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As patients at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford undergo routine medical procedures, they are being whisked away to swim under the sea, zap flying cheeseburgers in outer space, catch basketballs using their heads and fly on paper airplanes through the sky, thanks to virtual-reality technology, which is being implemented throughout the hospital to help ease patients’ feelings of pain and anxiety.

Packard Children’s is one of the first hospitals in the country to begin implementing distraction-based VR therapy within every patient unit.

A discovery by Indiana University researchers could advance the long-term storage of nuclear waste, an increasingly burdensome and costly task for the public and private agencies that protect people from these harmful chemicals.

Pollution exposure for minority groups is still a big problem, according to a new nationwide study conducted by a team of researchers led by CEE professor Julian Marshall. 

The study found that during a 10-year period, little progress was made in reducing disparities between whites and people of color when it comes to being exposed to harmful air pollution emitted by vehicles. The study focused specifically on outdoor concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, which is a transportation-related pollutant.

Star Formation: Three scientists at Niels Bohr Institute (NBI), University of Copenhagen, have carried out extensive computer simulations related to star formation. They conclude that the present idealized models are lacking when it comes to describing details in the star formation process. “Hopefully our results can also help shed more light on planet formation”, says Michael Küffmeier, astrophysicist and head of the research team.

NASA created a dramatic 3-D image of powerful Typhoon Talim using data from the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite. Talim’s large eye really made the storm stand out as it moved toward landfall.