A redesigned catalyst appears to sidestep a major bottleneck in CO2-to-methanol conversion by separating where key reaction steps occur.
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Astronomers Capture Two Giant Planets Forming in Real Time Around Distant Star
Astronomers have spotted two giant planets forming around a young star—offering a stunning glimpse of how our Solar System may have begun.
PTC warns of imminent threat from critical Windchill, FlexPLM RCE bug
PTC Inc. is warning of a critical vulnerability in Windchill and FlexPLM, widely used product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, that could allow remote code execution.
The security issue, identified as CVE-2026–4681, could be leveraged through the deserialization of trusted data.
Its severity has prompted emergency action from German authorities, with the federal police (BKA) reportedly sending agents to affected companies to alert them to the cybersecurity risk.
Firefox now has a free built-in VPN with 50GB monthly data limit
Mozilla released Firefox 149 with added privacy protection through a built-in VPN tool offering up to 50GB of monthly traffic.
The feature uses a secure proxy server to route only traffic from the browser, unlike the company’s commercial Mozilla VPN, which covers system-wide traffic.
“Whether you’re using public Wi-Fi while traveling, searching for sensitive health information, or shopping for something personal, this feature gives you a simple way to stay protected,” Mozilla says.
New light trap design supercharges atom-thin semiconductors
Scientists have found a clever way to supercharge ultra-thin semiconductors by reshaping the space beneath them rather than altering the material itself. By placing a single-atom-thick layer of tungsten disulfide over tiny air cavities carved into a crystal, they created miniature “light traps” that dramatically boost brightness and optical effects—up to 20 times stronger emission and 25 times stronger nonlinear signals. These hollow structures, called Mie voids, concentrate light exactly where the material sits, overcoming a major limitation of atomically thin devices.
New lipid nanoparticle design improves precision of mRNA vaccine delivery
Penn Engineers have redesigned a key component of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), the delivery vehicles behind mRNA vaccines, to steer the particles toward lymph nodes while reducing off-target delivery to the liver. The advance could make mRNA vaccines more efficient, potentially achieving strong immune protection at lower doses.
“The more particles that reach the lymph nodes, the fewer particles each dose needs,” says Michael J. Mitchell, Associate Professor in Bioengineering (BE) and senior author of a new study in Journal of the American Chemical Society that describes how the researchers modified the ionizable lipid, a key LNP ingredient that helps mRNA enter cells.
In animal models, the new “aroLNPs,” whose name refers to the addition of a chemical structure called an “aromatic ring” to the ionizable lipid, delivered at least 10-fold less mRNA to the liver compared to the LNP formulation in the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, while maintaining similar levels of lymph-node delivery.