 3D-printed a Christmas tree made entirely of ice. Researchers Menno Demmenie, Stefan Kooij and Daniel Bonn used no freezing technology or refrigeration equipment—just water and a vacuum. In time-lapse videos, you can see how the Christmas tree is printed and how it melts again when the vacuum pump is turned off.

We’ve all been there, protecting our ears. The school play in the gym or community hall, where sound is distorted due to glitches in equipment.  

“And listening to live performances on the internet introduces even more glitches. Yikes,” says UBC Okanagan’s Dr. Miles Thorogood.   

But now, Dr. Thorogood and his team at UBCO’s Sonic Production, Intelligence, Research, and Applications Lab (SPIRAL) are exploring how advanced machine learning can make glitch-free network music performances possible, supporting creative collaboration and public art experiences.  

Many women assume pelvic floor health issues are simply their fate—part of having vaginal deliveries, getting older, gaining weight or entering menopause. Perhaps they have watched their mothers and grandmothers live with symptoms, such as urinary incontinence and pain. Though pelvic floor disorders happen when the muscles and tissues that support the bladder, bowel and uterus weaken or don’t work properly, they are not a normal part of aging.

A partnership between the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Knoxville, Roane State Community College, and the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology offers hands-on training through 15- and 30-hour programs, creating seamless pathways from technical credentials to advanced degrees, addressing workforce gaps in the nuclear industry.

 The SETI Institute awarded its 2025 Cosmic Chronicles Literary Award to Cal Hunter. The Cosmic Chronicles Literary Award is a new contest for emerging authors from the SETI Institute’s Artist in Residence (AIR) program. This summer, we launched an Open Call inviting writers and poets working in literature, speculative fiction/sci-fi, experimental poetry, and philosophy to submit original, unpublished creative work reflecting on the themes of intelligence, consciousness, and communication. We received a remarkable number of submissions from 33 countries across six continents, including Peru, New Zealand, Ghana, India, Japan, throughout Europe, Canada, and the USA.