Issue #12 — Signals

Basically, Science

The basic research newsletter from ISTA

This issue of Basically, Science is all about Signals.

Discover a new class of star, learn how Large Language Models could fit on your phone, and the ambitious project hoping to map mountain water worldwide.

Research

For the surrounding material to be trapped in a half-ring configuration, the object must have a strong and asymmetric magnetic field, scientists argue. © Russell C. J. Kightley

Meet Gandalf: One of a new class of star

Some stellar remnants only make sense in pairs. Researchers describe a new class formed through a violent cosmic collision, producing signals that do not match existing categories. The study in Nature Astronomy points to an outcome that standard models did not predict.

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Computer scientist Dan Alistarh receives his second ERC Proof of Concept Grant. © ISTA

Can a Large Language Model fit on your phone?

Most Large Language Models (LLMs) rely on sending data elsewhere to be processed. A project backed by the European Research Council aims to keep that exchange on the device instead. The project hopes to make LLMs efficient enough to run locally, reducing the need to send signals to distant servers and the energy demands that come with it.

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Huihuang Chen picks up a growth chamber containing Arabidopsis thaliana. © ISTA

Signaling pathway of molecules

A core signalling pathway in plants may not work as expected. Researchers show that the classical model of auxin signalling falls short of explaining how cells actually respond to the hormone. The study, published in Nature, revises a long-held view of how chemical signals are translated into growth.

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Editor's Pick

Researchers at a base camp north of Maidakul Lake, close to the Kyzylsu Glacier. © Marin Kneib

Ambitious project hopes to understand mountain water worldwide

Mountain water is being mapped in new detail. A project led by the Institute of Science and Technology Austria will carry out the first global reanalysis of mountain water resources, using high-resolution models to track how these systems are changing. The aim is to identify tipping points as climate pressures build. Mountains act as early warning signals, revealing shifts in water availability before they fully play out downstream.

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Watch

Michael Gorman – Science in times of misinformation

Scientific knowledge itself functions as a signal in a noisy information environment. Understanding how reliable signals spread—and how misinformation interferes—is increasingly important for science and society.

Profile

Julia Reisenbauer: Enhancing nature's catalysts

Assistant Professor Julia Reisenbauer studies how enzymes communicate through chemistry. These molecular catalysts rely on subtle signals within their structure to control and speed up reactions. By analyzing and modifying these processes, her work explores how biological systems fine-tune activity at the smallest scale, revealing how even slight changes can shift the outcome of a reaction.

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Campus

Three ISTA Scientists inducted into the Austrian Academy of Sciences

Assistant professors Sylvia Cremer, Amelia Douglass, and Alicia Michael are among newly elected members to the Austrian Academy of Sciences – one of Austria's highest scientific honors. Their work spans mathematics, neuroscience and molecular biology. Their admission signals a shift within the academy itself, as it becomes younger, more diverse and more female.

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