The UMA will coordinate an international consortium that will hasten the use of cement as a carbon sink

With a funding allocation of more than 4 million euros, this is the first time that the University of Malaga will lead a project selected by the European Innovation Council (EIC), under the Pathfinder Challenges programme

University of Malaga

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Led by professor of inorganic chemistry at the University of Malaga, Miguel Ángel García Aranda - who also received the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant from the European Research Council last year – the project will benefit from a financial boost of more than 4 million euros for its development over 4 years.

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Credit: University of Malaga

The University of Malaga has been selected for the first time ever to coordinate an innovation project under the Horizon Europe - European Innovation Council (EIC), `Pathfinder Challenges’ programme, which promotes initiatives that "open new scientific frontiers and revolutionise technology." In total, 31 of the 415 proposals submitted from 48 countries, will be funded. Eight have been granted in Spain.

'X-SeeO2' an international consortium, in addition comprising, the universities of Bath and Manchester (United Kingdom), and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF, France) intends to hasten the use of cements as carbon dioxide 'sinks', in order to reduce emissions of this pollutant, whilst maintaining the properties of concrete and without affecting the durability of the resulting infrastructures.

Led by professor of inorganic chemistry at the UMA, Miguel Ángel García Aranda - who also received the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant from the European Research Council last year – the project will benefit from a financial boost of more than 4 million euros for its development over 4 years.

In the "Cement as Carbon Sinks" challenge of the latest Horizon Europe call, only six projects out of a total of 80 submitted, are eventually to be funded. "The success rate for this call was 7.5 percent, which reflects the scientific and technical rigour demanded," notes the University of Malaga scientist.

Global leaders

This is a new challenge that, as García Aranda states, firmly sets the UMA Cement Sciences Group “as global leaders in research into concrete curing mechanisms with both water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2)”.

 

'Real-time X-ray diffraction and microstructure imaging, accelerating the transformation of cementitious materials into CO₂ sinks, will provide unique tools for cement decarbonization and smart concrete carbonation.

Enabling technology

'X-SeeO2' has been selected as an 'enabling technology', meaning that the advanced analytical techniques that have already made the UMA a benchmark in X-ray powder diffraction (PD), synchrotron and laboratory techniques, and micro-computed tomography (mCT) will be used to accelerate and improve the products and technologies of the other innovation projects that have been selected within this same challenge in this latest EIC Horizon Europe call.

“The knowledge generated by X-SeeO2 will be fundamental to the other proposals of our ‘challenge’ and to the advancement of the science and engineering of construction materials,” explains García Aranda, who also adds that the top priority is research aimed at reducing CO₂ emissions and promoting the circular economy by upclying waste.

 

To another of its researchers, UMA professor María de los Ángeles Gómez de la Torre, “this project will enable an unprecedented collaboration model to be established, where the consortium's knowledge will be shared with the other projects selected by the EIC under the same challenge, with all the synergies that this implies”.

 

Revolutionary technology

To date, within the current Horizon Europe framework, the University of Malaga is involved in two other projects from this same program: 'Zeus' and 'BioRobot-MiniHeart'. Another proposal was also granted in the previous H2020 program: 'SONICOM'. In these three instances, the UMA acts as a partner in each international consortium.

With 'X-SeeO2', the University of Malaga will, for the first time, take on the role of coordinator of the European consortium, leading the scientific team, which will include "the world's leading experts" in cement science and synchrotron techniques.

The ‘Horizon EIC Pathfinder Challenges’ programme awards grants to those projects exploring new technological areas, particularly "deeptech" – those based on a scientific discovery or significant engineering innovation – which have the potential to become radically innovative technologies in the future and generate new market opportunities. The overarching goal is to nurture the innovation market with revolutionary technologies and bring them to the proof-of-concept stage.

Miguel Ángel García Aranda has been a professor of inorganic chemistry at the University of Malaga since 2011. He graduated in chemistry in 1988 from the UMA and obtained his doctorate in the same specialty in 1992, also awarded by the Malagan institution.

His line of R&D is based on the study of cement curing (hydration/carbonation) to improve its performance. His research focuses on developing cements with a carbon footprint of at least 50 percent lower, replacing part of the Portland cement with other, much less polluting materials.

As Scientific Director of the ALBA synchrotron, on secondment from the UMA (2013/01-2019/02), he coordinated the user assistance program, as well as the future scientific use of the facility, in addition to supervising a group of more than 75 scientists and technologists of 15 nationalities.

He was also Chairman of the Council of the ESRF (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility), the European synchrotron in Grenoble . This synchrotron is funded by a collaboration of 21 nations (13 Member States and 8 Associated States) and has a staff of over 800 people.

María de los Ángeles Gómez de la Torre has been a professor of inorganic chemistry at the University of Málaga since July 2022 and has an outstanding career in cement research.

A chemistry graduate from the UMA in 1999 and PhD in 2003, she has focused her scientific work on the study and development of cementitious materials. Initially, she worked on the quality control of these materials using X-ray powder diffraction. Subsequently, she focused her research on the study and development of techniques to understand and control cement hydration, with the aim of reducing their carbon footprint and contributing to climate change mitigation.

He has directed four national research projects and another four funded by the Andalusian Regional Government, in addition to leading contracts with companies in the sector, including the American company CTS - Cement Manufacturing Corporation. Since 2024, she has been a member of the scientific evaluation panel for the ALBA synchrotron in Barcelona.

Led by professor of inorganic chemistry at the UMA, Miguel Ángel García Aranda - who also received the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant from the European Research Council last year – the project will benefit from a financial boost of more than 4 million euros for its development over 4 years.

Credit

University of Malaga

Este proyecto ha sido seleccionado a través del Programa de Investigación e Innovación de la Unión Europea, Horizonte Europa, con Grant Agreement 101161465, que está en preparación

 

“Artificial intelligence is the future of peer review”

Boston University School of Medicine

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(Boston)—It is expected that in 2025, approximately three million articles will be indexed in Scopus and the Web of Science. If each undergoes peer review by two experts, and an additional 2 million articles undergo peer review, but are rejected—approximately 10 million peer reviews will be conducted this year—a staggering number that is likely to grow as the biomedical enterprise, and the number of peer-review journals increase.

 

According to an editorial in the journal Critical Care Medicine, in the coming years, artificial intelligence (AI) should be part of the future of peer review.

 

“Peer review at biomedical journals has been essentially unchanged for many decades. Although compensating peer reviewers would likely help to receive timely reviews, it is probably not feasible on a wide scale. In addition, peer review has well-known limitations,” said Howard Bauchner, MD, professor of pediatrics at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. “We believe peer review should include some form of initial review by AI, assisting editors in decisions on which articles to send out for external peer review,” adds Bauchner, who also is former editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

 

Bauchner outlines the limitations of peer review and defines the various types: double-blind, single-blind and open review. He describes one of the largest trials ever conducted comparing double-blind to single-blind review. “When reviewers were aware of the authors’ identity (single-blind), they gave a more favorable rating from countries with higher English proficiency and higher income. These findings are consistent with what has been known for years: peer reviewers can be biased. While Bauchner agrees that AI could also be biased, he questions whether it is more biased - than a human peer reviewer. He believes models could be taught to disregard who the authors are and where they come from.

 

Bauchner also stresses that several independent groups which already offer AI review of articles, largely as a service for authors prior to submission of articles, have already experienced good results. He cites one particular study, where the authors found feedback from GPT-4 review to be more helpful than feedback from some peer reviewers.

 

Additionally, he believes that AI will be good at evaluating whether an article follows the appropriate reporting guideline, which is often noted by authors as requested by journals, but with no evidence that peer reviewers actually check adherence to these guidelines. Furthermore, Bauchner feels AI may be able to detect fraudulent research more effectively than peer reviewers.

 

“As it continues to improve,” he said. “It is time to embrace a different approach, an approach that is likely to be more efficient and more effective—review by AI.”

 

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Journal

Critical Care Medicine

DOI

10.1097/CCM.0000000000006642 

Method of Research

Commentary/editorial

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

The Challenges and Future of Peer Review

Article Publication Date

26-Mar-2025

 

New approach makes one type of clean fuel production 66% more efficient

Energizing waste carbon enhances liquid methanol generation

Ohio State University

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Researchers have uncovered a more efficient way to turn carbon dioxide into methanol, a type of alcohol that can serve as a cleaner alternative fuel. 

In the lab, synthesizing methanol can be extremely difficult, due to the extremely complex reaction pathway needed to select for it. Previous attempts by the same team to manufacture this valuable liquid fuel from carbon dioxide have used a combination of cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) molecules and electricity, but this method is inefficient as only about 30% of the carbon dioxide is converted to methanol. 

To better scale up methanol production, the team in this study added a second material, nickel tetramethoxyphthalocyanine (NiPc-OCH3), to the nanotube catalyst where the reaction takes place. They discovered that adding this second molecule can catapult methanol production efficiency up to 50%, about 66% better than any other known process. 

“This catalyst system is one of the very few that can produce methanol at such high selectivity,” said Robert Baker, co-author of the study and a professor in chemistry and biochemistry at The Ohio State University.

Enhancing methanol production would not only allow scientists to make the liquid faster and more cheaply but also help them limit the amount of unwanted waste products. More importantly, having steady access to such a flexible renewable resource could transform many aspects of daily life, including the transportation sector, said Baker. 

“Methanol is a really desirable product for CO2 reduction because it has such a high energy density,” he said. “It’s a great molecule – of all the possible products of CO2 reduction, methanol is an excellent candidate for use as an alternative fuel.” 

The study was recently published in Nature Nanotechnology.

To confirm their findings, scientists used a technique called sum-frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy to analyze where carbon dioxide molecules were binding and how they were moving during their reaction. 

When carbon dioxide is introduced to NiPc-OCH3, researchers can see that it becomes carbon monoxide before the catalytic reaction turns it into methanol.  

In this case, the team saw that the carbon nanotubes, which held the two catalysts in place and helped electricity flow more smoothly through the reaction, influenced the carbon dioxide molecules’ movements. These tubes essentially act as a highway that ferries the reaction intermediates from one catalyst site to the next during this process.

“The dual nature of the nanotube catalysts causes the process to work extremely efficiently,” said Baker. 

Since this new process of methanol generation does require a large quantity of carbon dioxide, efforts to scale it up for commercial use would likely have to be used in tandem with carbon capture technologies that can remove harmful greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and sequester them elsewhere. “Capturing and converting carbon directly to a fuel would be one of humanity’s best possible options,” said Baker. 

What’s more, the understanding gained in this study about how creating dual catalysts from nanoscale building blocks can likely pave the way for other types of sustainable technologies, including opportunities for researchers to engineer brand new types of catalysts and chemical processes, said Baker. 

“Now we have the tools to understand how when you put different nanoscale components together in the right architectures, you can create new, more efficient systems,” he said. “It’s a really exciting time for this kind of research.”

The study was supported by the National Science Foundation and the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture. Co-authors include Quansong Zhu from Ohio State; Alvin Chang and Zhenxing Feng from Oregon State University; Huan Li, Zhan Jiang and Yongye Liang from the Southern University of Science and Technology; and Jing Li, Seonjeong Cheon, Yuanzuo Gao, Bo Shang, Conor L. Rooney, Longtao Ren, Shize Yang and Hailiang Wang, all from Yale University. 

#

Contact: Robert Baker, Baker.2364@osu.edu

Written by: Tatyana Woodall, Woodall.52@osu.edu

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Journal

Nature Nanotechnology

DOI

10.1038/s41565-025-01866-8 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Molecular-scale CO spillover on a dual-site electrocatalyst enhances methanol production from CO2 reduction

 

Professor receives pilot funding to conduct study to increase forest farming in Appalachia

Virginia Tech

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(From left) Katie Trozzo, Shannon Bell, and John Munsell.

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Credit: Photo by Jasmine Rorrer for Virginia Tech.

Appalachia is globally recognized as a key supplier of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) with growing demand for its resources. Nearly half of the woodland medicinal species in the global nutraceutical market come from the region, contributing to a multibillion-dollar industry.

Species such as ginseng, slippery elm, and black cohosh are prominent understory sources of medicinal material. Appalachian edible products are also gaining popularity beyond the region. Ramps, a wild Appalachian plant, can sell for more than $20 per pound in places such as New York City.

Spanning 205,000 square miles, Appalachia is home to over 100 marketable species, including botanicals such as ginseng and black cohosh as well as mushrooms and valuable understory tree and shrub species used in crafts and landscaping. These species traditionally are wild harvested, but interest in cultivating them using an agroforestry practice known as forest farming is on the rise.

As demand for Appalachian NTFPs grows, forest farmed material is becoming increasingly sought after by both domestic and international consumers. John Munsell, professor in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation in the College of Natural Resources and Environment and a Virginia Cooperative Extension specialist, received a $500,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission to conduct a preliminary study on a natural economic solution for the region.

“To scale a cultivation economy, it's essential that people have access to affordable resources, and that the supply chain — from planting to processing and distribution — is well established,” Munsell said. “Formalizing forest farming businesses and developing the workforce are key to ensuring that the entire system runs efficiently. Additionally, cultural aspects like tourism and traditional knowledge should be integrated into the business planning process to create a more sustainable and comprehensive economy.”

To better understand the culture around these NTFPs, Munsell is collaborating with Shannon Bell, professor of environmental sociology in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Bell conducted research with Appalachian wild harvesters and local buyers of medicinal roots and herbs to study the stark inequities in the woodland herbal supply chain and to develop strategies for addressing these challenges. The work’s aim is to help Central Appalachian communities retain more of the profits from the herbal industry by using forest farming techniques to help populations of native at-risk forest botanicals survive and thrive in the wild.

“Our mission is to harness the region's sustainable ‘green wealth’ – a true, culturally resonant resource — through stewardship, moving it into a competitive market without the exploitative practices often seen in extractive industries,” Munsell said. “We've spent years engaging and training woodland owners and wild-harvesting communities, helping them transition to traceable, sustainable forest farming practices. But to truly scale, we now need to invest in processing facilities, attract companies to the region, and formalize businesses that can fully utilize cultivated raw materials, from medicinal plants like ginseng and black cohosh to culinary and decorative products.”

The effort is complex and Munsell assembled a broad partnership of 11 Appalachian universities and nonprofit organizations to address specific facets of the value chain. For example, workforce development is essential, as skilled labor is needed for processing, chemical testing, and maintaining high-quality standards, while tourism can offer an experiential way to highlight these efforts and the Appalachian region's cultural heritage. Munsell and Katie Trozzo, program associate in the Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, are working together to develop and guide complementary initiatives among project partners.

This collaborative work identifies tangible and actionable opportunities for scaling forest-farmed materials in the global NTFP market. There’s a focus on quality over quantity, with companies willing to pay higher prices for superior, sustainably sourced raw and value-added material. The work is part of a broader economic development strategy emphasizing local Appalachian stewardship and control over natural resources management and production.

 

Genes may influence our enjoyment of music

Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics

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Music is central to human emotion and culture. Does our ability to enjoy music have a biological basis? A genetic twin study, published in Nature Communications, shows that music enjoyment is partly heritable. An international team led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, uncovered genetic factors that influence the degree of music enjoyment, which were partly distinct from genes influencing general enjoyment of rewarding experiences or musical ability.

Music plays an important role in human emotion, social bonding, and cultural expression. As Darwin already noted, music "must be ranked amongst the most mysterious with which he is endowed". But why do people enjoy music?

“The answer to this big question has the potential to open a window into more general aspects of the human mind, such as how experiences become pleasurable”, says first author and PhD candidate Giacomo Bignardi. “We wanted to understand whether genetic differences between individuals can result in differences in the pleasure that people derive from music and what these differences can tell us about human musicality in general”.

To determine whether genetic factors contribute to music enjoyment or ‘music reward sensitivity’, the researchers used the twin design, which compares similarities between identical twins and fraternal twins. Put simply, if identical twins are more similar than fraternal twins, genetics should play a role.

In collaboration with the MPI for Empirical Aesthetics in Germany and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, the team was able to use data from more than 9,000 twins, including self-reported music reward and general reward sensitivity, as well as their ability to perceive musical features such as pitch, melody and rhythm.

The results show that the ability to experience pleasure from music is partly heritable: using the twin design, the researchers were able to estimate that 54% of the variability in the Swedish sample is associated with DNA differences between individuals.

The team also found genetic influences on music reward sensitivity to be partly independent of general reward sensitivity and music perceptual abilities, and discovered that distinct genetic pathways influenced different facets of music enjoyment, such as emotion regulation, dancing along with a beat or playing music with others.

“These findings suggest a complex picture  in which partly distinct DNA differences contribute to  different aspects of music enjoyment”, concludes Bignardi. “Future research looking at which part of the genome contributes the most to the human ability to enjoy music has the potential to shed light on the human faculty that baffled Darwin the most, and which still baffles us today.”

Publication

Giacomo Bignardi, Laura W. Wesseldijk, Ernest Mas-Herrero, Robert J. Zatorre, Fredrik Ullén, Simon E. Fisher & Miriam A. Mosing (2025). Twin modelling reveals partly distinct genetic pathways to music enjoyment. Nature Communications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58123-8

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Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-025-58123-8 

Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Twin modelling reveals partly distinct genetic pathways to music enjoyment

Article Publication Date

28-Mar-2025