Brink Bites: A Boston Climate Leader and New Oral Cancer Targets
Other research news, stories, and tidbits from around BU, including a potential way to help immune cells take down cancer
June 30, 2026
Noise Prevention
How Augmented Reality Could Help Engineers Better Insulate Older Homes
A Boston University–based manufacturing innovation center is developing an AR-guided insulation system to reduce energy loss
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Would Better Hip Care for Young Female Athletes Prevent Pain and Surgery Later in Life?
Most research into athletes’ hips only studies boys and men. With prevention and better training in mind, Boston University’s Cara Lewis is setting out to change that.
June 16, 2026 -
In His New Book, The Dark Frontier, BU Biologist Explores the Deep Sea—and Provides a Warning on Its Future
Jeffrey Marlow combines journalism, historical narrative, and policy work to illuminate the ocean’s depths before they are changed forever
June 11, 2026 -
How Do Social Movements Emerge—and Why Do Some Radicalize?
New book, Protests and Radicalization in the Digital Age: The Reopen Movement, explores protest and polarization in the social media era
June 9, 2026
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Squid-Inspired Lab Technology Wins Student Team a Boston University Climate Award
Anthony Janetos Climate Action Prize given to project that makes lab fluid pumps greener, quieter, and cheaper
June 4, 2026 -
Boston University Joins National Science Foundation Institute Pushing Frontiers of Physics and AI
AI Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions includes MIT, Harvard, and other leading local universities
June 4, 2026 -
Boston University Researchers Team Up with Massachusetts to Launch New Clean Energy Tools
Collaboration with the state produces online data tools that aim to help cities and towns implement greener energy programs
May 28, 2026
Space Weather
We Can Predict Space Weather. What If We Could Also Stop It?
Solar flares and geomagnetic storms can kill satellites and mess with GPS. A BU researcher has designed a space-based system to better protect us from rogue interplanetary weather.
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Chances Are You’re Not Carrying the Right Safety Gear When You Hike
Boston University researcher John Lambert asked hundreds of hikers and trail runners what they were carrying on their wilderness treks. Many were less prepared than they should be.
May 26, 2026 -
How Worried Should We Be About the Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak?
Boston University researchers are helping track disease’s spread and preparing to test new treatments
May 22, 2026 -
Boston University’s Loretta Lees honored by UK’s Royal Geographical Society
Director of Initiative on Cities’ work on gentrification and displacement called “pivotal” to urban geography
May 20, 2026
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Does Spending Big in Major League Baseball Equal On-Field Success?
Boston University researchers built MLB Toolbox to compare payrolls, performance, and roster value across the league
May 18, 2026 -
Should You Accept Internet Cookies? BU Researchers Say the Open Web Could Suffer Without Them
New study finds ad revenue that supports digital publishers and content creators tumbles when cookies are removed
May 14, 2026 -
Could This King-Size Citrus Fruit Inspire a Better Mobile Phone Case?
Boston University engineers are studying the pomelo’s remarkable shock absorbency—including by throwing it off a campus roof
May 13, 2026
Infectious Diseases
Measles, Cholera, and Mpox: BU-Based Outbreak Tracker Monitors World’s Most Dangerous Infectious Diseases
In its first year, BEACON has helped direct public health responses globally, monitoring 181 pathogens in 169 countries—and 1 in space
Excess Deaths
Why Does the US Have Higher Death Rates than Other Wealthy Nations?
New Boston University study tracks America’s avoidable “excess deaths” and pinpoints major causes
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Heart Attack, Stroke, and Dementia Risk May Be Higher for Older People Who Can’t Afford Dental Care
Boston University researchers find skipping dental procedures due to cost linked to range of health issues
May 7, 2026 -
Biomedical Engineer Wilson Wong Is Boston University’s Innovator of the Year
Cofounder of three biotech companies is pioneering new therapies for cancer and autoimmune disorders
May 5, 2026 -
Studying How Online Images Feed Polarization Wins BU Scholar Prestigious Andrew Carnegie Fellowship
Ayse Lokmanoglu aims to help people think more critically about internet content, especially during politically charged moments
May 5, 2026 -
How the Legal Opium Market Shaped Global Trade—and Led to an Opioid Crisis
BU historian Benjamin R. Siegel’s Markets of Pain charts opium from a commodity in colonial India to fuel for a drug crisis in modern-day America
April 29, 2026
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Boston University Linguist Helps Preserve an Endangered Language in Papua New Guinea
Kate Lindsey worked with locals to develop a writing system for Ende and publish one of the first books in the language
April 27, 2026 -
Brink Bites: Michael J. Fox Parkinson’s Foundation Grant to BU, Widowed Men Have Higher Depression Risk than Women
Other research news, stories, and tidbits from around BU, including a Questrom professor named to top global list of up-and-coming management thinkers
April 21, 2026 -
Could a Retinal Prosthesis Restore Sight for People with Age-Related Macular Degeneration?
Boston University–developed technology could one day bring hope to millions with the incurable disease that’s one of the nation’s leading causes of blindness
April 14, 2026 -
What Is the Cocktail Party Problem—and Can New Boston University Research Solve It?
BU student Natalie Lett explains why it can be hard to separate sounds in noisy places and how research could help people with hearing loss
April 9, 2026
Television and Media
TV Viewership Is Down. The Oscars Are YouTube-Bound. Is TV Dying?
Not so fast, says Boston University media historian Charlotte Howell
Clergy Burnout
Finding Her Voice, in Song and Healing Research at Boston University
Being an ordained Jewish cantor informs Laura Stein’s studies of clergy burnout
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Two Boston University Researchers Elected AAAS Fellows
Prestigious honor given to neuroscientist who studies diseases of aging and physicist whose work spans medicine to AI
March 30, 2026 -
Including People with Down Syndrome and Intellectual Disabilities in Research That Affects Them
Boston University epidemiologist Eric Rubenstein on why lived experience belongs in the research lab
March 25, 2026 -
WHO Joins Forces with BU Center on Forced Displacement to Help Vulnerable Populations at Risk of Antimicrobial Resistance
Collaboration will study link between environmental pollution and drug-resistant infections among refugees and asylum seekers
March 23, 2026 -
How Can We Improve Public Health in America?
Boston University researcher Monica Wang’s debut book, The Collective Cure, outlines how we can all contribute to healthier communities; plus, she shares how her childhood shaped her research
March 18, 2026
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BU Task Force on Convergence Outlines New Strategy to Boost the Impact of the University’s Research
Report is the result of a yearlong effort and interviews with 200 faculty; BU leaders will review and determine specific policies moving forward
March 13, 2026 -
How to Deal with Rude Customers
When hospitality workers cope with disrespectful customers by sabotaging service, the stress can follow them home and interfere with sleep, finds Boston University researcher
March 12, 2026 -
Biologist Jeffrey Marlow Awarded National Academies’ New Voices Honor
Boston University expert in how microbial life endures in inhospitable places joins two-year program for nation’s outstanding emerging leaders
March 10, 2026 -
Big Majority of Young Adults Are Pro-COVID Vaccine, Driven to Protect Themselves and Community, BU Study Finds
Boston University researchers also find those with anti-vaccine attitudes are less altruistic, more likely to distrust science and government
March 5, 2026
Convergence
Can AI Help Predict the Earth’s Climate a Decade from Now?
For BU’s Elizabeth A. Barnes, integrating AI and Earth sciences is the next step toward solving some of the biggest, most complex challenges we face
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Browse Sections
Arts & Humanities
- How the Legal Opium Market Shaped Global Trade—and Led to an Opioid Crisis
- Finding Her Voice, in Song and Healing Research at Boston University
- Best of The Brink 2025: A Selection of BU’s 10 Most-Read, Liked, and Shared Science and Research Stories
Business
- Does Spending Big in Major League Baseball Equal On-Field Success?
- Should You Accept Internet Cookies? BU Researchers Say the Open Web Could Suffer Without Them
- Studying How Online Images Feed Polarization Wins BU Scholar Prestigious Andrew Carnegie Fellowship
Engineering & Computing
- How Augmented Reality Could Help Engineers Better Insulate Older Homes
- Fast Company Names Boston University–Designed Sound Shield a “World Changing Idea”
- How Do Social Movements Emerge—and Why Do Some Radicalize?
Health & Medicine
- Brink Bites: A Boston Climate Leader and New Oral Cancer Targets
- Would Better Hip Care for Young Female Athletes Prevent Pain and Surgery Later in Life?
- Boston University Researchers Team Up with Massachusetts to Launch New Clean Energy Tools
Innovation
- How Augmented Reality Could Help Engineers Better Insulate Older Homes
- Fast Company Names Boston University–Designed Sound Shield a “World Changing Idea”
- Squid-Inspired Lab Technology Wins Student Team a Boston University Climate Award
Natural Sciences
- In His New Book, The Dark Frontier, BU Biologist Explores the Deep Sea—and Provides a Warning on Its Future
- Boston University Joins National Science Foundation Institute Pushing Frontiers of Physics and AI
- We Can Predict Space Weather. What If We Could Also Stop It?
Research Accolades
- Brink Bites: A Boston Climate Leader and New Oral Cancer Targets
- Fast Company Names Boston University–Designed Sound Shield a “World Changing Idea”
- Squid-Inspired Lab Technology Wins Student Team a Boston University Climate Award
Social Sciences
- How Do Social Movements Emerge—and Why Do Some Radicalize?
- Boston University’s Loretta Lees honored by UK’s Royal Geographical Society
- Boston University Linguist Helps Preserve an Endangered Language in Papua New Guinea