HELIX, New Brunswick, NJ (2025)

09/04/2025

Drought, more than just dry weather, is a chain reaction. Let’s explore...

Drought occurs when precipitation deficits persist, reducing soil moisture, streamflow, and reservoir levels.

As evapotranspiration outpaces water input, soils lose fertility, vegetation undergoes water stress, and agricultural yields collapse.

Prolonged aridity accelerates desertification processes, alters biogeochemical cycles, and weakens carbon storage in ecosystems.

Hydrologically, aquifers and groundwater reserves decline, compounding water scarcity for human populations.

Long term, recurrent droughts amplify wildfire risk, destabilize food systems, and drive ecological shifts that are difficult to reverse.

In short, drought is a systemic stressor on earth’s environmental and human systems.

The Art In Science // Ep 71 // Drought
Music: Kiss of Death by Kadir Demir

09/03/2025

University is spearheading a $10 million government-industry initiative, led by Professor Kaushik Sengupta, to use AI to automate design of RF microchips essential for next-gen wireless communication and sensing.

These advanced chips will power everything from 6G networks and satellite links to self-driving cars and smart healthcare devices. The project is funded by the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC).

This work promises faster development, improved performance, and more energy-efficient technologies, while putting the university and New Jersey at the center of semiconductor innovation.

08/22/2025

Plastics have infiltrated every layer of our ecosystems. And now, due to the efforts of New Jersey Institute of Technology researchers, we can detect them in seconds.

The team, led by Hao Chen, has developed a rapid method, Flame Ionization Mass Spectrometry (FI-MS), capable of identifying micro and nanoplastics in just 10 seconds.

These particles, which have spread throughout oceans, soils, food chains, and even human tissues, are increasingly linked to adverse health outcomes, from fertility impacts to metabolic disruption in animal models. They present an emerging health and ecological crisis.

Traditional testing methods required extensive sample preparation and long processing times, slowing progress in understanding exposure risks.

“FI-MS” changes that.

It can detect trace plastic fragments across complex biological and environmental samples. Including mouse placentas, without lengthy prep.

The key takeaway: rapid, scalable detection finally allows researchers to study plastic proliferation and its biological impacts in real time. This opens the door for stronger public health protections, environmental monitoring, and future interventions.

Image credit: NJIT

07/16/2025

Can AI turn surface electrical signals into deep cardiac insight and monitoring? The answer seems to be a resounding YES.

Scientists at Rutgers University and RWJBarnabas Health have harnessed AI to convert basic ECG readings - even from wearables - into echocardiogram-level heart motion data.

This breakthrough uses generative adversarial networks (GANS) to map electrical signals into motion waveforms, detecting subtle dysfunction far earlier than traditional methods.

It’s accurate, cost-effective, and scalable—potentially slashing expensive echo tests by 64–70% while catching 93–99% of heart issues. Imagine proactive heart care for patients on meds, chemo, or with cardiomyopathy, all from a simple ECG.

To go a step further, the researchers envision a future with digital “twins” of patients’ hearts where treatments could be tested virtually. Doctors would test treatment effects on the digital twin before choosing what to do for the real patient.

06/16/2025

From EV batteries to clean energy storage, consumer electronics to complex medical devices, the demand for lithium is soaring. But can production keep up?

A Princeton spin‑off, Princeton Critical Minerals (formerly PureLi), is deploying “lily‑pad” floats—black discs with anti‑fouling coating—to speed up evaporation in lithium and critical‑mineral ponds by enhancing solar-to-thermal efficiency from under 50% to over 96%.

In Chilean field trials, evaporation rates rose by 40%–122%, potentially doubling mineral output and reducing the need for massive pond expansions . This boosts lithium production—vital for EV batteries and clean energy—while shrinking environmental footprint. Emerging from Princeton’s innovation ecosystem and programs like NSF’s I‑Corps, the company moved from lab to real-world deployment in under two years .

This game-changing tech could compact new mining operations, curb land use, and accelerate the clean-energy mineral supply chain.

Visit the link in bio to read more.

06/12/2025

We asked ChatGPT to explain this breakthrough to a 15 year old high school student:

“Imagine scientists built a tiny sandwich using two super rare, weird materials that usually don’t mix—kind of like trying to stack fire and ice. But they figured out how to do it by layering atoms one at a time, really carefully, and keeping it super cold.

Why does it matter?

This ‘sandwich’ lets particles act in super strange ways—like magnetic particles that act like they have only one pole (a north with no south!), or ones that behave like something out of a sci-fi movie. This could help build way better computers, cool tech, and new kinds of sensors.”

For the highly technical & scientific explanation of what researchers did, visit the link in bio.

06/10/2025

What do you know about “Qubits”?

- who is currently planning their new home at the HELIX - is advancing quantum computing by developing hybrid systems that combine classical and quantum approaches, leveraging qubits - quantum bits that can represent multiple states at once - to solve problems beyond conventional capabilities.

Practical applications are already emerging: in drug development, quantum algorithms could simulate molecular interactions far faster than today’s methods; in natural disasters, they could dynamically reconfigure telecom networks in real-time to maintain critical connectivity.

Nokia Bell Labs’ vision is rooted in applying quantum to real-world systems, offering a future of ultra-secure communication, AI acceleration, and resilient digital infrastructure across industries.

05/27/2025

Beneath our feet lies a hidden network where fungi and plants engage in a sophisticated exchange of nutrients.

A groundbreaking study by University and international collaborators has unveiled the intricate dynamics of mycorrhizal fungi - microscopic threads that connect plant roots, facilitating a two-way flow of resources.

These fungal networks not only support plant health but also play a crucial role in carbon storage, sequestering approximately 13 billion tons of CO₂ annually.

This discovery sheds light on the vital underground systems that sustain our ecosystems, potentially paving the way for innovations across environmental conservation, agriculture, and climate change management.

05/06/2025

What’s “global dimming”?

In June 2023, smoke from Canadian wildfires turned NYC skies orange and dropped temperatures by 3°C—a phenomenon called “global dimming.”

While it cooled the city, it also trapped toxic pollutants near the ground, worsening air quality. Rutgers researchers found this smoke contained brown carbon particles that blocked sunlight and hindered air circulation, leading to record-high pollution levels—over three times the EPA limit and eight times WHO guidelines. This event highlights how climate-driven wildfires can disrupt urban microclimates and pose serious health risks. Read the details from Rutgers via the link in bio.

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