Europe on track for a record year of wind power, adding enough capacity for 7 million homes
Industry group WindEurope reported in its Autumn 2026 data update, published in early September 2026, that Europe installed 8.8 gigawatts of new wind capacity in the first half of the year, a 30% jump over the same period in 2025 and enough to power roughly 7 million European households. Germany led the continent with 3.4 gigawatts installed in the first six months, and WindEurope now expects the bloc to add 24 gigawatts of new wind capacity by the end of 2026, a record pace that the group says could displace fossil fuel imports equivalent to 25 LNG tankers a year. The group cautioned that sustaining the momentum depends on upcoming permitting and grid-investment decisions by European policymakers.
Read more →Europe on track for a record year of wind power, adding enough capacity for 7 million homes
Industry group WindEurope reported in its Autumn 2026 data update, published in early September 2026, that Europe installed 8.8 gigawatts of new wind capacity in the first half of the year, a 30% jump over the same period in 2025 and enough to power roughly 7 million European households. Germany led the continent with 3.4 gigawatts installed in the first six months, and WindEurope now expects the bloc to add 24 gigawatts of new wind capacity by the end of 2026, a record pace that the group says could displace fossil fuel imports equivalent to 25 LNG tankers a year. The group cautioned that sustaining the momentum depends on upcoming permitting and grid-investment decisions by European policymakers.
Harvard turns ordinary knitting into shape-shifting smart fabric
Harvard researchers reported on September 1, 2026, that they had transformed everyday knitting into a platform for fabrics that snap between stable three-dimensional shapes and double as electronic sensors. Using elastic yarns and an industrial technique called plating, the team controlled how different yarns fall on opposite faces of the textile, letting internal stresses created during knitting drive predictable curvatures that lock into multiple stable configurations, much like a light switch flipping on and off. Adding conductive thread turned the shape-shifting textile into a soft switch that can control lights, count steps and respond to movement, and the researchers envision future versions that quietly track body motion or deliver tactile feedback without any external power source.
Read more →Harvard turns ordinary knitting into shape-shifting smart fabric
Harvard researchers reported on September 1, 2026, that they had transformed everyday knitting into a platform for fabrics that snap between stable three-dimensional shapes and double as electronic sensors. Using elastic yarns and an industrial technique called plating, the team controlled how different yarns fall on opposite faces of the textile, letting internal stresses created during knitting drive predictable curvatures that lock into multiple stable configurations, much like a light switch flipping on and off. Adding conductive thread turned the shape-shifting textile into a soft switch that can control lights, count steps and respond to movement, and the researchers envision future versions that quietly track body motion or deliver tactile feedback without any external power source.
Compound found in sea squirts reverses signs of aging and cognitive decline in mice
An international team from Stanford University, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences reported on September 2, 2026, that dietary supplements containing plasmalogens, lipid compounds abundant in sea squirts, reversed several signs of aging in older mice. The treated mice showed improved memory and learning, stronger connections between brain cells, reduced inflammation, and even regrew thicker, darker hair. Plasmalogens occur naturally in the human brain, heart and immune cells but decline with age, and the researchers believe the compounds may encourage brain regeneration and protect aging synapses, pointing toward a possible future anti-aging supplement derived from the marine creatures.
Read more →Compound found in sea squirts reverses signs of aging and cognitive decline in mice
An international team from Stanford University, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences reported on September 2, 2026, that dietary supplements containing plasmalogens, lipid compounds abundant in sea squirts, reversed several signs of aging in older mice. The treated mice showed improved memory and learning, stronger connections between brain cells, reduced inflammation, and even regrew thicker, darker hair. Plasmalogens occur naturally in the human brain, heart and immune cells but decline with age, and the researchers believe the compounds may encourage brain regeneration and protect aging synapses, pointing toward a possible future anti-aging supplement derived from the marine creatures.
Injectable scaffold helps stroke-damaged brains regrow blood vessels and restore movement in mice
Duke University bioengineers reported on September 2, 2026, that an injectable biomaterial helped mouse brains rebuild after a stroke by turning the cavity left behind by a blood clot into an environment that supports repair. The treatment, a microporous annealed particle scaffold made of hydrogel microparticles, recruits the body's own immune cells, including neutrophils that can switch from damaging to helpful, to promote new blood vessel growth and support neural remodeling. Treated mice recovered motor performance that was statistically comparable to healthy control animals within eight weeks, with the improvements holding for the rest of the study, offering a potential new approach to helping the brain heal after stroke.
Read more →Injectable scaffold helps stroke-damaged brains regrow blood vessels and restore movement in mice
Duke University bioengineers reported on September 2, 2026, that an injectable biomaterial helped mouse brains rebuild after a stroke by turning the cavity left behind by a blood clot into an environment that supports repair. The treatment, a microporous annealed particle scaffold made of hydrogel microparticles, recruits the body's own immune cells, including neutrophils that can switch from damaging to helpful, to promote new blood vessel growth and support neural remodeling. Treated mice recovered motor performance that was statistically comparable to healthy control animals within eight weeks, with the improvements holding for the rest of the study, offering a potential new approach to helping the brain heal after stroke.
UCLA finds a hidden physical link that helps guide how the human brain builds itself before birth
UCLA researchers reported on September 4, 2026, that they had identified a previously unknown physical connection guiding how radial glia, the stem cells that build the human cerebral cortex, decide which brain cells to make. Using lab-grown brain organoids, donated human tissue and fused "assembloids," the team found that projections extending from the thalamus make direct physical contact with radial glia, prompting the stem cells to produce more of the upper-layer excitatory neurons that are especially expanded in the human brain, a connection the researchers traced to the gene NRXN1 and believe likely does not exist in rodents. A companion study from the same team found that radial glia rely on a glucose-driven metabolic pathway to decide which cell types to generate, together offering new insight into how the human cortex forms and how that process can go awry in neurodevelopmental disorders.
Read more →UCLA finds a hidden physical link that helps guide how the human brain builds itself before birth
UCLA researchers reported on September 4, 2026, that they had identified a previously unknown physical connection guiding how radial glia, the stem cells that build the human cerebral cortex, decide which brain cells to make. Using lab-grown brain organoids, donated human tissue and fused "assembloids," the team found that projections extending from the thalamus make direct physical contact with radial glia, prompting the stem cells to produce more of the upper-layer excitatory neurons that are especially expanded in the human brain, a connection the researchers traced to the gene NRXN1 and believe likely does not exist in rodents. A companion study from the same team found that radial glia rely on a glucose-driven metabolic pathway to decide which cell types to generate, together offering new insight into how the human cortex forms and how that process can go awry in neurodevelopmental disorders.