Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · 12d

Hi Brandon. I checked with the researcher on this. He said the alumina coating is purer than what you'd find in gemstone sapphire (which can have traces of other elements), but the coating is still considered sapphire.

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Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · 12d

Yep! I was told the alumina in the vaccines is purer than what's found in gemstone sapphire (gemstones can have traces of other elements, too), but yes, it is sapphire.

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Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · 14d

Normal rabies vaccines need 3-5 doses, but Randolph's shots combine multiple doses into a single shot, and each dose is coated in a timed-release sapphire layer. These shots can be stored in a dry powder form and delivered to parts of the world that lack cold-storage capacity.

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Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · 14d

Then, the candied particles are coated with a nanoscopic layer of sapphire. Sapphire dissolves slowly once injected into a patient, so it protects the vaccine particles for days to weeks, depending on the thickness of the sapphire layer.

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Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · 15d

In Randolph's method for making the vaccines, the vaccine particles are sprayed with a hard candy-like substance, which entraps and preserves the proteins so they don't degrade at higher temperatures.

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Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · 15d

That means it's all but impossible to deliver rabies shots in parts of the world that don’t have specialized cold storage equipment (or the electricity to run it).

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Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · 15d

About 60,000 people per year still die of rabies. In industrialized countries, many people and pets have access to vaccines. But current vaccines on the market need to be stored cold because heat causes the proteins in them to break down.

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Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · 15d

Happy (rainy) Tuesday, #Boulder. I've got a new story for you all about a new temperature-stable, single-injection rabies vaccine developed by @colorado.edu researcher Ted Randolph.

www.colorado.edu/today/2025/0...

New single-dose, temperature-stable rabies vaccines could expand global access

CU Boulder engineers have developed a new method for making vaccines that combines multiple, timed-release doses into a single injection that doesn't require

www.colorado.edu

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Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · 22d

I had a blast talking with all the researchers for this story and visiting their hives near Boulder Creek. Made me very nostalgic for my backyard beekeeping days! 🐝

Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · 22d

Their building strategies could spark ideas for new bio-inspired structures or even new ways to approach 3D printing.

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Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · 22d

In a new study, researchers 3D printed a variety of surfaces and added them to beehives for the bees to build honeycomb on. The bees used strategies like merging cells together, tilting the cells at an angle or layering them on top of one another to build usable honeycomb.

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Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · 22d

Normally, the bees like to make nearly perfect hexagonal cells, but when they build on odd surfaces, the cells get more irregular and harder for the bees to use.

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Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · 22d

We know the basics of how bees build their hives—they use wax to build the honeycomb where they store food and raise their young—but we don't know as much about how they strategize and work with one another to build honeycomb.

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Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · 22d

Hey #Boulder. What goes on inside the hive mind of honeybees? How do they collaborate to solve problems? In my latest story for @colorado.edu, I spoke with Profs. Orit Peleg and Francisco López Jiménez about how bees build hives on tricky building sites.

www.colorado.edu/today/2025/0...

Construction secrets of honeybees: Study reveals how bees build hives in tricky spots

In a new study, CU researchers found that honeybees used adaptive strategies to build stable, usable honeycomb on irregular and imperfect surfaces.

www.colorado.edu

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Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · Aug 28

The new algorithms Lahijanian designs can help robots assess a situation and choose safer actions that still try to complete their task, but are less likely to be harmful.

Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · Aug 28

The problem is that people are unpredictable, and robots don't always know how to handle the unexpected situations that arise. This can be incredibly dangerous.

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Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · Aug 28

Robots and humans can complete many types of tasks together in manufacturing, health care and other settings. The robots are specialized to do certain tasks very well, but there are some areas (e.g. anything that's more complex or needs more dexterity) where humans still have the upper hand.

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Amber Carlson @aecarlson.bsky.social · Aug 28

Happy Thursday, #Boulder. For my latest story I got to speak with Morteza Lahijanian in @colorado.edu's Aerospace Engineering department about how robots can make safer decisions when they're working with humans.

www.colorado.edu/today/2025/0...

Robot regret: New research helps robots make safer decisions around humans

CU Boulder aerospace engineer Morteza Lahijanian is creating new algorithms that help robots complete tasks while keeping the humans in their midst safer.

www.colorado.edu

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