Daniela Macari

Science Advances’ special issue on women’s health highlights a growing wave of research focusing on women’s unique biological and psychological experiences. Articles cover a range of studies from the interplay between menopause and Alzheimer’s risk to the menstrual cycle’s influence on the brain-heart connection. It also describes the opportunities pregnancy provides to research aspects of both physical and mental health. By prioritizing women’s unique physiological and psychological experiences, research can expand the frontiers of knowledge in ways that benefit everyone.

In #ScienceAdvances last year, a special issue on #WomensHealth highlighted a growing wave of research focusing on women’s unique biological and psychological experiences.

Learn more on #InternationalWomensDay: https://scim.ag/4b5vlLq

Call for Applications - Max Planck Postdoc Program, apply now!

The Max Planck #PostdocProgram offers top emerging talents a range of attractive measures and opportunities. The current call for applications is open from March 1st until April 13th, 2026. Please share or consider applying! 🙏
www.mpg.de/en/max-planc... #careerinscience #sciencecareer

Elephant whiskers exhibit material intelligence for touch sensing YouTube video by Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems

The secret to the elephant's amazing sense of touch is in its unusual whiskers. The findings will be used in the development of new robot-assisted sensor technologies that mimic the stiffness of the #elephant tactile hairs.
www.mpg.de/26113474/ele... @mpi-is.bsky.social

In vivo single-cell gene editing using RNA electroporation reveals sequential adaptation of cortical neurons to excitatory-inhibitory imbalance The balance between excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission is fundamental for normal brain function, yet the adaptation of individual neurons to disrupted excitatory-inhibitory balance is not wel...

Gene editing of single, targeted neurons in vivo is now feasible. We are proud to present our preprint for highly efficient single-cell electroporation using RNA. With @alex-fratzl.bsky.social, @munzlab.bsky.social, Botond Roska @iobswiss.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A big thank you to our co-organisers Andrew T. Conn, Christoph Keplinger, Giacomo Moretti, Gianluca Rizzello, Philipp Rothemund for making this event possible!

#SoftRobotics #ActuationAndSensing #FunctionalMaterials #CallForContributions #RoboSoft2025 #AcademicSky

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🚀Submit Your Poster or Demo Abstract!🚀
Junior researchers are invited to share their innovative research or demo with the RoboSoft community. Submissions are accepted via the workshop webpage until March 28, 2025. 3/4

How can materials innovation for advanced actuation and sensing technologies drive the future of soft robotics? Join us for an engaging, interdisciplinary discussion that bridges robotics, engineering, and materials science. 2/4

🔬🧪We are excited to announce our Workshop "Soft Robotic Actuation and Sensing Based on Functional Materials" at IEEE RoboSoft 2025🧪🔬

📅 April 23, 2025 | Lausanne, Switzerland
🔗 sites.google.com/view/robosof...

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It is my great pleasure to share this paper from my postdoc in which we developed an implantable biohybrid neural interface toward synaptic deep brain stimulation. Great collaboration with @tobiasruff.bsky.social and team at ETH!

Thank you very much, @quisebell.bsky.social! 🙏Following in your footsteps 😉✨

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the ten interviewed research leaders for their time and shared wisdom. Finally, I would also like to thank my co-authors @alex-fratzl.bsky.social, Ksenia Keplinger and Christoph Keplinger. 5/5

We believe that in diverse and inclusive environments, robotics teams across the world promoting a sense of belonging and psychological safety may display even higher motivation and commitment to their work, leading to higher productivity, enhanced creativity, and more disruptive innovation. 4/5

This image shows a schematic highlighting the 7 main benefits of diverse & inclusive teams: improved performance & productivity, comprehensive problem-solving, disruptive innovation & creativity, broader applicability & relevance of research, reduced bias in technology, attraction & retention of talent, fairness & social justice.

We identify 7 main benefits of diverse & inclusive teams: improved performance & productivity, comprehensive problem-solving, disruptive innovation & creativity, broader applicability & relevance of research, reduced bias in technology, attraction & retention of talent, fairness & social justice.3/5

We highlight existing scientific literature, analyze citation metrics of robotics papers over the past 25 years, reflect on our personal experiences from working in a diverse and inclusive environment, and share insights from interviews with ten established research leaders in robotics. 2/5

It’s my great pleasure to share our viewpoint article published today in Science Robotics (@science.org) in which we describe how diversity and inclusion accelerate the pace of innovation in robotics:

www.science.org/doi/full/10.....

#AcademicSky

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“As the field of robotics continues to advance, so must equitable representation among the various demographics of this community.” - wonderful article by @quisebell.bsky.social in Science Robotics.

How researchers turn bacteria into cellulose-producing mini-factories

ETH researchers have modified certain bacteria with UV light so that they produce more cellulose. The basis for this is a new approach with which the researchers generate thousands of bacterial variants and select those that have developed into the most productive.

A hydrogel implant to treat endometriosis

Researchers from ETH Zurich and Empa have developed a hydrogel implant that can help prevent endometriosis, a condition that affects a great many women. This innovation also acts as a contraceptive.

Women are under-represented at senior levels in #academia globally, & across all #science 🧪 disciplines, as shown by these "scissor-shaped curves" ✂️

So how can we ever achieve #gender #equality?

We discuss various strategies in this #Cell Commentary

#WomeninSTEM

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
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