Dominican Republic’s Vice Minister of Health visits PAHO to advance cooperation under the Alliance for Primary Health Care - Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

In 1944, rocks from the Mount Painter mine in the heart of Australia were sent to the US for experiments as part of the Manhattan Project. The repercussions of those actions left deep scars across the world. At Mount Painter, though, scientists believed the mine's uranium and rare earth elements were more or less safely locked away in the dry waste piles (a.k.a. tailings). The site was eventually closed in 1965 and later incorporated into Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary. But recent samples taken from the surface of tailings at Mount Painter's Number 6 Workings suggest the site may not be as safe as we thought. These tailings have supposedly lain undisturbed for more than 80 years. But something has been moving potentially dangerous minerals to the surface of the waste piles, where they have accumulated at unexpectedly high concentrations. In a study recently published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, researchers suggest that microbes in the rubble are transporting these toxic substances to the top 10cm of the waste, in the form of polymetallic nanoparticles. The researchers believe soil microbes are transporting and transforming uranium and rare earth elements.

ScienceOctober 24, 2026UNC School of Medicine news releaseResearchers discovered a previously unknown pathway that helps HIV stay hidden in the body, even when patients are taking effective treatment. The findings, published in Cell Reports, point to a possible new target for future HIV cure strategies. The study showed how human proteins help HIV hide, giving scientists a roadmap to develop strategies that expose and eliminate reservoirs that persist despite treatment. Read the full news release here. October 21, 2026[Press release] TaiMed Biologics reports IDWeek 2026 data highlighting TMB-365 and its potential across long-acting HIV combinations