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The Strad news – Stradivari violin looted in Nazi-era Berlin believed to have been found in Japan

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A 1709 Stradivari violin that was stolen at the end of World War Two may have been unearthed in Tokyo, according to a US academic. Carla Shapreau, who runs the Lost Music Project, which traces instruments and other cultural objects looted in Nazi Germany, claims to have identified the 1709 ‘Mendelssohn’ Stradivari violin, which has been missing since 1945.

In the summer of 2024, Shapreau came across a photo of a violin known as the 1707 ‘Stella’ Stradivari as photographed for a 2018 Tokyo exhibition (the instrument was subsequently featured in The Strad’s 2019 calendar). Shapreau identified striking similarities in shape and wear marks between the ‘Stella’ and the missing ‘Mendelssohn’, and now believes they are one and the same. Her claim has been backed up by Jason Price, founder of the auction house Tarisio.

In the 1920s, the instrument known as the ‘Mendelssohn’ was owned by violinist Lilli von Mendelssohn-Bohnke, who was part of a prominent family of German–Jewish bankers. When the Nazis came to power in the 1930s, they passed race laws banning Jews from owning property, and the family’s bank, where the violin was stored following Mendelssohn-Bohnke’s untimely death in a car crash in 1928, was liquidated in 1938. The instrument was transferred to a Deutsche Bank safe, which was subsequently plundered in 1945 during the Soviet occupation of Berlin.

In the years following, the Mendelssohn-Bohnke family searched in vain for the violin, filing reports and posting notices, which included an advertisement in the September 1958 issue of The Strad. Shapreau mentioned the search for the missing violin in a 2009 article for The Strad.

The Stradivari known as the ‘Stella’ is owned by Japanese violinist Eijin Nimura, who bought the instrument in or around 2005. Nimura has consistently mentioned the violin openly on his website, social media and in other public settings and there is no evidence of wrongdoing on his part, nor that he acquired the instrument in anything but good faith.

Meanwhile on his blog on the Tarisio website, Price says he personally encountered the ‘Stella’ in 2000, when it was held by Tarisio on consignment. At the time it was valued between $1.2 and $1.5 million. He writes: ‘It lived in the Tarisio vault for several months in the autumn of 2000. But that was long before I knew – to be clear, this was long before anyone knew – that this was the stolen “Mendelssohn” Stradivari.’

He goes on to state that the violin had originally resurfaced in Paris in 1995 and was certified that year in London by the late Charles Beare, who dated it between 1705 and 1710. At the time no-one had any knowledge of the instrument’s possible connection with the stolen ‘Mendelssohn’ Stradivari.

The violin did not sell so Tarisio returned it to the consignor, and around five years later it was sold to Nimura with a statement of provenance that it had been ‘in the possession of a noble family which has been living in Holland since the times of the French Revolution’.

Price however writes: ‘the name “Stella” and the spurious Dutch provenance were not known to Tarisio in 2000’.

The family of Mendelssohn-Bohnke would like the instrument back; Nimura meanwhile has stated via his lawyers that he has no obligation to the Mendelssohn heirs.

In recent years, instrument dealers, museums and other cultural institutions have come under increasing pressure to return looted objects to the original owners and their descendants. This puts many current owners, who acquired the items in good faith and for large sums of money, in extremely difficult situations.

In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.

In the second volume of The Strad’s Masterclass series, soloists including James Ehnes, Jennifer Koh, Philippe Graffin, Daniel Hope and Arabella Steinbacher give their thoughts on some of the greatest works in the string repertoire. Each has annotated the sheet music with their own bowings, fingerings and comments.

The Canada Council of the Arts’ Musical Instrument Bank is 40 years old in 2025. This year’s calendar celebrates some its treasures, including four instruments by Antonio Stradivari and priceless works by Montagnana, Gagliano, Pressenda and David Tecchler.

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July 8, 2025
‘Survivor’ winner tells all: Inside Parvati Shallow’s memoir

Parvati Shallow is ready to right the record on her “Black Widow” reputation.

The four-time “Survivor” contestant is telling her story in far more detail than you’ve seen on TV in her new memoir, “Nice Girls Don’t Win” (out now from Penguin Random House). In this new tell-all, she goes behind her million-dollar “Survivor” victory at 25, starting from her childhood in a Florida commune run by a tyrannical female guru.

“Nice Girls Don’t Win” chronicles her journey to rebuild her life after public scrutiny, divorce and the death of her brother, accepting herself as more than the “villain” persona she was given on “Survivor.”

Parvati Shallow took this skill from her commune childhood to ‘Suvivor’

Shallow’s parents raised her in the Florida commune of controversial religious figure Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati. They left when she was 9, after years of enduring “indoctrination of indentured servitude,” abuse, financial demands and “love bombing” by leaders.

It was here that Shallow confesses she learned “fawning,” a “competitive likeability” that felt like a “magic trick” to gain friendship and social status both in her school years and later on “Survivor.”

From a young age on the commune, she realized that fawning was a survival skill to “persuade someone to like us so we can escape danger.” The adults around her were rewarded for fawning over religious authority figures. It’s this charm that earned Shallow the nickname “Black Widow,” a contestant known for her cunning social strategy.

“Fawning is one of the most socially rewarded survival instincts of all time – other people love it when we fawn over them,” Shallow writes. “We can amass friendships, money, coveted jobs, romances, and awards … and all you have to trade is your truth – if you even know what that is.”

Public scrutiny after ‘Survivor’ ‘rocked’ Parvati Shallow

Shallow came home from “Survivor” to a wave of public scrutiny, many calling her a “slut” or “vapid whore.” Viewers came up to her in person and told her how much they disliked her. She felt her time on the show was “powerfully transformative,” but realized the public didn’t feel the same about her “flirty-fawning strategy”

“The intensity of the backlash confused me. I’d always seen myself as a likable person. I’d been accepted and invited into diverse social groups with ease. I couldn’t make sense of the harsh criticism I was receiving from simply being myself and playing a game,” Shallow writes.

She “couldn’t untangle the game from real life,” she writes, which led her to a spiral of controlling relationships with men and self-hatred.

Personal grief behind the scenes of ‘Survivor’

Shallow returned to “Survivor” two more times after her win on her second time playing. She played in season 20’s “Heroes vs. Villains” in 2010.

In “Heroes vs. Villains,” Shallow writes that she was a last-minute switch to the villains tribe. Shallow recalls feeling “hated” by fellow contestants and like an “underdog” for the first time. In her personal life, she was struggling even more. Just before Shallow left for filming, her 15-year-old brother Kaelan suffered a skateboarding accident and her best friend’s brother died in an alcohol-related boating accident. When she got back home, Kaelan had started abusing the painkillers he had from surgery.

The experience left her feeling “rejected and unlovable, like a real loser.”

“When the season eventually aired, it was strange to feel so far removed from the love that was being poured onto me from fans, production, and the network. … But because I was so deeply lost inside my frozen shame pit, there was nowhere for this love to land. I couldn’t feel it, receive it, or own it. I was sure they were all wrong,” Shallow writes.

Shallow returned to “Survivor” again in 2020 because she and now-ex-husband John Fincher needed the money. Suffering from postpartum anxiety and struggling with her marriage, she writes that she knew returning to the show “would take whatever was left” of her. Later that year, her brother died of a drug overdose at age 26. They held his memorial over Zoom, which she said made her feel “numb.”

Parvati Shallow felt ‘alone’ in marriage to ‘Survivor’ alum John Fincher

Shallow married fellow “Survivor” alum Fincher in 2017 and had daughter, Ama, in 2018. She filed for divorce in 2021.

In “Nice Girls Don’t Win,” Shallow writes that she felt “alone inside (her) marriage” and that the end of her marriage felt like she “was being held against (her) will inside an agreement or contract that was too tight and there was no room for renegotiation.” She alleges Fincher only wanted her as a trophy wife and abandoned her on trips shortly after Ama was born.

Shallow and Fincher’s marriage began to crumble further after she started exchanging flirtatious messages with another man on Instagram. After Fincher found the messages, they tried to repair their marriage, but Shallow still found herself sliding toward divorce. Then her brother died, and Shallow asked Fincher to financially support the family while she grieved, but she alleges he didn’t follow through on his promise. It was her breaking point.

Then Fincher got diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. Shallow shifted her priorities to focus on his care and support. Five months after his diagnosis, she proceeded with the divorce but still felt a “wifely duty to help him through his cancer treatment.”

“I knew then that staying in my marriage would mean letting a part of myself die – the part of me that longed for real, honest love and partnership,” she writes.

‘Traitors’ helped Parvati Shallow reclaim the word ‘villain’

Shallow appeared on Season 2 of “Traitors,” during which she was in the process of a radical self-love and acceptance to reclaim the word “villain.” At the time she was teaching an online course called “How Villains Are Made” and working on her confidence. She was also in a relationship with comedian Mae Martin, who she says was supportive and transformed her outlook on love and gender. Shallow came out as queer in an Instagram post in December 2023.

On Alan Cumming’s reality show, Shallow started as a “Faithful” but was quickly recruited to be a “Traitor.” Because of the therapy and personal work she’d done, it was more difficult to lie without internalizing the shame and guilt that she was “being bad.” But eventually, she was able to lean into playing the part – Shallow says she saw “Traitors” as just a game, her decisions and lying not inextricably linked to her core personality like she did on “Survivor.”

New celebrity memoirs: Aging, marriage, Beyoncé and more

Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY’s Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you’re reading at cmulroy@usatoday.com.

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July 8, 2025
Gmail’s new ‘Manage subscriptions’ tool will help declutter your inbox

Google announced on Tuesday that it’s launching a new Gmail feature that is designed to help users easily manage their subscriptions and declutter their inboxes. The new “Manage subscriptions” tool is rolling out on the web, Android, and iOS in select countries.

With the new feature, users can view and manage their subscription emails in one place and quickly unsubscribe from the ones they no longer want to receive.

Users can view their active subscriptions, organized by the most frequent senders, alongside the number of emails they’ve sent in the past few weeks. Clicking on a sender provides a direct view of all emails from them. If a user decides to unsubscribe, Gmail will send an unsubscribe request to the sender on their behalf.

“It can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of subscription emails clogging your inbox: Daily deal alerts that are basically spam, weekly newsletters from blogs you no longer read, promotional emails from retailers you haven’t shopped in years can quickly pile up,” Chris Doan, Gmail’s Director of Product, wrote in a blog post.

Image Credits:Google

Users can access the new feature by clicking the navigation bar in the top-left corner of their Gmail inbox and then selecting “Manage subscriptions.”

It’s worth noting that the launch of the feature doesn’t come as a surprise, as some users spotted the tool back in April.

Manage subscriptions joins Gmail’s other tools that are designed to declutter your inbox, such as the one-click unsubscribe tool that rolled out last year. The feature allows users to unsubscribe from emails using a simple “unsubscribe” button, getting rid of the need to navigate through websites or the bottom of emails when looking to unsubscribe from promotional and newsletter content.

Google says the new feature will begin rolling out on the web starting Tuesday, with Android and iOS users starting to receive it on July 14 and July 21, respectively. It may take up to 15 days from the start of the rollout for the feature to reach every user, the company says.

The Manage subscriptions feature is available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts.

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July 8, 2025
Grab Anker’s New Soundcore Boom 3i Bluetooth Speaker While It’s $45 Off for Prime Day

Amazon Prime Day sale: The Anker Soundcore Boom 3i speaker is available for $95 as part of Amazon’s Prime Day sale event. That’s equivalent to 32% off. We named this model the “best compact rugged Bluetooth speaker that floats,” and it’s now at the best price we’ve seen since it launched.

A little less than five years ago, Anker released a Bluetooth speaker called the Soundcore Motion Plus that turned out to be popular because it delivered surprisingly good sound for its compact size and $100 price. In some ways, Anker’s new Soundcore Boom 3iSoundcore Boom 3i is the spiritual successor to that speaker. It’s similarly shaped but has more of an outdoor adventure slant. Anker calls it “built for the wild” and billing it as the first Bluetooth speaker with playback in water, as it floats and “auto-corrects” to keep the speaker drivers facing upward just above the surface.

This story is part of Amazon Prime Day, CNET’s guide to everything you need to know and how to find the best deals.

I’ve been using the Soundcore Boom 3i for the past few days and have mainly been impressed with it, but the speaker is a lot easier to recommend to CNET readers with a discount of $45 off the black model, dropping the price to $95. Meanwhile, the blue, yellow or red models are $100 or $40 off for Prime Day.

As you’d expect from a speaker that promotional photos show strapped onto a kayak (it does have a detachable carrying strap), the Soundcore Boom 3i is fully waterproof and dust-resistant, with an IP68 rating. Anker takes things a step further, touting the Boom 3i as “5x” saltwater-resistant. “While typical speakers may rust in under five months, Boom 3i stays corrosion-free for up to two years of beach, boat and seaside use.”

Read more: Best Bluetooth speakers of 2025

You shouldn’t expect audiophile sound from a mono Bluetooth speaker of this ilk. But for the most part, the Soundcore Boom 3i gives you what you want from a portable Bluetooth speaker from a sound perspective. By that I mean it plays loud for its size — it weighs about 1.8 pounds and measures 8.3 by 3.1 by 3.3 inches — plus it puts out a reasonable amount of bass and has fairly respectable clarity. You can find speakers that sound a little more natural, but these types of rugged portable speakers aren’t designed for critical listening.

The speaker has some colorful LED lighting on each side.

David Carnoy/CNET

I used it outdoors and inside in a few rooms, including a bathroom (it does make for a good bathroom speaker), and it was able to fill smaller rooms with sound. You can tweak the sound with the equalizer settings in the Soundcore companion app for iOS and Android and play around with the settings for the built-in beat-synched LED light show, which I kept turned off most of the time. You can also pair two of these speakers up in stereo mode and get significantly better sound.

I tested the speaker’s playback in water by dropping it in a pool. It indeed flipped over, so the speaker drivers were facing up, and the music kept playing, though the audio got a little garbled when a little wave passed over the speaker, and the drivers started spitting water out. In other words, it certainly sounds better out of the water than in it.

One of the problems with Bluetooth devices is that Bluetooth doesn’t transmit through water, which is why you have to load MP3s into memory when using wireless headphones while swimming (you can’t stream music to the headphones if your head is underwater). I don’t know where the Bluetooth antenna is on this speaker, but presumably it’s on the side that stays above the surface when the speaker is floating.

Enlarge Image

The Soundcore Boom 3i not only floats but auto-corrects to an upright orientation.

David Carnoy/CNET

You can actually activate a Buzz Clean mode from the app that makes the speaker vibrate and shed dirt and particles, like sand after a day at the beach. After finishing the Buzz Clean, you can then rinse off the speaker to get it truly clean.

The speaker also has another interesting feature: Holding down the “BassUp” bass-boost button for 5 seconds sets off a 96-decibel emergency alarm — Anker says it’s clearly audible at up to 100 meters — with flashing red LED lights. You can hit any button to turn the alarm off.

BLUETOOTH SPEAKER DEALS OF THE WEEK

Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.

Battery life is rated for 16 hours at moderate volumes, which is decent for a speaker this size. It’s also worth pointing out that the Boom 3i has a Bluetooth range of 100 feet, which is better than the more typical 33 feet you get with many Bluetooth speakers.

The Soundcore Boom 3i in black, which is only $95 with the discount code.

David Carnoy/CNET

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July 8, 2025
Huawei Mate 80 RS tipped to launch with new main rear camera from Smartsens

The Mate 70 RS. (Image source: Huawei)

Huawei’s next flagship smartphone is now thought to debut with a brand-new main camera, courtesy of a supplier that might also serve the high-end Xiaomi 16 series through 2025 and 2026. The sensor is backed to deliver advanced auto-focus with potentially enhanced low-light performance.

Some of the latest and most cryptic tips from the typically accurate leaker Digital Chat Station might pertain to the launch of a Mate 80 series with a new Ultimate Design (or RS) flagship and new camera hardware.

The latter apparently goes by the name “590”, also possibly previously referenced as the SC590XS, a 50MP 1/1.28-inch counterpart to the 1-inch sensor found in the new Pura 80 Ultra.

It might not have the hottest and most expansive footprint out there, but will apparently still be built on a relatively advanced 22 nanometer (nm) process and have pixels of a respectable 1.2 micron (μm) in size.

It is also backed to support 4K/120fps recording, not to mention the same advanced quad phase-detect (QPD) form of auto-focus as the latest imaging CMOS from companies such as Samsung or OmniVision.

The “590” might also deliver high dynamic range (HDR), and is also backed to achieve enhanced light sensitivity, especially if Huawei can equip it with a large-aperture lens as rumored.

The resulting 50MP main rear shooter might feature in successors to the Mate 70 Pro and Pro+ as well as the 70 RS (based on the fact that all 3 smartphones have the same rear cameras).

The SC590XS is reportedly made by Smartsens, an emerging imaging tech company also thought to furnish the Xiaomi 16, 16 Pro and perhaps even the 16 Ultra with new sensors of at least the same caliber.

Deirdre O Donnell – Senior Tech Writer – 8506 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2018

I became a professional writer and editor shortly after graduation. My degrees are in biomedical sciences; however, they led to some experience in the biotech area, which convinced me of its potential to revolutionize our health, environment and lives in general. This developed into an all-consuming interest in more aspects of tech over time: I can never write enough on the latest electronics, gadgets and innovations. My other interests include imaging, astronomy, and streaming all the things. Oh, and coffee.

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July 8, 2025
Olympic Speed Skating 2026 Overview: Returning medalists from Beijing 2022, retirements and rising stars

Jordan Stolz, new kid on the block, leads Team USA

Jordan Stolz first broke onto the Olympic stage at the Olympic Trials for Beijing, where he not only qualified for the 500m and 1000m, but set a new track record in the 1000m. Though his Olympic debut left much to be desired, ending with a 13th-place finish in the 500m and a 14th-place finish in the 1000m, the 20-year-old phenom since has taken the speed skating world by storm.

Following his breakout season in 2022, the then-18-year-old Stolz became the youngest skater to win a world title in a single distance at the 2023 World Single Distances Championships with his win in the 500m. He then went on to take gold in the 1000m and 1500m, becoming the first man to earn three titles at a single World Championships — a feat he repeated at the event’s 2024 edition, where he also set the national and track records in the 500m, as well as the track record in the 1000m.

Further solidifying his role as a sprint sensation, Stolz capped off a year-long, record-breaking 18-race World Cup win streak by snapping world leads in the 500m — where he became the first man to break 34 seconds — the 1000m and the 1500m, which he held previously — on his home oval in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the 2025 Speed Skating World Cup. Also during the 2025 season, Stolz raced his way back to the world championships podium, earning silver in the 500m and 1500m and bronze in the 1000m.

Should he continue on this commanding trajectory, Stolz could become the first Olympian since Canada’s Cindy Klassen in 2006 (and the first American since Eric Heiden in 1980) to win multiple speed skating medals at a single Winter Games.

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July 8, 2025
France and UK to stop small boats together, says Macron

Sam Francis

Political reporter

Henry Zeffman

Chief political correspondent

PA Media

French President Emmanuel Macron has said the UK and France “will deliver” on stopping small boat crossings, ahead of negotiations with Sir Keir Starmer this week.

Downing Street is hoping to finalise a deal on border enforcement during Macron’s three-day state visit, the first by a French president since 2008.

The talks are expected to focus on new powers for French police to intercept boats in shallow waters and a “one in, one out” migrant returns deal.

Speaking in the UK Parliament ahead of the talks, Macron said the two countries were “stepping up” their joint efforts but warned EU support was essential to ensuring “a lasting and effective solution”.

Adressing both Houses of Parliament, Macron said: “In this unstable world, hope for a better life elsewhere is legitimate.

“But we cannot allow our countries’ rules for taking in people to be flouted and criminal networks to cynically exploit the hopes of so many individuals with so little respect for human life.

“France and the UK have a shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and fairness.”

Decisions at this week’s UK-France summit will “respond to our aims for co-operation and tangible results on these major issues,” he said.

But her warned “we will only arrive at a lasting and effective solution with action at the European level”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is pressing to make a “one in, one out” deal the centrepiece of a new agreement with France.

The arrangement would allow Britain to return migrants who arrive by small boat to France in exchange for accepting asylum seekers with a family connection in the UK.

The purpose would be to demonstrate to those considering the perilous crossing that they could plausibly end up straight back in France, in the hope that this would deter them.

But any such exchanges would have to happen in large enough numbers to become an effective deterrent.

Getting a deal of this sort would be a big breakthrough as it would be the first clear sign of French willingness to take back migrants who have crossed the Channel.

But the optimism on the UK side of a deal being agreed this week is heavily qualified.

Downing Street is in separate talks with the European Commission to overcome opposition to the deal from a group of five Mediterranean countries who have complained they may be forced to accept people deported from the UK.

Sir Keir has also been pushing for France to revise its rules to allow police to intervene when boats are in shallow water, rather than requiring them still to be on land.

On Tuesday, a Downing Street spokesperson said the government expects new powers allowing French police to act before boats reach open water to be “operationalised soon”.

But the spokesperson said months of negotiations between Sir Keir and Macron were “bearing fruit”.

Last week the BBC witnessed French officers use a knife to puncture an inflatable boat after it had launched in an apparent change of tactics.

Asked about the tactics, a Downing Street spokesman said: “The French are now looking to bring in important new tactics to stop boats that are in the water, and we’re expecting that to be operationalised soon.

“We are the first government to have secured agreement from the French to review their maritime tactics so their border enforcement teams can intervene in shallow waters.

“This is operationally and legally complex, but we’re working closely with the French.”

The Lib Dems have endorsed the talks, arguing “cross-border cooperation will be key to stopping these dangerous Channel crossing”.

Party spokesperson Lisa Smart said: “To fully tackle the scale of the problem, we need to see far more ambition – including by negotiating a stronger leadership role of the UK in Europol.”

Since coming to power in July last year, Labour has announced a series of measures to tackle people-smuggling, including a new criminal offence of endangering the lives of others at sea.

Legislation going through Parliament sets out plans to use counter-terror powers against people smugglers – with suspects facing travel bans, social-media blackouts and phone restrictions.

But the latest figures show 2025 has already set a new record for small boat arrivals in the first six months of the year, since the data was first collected in 2018.

Between January and June nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK by crossing the English Channel in small boats – up 48% compared to the same period over 2024.

The UK has repeatedly pushed France to tighten patrols along its northern coast. Since 2018 the UK has pledged more than £700m to France to boost coastal patrols and buy surveillance gear.

The majority of this came from a 2023 deal struck under the previous Conservative government to give France almost £500m over three years to go towards extra officers to help stop migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.

Asked whether the UK, as the Conservatives have suggested, should demand a refund, a Downing Street spokesperson said “under this government, we’ve secured a significant ramping up of the operational capabilities from French law enforcement”.

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July 8, 2025
CRISPR Approach To Neurodegenerative Diseases

Martin Kampmann, PhD, delivers the 2025 Byers Lecture. Photo by Sonya Yruel

When Martin Kampmann, PhD, set out to explore the workings of the human brain, he was captivated by its greatest mystery: how a network of cells could produce something as intangible as thoughts, emotions, memories, and even consciousness.

This lifelong curiosity, paired with a personal motivation to combat dementia, has shaped a research career at the leading edge of neurodegenerative science. Kampmann shared his compelling journey and dedication to discovering new therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases in their earliest stages at this year’s annual Byers Award Lecture in May.

“I was motivated to research neurodegenerative diseases because I had experienced how devastating these diseases are through my grandmother, who suffered from dementia,” said Kampmann , the Dorothy Bronson Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and a member of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases. “With a molecular-level understanding of neurodegenerative diseases, my goal is to find new therapies that can intervene and stop these diseases in their tracks.”

Discovery beyond boundaries

At the lecture, UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood , the Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Distinguished Professor, introduced Kampmann’s work as a bold effort to uncover the cellular mysteries of brain health, understand the biological mechanisms that go awry in disease, and ultimately develop safe, effective therapies that could transform patients’ lives.

Chancellor Hawgood also acknowledged Brook Byers, a lifetime member of the UCSF Foundation Board of Directors, his wife, Shawn, and his sons, Blake and Chad, for 30 years of supporting basic science and founding the award, which recognizes science’s role in advancing knowledge, driving innovation, and addressing global challenges.

“The Byers’ unwavering support for basic science has had a profound and lasting impact on UCSF,” Chancellor Hawgood said. “Thanks to their belief in UCSF, the Byers Award has become a cornerstone of our scientific community. It inspires our researchers and fuels bold, world-changing discoveries. For 30 years, this award has celebrated the spirit of innovation and excellence that defines UCSF at its best.”

Hosted by the Sandler Program for Breakthrough Biomedical Research (PBBR), the Byers Award supports outstanding research of mid-career faculty members whose innovative ideas often are deemed too high-risk by the National Institutes of Health and other large funding entities.

Like the Byers Award, PBBR supports curiosity-driven science and has achieved remarkable success. It has generated nearly 4,000 peer-reviewed scientific publications and 127 patents, and has supported almost 1,100 investigators. Recipients of PBBR awards have generated discoveries that have resulted in $1.81 billion in funding for scientific research.

From molecules to the mind

UCSF is one of the few places in the world where innovative strategies are able to succeed because of the robust neuroscience community support.”

Kampmann’s spirit of fearless exploration is exactly what the Byers Award was created to support. His path to UCSF began in Germany and in Cambridge in the UK, where he studied human biology and biochemistry before pursuing a doctorate at The Rockefeller University. There, he investigated how molecules move between the nucleus and the surrounding space of the cell, establishing the groundwork for understanding how cells function.

His desire to view biology beyond a molecular lens ultimately led him to UCSF for postdoctoral training in the lab of Jonathan Weissman, PhD, who at the time was a professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology. As a postdoc, Kampmann led the creation of a tool that helps scientists find important human genes involved in specific cell processes and understand how those genes work together in complex networks.

“The timing was great because CRISPR technology was just being developed by [UC Berkeley biochemist and Nobel laureate] Jennifer Doudna ,” Kampmann said. “We were able to take advantage of these exciting new technologies to build a CRISPR-based genetic-screening platform, which allowed us to systematically study genes across the human genome. The purpose was to identify which genes play important roles in specific cellular processes and better understand their functions.”

Kampmann credits UCSF’s collaborative environment and bold research culture with helping him make the leap from biochemistry to neuroscience. One especially fruitful collaboration has been with the Memory and Aging Center’s Neurodegenerative Disease Brain Bank, led by Lea Grinberg , MD, PhD, the John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation Professor, and William Seeley , MD, the Zander Family Distinguished Professor of Neurology.

Together, they used advanced genetic research methods to identify, for the first time, the specific molecules found in the neurons most affected by Alzheimer’s disease in the brain region that shows early signs of the condition.

“UCSF is one of the few places in the world where innovative strategies are able to succeed because of the robust neuroscience community support,” Kampmann said. “These kinds of partnerships ground our discoveries and make our models stronger.”

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July 8, 2025
New clay membrane tech can extract lithium straight from water

Forget mines, the next lithium rush might come from the ocean.

In a major breakthrough, researchers at U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago have developed an advanced membrane technology that extracts lithium from saltwater.

Built using vermiculite, an inexpensive and naturally abundant clay that costs only about $350 per ton, the new membrane filters lithium ions with remarkable efficiency, offering a potential domestic alter native to traditional mining.

Mining without a mine

Most of the world’s lithium currently comes from a handful of countries via hard-rock mining or salt lake evaporation. These processes are not only costly and slow, but leave global supply chains vulnerable.

Yet, vast amounts of lithium lie dissolved in seawater and underground brines. Until now, extracting it from these sources has been prohibitively inefficient.

The Argonne-UChicago team devised a method to peel the vermiculite into ultrathin sheets, just a billionth of a meter thick, and then restack them to create a dense, layered filter. The sheets are so incredibly thin, they’re classified as two-dimensional materials.

Atomic structure of vermiculite membrane showing 2D layers supported by aluminum oxide pillars. Yellow balls are doped with sodium ions. Credit: Argonne National Laboratory.

However, the layers of untreated clay fell apart in water within half an hour due to their strong affinity to it.

To solve this problem, the researchers layered the 2D clay membrane with microscopic aluminum oxide pillars, giving it a stable, parking-garage-like structure.

This architecture not only keeps the membrane intact in water but also enables it to filter ions based on both size and charge, which is key to separating lithium from lookalike elements like magnesium and sodium.

Power hidden in brine

Next, the researchers infused the membrane with sodium cations, which clustered around the aluminum oxide pillars.

This shifted the membrane’s surface charge from neutral to positive. In saltwater, both lithium and magnesium ions are positively charged, but magnesium carries a higher charge (+2) compared to lithium’s (+1).

The positively charged membrane repels the more strongly charged magnesium ions more forcefully, allowing lithium ions to pass through more easily while keeping magnesium out.

To enhance selectivity further, the team added additional sodium ions, which tightened the membrane’s pore structure.

This tweak lets smaller ions like sodium and potassium pass through, while catching lithium with greater precision.

The result is a scalable, low-cost filtration method that could unlock untapped lithium reserves found abundantly in oceans, underground brines, and even wastewater.

“Filtering by both ion size and charge, our membrane can pull lithium out of water with much greater efficiency,” said first author Yining Liu, a Ph.D. candidate at UChicago and a member of the AMEWS team.

“Such a membrane could reduce our dependence on foreign suppliers and open the door to new lithium reserves in places we never considered.”

The implications of the membrane go beyond lithium. Researchers say it could help recover other critical minerals, including nickel, cobalt, rare earth elements, and even remove harmful contaminants from drinking water.

“There are many types of this clay material,” said Liu. “We’re exploring how it might help collect critical elements from seawater and salt lake brines or even help clean up our drinking water.”

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July 8, 2025
Today’s top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, Ukraine, Somalia, South Sudan, Haiti

#Occupied Palestinian Territory

Conditions in Gaza deteriorate as hostilities continue

OCHA warns that as attention turns to news of what is hoped will be a possible ceasefire, the already catastrophic conditions on the ground in Gaza are deteriorating even further. Humanitarian teams continue to receive reports of tents, schools, homes and medical facilities coming under attack, with scores of people killed or injured every day.

OCHA warns that the fuel crisis in Gaza has reached a critical point. What little fuel remains is already being used to power the most essential operations – such as intensive care units and water desalination – but those supplies are running out fast, and there are virtually no additional accessible stocks left.

Hospitals are rationing. Ambulances are stalling. Water systems are on the brink. The deaths this is likely causing could soon increase sharply unless the Israeli authorities allow new fuel in – urgently, regularly and in sufficient quantities.

Today, the Israeli authorities issued yet another displacement order for parts of Khan Younis – specifically ordering the displacement of those staying in tents. An initial review of a map published with the order suggests it also includes areas that have not been subject to displacement orders since before the last ceasefire, which ended in March.

OCHA notes that even the smaller areas where people are being forced to concentrate – now down to about 15 per cent of the Strip and shrinking – are fragmented and lack the most basic infrastructure and services. Like the rest of Gaza, they remain extremely unsafe. Across the Strip, families are trying to survive this nightmare, protect their children to the extent possible, and search for whatever minimal food exists.

The issuance of a displacement order does not relieve any party from the imperative to spare civilians, including those who are unwilling or unable to leave.

Yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for the protection of Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, warning that the hospital is overwhelmed with trauma injuries – double its capacity – and has effectively turned into one large trauma ward. WHO said that many of the patients are coming from areas where people are being shot at while trying to access food.

In a video message from the hospital, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO’s representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said the facility is running critically low on trauma supplies, essential medicines, equipment and fuel. He also noted that staff are exhausted.

OCHA reports that humanitarian movements inside Gaza remain heavily restricted. Yesterday, out of 12 attempts to coordinate such movements with the Israeli authorities, only four were fully facilitated – and just one of those involved the delivery of supplies. Another four attempts were denied outright, blocking efforts to evacuate patients, recover broken trucks or remove debris. The remaining four were initially approved but then faced impediments on the ground, ultimately undermining humanitarian teams’ ability to carry out their missions as planned.

#Syria

Authorization for UN cross-border aid deliveries extended

OCHA says that on 7 July, the Syrian Arab Republic extended its consent for the United Nations to deliver humanitarian assistance through the Bab al-Hawa, Bab al-Salam and Al-Rai crossings with Türkiye for an additional six months, through early February.

This remains an important and cost-effective route for the delivery of humanitarian assistance, which is now being used to provide aid to a range of areas inside Syria.

This year, more than 1,500 trucks have delivered critical UN assistance through these routes – more than five times the number during the same period last year.

For example, on 3 and 4 July, 52 trucks carrying about 1,300 metric tons of food assistance from the World Food Programme crossed into Syria, benefiting an estimated 430,000 people.

#Ukraine

Scores reported injured in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia attacks

OCHA says that yesterday’s attacks in the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia caused multiple civilian casualties and extensive damage to civilian infrastructure.

According to authorities, nearly 60 people were injured in the morning attacks, which sparked fires in residential areas.

In Kharkiv city, drone attacks killed one person and injured 39 others, including children, and damaged more than two dozen homes and several schools, according to authorities. In Zaporizhzhia city, 20 civilians were injured and multiple buildings, including a university and pharmacies, were also damaged.

Meanwhile, hostilities near the front line killed 10 civilians and injured more than 20 between yesterday and today, according to police reports. Drone attacks in the regions of Donetsk and Kherson also impacted a civilian bus and a car, injuring civilians. Humanitarian partners provided support to affected families after the attacks.

Today, a UN-led convoy delivered 10 tons of aid – including hygiene kits and shelter materials – to communities in the region of Mykolaiv, in the south of the country.

The UN and its partners continue to support the humanitarian response across Ukraine: From January to May 2025, nearly 460 humanitarian partners reached 3.5 million people out of the 6 million people they hope to assist this year. The US$2.6 billion Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Ukraine is currently 32 per cent funded, with $848 million received so far.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says that it continues to undertake durable house repairs of war-damaged homes – a key enabler for families and communities to begin their path towards recovery.

UNHCR reached a major milestone, with more than 40,000 homes damaged by the war repaired, enabling families to return or remain in their communities. Beyond durable repairs, since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, UNHCR has also supported some 470,000 people with emergency shelter materials kits, including tarpaulins, wooden boards and nails.

#Somalia

Aid shortfalls put most vulnerable at risk

OCHA reports that funding cuts are taking a growing toll on the most vulnerable people in Somalia.

The country faces an already difficult food security situation, with some 4.6 million people facing high acute food insecurity across Somalia and 1.8 million children under 5 expected to be acutely malnourished this year. Partners report that food assistance has dropped more than 50 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Across Somalia, more than 150 clinics have been affected in the first half of this year, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without access to healthcare. Funding for water and sanitation programmes stands at just 6.5 per cent of the required amount.

In the Middle Shabelle region, more than 28 nutrition sites could close by end of this month. The closures will significantly affect nutrition services for vulnerable children, as well as pregnant and lactating women, in a region that has one of the highest malnutrition rates in Somalia.

In Banadir region, more than 12,700 malnourished children, including more than 1,100 suffering from severe acute malnutrition and at risk of death, will soon lose life-saving treatment, as 20 supplementary feeding sites face imminent closure.

Similarly, in South West state, mobile outreach health teams have dropped from 74 in 2024 to just 25 currently. In Puntland state, 79 health facilities, including all 29 public health units, have ceased functioning since the start of the year.

Because of the funding reductions, 2 million Somalis are projected to face heightened vulnerability in the coming months.

Humanitarian agencies in Somalia have reprioritized their response efforts to align activities to the new funding reality. The $1.4 billion Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Somalia is 15 per cent funded, with just over $222 million received. The food security and nutrition sectors are only 5 and 3 percent funded, respectively.

OCHA is concerned that without urgent and sustained funding, the humanitarian crisis in Somalia will deepen, leading to preventable suffering and loss of life.*

*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in Somalia with urgent support.

#South Sudan

UN, partners aid response to worsening cholera outbreak

OCHA reports that South Sudan is facing a rapidly expanding cholera outbreak, affecting thousands of people across the country.

According to the Ministry of Health, nearly 80,000 cases and more than 1,400 deaths have been reported since the end of September 2024. The crisis has evolved into a complex emergency, driven by flooding, displacement and limited access to basic services.

The Humanitarian Coordinator, Anita Kiki Gbeho, participated yesterday in a meeting with Government ministers on coordinating the response to what is now the worst cholera outbreak in the country’s history.

The UN and its partners are working with the Government to pre-position life-saving supplies, maintain essential health and nutrition services, expand disease surveillance and early warning systems, and improve access to safe water and hygiene, as well as scaling up cholera vaccinations, facilitating humanitarian access, and mobilizing resources with transparent tracking.

These coordinated actions come ahead of the peak of the rainy season, which is expected to bring widespread flooding and further hinder humanitarian access to areas of acute need. The next eight weeks will be critical to containing the outbreak and saving lives.

While the UN and its partners continue to deliver oral cholera vaccines and other urgent, life-saving assistance across South Sudan, the ability to scale up the response is severely constrained by funding shortfalls. As of the first week of July, the South Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, which seeks $1.69 billion, is only 22 per cent funded, with $368 million received.

#Haiti

Thousands flee violence in Centre department

OCHA reports that recent armed attacks in Haiti’s Centre department last week have displaced more than 16,000 people. Most have found shelter with host families, while 2 per cent have settled in seven informal displacement sites formed in the wake of these incidents.

These latest developments reflect the continued deterioration of the security situation in Haiti, which is compounding humanitarian needs in a country where more than 1.3 million people are already internally displaced – half of whom are children. Overall, nearly 6 million people in Haiti need humanitarian assistance, amid persistent insecurity and the gradual collapse of essential services.

Displaced women and girls are particularly vulnerable. They face severe risks to their safety, including exposure to sexual and gender-based violence, with cases reported in some displacement sites.

Despite major challenges, humanitarian partners – coordinated by OCHA – continue to deliver life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable in Haiti. From January to March, more than 722,000 people received emergency food assistance, nearly 25,000 people received emergency shelter kits, and 35,000 benefited from essential non-food items. Nearly 170,000 people gained access to safe drinking water, and 55,000 accessed emergency sanitation facilities.

However, a lack of funding is significantly limiting partners’ capacity to meet growing needs. Halfway into the year, the 2025 appeal for Haiti is only 8 per cent funded, making it the least funded of all UN-coordinated humanitarian response plans globally: Less than $75 million of the $908 million needed has been received to date.

OCHA remains committed to working closely with humanitarian partners, national authorities and others to increase funding levels, coordinate the delivery of assistance, facilitate humanitarian access, and ensure that the needs of Haiti’s most vulnerable people are addressed.

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July 8, 2025