It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Monday, April 27, 2026
21ST CENTURY ALCHEMY
Redesigning metals at the atomic level to boost future technology
Discovery could help make electronics faster and more energy efficient
Credit: Kalie Pluchel, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (04/27/2026) — Researchers in the University of Minnesota Twin Cities have discovered a powerful new way to control the electronic behavior of a metal—by manipulating the atomic properties of materials where they meet.
The study, published in Nature Communications, demonstrates that interfacial polarization can tune the surface work function of metallic ruthenium dioxide (RuO2) by more than 1 electron volt (eV)—a tiny amount of energy—simply by adjusting film thickness at the nanometer scale.
“We often think of polarization as something that belongs to insulators or ferroelectrics—not metals,” said Bharat Jalan, professor and Shell Chair in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota. “Our work shows that, through careful interface design, you can stabilize polarization in a metallic system and use it as a knob to tune electronic properties. This opens an entirely new way of thinking about controlling metals.”
This specific change is most powerful when the metal layer is about 4 nanometers thick—roughly the width of a single strand of DNA. At this precise size, the metal shifts from being "stretched" by the material underneath it to a more "relaxed" state. This transition proves that the physical way atoms are packed together has a direct, measurable impact on how the metal handles electricity.
“This was surprising,” said Seung Gyo Jeong, first author of the study and a researcher in Jalan’s group. “We expected subtle interface effects, but not such a large and controllable change in work function. Being able to visualize the polar displacements at the atomic scale and connect them directly to electronic measurements was especially exciting.”
Beyond fundamental physics, the findings could impact the design of next-generation electronic, catalytic and quantum devices.
In addition to Jalan and Low, the research team included members from Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Texas A&M University, Gwangyu Institute of Science and Technology and the School of Physics at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
Read the full paper entitled, “Strain-Stabilized Interfacial Polarization Tunes Work Function Over 1 eV in RuO2/TiO2 Heterostructures,” on the Nature Communications website.
The endangered Black Sea harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena relicta) is facing a critical fight for survival. As Europe’s smallest marine mammal, this isolated population is being pushed toward extinction by bycatch - the unintentional entanglement in fishing gear. The crisis is most acute in the Black Sea turbot fishery, where recent estimates reveal that more than 10,000 porpoises die annually.
Led by a strong motivation to address threats to this iconic species, a team of Bulgarian researchers has carried out a four-year trial study of 57 hauls seeking effective solutions to reduce porpoise mortality. The study, now published inNature Conservation, found bycatch in 61% of all hauls, accounting for 189 cetaceans: 182 harbour porpoises, five bottlenose dolphins, and two common dolphins.
The trials did not begin promisingly, as the first two models of acoustic deterrent devices (pingers) tested proved ineffective at reducing bycatch.
- the researchers noted
This initial setback prompted the team to search for an alternative solution, eventually leading to a breakthrough with the PAL Wideband pinger, an acoustic deterrent device developed in Germany.
Field trials demonstrated that this device can reduce harbour porpoise bycatch in the Black Sea by approximately 74%. Researchers believe the specific acoustic signals, namely the wider frequency band (between 10 and 150 kHz) emitted by the PAL Wideband model, contributed to its effectiveness, as it was the only one of the three pingers tested, that successfully deterred porpoises from approaching fishing nets.
“Other recent studies have highlighted significant shortcomings in the conservation of harbour porpoise populations in European waters,” the researchers stated. This underscores the urgent need for effective strategies to reduce bycatch, the leading human-induced cause of mortality for the species.
Mitigation measures could include spatio-temporal closures of high-risk fisheries in areas where harbour porpoises are most abundant, as well as the adoption of alternative or modified fishing gear, including the use of acoustic deterrent devices.
- the experts emphasized
Among the available options, the use of effective pingers, supported by appropriate financing mechanisms, is increasingly seen as one of the most practical and widely accepted approaches to reducing bycatch while maintaining profitable fishing operations.
Not all acoustic deterrent devices are equally effective in reducing the bycatch of the harbour porpoise in the Black Sea.
- they concluded
Their findings demonstrate that certain pinger models fail to mitigate porpoise bycatch in the bottom-set gillnets specifically used to target turbot.
The study underscores the importance of careful selection and testing of deterrent devices and emphasizes that this distinction must be explicitly taken into account in the development of targeted and effective strategies to reduce bycatch in Black Sea fisheries.
Popov D, Meshkova G, Dimitrov H, Panayotova M (2026) Can pingers mitigate the bycatch of the endangered Black Sea Harbour Porpoise? Nature Conservation 63: 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.63.183768
After Sweden removed inheritance and gift taxes in 2005, private firms with potential family successors grew faster, invested more, and paid higher corporate taxes than firms without natural heirs, according to a new white paper from the Stockholm School of Economics. The study adds empirical evidence in a policy debate often dominated by ideology and comes as several European countries debate inheritance tax reforms.
Using population data covering about 37,000 companies, the research shows that firms led by owners with children – indicating a possible path to family succession – grew sales, profits, and assets more than similar firms led by childless owners. Profitability improvements also led to greater increases in corporate tax payments, suggesting a potential shift, rather than reduction, in public revenue over time.
The study compared the firms’ financial performance between 2001 and 2007, three years before and after Sweden’s inheritance tax was repealed.
“Before the reform, owners often had to plan for future tax payments tied to inheritance,” says co-author Mattias Nordqvist, professor at the House of Innovation, Stockholm School of Economics. “That may have limited how much capital they reinvested. After the tax was removed, the firms retained more earnings and invested more in growth.”
A natural experiment in tax policy
Debates around inheritance and gift taxes often fall along ideological lines, with arguments focused on the need to curb wealth inequality versus concerns about punitive taxation schemes that may trigger investment flight.
While many European countries levy inheritance taxes, Sweden abolished its own in 2005 after decades of debate. Before that, rates were progressive, typically ranging from about 10-30 percent for close relatives and reaching as high as 50-60 percent for more distant heirs.
The reform created a natural experiment by allowing researchers to compare firms led by owners with children against childless owners whose strategic decisions were less likely to be shaped by inheritance tax considerations.
To ensure comparability, the researchers matched firms by owner age and then applied a difference-in-differences approach, tracking changes in firm outcomes before and after the reform.
Following the tax abolition, sales at firms with potential successors were up by 8 percentage points more in 2007 compared with heirless firms. These firms had also increased total assets at a 4-percentage point higher rate and grown equity by up to 7 percentage points more, relative to the pre-abolition baseline year of 2003.
They also improved the operating margin by nearly half a percentage point more in the first two years before the difference levelled out in 2007. Corporate tax payments also rose more, with a difference of 10 percentage points over three years, and employee salaries grew at a 12-percentage point higher rate in 2007 relative to the control group.
Overall, these findings suggest that rents from the tax abolition were not simply appropriated by the owner-managers but instead shared with society through taxes and employee salaries.
A shift from one-time to recurring tax revenues
“The loss in inheritance tax revenue for the state may thus have been offset in the long term by higher future recurring taxes tied to business activity,” says co-author Mateja Andric, assistant professor at the University of Melbourne and affiliated researcher at the House of Innovation, Stockholm School of Economics. “When those constraints were lifted, the firms appeared more willing to invest, grow and strengthen their operations over time, which in turn benefited society through the higher taxes and employee salaries these companies paid.”
The findings contribute to a limited but growing body of research on how inheritance taxation shapes firm behaviour. While debates often center on wealth distribution or large family conglomerates, the study highlights effects among smaller, founder-led and owner-managed firms that may become family businesses in the future.
“In many European economies, the majority of firms are privately held and relatively small,” says co-author Mohamed Genedy, postdoctoral researcher at the House of Innovation, Stockholm School of Economics. “Understanding how tax policy affects their long-term decisions is essential for assessing broader economic consequences, including investment, employment and tax revenues.”
At the same time, the authors stress that the results should be interpreted with care. The paper focuses on one country and one reform, and outcomes may differ depending on institutional context and policy design.
The Impact of Abolishing the Gift and Inheritance Tax on Firm Strategic Decisions and Outcomes: The Case of Sweden
Article Publication Date
25-Apr-2026
From hydra to rotifers: A new hypothesis explores pathways to delay aging in humans
“Hydra vulgaris (“Hydra”) exhibits negligible senescence due to continuous self-renewal and stem cell cycling, contrasting sharply with short-lived, eutelic rotifers that exhibit rapid aging and fixed somatic cell numbers post-development.”
Figure 1.Detailed flowchart of the iterative experimental strategy to delay senescence by introducing Hydra-like gene expression in rotifers (Brachionus manjavacas). Key manipulations target rotifer orthologs (primarily FoxO and stemness markers) via CRISPR. Evaluation endpoints include lifespan/mortality hazard (survival curves), fertility (fecundity curves), locomotion (swimming assays), stress resistance, and transcriptomics (pre/post similarity to Hydra stem/progenitor states; ≥0.7 correlation threshold). Neoplasia monitoring uses proliferation markers (BrdU/phospho-histone H3) and deviation from Hydra tumor profiles. Iteration decisions are guided by predefined criteria (healthspan extension, transcriptomic shift, fitness constraints). Controls: wild-type and mock-treated rotifers. The framework also tests intercellular competition and multicellular aging through integrated measurements of cellular degradation, vigor-cooperation correlation, cheater emergence (neoplasia proxies), and negative senescence potential (mortality hazard). “Hydra-like” is defined in the text.
The study was led by first and corresponding author Michael Bordonaro from the Geisinger College of Health Sciences. In this work, the author explores a bold and testable hypothesis centered on two very different invertebrate models of aging: the freshwater cnidarian Hydra and the rotifer Brachionus manjavacas. Hydra are well known for their remarkable ability to maintain tissue integrity over time through continuous stem cell renewal, effectively avoiding many of the hallmarks of aging under laboratory conditions. In contrast, rotifers represent the opposite end of the biological spectrum, with short lifespans, fixed somatic cell numbers, and a predictable pattern of age-related decline.
Building on these contrasts, the paper proposes that introducing Hydra-like gene expression patterns into rotifers could delay senescence and extend healthspan. The hypothesis focuses in particular on conserved molecular pathways, including the transcription factor FoxO, which plays a central role in maintaining stem cell function and cellular resilience. Rather than attempting to recreate full stem cell renewal in rotifers—an organism with a fixed adult cell number—the proposed strategy emphasizes improving cellular maintenance, stress resistance, and proteostasis within existing cells.
The paper outlines an iterative experimental framework, beginning with targeted genetic manipulation in rotifers and extending to more complex organisms such as Daphnia and mouse models. This stepwise approach is designed to identify which elements of the Hydra genetic program are truly responsible for its resistance to aging, while also allowing researchers to monitor potential trade-offs, including increased risk of uncontrolled cell growth.
“We hypothesize that delayed senescence at the organismal level is possible through recapitulation of Hydra-like patterns of gene expression in rotifers, and that data obtained may help generate hypotheses for somatic interventions and prioritize pathways for mammalian validation in future studies.”
Importantly, the author emphasizes that complete elimination of aging is unlikely in complex organisms due to evolutionary and biological constraints. Instead, the goal is more realistic: extending healthspan and delaying the onset of age-related decline. The paper also highlights the importance of balancing potential benefits with risks, particularly the possibility that enhancing cellular renewal pathways could increase susceptibility to neoplasia.
Overall, this study presents a conceptual and experimental roadmap for translating insights from simple organisms into strategies that may eventually inform human aging research. By bridging the gap between negligible senescence and rapid aging models, the work provides a fresh perspective on how conserved biological mechanisms might be harnessed to improve health across the lifespan.
Join clinicians, scientists, regulators, and industry leaders for two days focused on turning phage therapy into clinical reality — from GMP production and regulatory harmonization to precision medicine and global applications in health, veterinary, food, and industry.
The post-antibiotic era is here. Be part of shaping the response.
Targeting Phage Therapy 2026 will convene international leaders to accelerate clinical deployment, highlight innovation, and recognize excellence through the Targeting Phage Therapy Awards.
As antimicrobial resistance continues to challenge modern medicine, bacteriophage therapy is entering a decisive phase. The question is no longer whether phages can kill bacteria. The strategic question is whether the field can now build the clinical, regulatory, industrial, and hospital infrastructure required to make phage therapy a mainstream therapeutic option.
The Targeting Phage Therapy 2026 Congress, taking place in Valencia, Spain, on June 9–10, 2026, will bring together leading scientists, clinicians, microbiologists, engineers, biotech leaders, regulators, hospital teams, start-ups, and innovators to address one central challenge:
How can phage therapy move from promising science to accessible, validated, and deployable medicine?
The 2026 agenda is structured around a clear translational trajectory: from mechanisms and clinical evidence to production, regulation, innovation, implementation, and access.
A Strategic Program: From Science to Clinical and Applied Impact
The first day of the congress will focus on “From Science to Clinical and Applied Impact” It will explore how phage biology, therapeutic design, chronic infection models, engineered phages, and One Health applications can shape the next generation of antibacterial strategies.
The congress will open with Benjamin K. Chan, Yale University, USA, who will deliver the opening keynote lecture: Turning Evolution into Therapy: A New Strategy to Fight Antibiotic-Resistant Infections. His lecture will highlight one of the most powerful shifts in the field: using bacterial evolution not as an obstacle, but as a therapeutic lever. This strategy can potentially drive bacteria toward evolutionary trade-offs, weaken pathogenicity, and restore antibiotic sensitivity.
Other confirmed speakers for Day 1 include:
Opening Keynote Lecture: Turning Evolution into Therapy: A New Strategy to Fight Antibiotic-Resistant Infections Benjamin K. Chan, Yale University, USA
Advancing Phage Therapy for Chronic Infections: From Experimental Evidence to Clinical Use Joana Azeredo, University of Minho, Portugal
Bacteriophages Redesigned: Engineering of Next-Generation Phage Therapeutics and Diagnostics Martin J. Loessner, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
The Human Virome in Chronic Infection: What Patient Phages Teach Us About Therapeutic Phage Design Katrine Whiteson, UC Irvine, USA
Phage for Sustainable and Scalable Infection Control in Aquaculture Adelaide Almeida, Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal
Phage Therapy in Livestock Disease Models: Lessons for Animal and Human Health Robert Atterbury, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
Nasopharyngeal Phages: The Silent Players in Piglet Health Oscar MencÃa-Ares, Universidad de León, Spain
Day 2: Enablers for Scale, Access, and Impact
The second day will focus on the decisive enablers of phage therapy deployment: production, regulation, quality standards, personalized treatment pathways, manufacturing, hospital integration, and innovation.
Confirmed speakers for Day 2 include:
Personalized Bacteriophage Therapy in Germany and Beyond – A Consensus-Based Guideline Annika Y. Classen, Cologne University Hospital, Germany
The Qualified Presumption of Safety (QPS) Qualification of Lytic Bacteriophages: Scientific Criteria and Regulatory Perspectives Juan Evaristo Suárez, Universidad de Oviedo, Spain
From Bioreactor to Patient: Scalable Manufacturing and Delivery of Therapeutic Phages Danish J. Malik, Loughborough University, United Kingdom
Chronic Respiratory Infections in the Inflamed Lung: Host–Pathogen Interactions and Opportunities for Phage Therapeutics Paula Zamora, University of Kansas Medical Center, USA
Personalized Phage Therapy at the Hannover Medical School: barriers, challenges, and next steps Evgenii Rubalskii, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Germany
From Promise to Practice: What Will Make Phage Therapy Mainstream?
This final discussion will address the key barriers that still separate phage therapy from routine medical use: clinical validation, regulatory alignment, GMP production, reimbursement, hospital adoption, and international coordination.
Submit Your Innovation: From Concept to Clinical Impact
The congress invites start-ups, biotech companies, academic teams, hospitals, diagnostic developers, manufacturing platforms, AI-based phage-matching initiatives, translational consortia, and One Health innovators to submit their innovations.
Selected innovations may be presented during the congress and highlighted to an international audience of experts, clinicians, investors, industry representatives, and institutional partners.
The Targeting Phage Therapy Awards 2026 will be a central highlight of the congress. These awards will recognize outstanding contributions that are helping transform phage therapy from scientific promise into clinical, technological, and societal impact.
The awards will spotlight excellence in five major areas:
Scientific Excellence Award Recognizing outstanding research in phage biology, phage-bacteria interactions, resistance evolution, host range, genomics, therapeutic design, and mechanistic understanding.
Clinical Translation Award Honoring work that brings phage therapy closer to patient care, including clinical case studies, compassionate use programs, hospital implementation, treatment protocols, and multidisciplinary clinical workflows.
Innovation and Technology Award Recognizing novel platforms and technologies that can accelerate phage therapy deployment, including diagnostics, manufacturing, AI, engineering, formulation, delivery systems, and quality control.
Young Investigator Award Supporting the next generation of phage therapy researchers through recognition of outstanding short oral presentations, posters, and early-career contributions.
One Health Impact Award Highlighting work that extends phage applications beyond human medicine, including food safety, aquaculture, livestock, environmental microbiology, and antimicrobial resistance control.
- Short Oral Abstract Submission Deadline: May 9, 2026 - Poster Abstract Submission Deadline: May 13, 2026 - Innovation Submissions: Open
Awards and Recognitions: Open for selected scientific, clinical, technological, young investigator, and One Health contributions
The ambition is clear: to move phage therapy from fragmented success stories toward a structured therapeutic ecosystem.
About Targeting Phage Therapy 2026
Targeting Phage Therapy 2026 will take place in Valencia, Spain, on June 9–10, 2026. The congress is dedicated to accelerating the translation of bacteriophage science into clinical, industrial, regulatory, and One Health applications.
Congress: Targeting Phage Therapy 2026 Dates: June 9–10, 2026 Location: Valencia, Spain Abstracts, innovation submissions and awards: Open Website: Targeting Phage Therapy 2026 / Agenda at a Glance: www.phagetherapy-site.com
