Chinese researchers report that the fully superconducting EAST tokamak has become the first reactor to provide experimental confirmation of a theoretical “density-free regime,” a state where plasma remains stable even when pushed beyond traditional limits that were widely considered unbreakable. If this result holds up under scrutiny, the breakthrough could remove a major obstacle that has held fusion power back for decades by enabling reactors to operate at higher plasma densities without triggering the instabilities that typically shut them down. The development is being framed as a potential step toward making sustained fusion energy more practical, although significant engineering and validation work still lies ahead.
In sleep science, Bright Minds Biosciences is advancing an experimental drug called BMB-101 that is designed to enhance, rather than suppress, rapid eye movement sleep, reversing a long standing pattern in sleep medications. Their experimental drug BMB-101, still in clinical trials, has reportedly boosted REM sleep by 90% in epilepsy patients without making them sleep longer, and researchers suggest that restoring this restorative phase of sleep could have important implications for cognitive decline, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. Plant scientists at the University of Illinois have introduced “Stomata In-Sight,” a system that lets them watch the microscopic pores on leaves open and close in real time while simultaneously measuring carbon dioxide and water vapor flow, a combination that could guide the breeding of drought-resistant crops that produce reliable yields with less water in a warming world.
Cognitive research on animals continues to challenge assumptions about learning. A new study on 10 rare “gifted word learner” dogs, mostly border collies, found that they could retrieve new toys 80% of the time after simply overhearing their names in owners’ conversations, indicating a capacity to learn object labels in a way comparable to 18-month-old children. On the consumer tech front, new gadgets include the Swippit Instant Power System, a charging hub that can power up to 5 batteries in one go and swap a dying battery for a fresh one in 2 seconds flat, a Garmin inReach Mini 3 Plus satellite communicator with a color touchscreen that supports voice messages, photo sharing, and SOS, a Ubiquiti UniFi Travel Router that mirrors a home network while applying VPN rules and handling hotel Wi-Fi logins, and the Pebble Round 2 smartwatch that uses an e-paper display, physical buttons, and a battery that lasts for days on a single charge.
Optimistic health and accessibility technology rounded out the week. French startup Allergen Alert has shown a paperback-sized tabletop “mini lab” that can test food for gluten, dairy, and peanuts with lab-grade precision, with a launch planned later this year aimed at helping allergy sufferers who often experience severe reactions away from home. Stanford researchers claim they have built an Artificial Intelligence system that can predict your risk for about 130 diseases using just one night of sleep data, and the system is trained on almost 600,000 hours of recordings to detect subtle mismatches between brain, heart, and breathing signals that may reveal early warnings years before symptoms appear. Meanwhile, researchers at China’s Qingdao University report a self-powered eye tracker that harvests energy from eyelid friction, generating electricity every time a user blinks, with the goal of freeing some paralyzed patients who use eye-gaze interfaces from bulky batteries and offering more continuous, independent control of assistive devices.
