AWE stacks by Stargate Hydrogen enable scalable, reliable and cost-efficient production of green hydrogen
BASF’s polysulfone Ultrason® S combines excellent chemical resistance, stable mechanical properties in harsh conditions with optimal thermoplastic processing
Ultrason® is especially suited where metal and PPS fail to meet requirements of AWE, PEM, AEM electrolyzers
BASF at K 2025: Hall 5 Booth C21/D21, Messe Düsseldorf, Germany
The electrolyzer manufacturer Stargate Hydrogen, Estonia, is now using BASF’s Ultrason® to manufacture the frames in its stacks used for alkaline water electrolyzers (AWE). The polysulfone (PSU) Ultrason® S replaces metals such as nickel, resulting in significantly lighter stacks. This substitution is possible because BASF’s high-performance thermoplastic offers high temperature and chemical resistance also in harsh alkaline conditions. It can withstand high stack pressures due to excellent compression strength. As Ultrason® can be injection-molded, it provides greater design flexibility for easier functional integration than metal. The collaboration between Stargate Hydrogen and BASF has yielded an exceptional result: the pressurized stacks of the Stellar series are designed for long operational lifespans, supporting reliable hydrogen production, and reducing downtime and maintenance costs. This durability enhances the economic feasibility of green hydrogen production, making it a cost-effective solution.
Alkaline electrolyzers are the most robust and proven form of electrolysis for producing hydrogen from water. “Stargate Hydrogen manufactures electrolyzer stacks to empower system integrators with the most flexible and scalable technology,” says Marko Virkebau, CEO of Stargate Hydrogen. “We deliver not only a piece of hardware but a partnership from day one until hydrogen is being produced reliably. We build upon the best aspects of AWE technology and complement it with breakthrough materials. This is why we chose BASF’s Ultrason® for the frames in our Stellar electrolyzer series: it combines light weight with outstanding performance, thus helping us to improve the efficiency and lower the cost of alkaline electrolyzers.” This results in a new class of electrolyzers with high current densities, offering an innovative approach to decarbonizing sectors such as heavy transport, steel manufacturing and the chemical industry.
Tailored Ultrason® portfolio for scaling up hydrogen production
The patent-pending design of Stargate Hydrogen’s Stellar stacks incorporates frames with a diameter of 85 cm. BASF’s specialty plastic Ultrason® enables these frames to be large, robust, and durable, with a focus on higher operating temperatures and extended lifetimes. It withstands the extreme forces in AWE systems and shows excellent hydrolytic stability. Its stable mechanical properties make it suitable for current (90 °C) and future (>100 °C) electrolyzers.
“With Ultrason®, our customers can upscale green hydrogen production, thus advancing the transformation to clean energy,” says Jochen Schmid from Global Business Development Ultrason® at BASF. “Its excellent performance under the harsh conditions of water electrolysis makes it the ideal material for various electrolyzer technologies and applications. We are proud to support Stargate Hydrogen in its scale-up strategy — from selecting the appropriate Ultrason® grade to part and tool design and final frame production.” BASF offers a tailored Ultrason® portfolio to meet the specific performance requirements of alkaline water (AWE), proton exchange membrane (PEM), and anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzers. Supported by BASF’s application expertise and local technical support, the material range for electrolyzer components includes polyarylethersulfones (PSU, PESU, PPSU) for frames, gaskets, and separator membranes.
Ultrason® is the trade name for BASF’s product range of polyethersulfone (Ultrason® E), polysulfone (Ultrason® S) and polyphenylsulfone (Ultrason® P). The high-performance thermoplastic is used to manufacture water filtration membranes, stylish, durable and safe household and catering applications as well as lightweight components for the automotive and aerospace industries. Ultrason® brands can substitute thermosets, metals, glass and ceramics in many applications because of their extraordinary property profile.
Some people love going to the hairdresser while others dread it. How can you make the most of your visit and achieve the best possible look? Stylists share their tips for getting a cut that suits you – and avoiding a hairdo disaster.
Work out what styles suit you
This is “the million-dollar question, with no straightforward answer”, says Charlotte Mensah, an afro and curly hair specialist and founder of The Hair Lounge on Portobello Road in London. “The truth is, the best style for you will always come down to how you feel about yourself. That’s inescapable. Confidence is what allows you to wear any cut proudly, but there’s also nothing wrong with letting your face shape and features guide your choice.”
“There are a few things to take into consideration,” agrees Naomi Brooks, an independent stylist and former salon owner based in Manchester. “Your hair type: is your hair fine? Medium? Thick? Face shape: do you need something that frames your face, or takes your hair away from your face? And lifestyle: do you have the time to maintain certain hairstyles, or do you need something that’s easy and low maintenance?”
“I don’t subscribe to this idea about face shapes: you can have this because your face is like that, and you can’t have that,” says Luke Hersheson, the CEO of Hershesons and author of Great Hair Days: & How to Have Them. “I’m a big believer that everyone can have everything within reason: there is a bob, a short haircut, a long haircut for everyone.”
Be honest with yourself about what you can pull off
Take advice … chat with your hairdresser about what you want and they will advise you. Photograph: Cavan Images/Alamy
“Suitability is key,” says Cos Sakkas, global creative director of Toni & Guy and British Hairdresser of the Year 2024. “You might want something but, if it doesn’t work for you, it is going to look terrible.” When Sakkas meets new clients, he finds out about their life to figure out which styles are best. When not in the Toni & Guy Covent Garden salon, Sakkas teaches at the academy, where they are currently cutting a lot of bobs and mullets – luckily, the models can usually pull these off, whereas many of us might struggle with the latter.
Have a consultation before doing anything drastic
“A thorough consultation is essential when finding the right stylist,” says Mensah. “Use it to ask about their training, whether the style you want is high or low maintenance, and what aftercare and follow-up visits they recommend.”
“When I do a consultation,” says Hersheson, “I spend the first five to 10 minutes just listening and asking questions. If you feel really listened to before a hairdresser starts telling you what they think, that is a really good sign. Our job is to offer an opinion about what people should have. But you can’t offer an opinion until you have really understood how someone wears their hair, what they love about it, what they hate about it.”
‘Thinking of a mullet? Seek advice first…’ Photograph: Posed by modelda; niromphoto/Getty Images
Bring along visuals
Gone are the days of flicking through hair magazines at a salon – now it’s all about coming armed with images from Instagram, says Sakkas.“What is really important are visuals,” he says. “I will always ask, ‘Have you seen something you’ve been inspired by?’ Everybody sees a celebrity, model, or influencer who they love.” Sakkas stresses the importance of bringing pictures along to an appointment, recalling a client who asked for a Natalie Imbruglia look without showing a picture: he gave her a pixie crop, rather than the more mid-length style she had in mind. Luckily, it grew on her.
Find images of what you want to show your hairdresser and avoid hair disasters. Photograph: Plume Creative/Getty Images
“My advice is to build up a Pinterest board of things you like,” says Hersheson. Then, “I’d seek out great people who can help achieve that. You now have this amazing ability to seek out stylists and almost try before you buy, because you can see their work on social media. It means that, by the time you get into a chair, you feel more relaxed because you know they are talking your language.”
Hersheson adds: “You don’t want to feel like a hairdresser is snooty about looking at pictures. This would be a bit of a red flag. Imagery is really important because one person’s creamy blond is another person’s yellow, and one person’s layer is another person’s shag.”
Get to know your stylist
“I’ve got clients who have been with me longer than I’ve had children,” says Mensah, whose eldest is 33. “You can spend four hours at a time in that chair: you need to like the person doing your hair, and feel comfortable enough to be open with them. That rapport is everything.”
“I think big [hair] changes reflect big changes in an individual’s life or relationship,” says Sakkas. “I will ask: what has made you come to this decision? Once I have an understanding of that, I am able to relate with them more.” Rather than making polite conversation about holidays during a cut, Sakkas likes to explain to clients what he is doing.
Hersheson regularly cuts the hair of some very famous people, including Victoria Beckham, Sienna Miller and Keira Knightley. Does he ever get nervous? “A lot of the people I work with, I’ve had long relationships with, so I suppose it’s about building trust. When you work with someone for the first time, it’s a bit more daunting. You have to build that relationship.”
Good rapport … take advice from a hairdresser who you trust. Photograph: Tatsiana Volkava/Getty Images
If a hairdresser tries to talk you out of something, listen
“The most common thing I have to talk people out of, or rather provide another perspective on, is the big chop,” says Mensah. “A lot of people don’t have healthy hair, and the most radical but logical solution is often to cut your hair off. But that is simply not a decision you make on a whim. If someone books in for a wash, cut and blowdry, but decides to go for a big chop after five minutes in the salon, we need to have a conversation. It’s not to discourage them but to be sure this is the decision they want to make.”
“Most of the time, I have to talk people into it,” Sakkas says with a laugh. “I will never talk somebody out of having a restyle unless it’s going to be an absolute disaster.”
“If it’s not going to be good for the hair, I’ll refuse,” says Brooks. “We’re all about healthy hair and, if it’s going to compromise that, I won’t do it.”
Say if you don’t like looking in the mirror
If you can’t bear looking at your reflection during an appointment, you are not alone. “Let your stylist know,” says Sakkas. “They can move your chair so you don’t have to look at yourself.” Alternatively, bring a book, listen to a podcast “or even just close your eyes, relax and let us do all the work. A haircut should feel like self-care, not something uncomfortable and awkward”.
Don’t be afraid to go back if you aren’t happy
It takes time to get used to a new haircut, the stylists agree. “It can take a few days or even a week for your brain to adjust to a new look after a dramatic change,” says Mensah. If you still aren’t happy, “contact the salon to speak with your stylist or a manager about the issue,” she says: most salons will be happy to arrange for a complimentary adjustment.
“What I find is that a client will decide to go elsewhere because they’re too embarrassed to come back,” says Sakkas. “You dump a problem on another hairdresser. If you were to go back to your hairdresser, it might just need a tiny tweak,” like a bit of weight being taken out or some advice on how to finish it. “Generally, the unhappiness is because you’re not used to it, and it can be fixed really easily.”
“The worst thing that someone could do is go and slate that stylist on Google,” says Hersheson. “And that happens, unfortunately.” Instead: “Always go back and discuss it,” he says.
Embrace greys
Hair changes as we become older: “It is simply a part of the aging process,” says Mensah. “The way I deal with greys is by wearing them. They came out of my head after all; what else can I do, if not embrace them?”
Grey is now a massive trend, says Brooks; instead of spending a fortune on covering them up, people are “free to be who they are”.
In vogue … going naturally grey is in fashion. Photograph: Isabel Pavia/Getty Images
If you do want to delve into colouring, “think about what suits your skin tone, your lifestyle, your personal style,” says Mensah. “Colour should feel like an extension of your story. It’s not just about following trends, it’s about finding shades that empower you.”
Be prepared to put the work in between cuts
“Taking care of your hair at home is just as important as what happens in the salon,” says Mensah. “Think of your routine as an extension of the work your stylist has set in motion. Without it, you won’t see the same lasting results. For afro and textured hair especially, consistency is everything; keeping your strands hydrated, protecting them at night, and handling them gently are the pillars of healthy hair. What I do in the chair lays the foundation, but what you do day to day is what allows your hair to truly flourish.”
“Invest in good shampoos and conditioners,” says Hersheson. “You get what you pay for and a lot of the cheaper ranges are very cosmetic based: they have cheap silicones in them that are not particularly beneficial in the long term. I would invest in good-quality stuff.” How much should you be spending? “North of £20, unfortunately,” says Hersheson.
Make sure you don’t leave it too long to get a tidy up. “Six to eight weeks has been the traditional period between visits,” says Sakkas. “If you have a shorter haircut, then six to eight weeks sits perfectly. If you have a really short crop, six to eight weeks can make a big difference to the original style. If you have longer hair, you can get away with eight to 10 weeks.”
There is no shame in having the same style if it works
Don’t feel the need for change. If you like a style, stick with it, and ignore fashion. Photograph: Tatiana Maksimova/Getty Images
“I haven’t changed my hair in the last six years. I’ve been wearing it natural and fully embracing my texture,” says Mensah.
“When you have a length that works for you, there are so many different variations,” says Sakkas. “You can create three or four different styles, depending on your mood, how professional or how ‘Sunday afternoon’ you want it.”
“Beyoncé has had the same shade and pretty much the same style throughout her career,” says Brooks. “Some people do just have that signature look and that is OK: it is about enhancing that with different things, like a pop of colour, or changing the layers slightly.”
Know that even the pros have made mistakes
“When I started hairdressing,” says Sakkas, “I had hair past my shoulders, and then I got it cut into a short crop and bleached it. I’m not sure it was really right for me.”
“Back in the late 80s and early 90s, I experimented with all sorts of crazy hairstyles,” admits Mensah. “One that stands out was a cut where the back of my head was shaved, and the rest was coloured orange and shaped into a bob – very Salt-N-Pepa-inspired. My father was convinced there was something wrong with me.”
Hersheson recalls having a spiky boyband-inspired look in the noughties. “These things feel right in the moment,” he says. And, if not, it will almost always grow back.
Prince Harry reunited with his father, King Charles, for the first time in 19 months, but a new report claims this could spark a monarchy war between him and his elder brother, Prince William. The recent face-to-face meeting between the estranged father and son marked a huge step in their reconciliation, for which efforts were made over the past several months. However, according to the latest claims, the reunion has not sat well with William. Moreover, it may even result in the monarchy’s next big war.
Prince William’s future as a king might be impacted after King Charles and Prince Harry’s reunion, says source
A new report claims that Prince William’s future as the monarch might be impacted after King Charles and Prince Harry’s reunion, and could potentially start the monarchy’s next big war. The father and son had a face-to-face meeting at Clarence House, the 76-year-old’s residence in London, on September 10. This marked the first time Harry and Charles met in person since February 2024. Rob Shuter’s exclusive report claims that the reunion has left William “livid.”
The Prince of Wales reportedly views the reconciliation as a “very bad idea.” An insider told Shuter that William believes “once you’re out, you’re out.” Harry had been estranged from his family since he stepped down from his public role in 2020 and moved to the United States with his wife, Meghan Markle. Following that, tensions intensified when the couple made a series of allegations against the British royals.
However, this year marked a shift in the dynamics. Over the summer, news broke out that the estranged father and son’s respective aides met in July in London. A palace insider told Shuter that the reunion was “months in the making.” They claimed that Harry was “desperate for time with his father,” who has been battling cancer. The insider also stated that Charles “knew it was now or never.”
Following the much-awaited meeting, Buckingham Palace has confirmed that King Charles and Prince Harry had a private tea at Clarence House. However, details about their reunion have not been disclosed.
Originally reported by Shriya Swami on RealityTea.
The post Prince Harry & King Charles’ Meeting Might Impact Monarchy’s Future, Say Sources appeared first on Mandatory.
Despite fears that pandemic stress would harm child development, new research shows toddlers actually displayed fewer emotional and behavioral problems, especially in families with lower maternal education, hinting at hidden resilience factors.
Study: COVID-19 Pandemic Exposure and Toddler Behavioral Health in the ECHO Program. Image credit: Sharomka/Shutterstock.com
A new study published in JAMA Network Open reports that exposure to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was associated with fewer, not greater, reported emotional and behavioral problems in toddlers, rather than significantly worsening their behavioral health.
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic has burdened the health and economic systems across countries and significantly impacted family and social dynamics. Both family and social environments play a substantial role in shaping a child’s health and well-being, as childhood is a period of heightened brain plasticity and sensitivity to environmental influences. This raises a concern about possible behavioral changes in children following the pandemic exposure.
Existing evidence has linked the COVID-19 pandemic with increased psychological distress in younger and older adults. However, studies investigating the impact of the pandemic on childhood behavioral changes have produced mixed results. Some studies have reported higher problem-solving and fine motor skills and lower personal-social skills in pandemic-exposed children. In contrast, some reported no significant impact of the pandemic on children’s internalizing and externalizing problems.
Given these discrepancies in findings, the current study aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on internalizing and externalizing problems in toddlers. Internalizing and externalizing problems are emotional (anxiety, depression, and withdrawal) and behavioral (aggression, hyperactivity, and rule-breaking) problems that can significantly impact a person’s mental health and social functioning.
Study design
The study analyzed data from the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, which recruits children from multiple US regions and Puerto Rico with diverse geographical and sociodemographic backgrounds.
This study included 3438 toddlers, who were divided into three groups: the prepandemic group, the pandemic-assessed group, and the pandemic-born group. The prepandemic group toddlers were born and assessed before the pandemic; the pandemic-assessed group toddlers were born before the pandemic but assessed during the pandemic; and the pandemic-born group toddlers were born and assessed during the pandemic.
A widely validated caregiver-report tool was used to assess emotional and behavioral problems in toddlers, hypothesizing that pandemic-related stressors, such as family disruption, social isolation, and increased family stress, would contribute to increased emotional and behavioral problems in these toddlers.
Key findings
The study analysis revealed that toddlers who were born before the pandemic but assessed during the pandemic, or toddlers who were born and assessed during the pandemic, had lower levels of emotional and behavioral problems than their peers who were born and assessed before the pandemic.
These differences were more pronounced among children of mothers with less than a Bachelor’s degree compared with children of mothers with higher educational attainment. The authors emphasized that the protective pattern was significant only among the lower-education group, rather than demonstrating that these toddlers overall had fewer problems than those of more educated mothers.
Study significance
This study is one of the first to investigate these associations across diverse U.S. regions and Puerto Rico among three toddler groups differing in pandemic exposure.
A growing pool of evidence suggests that the impact of the pandemic on children’s mental health depends on family characteristics, such as socioeconomic status and parenting practices. Consistent family routines within households, such as regular playtime and family meals, have been found to reduce depressive symptoms in preschool children during the pandemic.
Although pre-pandemic studies have linked poor socioeconomic status with higher emotional and behavioral difficulties in young adults, studies conducted during the pandemic have reported greater emotional distress and life dissatisfaction in families with higher socioeconomic status than in families with higher financial hardship.
These observations and current study findings suggest that pandemic-related stressors do not necessarily contribute to more adverse neurobehavioral functioning in children.
Notably, the study finds that the associations between pandemic exposure and fewer emotional and behavioral problems were significant only in toddlers of mothers with lower educational backgrounds. The researchers interpreted this cautiously, suggesting one possible explanation that families with lower educational attainment may have experienced fewer lifestyle disruptions during the pandemic, which could have provided a relatively more stable caregiving environment.
However, a previous study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic reported that mothers with some college or a 4-year degree experienced higher psychological distress than those with the least and highest educational attainment. This highlights the complexity of the association between education and pandemic stress and the possible contributions of other factors to these outcomes.
The study findings are based on caregiver-reported child behavior data, which may introduce judgmental errors due to parental mental health, biases, and expectations. The pandemic may have further influenced these perceptions, potentially leading parents to view behaviors as less concerning amid broader stressors.
The study included toddlers aged between 18 and 39 months. This narrow age range may restrict the generalizability of the findings to older children, who may have experienced more pronounced behavioral problems due to pandemic-related disruption in peer interactions, school attendance, and other social activities.
The study did not analyze parental mental health or specific pandemic stressors, such as health concerns, financial crisis, social isolation, or disrupted routines. These factors can potentially influence behavioral outcomes in children.
Despite these limitations, the study findings have significant public health implications, highlighting the need for identifying protective factors that may buffer the impact of the pandemic on child behavior.
Lakshya Sen dug deep and battled past compatriot HS Prannoy to seal a quarter-final berth in the men’s singles at the Hong Kong Open 2025 badminton tournament on Thursday.
India’s top-ranked singles player and world No. 20 Lakshya Sen beat HS Prannoy, 34th in the men’s singles badminton rankings, 15-21, 21-18, 21-10 in an hour and eight minutes.
Competing at the Hong Kong Coliseum, Lakshya Sen made a sluggish start, allowing HS Prannoy to dictate terms and pocket the opening game.
Lakshya, the Paris 2024 semi-finalist, began the second game slowly too, trailing 11-9 at the break before clawing back to 13-all.
Though Prannoy edged ahead at 18-17 again, Lakshya earned four straight points to snatch the game and force a decider.
The decider followed a familiar script with Lakshya Sen starting cautiously before finding his rhythm to lead 11-8 at the interval.
He then conceded only two more points en route to wrapping up the match with ease and earning his sixth win in nine meetings against Prannoy.
In the men’s doubles pre-quarterfinals, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also rallied from a game down to beat Thailand’s Peeratchai Sukphun and Pakkapon Teeraratsakul 18-21, 21-15, 21-11 in an hour and three minutes.
Despite trailing 11-7 at the interval and later slipping to 16-10, Satwik and Chirag clawed their way back to 18-18 only for the Thai duo to pick up three straight points and snatch the opening game.
In the second game, Satwik and Chirag kept the Thai duo in check, never allowing them more than a point’s lead before edging 11-10 ahead at the interval. The Indian badminton players then stepped up the intensity, racing to seven game points and forcing a decider.
In the decider, the Indians stamped their authority by opening up commanding lead before sealing victory and booking their place in the quarter-finals of the BWF Super 500 tournament.
Hong Kong Open 2025 badminton: Day 3 India results
Lauren Sánchez-Bezos is toying with the idea of fall fashion. After a summer that included a lavish, star-studded, Venice-set wedding to Jeff Bezos and a wardrobe of Sophia Loren-esque couture gowns, red carpet-ready looks for Cannes Film Festival, and yacht stop-offs in Ibiza, Portofino, and Saint-Tropez in her clingy Cavalli and slinky Dior bests—Mrs. Lauren Sánchez-Bezos is considering layers. The Sánchez way, of course.
The former journalist stepped out in New York amid fashion week to the Doubles Club on the Upper East Side for a Chanel dinner party, celebrating the launch of the house and Sofia Coppola’s new collaborative book. For the occasion, she wore a simple white tank top with a black tulle skirt with sheer polka dot overlays, belted with a signature Chanel gold chain monogrammed belt. She accessorized with strong, angular Chanel sunglasses, and a black Chanel purse, a stack of delicate gold bangles, and drop earrings. She wore her hair in her typical long, blown out waves, flipped over with a deep side part.
It’s a look that’s become a tried and true outfit formula for Sanchez-Bezos, a lover of sheer dresses and separates. At both her bachelorette party in Paris and when attending the Grand Prix in Monaco, she reached for a similar sheer-bottomed skirt. This new Chanel piece features the polka dot, a trending print not set to go anywhere anytime soon. For now, it looks like Sànchez-Bezos has made her peace with packing away her louder printed, jewel and sherbet toned dresses and beachy accessories for another season.
This is also Sánchez-Bezos’s first fashion week outing for the fall winter 2025 calendar, but we can be sure to expect to see more of her in New York and among the major international editions. Last season, she made the most of Paris Fashion Week, with a seat on the front row of Balenciaga to witness what was Demna’s final show for the house. She wore a severe-shouldered, buttoned up Balenciaga coat dress and the brand’s recognizable knife pumps, clutching the coffee cup-inspired bag with her name on it. When things get nippy, Sànchez-Bezos either opts for architectural silhouettes or braves the cold in more tight, sexy shapes.
Photo: Backgrid
Photo: Backgrid
Photo: Backgrid
It’s likely Sánchez-Bezos has a few more NYFW engagements to come, but we should also expect to see her once again in Paris for Matthieu Blazy’s debut, and in Milan for Demna’s first collection for Gucci. Eyes on what a Mrs. Lauren Sànchez-Bezos fall winter wardrobe switch-up looks like.
A fireball streaks across the morning sky above NSF Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation.
KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Dai
A rare display of “shooting stars” may grace the night sky this weekend as a newly found meteor shower suddenly peaks.
The Chi Cygnids meteor shower occurs in mid-September every year, but only every five years does it produce noticeable “shooting stars.” After significant activity in 2010, 2015 and 2020, 2025 looks set to feature an uptick in meteor rates — and there’s already early evidence for that.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Chi Cygnid meteor shower.
What Is The Chi Cygnids Meteor Shower 2025?
The Chi Cygnid meteor shower is typically a weak display each September whose “shooting stars” appear to come from a radiant point close to a star called Chi Cygni in the constellation of Cygnus. Cygnus forms part of the Summer Triangle asterism, which is in the western sky after dark in mid-September as seen from the Northern Hemisphere. Chi Cygni is about 500 light-years from the solar system.
SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center scientists Peter Jenniskens and colleagues detected meteors from the Chi Cygnids meteor shower in late August. “Based on past returns, the shower is expected to increase in activity gradually until a peak around Sept. 14, followed by a rapid decline,” reports SETI. It’s believed that the five-year periodicity is caused by the meteoroids being trapped in a resonance with Jupiter.
When Is The Chi Cygnids Meteor Shower?
This meteor shower may peak around Saturday, Sept. 13, through Monday, Sept. 15, 2025, though the peak rates per hour are not known. However, since the peak is hit-and-miss most years, there is some disagreement, with the American Meteor Society stating that the Chi Cygnids peak on Tuesday, Sept. 16. Observers should watch across all these dates (if skies are clear, they’ll be among the best nights of the month for stargazing).
Why To Watch The Chi Cygnids Meteor Shower
Aside from the rarity of significant activity, the Chi Cygnids are known for how slow-moving their “shooting stars” are, which makes them easier (and arguably more enjoyable) to see than some fast-moving displays. The Chi Cygnids have a speed of around 15 km/sec as they strike Earth’s atmosphere. For context, August’s famous Perseids move at 59 km/sec while October’s Orionids travel at 41 km/sec.
How To See The Chi Cygnids Meteor Shower
The best way to see any meteor shower is to go stargazing for a few hours, preferably on a dark, moonless night sky away from light pollution (consult a light pollution map or travel to a Dark Sky Place). It’s the last quarter moon on Saturday (meaning the moon rises half-lit around midnight), which should make any faint Chi Cygnid meteors easier to spot in the late evening. However, a completely clear sky is also required.
Researchers led by Dubravka Vučićević at the Max Delbrück Center have developed a new method to discover how DNA controls genes. Their technique, published in “Cell Genomics,” can reveal the genetic “switches” that regulate important genes more quickly than existing methods.
Most of the human genome does not code for proteins. Instead, much of it consists of regulatory regions. Like switches that turn lights on and off, these regions of nucleotides –called transcriptional enhancers – determine where and when a gene is active, and largely control how much of the corresponding protein a cell produces. Defects in the genetic code of such regulatory elements can cause developmental defects and disease. But compared to protein-coding regions, they are difficult to identify because they are often located far from the genes they regulate and lack a well-defined genetic code.
Scientists at the Max Delbrück Center led by Dr. Dubravka Vučićević in the Computational and Regulatory Genomics lab of Professor Uwe Ohler have created a powerful new tool to uncover these regions that control our genes. Called TargEted SingLe–cell Activation screen
(TESLA-seq), it combines CRISPR-based gene activation (CRISPRa) – a gene regulation technique that uses an engineered form of the CRISPR-Cas9 system to enhance the expression of specific genes– and targeted single-cell RNA sequencing to identify regulatory regions more quickly and accurately than other methods. The study was published in “Cell Genomics.”
“With this method, we can actually test how thousands of candidate regulatory elements in the genome are capable of switching genes on – and find out exactly what genes they influence,” says Vučićević, lead author of the study.
Mapping regulatory elements
To showcase the technique, the study focused on a gene called PHOX2B, which is essential for nervous system development. Mutations in the gene have been linked to neuroblastoma, a cancer of nervous system tissue that primarily affects children.
Vučićević and her colleagues concentrated on a large area around PHOX2B. They designed two to three guide RNAs (gRNAs) to bind to sections of the DNA, or chunks, each 100 base pairs long. These gRNAs guided the CRISPR system to target locations in the genome. With a total of 46,722 gRNAs, they were able to scan the entire genomic landscape around the PHOX2B gene for potential gene switches.
They then transferred each gRNA into a single human neuroblastoma cell. The CRISPRa system then activated any regulatory regions that might have been present in the “chunk.” They identified more than 600 regions – called CaREs (CRISPRa-responsive elements) – that altered cell growth when activated.
The team then zoomed in on about 200 CaREs in more detail and used targeted single-cell RNA sequencing to read out both the gRNA inside each cell and the RNA expressed from nearby genes. This allowed them to link each CaRE to any of the over 70 genes in the PHOX2B region, whose expression changed in that cell. They also found direct connections between CaREs and important regulators of SHISA3 and APBB2, which are involved in cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
Surprisingly, many CaREs controlled genes far away, skipping over nearby genes entirely – something other methods often miss. “TESLA-seq doesn’t just capture what’s happening in one cell type, it can reveal potential connections between genes and regulatory regions across different biological systems,” says Ohler.
This is significant because many diseases affect more than a single tissue type, adds Vučićević. “The technique can be used to study the vast, uncharted parts of our DNA that influence health and disease across multiple organ systems and can help us to design more precise and effective therapies.”
Reference: Vučićević D, Hsu CW, Lopez Zepeda LS, et al. Sensitive dissection of a genomic regulatory landscape using bulk and targeted single-cell activation. Cell Genomics. 2025:100984. doi: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100984
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Excessive alcohol consumption can disrupt the liver’s unique regenerative abilities by trapping cells in limbo between their functional and regenerative states, even after a patient stops drinking, researchers at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and collaborators at Duke University and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago describe in a new study.
This in-between state is a result of inflammation disrupting how RNA is spliced during the protein-making process, the researchers found, providing scientists with new treatment pathways to explore for the deadly disease. The researchers published their findings in the journal Nature Communications.
The liver has a remarkable ability to regenerate itself after damage or partial removal. However, it loses that ability in patients with alcohol-associated liver disease — the leading cause of liver-related mortality worldwide, resulting in roughly 3 million deaths annually.
“We knew that the liver stops functioning and stops regenerating in patients with alcohol-related hepatitis and cirrhosis, even when a patient has discontinued consuming alcohol, but we didn’t know why,” said U. of I. biochemistry professor Auinash Kalsotra, who co-led the study with Duke University School of Medicine professor Anna Mae Diehl. “The only real life-saving treatment option once a patient reaches the liver failure stage in those diseases is transplantation. But if we understood why these livers were failing, maybe we could intervene.”
Both the Kalsotra and Diehl labs havestudied the molecular and cellular underpinnings of liver regeneration. Over the last five years, they found that in order to regenerate, liver cells reprogram their gene expression to revert to fetal-like progenitor cells, multiply and then reverse the process back to become mature functioning cells again. Armed with this knowledge, the group turned to the question of how those mechanisms were disrupted in alcohol-associated liver disease.
The researchers compared samples of healthy livers and samples of livers with alcohol-associated hepatitis or cirrhosis obtained from Johns Hopkins University Hospital through an initiative supported by the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health.
The first thing the researchers noticed in diseased livers was that, although damaged cells had begun the process of reverting to the regenerative state, they did not complete the process and instead remained in transitional limbo.
“They are neither functional adult cells nor proliferative progenitor cells. Since they are not functioning, more pressure builds on the remaining cells. So they try to regenerate, and they’re all ending up in this unproductive quasi-progenitor state, and that’s what is causing liver failure,” said U. of I. graduate students Ullas Chembazhi and Sushant Bangru, the co-first authors of the study.
To figure out why the cells were getting stuck in this state, the team investigated which proteins were being made by the liver cells and, in turn, the RNA molecules carrying the instructions for those proteins from the DNA to the cell’s protein-building machinery.
While most studies focus only on the total amounts of RNA or protein in a cell, Kalsotra’s team used deep RNA sequencing technology and computational analyses to zoom in on the splicing of RNA fragments, a key step in stitching together different parts of genetic instructions to make proteins.
“In comparing the samples, we saw RNA was getting misspliced broadly in alcohol-related liver disease, across thousands of genes, and it was affecting major functions of proteins,” said Kalsotra, who also is affiliated with the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at Illinois.
The researchers found a possible driver of the RNA missplicing: Alcohol-damaged liver cells had a deficiency of the protein ESRP2, which binds to RNA to splice it properly.
“Proteins function at a very specific place in the cell, and that is directed by sequences within the protein that take the protein to that particular spot. We found that, in many cases, the sequence that dictates where the protein localizes within a cell was misspliced. That’s why it was important that we did the multiple analyses we did,” said Kalsotra, also a member of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago. “There was the same amount of RNA and protein, but the protein was not at the right place to function. Due to missplicing, key proteins that are required for productive liver regeneration were getting stuck in the cytoplasm, when they needed to be in the nucleus.”
To verify that ESRP2 deficiency was a likely culprit, the researchers studied mice without the gene that produces ESRP2. They displayed similar liver damage and regeneration failure to that seen in patients with advanced alcohol-related hepatitis.
But why was ESRP2 missing from liver cells from patients with alcohol-related hepatitis? Upon investigation, the researchers found that liver support cells and immune cells, drawn to the liver tissue damaged by alcohol processing, released high amounts of inflammatory and growth factors. Those factors suppress ESRP2 production and activity.
To verify this finding, the researchers treated liver cell cultures with a molecule that inhibits the receptor for one of the inflammation-promoting factors. ESRP2 levels recovered and splicing activity was corrected, pointing to the pathway as a possible treatment target.
“I’m hopeful these findings will become a launching pad for future clinical studies. We can use these misspliced RNAs as diagnostic markers or develop treatments that can curb the inflammation. And if we can correct the splicing defects, then maybe we can improve recovery and restore damaged livers,” Kalsotra said.
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