Hello, Golden Globes Red Carpet — We Missed You

Forget the Zoom shirt; welcome to the Zoom evening gown. Also the Zoom tux. If the Golden Globes red carpet wasn’t exactly the red carpet we were used to, nor was it the dressed-down stars-in-their-jammies-pretending-to-be-just-like-us reveal that marked the celebrity-packed fund-raisers of the pandemic past. Instead, the first of the big award shows of 2021…

Stop and Make This Rice Pudding

Good morning. Priya Krishna recently came across a remarkable dessert, a rice pudding (above) that owes its flavor to the culinary traditions of Iran and Mexico. It’s the creation of Sara Mardanbigi and Edgar Rico, who own Nixta Taqueria in Austin, Texas, and draws both on sholeh zard, the loose, heavily spiced Persian rice pudding…

What Should You Do With Your Savings?

Tori Dunlap, founder of Her First $100K, a financial advice blog, agreed. “One of the most common questions I receive: ‘Should I save first, or pay off debt first?’ If this year has taught us anything, it’s the importance of saving an emergency fund. So even if you have a good chunk of debt, prioritize…

Diagnosing Autism in the Pandemic

Even before the pandemic, many families faced long waits to get those developmental assessments. “Those who are vulnerable already are always going to be more severely affected — families who already had more limited access to primary care providers or are underinsured or uninsured already had a harder time,” Dr. Spinks-Franklin said. Now, she said,…

Antibodies deplete cancer cells in mice and human cell lines; reach previously inaccessible targets

Three studies – one each in Science, Science Translational Medicine, and Science Immunology – reveal the promise of newly engineered bispecific antibodies, including by demonstrating their power against previously inaccessible tumor cell targets for the first time, in two cases. These bispecific antibodies, which simultaneously bind to tumor antigens and T cells, cleared cancer cells…

Designing soft materials that mimic biological functions

Northwestern Engineering researchers have developed a theoretical model to design soft materials that demonstrate autonomous oscillating properties that mimic biological functions. The work could advance the design of responsive materials used to deliver therapeutics as well as for robot-like soft materials that operate autonomously. The design and synthesis of materials with biological functions require a…