July eNews
Welcome to this month's eNews.
We bring you the top five most read items from June, our Editor's Choice that explains how a simple child's toy inspired researchers to design more agile and predictable soft robots, plus our adorable image of the month that reveals the most recently evolved mammal species.
We would also like to send a warm welcome to our latest contributors:
ESTRO
European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons
Insilico Medicine
International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing
Karger Publishers
The University of Southampton
UW Medicine/University of Washington
If you have any questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact us at news@alphagalileo.org.
We hope you enjoy this issue!
The AlphaGalileo News Team
ABSW awards
We are delighted to be the Media Partner for the ABSW awards 2025. The Awards Ceremony is taking place on the 9th July at the Royal Institution to celebrate the very best in UK and Irish Science & Technology Journalism. We hope you can join us.
Top 5 in June
1. Groundbreaking programme in schools enables early detection and prevention of violence, published on 11/06/2025 by Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
A joint study by the UOC and the Barça Foundation analysed the well-being of almost 1,000 students and provided training to 110 teachers, with the aim of schools detecting and preventing violence
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2. KAIST Succeeds in Real-Time Carbon Dioxide Monitoring Without Batteries or External Power, published on 11/06/2025 by KAIST
This breakthrough addresses a critical need in environmental monitoring: accurately understanding "how much" CO2 is being emitted to combat climate change and global warming.
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3. Unraveling the Epigenetic Network of Long Noncoding RNAs in Liver Cancer, published on 19/6/2025 by Compuscript Ltd.
A new review published in Genes & Diseases explores the intricate epigenetic regulatory network of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), shedding light on the profound impact of DNA methylation, histone modifications, RNA methylation, and microRNAs on lncRNA transcription. This analysis highlights how these regulatory mechanisms drive the progression of liver cancer, offering valuable insights for future diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
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4. Childbearing has a significantly larger negative effect on earnings for women than men, published on 9/6/2025 by the University of Jyväskylä
In his doctoral dissertation, M.Sc. (Econ.) Antti Sieppi from Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics (JSBE), Finland, investigated various questions related to labor markets. According to one of the studies, childbearing has virtually no effect on earnings of men while having a significant and long-lasting negative effect on earnings, employment and hourly earnings of women. Another study in the dissertation shows that occupations that require social skills have increased their share in the labor markets.
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5. Harmful algal blooms: What are the consequences of climate change for our coastal areas? published on 19/6/2025 by Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research
Climate change is expected to increase the risk of harmful algal blooms along the Norwegian coast, especially in spring and autumn. These changes could impact seafood safety and the aquaculture industry, highlighting the need for better monitoring and early warning systems.
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Editor's Choice
The physics of popping: Building better jumping robots - Researchers in Japan unlock the secrets of shell-structure jumping, published on 30/06/2025 by The University of Osaka
Inspired by a simple children's toy, a jumping popper toy, researchers have unlocked a key to designing more agile and predictable soft robots. Soft robots, made from flexible materials, hold immense promise for delicate tasks, but their complex movements have been difficult to predict and control, especially dynamic actions like jumping. Now, a team from Keio University and The University of Osaka has published a study in Advanced Robotics Research detailing the physics behind the jump of thin hemispherical shells, a fundamental building block for jumping soft robots.
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Image credits: Typical jumping behavior of a spherical shell obtained from simulation: it jumps from the inverted configuration back to its original shape. License: CC BY. Credit: 2025, T. Abe, I. Hashiguchi, Y. Nakahara, S. Kobayashi, R. Tarumi, H. Takahashi, G. Ishigami, T. G. Sano, Snap and Jump: How Elastic Shells Pop Out, Advanced Robotics Research.
Image of the month
Genomes reveal the Norwegian lemming as one of the youngest mammal species, published on 26/06/2025 by Stockholm University
Using whole genome sequencing and cutting-edge analyses researchers at Stockholm University have uncovered the surprising evolutionary history of the Norwegian lemming (Lemmus lemmus), revealing it to be one of the most recently evolved mammal species. The results published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), reveal that the Norwegian lemming is a distinct species that split from its closest relative, the Western Siberian lemming, approximately 35,000 years ago — just before the peak of the last Ice Age.
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Image caption: A Norwegian lemming runs across rocks in Sarek National Park, Sweden. Photo credit: Love Dalén