Friday, June 13, 2025

KAIST succeeds in real-time carbon dioxide monitoring without batteries or external power

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)

image:
Photo 1. (From left) Master's Student Gyurim Jang, Professor Kyeongha Kwon
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Credit: The Kwon Research Group

KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on June 9th that a research team led by Professor Kyeongha Kwon from the School of Electrical Engineering, in a joint study with Professor Hanjun Ryu's team at Chung-Ang University, has developed a self-powered wireless carbon dioxide (CO2) monitoring system. This innovative system harvests fine vibrational energy from its surroundings to periodically measure CO2 concentrations.

This breakthrough addresses a critical need in environmental monitoring: accurately understanding "how much" CO2 is being emitted to combat climate change and global warming. While CO2 monitoring technology is key to this, existing systems largely rely on batteries or wired power system, imposing limitations on installation and maintenance. The KAIST team tackled this by creating a self-powered wireless system that operates without external power.

The core of this new system is an "Inertia-driven Triboelectric Nanogenerator (TENG)" that converts vibrations (with amplitudes ranging from 20-4000 ㎛ and frequencies from 0-300 Hz) generated by industrial equipment or pipelines into electricity. This enables periodic CO2 concentration measurements and wireless transmission without the need for batteries.

< Figure 1. Concept and configuration of self-powered wireless CO2 monitoring system using fine vibration harvesting (a) System block diagram (b) Photo of fabricated system prototype >

The research team successfully amplified fine vibrations and induced resonance by combining spring-attached 4-stack TENGs. They achieved stable power production of 0.5 mW under conditions of 13 Hz and 0.56 g acceleration. The generated power was then used to operate a CO2 sensor and a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) system-on-a-chip (SoC).

Professor Kyeongha Kwon emphasized, "For efficient environmental monitoring, a system that can operate continuously without power limitations is essential." She explained, "In this research, we implemented a self-powered system that can periodically measure and wirelessly transmit CO2 concentrations based on the energy generated from an inertia-driven TENG." She added, "This technology can serve as a foundational technology for future self-powered environmental monitoring platforms integrating various sensors."

< Figure 2. TENG energy harvesting-based wireless CO2 sensing system operation results (c) Experimental setup (d) Measured CO2 concentration results powered by TENG and conventional DC power source >

This research was published on June 1st in the internationally renowned academic journal `Nano Energy (IF 16.8)`. Gyurim Jang, a master's student at KAIST, and Daniel Manaye Tiruneh, a master's student at Chung-Ang University, are the co-first authors of the paper.
*Paper Title: Highly compact inertia-driven triboelectric nanogenerator for self-powered wireless CO2 monitoring via fine-vibration harvesting
*DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2025.110872

This research was supported by the Saudi Aramco-KAIST CO2 Management Center.

Figure 1. Concept and configuration of self-powered wireless CO2 monitoring system using fine vibration harvesting (a) System block diagram (b) Photo of fabricated system prototype

Figure 2. TENG energy harvesting-based wireless CO2 sensing system operation results (c) Experimental setup (d) Measured CO2 concentration results powered by TENG and conventional DC power source

Credit

Authors: Daniel Manaye Tiruneh et al.

Journal

Nano Energy

DOI

10.1016/j.nanoen.2025.110872

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Highly compact inertia-driven triboelectric nanogenerator for self-powered wireless CO2 monitoring via fine-vibration harvesting

Article Publication Date

11-Jun-2025

Norms lead young people to consent to sex despite uncertainty

University of Gothenburg

In theory, young people describe sexual consent as something obvious, based on trust, respect, and mutual understanding. But when they share their own experiences, a more complex picture emerges. They admit sometimes having sex even when they do not truly want to.

“It can be about not wanting to disappoint someone, wanting to be kind, or living up to expectations. Saying yes sometimes feels easier than saying no,” says Kristin Blom, PhD student in Social Work at the University of Gothenburg.

Consent Shaped by Gender Norms
The thesis explores how young people are influenced by societal norms around gender and sexuality. Young men describe pressure to be respectful and egalitarian, while also feeling the need to impress peers with sexual experiences.

Young women, on the other hand, often feel compelled to be attractive and accommodating, making it harder to say no for fear of being perceived as boring or difficult.

“This affects the choices young people make in sexual situations. Consent is sometimes given to fit into a role, not because they truly want to. Norms can make it difficult to navigate these situations and give consent on one’s own terms, especially when young and inexperienced,” says Kristin Blom.

A Gap Between Ideals and Practice
While young people hold a clear ideal of how consent should work, safe, mutual, and ongoing, real-life communication is often more subtle and context-dependent. Consent may be expressed verbally, non-verbally, or even silently.

“It’s not always clear what you or the other person wants. In theory, consent should be given and received before and during every sexual act, with the freedom to change your mind. But in practice, it’s not always a clear verbal question and answer,” Kristin Blom explains.

A Societal Issue That Requires Dialogue
The research began in the wake of the #MeToo movement and the introduction of Sweden’s consent law. Blom emphasizes the importance of open conversations about sex and consent, especially in schools, youth clinics, and among adults.

“Sex education in schools and the work of youth clinics are especially important in helping young people reflect on and articulate their experiences,” she says.

Both the thesis and a recent report from the Swedish Schools Inspectorate show that young people themselves want more education and dialogue about sex, consent, and relationships.

“It’s important to talk about how consent isn’t always simple. That makes it easier to understand your own desires—and to challenge narrow ideals,” says Kristin Blom.

More information:

The thesis is based on 31 qualitative interviews with 19 young people, from different parts of Sweden, aged 16–21, conducted between 2020 and 2022. The study focuses on how young people talk about and understand sexual consent in relation to gender, power, and societal norms.
The thesis is written in Swedish, but has an abstract in English: https://hdl.handle.net/2077/85401

Method of Research

Content analysis

Subject of Research

People

Mental health interventions proved most effective at workplace health promotion, but more information on their long-term effects is needed

University of Eastern Finland

Workplaces implement various interventions aimed at promoting employee health, including those targeting dietary habits, physical activity, education, stress management, mindfulness and environmental modifications to promote movement. Published in The Lancet Public Health, a recent review concludes that in workplace health promotion, the most consistent impacts are achieved through mental health and stress management interventions, such as group-based mindfulness training.

E-health interventions conducted via the internet or over the mobile phone can be used to reduce mental health symptoms and stress; however, in weight management, multicomponent interventions yielded the best impacts. For instance, movement-promoting modifications of the work environment were somewhat effective at reducing sedentary behaviour during the workday.

“However, based on the studies included in this review, it should be noted that on average, the effects were minor, and there is little information on how long they persisted in participants' daily lives after the intervention. Only the effectiveness of mindfulness interventions appeared to be strong on average,” Professor Marianna Virtanen of the University of Eastern Finland notes.

Longer follow-up times could provide information on long-term effects

The review analysed the results of a total of 88 meta-analyses published in 2011–2024, reporting a total of 339 interventions. Of these interventions, 36 percent were targeted at mental health promotion and stress reduction, 25 percent addressed weight management or cardiovascular health, 22 percent addressed health-related behaviours, and 17 percent were targeted at musculoskeletal disorders.

“We evaluated the quality of the intervention studies and found that only 21 percent could be considered of even moderate quality, whereas the rest of them were poorer than that. Our review results are based on these 21 percent. The research designs and implementation processes of interventions should be improved, and follow-up periods extended to obtain more accurate and reliable information on their effectiveness and long-term impact.”

Workplaces are essential for health promotion, as they offer a setting for reaching the working-age population. According to Virtanen, intervention studies provide robust evidence for effectiveness.

“Meta-analyses, in turn, bring together existing intervention research and therefore, they provide stronger and more reliable evidence.”

From a public health perspective, the lack of high-quality studies and long-term follow-up, as well as the fragmentation of existing evidence, currently prevent fully reliable conclusions about the significance and overall effectiveness of workplace health interventions.

Journal

The Lancet Public Health

DOI

10.1016/S2468-2667(25)00095-7

Article Title

Effectiveness of workplace interventions for health promotion

POLYCRISIS

Global action urgently needed to tackle antimicrobial resistance, experts warn

King's College London

Researchers from King’s College London have called for urgent changes to the way new antibiotics are developed to address the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

In a new review published in npj Antimicrobials and Resistance, the authors outline the scientific, economic, and regulatory barriers that are slowing progress in the fight against highly resistant bacterial infections.

AMR is a growing global health crisis, already linked to nearly 5 million deaths each year. Without effective action, this number could rise to 10 million annually by 2050. Some of the most concerning threats come from Gram-negative bacteria. These include the bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae, which can cause deadly bloodstream infections from simple medical procedures in hospitals, and Acinetobacter baumannii, which can lead to ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Despite this, very few new antibiotics have reached the market in the past two decades. The need is clear, but the development process remains extremely difficult.

One major challenge is economic. Antibiotics are usually used for short periods and are often used only when necessary to slow the development of resistance. This means they generate much less revenue than drugs for chronic diseases like cancer, which are used over longer timeframes and are more profitable. As a result, many of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, such as AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer, have withdrawn from antibiotic research.

The authors argue that new models are needed to make antibiotic development more attractive to industry. They highlight the importance of separating profits from the volume of antibiotics sold. A mix of incentives could help: push incentives like research grants and tax breaks to support early-stage research, and pull incentives like market entry rewards or subscription payments to support successful products.

The review highlights the UK’s Antimicrobial Product Subscription Model as a positive example. Launched in 2022, it pays companies a fixed annual fee for access to new antibiotics, regardless of how much is used. The proposed PASTEUR Act in the US follows a similar approach.

Regulatory hurdles are another key barrier. Clinical trials for antibiotics are often large, complex, and expensive, with difficulties in recruiting suitable patients. Different standards across countries also make the process more complicated. The authors call for better global coordination and clearer guidance on trial design and evaluation, to make approval processes more efficient and predictable.

There are several scientific challenges in developing new antibiotics for Gram-negative bacteria. These include overcoming their tough, protective outer membrane, which prevents many drugs from entering. Additionally, these bacteria have resistance mechanisms such as efflux pumps that expel antibiotics and enzymes that break them down. Another major challenge is identifying new drug targets and effective compounds capable of killing these highly resistant organisms.

The review emphasises the need to combine different areas of expertise to revitalise antibiotic discovery. New scientific approaches include using artificial intelligence to identify promising molecules, exploring under-studied environments such as the deep sea, and examining rare microbiomes. Non-traditional approaches such as phage therapy are also being explored, though they bring their own challenges.

Lead author, Miraz Rahman, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Antimicrobial Research Theme Group Lead at King’s College London, said:

“Reviving the antibiotic pipeline will require cooperation across academia, industry, policy, and global health systems. We need not only innovative science but also a supportive economic and regulatory environment to bring new antibiotics to patients.”

The review is a call to action to scientists, drug developers, governments, and all other stakeholders with influence over the antibiotic development pipeline. It describes the present challenging landscape and presents a practical path forward that urges stakeholders to work together to safeguard the future of modern medicine.

Journal

npj Antimicrobials and Resistance

Article Title

Current economic and regulatory challenges in developing antibiotics for Gram-negative bacteria

Article Publication Date

11-Jun-2025

Rethinking poverty

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

Although living standards have generally improved globally over the past three decades, stark and persistent inequalities remain – both between countries and within them, particularly between urban and rural areas. These gaps highlight where efforts to reduce poverty need to be intensified to ensure that everyone has the means for a decent life.

The study published in Nature Communications, uses data from households in 75 low- and middle-income countries, and shows that 94.9% of households lack at least one of ten fundamental living standards. Nearly two-thirds fall short on at least one-third of them. This number is notably higher than poverty shares calculated with other poverty measures and indices. These findings come from a comprehensive analysis using the Decent Living Standards (DLS) framework developed at IIASA, which redefines how poverty is measured – not by income alone, but by whether people can meet their most basic physical and social needs.

“Income doesn’t tell us enough,” explains IIASA Migration and Sustainable Development Research Group Leader, Roman Hoffmann, the lead author of the study. “It’s about whether people can meet their basic needs. When we look at who has access to essential services, resources, and infrastructure, deep and persistent inequalities become apparent.”

Unlike conventional poverty metrics, which often condense deprivation into a single score, the DLS framework evaluates ten separate dimensions of wellbeing. Seven relate to physical needs, such as housing, nutrition, and sanitation, while the remaining three concern social participation, including access to education, mobility, and communication. The approach is based on the idea that all of these needs are non-negotiable and being deprived in any one of them signals a shortfall in living a decent life.

Across the dimensions, the largest deprivation can be observed for modern means of food preparation (unfulfilled for 72.2% of households in the sample), access to health care (68.0%), adequate housing (54.8%), and adequate sanitation facilities (47.9%). About 21.3% of households in the last DHS wave reported at least one household member showing nutritional deficits, including signs of undernutrition for adults or wasting and stunting for children.

“Poverty is not one thing. It’s a web of constraints that people face all at once,” said coauthor Omkar Patange, a researcher in the IIASA Economic Frontiers Program. “If you can’t refrigerate food, get to a clinic, or afford school fees, your life is shaped by a series of daily trade-offs. That’s what we’re trying to capture.”

Regional disparities are stark. Sub-Saharan Africa had the lowest attainment of decent living standards, with just 12% of households meeting two-thirds of the DLS thresholds. In comparison, that figure was 37% in South Asia, 44% in Latin America and the Caribbean, and more than 70% in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Even in countries where some progress has been made, rural areas continue to lag behind. The authors found that rural-urban gaps in living standards have remained largely unchanged over the past thirty years.

“We were surprised to see that the rural-urban divide has not narrowed,” notes IIASA researcher Caroline Zimm, another coauthor of the study. “We often assume that development automatically reaches everyone, but our data shows that’s far from the case.”

Socioeconomic factors such as education, occupation, and household size also play a significant role. The authors argue that these patterns point to systemic inequalities that policies must address more directly.

The implications of the research are far-reaching. The authors call for a shift toward multidimensional poverty reduction strategies that focus not only on income, but on sustainably expanding access to the goods and services that people need to live healthy, secure, and connected lives without harming the natural environment. The study also emphasizes the importance of continued investment in household-level, subnational data to inform these efforts.

“There’s a real risk that we’ll lose the ability to track these issues if funding for surveys like the DHS program is cut,” says Hoffmann. “Without this kind of data, we won’t know who is being left behind or how to help them.”

Encouragingly, previous research suggests that meeting decent living standards for everyone would require only a small fraction of today’s global energy and material use, meaning that fighting poverty does not have to come at the cost of sustainability. Reaching that goal will however require coordinated, well-funded policies that target the most underserved communities.

“The right to a decent life shouldn’t depend on where you’re born, but without bold action, we’re at risk of letting those with the fewest resources fall even further behind,” Hoffmann concludes.

This work has produced a new subnational dataset that offers a more detailed and actionable picture of where multiple deprivations persist, and how progress (or lack of it) has unfolded over time. By making this dataset publicly available, the authors hope to support further research and inform more targeted, effective policy responses.

Reference

Hoffmann, R., Patange, O., Zimm, C., Pachauri, S., Belmin, C., Pelz, S., Brutschin, E., Kikstra, J.S., Kuhn. M., Min, J., Muttarak, R., Riahi, K., Schinko, T., Mintz-Woo, K. (2025). Subnational survey data reveal persistent gaps in living standards across 75 low and middle-income countries. Nature Communications DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60195-5

Researcher contact

Roman Hoffmann
Research Group Leader and Senior Research Scholar
Migration and Sustainable Development Research Group
Population and Just Societies Program
hoffmann@iiasa.ac.at

About IIASA:

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an international scientific institute that conducts research into the critical issues of global environmental, economic, technological, and social change that we face in the twenty-first century. Our findings provide valuable options to policymakers to shape the future of our changing world. IIASA is independent and funded by prestigious research funding agencies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. www.iiasa.ac.at

Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-025-60195-5

Article Title

Subnational survey data reveal persistent gaps in living standards across 75 low and middle-income countries

Article Publication Date

11-Jun-2025

Vegetation vigor demonstrates that the Sierra Nevada mountain range’s ancient irrigation channels affect soil moisture levels

University of Córdoba

From satellite images taken over a period of 26 years, a team at the UCO shows how a system of irrigation channels dating back to the Roman Empire increases the water content of the soil adjacent to them

The Sierra Nevada Natural Park is traversed by more than 700 km of channels dug into the earth, through which the water circulates, with a network of irrigation conduits whose splendor peaked during the al-Andalus period. Although their best-known function is to distribute irrigation water, they are also essential for recharging aquifers.

The Sierra Nevada’s irrigation channels are a system for the “sowing” and “harvesting” of water: they allow for the collection and infiltration of meltwater at higher altitudes (sowing) and its subsequent exploitation in lower areas (harvesting), or in the natural springs of local villages.

As it passes through the area, this system modifies soil moisture levels. To evaluate the scope of their area of influence, researchers Javier Aparicio, Rafael Pimentel and María José Polo, with the Fluvial Dynamics and Hydrology group; and Francisco Bonet, in Terrestrial Ecology at the University of Córdoba, used the vigor of vegetation as an indicator of the water content of the soil in areas stretching more than 200 meters around the channels. Through satellite images from the period from 1984 to 2020, part of them processed within the ECOPOTENTIAL project, they analyzed the vigor of the surrounding vegetation, using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which evaluates the health and density of vegetation based on these satellite images.

“To see how far the channel modifies soil moisture transversely,” explained researcher Javier Aparicio. Three zones of influence were defined around the channels, without distinguishing between the margins, due to the similarity of the slopes. Zone Al-1 covered up to 50 m on each side of the channel, Al-2 extended from 50 to 200 m, and Al – 3 included areas over 200 m. After the comparative study of the NDVI index in each of the areas with monthly data, it was clear that, the closer to the ditch, the higher the figures were, but the surprising thing was that in Area 2 (from 50 to 200 meters) the numbers were also high, suggesting that the channels´ effects surpassed the 50 meters nearest to them.”

The study reveals a seasonal pattern in the vegetation vigor data “with a direct relationship between the hydrological dynamics of the basin and how well the vegetation does, which is more accentuated in the area closest to the channels,” added researcher Rafael Pimentel.

Channel restoration works

In addition to this general study, which includes 45 of the Sierra Nevada’s channels (the longest, distributed throughout the northern and southern territory), the team carried out more specific work focused on the Barjas Channel, restored in 2014 by the MEMOLA project at the University of Granada.

In that study, they found that after restoration, NDVI values increased by 19%, with a greater increase in the lower part of the channel, which the course did not reach adequately prior to its restoration.

The study of these very specific infrastructures in such emblematic places is somewhat rare, which meant that the team had to employ an analysis methodology more commonly applied to rivers and other larger systems. “The methodology can be extrapolated to other similar traditional systems, such as those found in Morocco's Atlas Mountains,” Aparicio added.

This work highlights those traditional water management systems in remote areas where technification is very complex, but which continue to generate value for the population and the environment.

Reference:

Aparicio Ibañez, Javier & Pimentel, Rafael & Bonet-García, Francisco & Polo, Maria. (2025). Using NDVI-derived vegetation vigour as a proxy for soil water content in Mediterranean-mountain traditional water management systems: Seasonal variability and restoration impacts. Ecological Indicators. 174. 113468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2025.113468

Journal

Ecological Indicators

DOI

10.1016/j.ecolind.2025.113468

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Using NDVI-derived vegetation vigour as a proxy for soil water content in Mediterranean-mountain traditional water management systems: Seasonal variability and restoration impacts

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Friday, June 13, 2025

KAIST succeeds in real-time carbon dioxide monitoring without batteries or external power

Figure 1. Concept and configuration of self-powered wireless CO2 monitoring system using fine vibration harvesting (a) System block diagram (b) Photo of fabricated system prototype

Figure 2. TENG energy harvesting-based wireless CO2 sensing system operation results (c) Experimental setup (d) Measured CO2 concentration results powered by TENG and conventional DC power source

Credit

Journal

DOI

Method of Research

Subject of Research

Article Title

Article Publication Date

Norms lead young people to consent to sex despite uncertainty

Method of Research

Subject of Research

Mental health interventions proved most effective at workplace health promotion, but more information on their long-term effects is needed

Journal

DOI

Article Title

Global action urgently needed to tackle antimicrobial resistance, experts warn

Journal

Article Title

Article Publication Date

Rethinking poverty

Journal

DOI

Article Title

Article Publication Date

Vegetation vigor demonstrates that the Sierra Nevada mountain range’s ancient irrigation channels affect soil moisture levels

Journal

DOI

Method of Research

Subject of Research

Article Title

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