HELIX

HELIX Built for the discovery & advancement of next-generation, life-improving ideas.

11/19/2025

Inside the piano, the hammer waits…

When you press a piano key, you’re actually setting off a tiny chain reaction of physics in motion. The key works like a lever. Your finger’s force pushes it down, which makes the small hammer fly up toward the string. Newton’s laws of motion explain this: your push gives the hammer acceleration, and when it hits the string, that kinetic energy turns into vibrations.

Those vibrations create sound waves, which we hear as musical notes. The faster and harder you press, the more energy and the louder the sound. The hammer’s soft felt helps control the tone, turning raw energy into the warm, rich sound of a piano.

The Art In Science // Episode 73 // The Hammer
Music: Carmen (Bizet) by Ohad Ben Ari

11/18/2025

Researchers at Nokia Bell Labs, led by , used an anechoic chamber to study what we normally can’t hear: heartbeats, nervous-system hums, and how voices behave without echoes.

An anechoic chamber is an ultra-silent room that absorbs nearly all sound. By stripping sound down to its pure form, the team could observe how humans perceive distance, loudness, and space.

Visit ’s YouTube channel to go inside this room with .

11/13/2025

We want our lobby - and public spaces across the HELIX campus - to feel a bit different.

So, we partnered with and to transform highly technical research into immersive visuals. This is all about honoring the science while creating a uniquely engaging public installation.

“HUSH envisioned a system that translated molecular structures and scientific theories into immersive visuals recognizable by the researchers themselves. By leveraging Adobe AI technology, HUSH created a living visual narrative system capable of translating complex scientific ideas into public-facing art. The result is a generative installation that expresses the soul of the research within, making invisible work visible and sparking connections between scientists and the public. The final outputs are floor-to-ceiling digital displays throughout the lobby, with immersive visuals ranging from swirling molecular structures to abstracted data visualizations — transforming research into a visual language the public can feel.” - , Adobe Firefly

“We wanted scientists to feel understood and respected — to literally see their work reflected back at them. We’re using the same type of technology that they are using in their research... it shows that we get it.” - , CEO of HELIX NJ



Video credit: Adobe Firefly

11/04/2025

Is ushering in the age of the Solar Farm?

Rutgers University’s Agrivoltaics Program (RAP), led by David Specca clinched the “Solar Farm of 2025” award from the North American Agrivoltaics Awards for merging farm productivity and solar power generation.

Why is RAP’s work important?

Farmers face tightening margins, rising energy costs, and pressure to adopt sustainable practices. Traditional solar installations often displace agricultural land, challenging farmers who want to both farm and generate renewable energy.

What are the implications of RAP’s work?

RAP’s work demonstrates how solar panels can be installed above crops and grazing areas, enabling a “dual-use” model that preserves agriculture while generating power. This award highlights its potential for wider adoption in farm policy, renewable energy planning, and land-use strategy, especially in regions aiming to combine climate mitigation with agricultural productivity.

11/03/2025

What can orangutans teach us about our own adaptability & climate resilience?

A 15-year study of wild orangutans in Borneo, led by Professor Erin Vogel, reveals something remarkable: when food is plentiful, they feast on fruit. When famine hits, they shift to leaves, bark, and seeds. They change not just what they eat but how they live. They travel less, rest more, and let their bodies burn stored energy with precision.

This flexibility [called metabolic resilience] lets them survive dramatic ups and downs in their environment. Humans, by contrast, live in constant “feast mode,” surrounded by easy calories and minimal change. The result? Our bodies lose some of that adaptive flexibility, contributing to modern health issues like obesity and diabetes.

The orangutans’ story is a bit of a mirror for humanity. Resilience, it turns out, isn’t just mental. It’s about adjusting our biological rhythms and behaviors. It’s about breaking our constant “feast mode”.

Rutgers just launched a world-circling autonomous ocean robot.In this first-of-its-kind project, Rutgers University engi...
10/28/2025

Rutgers just launched a world-circling autonomous ocean robot.

In this first-of-its-kind project, Rutgers University engineers have launched Redwing, an advanced autonomous underwater glider built to circle the globe and collect continuous ocean data.

Developed in partnership with Teledyne Marine, the sleek submersible left the East Coast in early October, beginning a mission that could redefine how scientists monitor the world’s oceans.

Equipped with cutting-edge sensors, Redwing will measure temperature, salinity, and current patterns, feeding data into global climate models and improving forecasts for weather and ecosystem change.

Beyond the science, Redwing underscores Rutgers’ emergence as a leader in marine robotics and climate innovation, and accentuates New Jersey’s growing stake in ocean-tech research.

The mission’s success could open new pathways for environmental monitoring, maritime security, and sustainable ocean management, showing how a single university-built robot can help the planet better understand its most vital and mysterious system.

10/21/2025

This is about standing behind the bold & important research born within our university communities. Research, specifically across the life sciences, that has great potential to improve lives. A lot of lives.

As John Flavon, CEO and co-founder of , has stated - promising science needs a place to go, a place that provides infrastructure & resources, a place that helps transform their research into next generation companies. We agree. Therefore, we aim to create this place, together, right here, in New Brunswick, NJ.

Is there a better way to measure bone strength? According to William Querido, yes, by evaluating bone & tooth health at ...
10/08/2025

Is there a better way to measure bone strength?

According to William Querido, yes, by evaluating bone & tooth health at the molecular level.

Querido, of , is using infrared spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging to probe bone and tooth tissues not just for quantity, but for quality.

Unlike standard X-rays that show how much bone you have, his techniques reveal collagen integrity, mineral composition, water content, and nanostructure.

One study on cadaver femurs showed that higher tissue-level water correlates with lower stiffness, a potential new biomarker for fracture risk.

Ultimately, these insights could lead to better diagnostics and therapies for conditions like osteoporosis, dental disease, and abnormal mineralization in arteries.

Is there a better way to measure bone strength? According to William Querido, yes, by evaluating bone & tooth health at ...
10/07/2025

Is there a better way to measure bone strength? According to William Querido, yes, by evaluating bone & tooth health at the molecular level.

Querido, of , is using infrared spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging to probe bone and tooth tissues not just for quantity, but for quality.

Unlike standard X-rays that show how much bone you have, his techniques reveal collagen integrity, mineral composition, water content, and nanostructure.

One study on cadaver femurs showed that higher tissue-level water correlates with lower stiffness, a potential new biomarker for fracture risk. Ultimately, these insights could lead to better diagnostics and therapies for conditions like osteoporosis, dental disease, and abnormal mineralization in arteries.

10/02/2025

Research & Development (R&D) is the systematic and creative process of acquiring new knowledge and using it to create new products, services, or processes, or significantly improve existing ones.

This is what the soon-coming New Jersey Innovation Hub is built to serve.

The New Jersey Innovation Hub (NJIH), arriving in 2026 at The HELIX, is designed to provide what every innovator needs: world-class R&D infrastructure, access to capital, and a community of collaborators.

At the core of NJIH is a best-in-class life sciences incubator powered by , giving early-stage companies the resources, connections, and support required to move from concept to company.

For enterprises needing larger footprints, NJIH’s customizable suites and flexible lab arrangements offer the space to scale, attract talent, and operate directly within a regional network of academic and clinical partners.

And finally, state-of-the-art wet and dry labs, shared equipment, and collaborative common spaces are engineered to foster serendipity, creativity, and accelerated growth.

Interested in learning more??
Visit www.njinnovates.com

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