Camilo Araya Bernales

In one of the greatest tragedies in recent UK history, a fire broke out in Grenfell Tower, a 24-story residential building in London, on June 14, 2017. The fire, which claimed 72 lives, highlighted a major crisis in building safety and led to a nationwide re-evaluation of fire safety regulations and housing standards.

The fire, caused by an electrical fault in a refrigerator, spread rapidly up the exterior of the building. The recently installed cladding, a highly flammable plastic panel, acted as a fuel, causing the flames to engulf the entire tower within hours.

The progress of science and technology in the pharmaceutical industry has facilitated access to effective treatments. However, this has also led to a strong dependence on certain medications, often without fully considering their side effects.

Published last September, the report compiles citation data from over nine million scientists across various disciplines. The comprehensive analysis utilizes several standardized citation indicators, including the h-index, the co-authorship-adjusted hm-index, and the position of authors in scientific articles. The study distinguishes between two main categories of impact: career-long performance and the effect achieved in 2024.

Globally, Chile is the second-largest producer of Atlantic salmon, a highly nutritious and widely consumed species. Domestically, salmon farming ranks as the nation’s second most important industry after copper. Concentrated primarily in the regions of Puerto Montt, Aysén, and Magallanes, this sector significantly impacts the economy, society, and science, driving employment, technological innovation, and regional development.

The University of Santiago, Chile (Usach) proudly announces that Dr. José Zagal, a distinguished professor in its Faculty of Chemistry and Biology and recipient of the 2024 National Prize for Natural Sciences, is among the fifteen finalists for the 2025 Global Energy Prize. This prominent international award sees Dr. Zagal as the only Latin American representative at this stage of the competition.

In Chile, various bodies of water, such as the Mapocho River, receive agricultural and industrial waste, including organochlorine pesticides, chemical compounds used for pest control but which accumulate in the environment and affect health and biodiversity.

Historically, Chile’s electrical system has depended on large, distant power plants that transmit energy across long lines to urban consumers. This model, however, is now under considerable strain. The increasing adoption of renewable energies, residential solar panels, domestic batteries, and electric vehicles highlights the urgent need for modernization.

For years, green hydrogen has emerged as a leading contender for driving the global energy transition. Its ability to generate clean energy without emitting pollutants has ignited worldwide interest in decarbonizing production and energy sectors. In this context, Chile has become an international leader in developing this technology, leveraging its abundant solar and wind resources and a strong national commitment to clean energy production.

The National Agency for Research and Development (ANID)'s Fondecyt Regular competition, a primary source of research funding in Chile, empowers researchers to pursue high-impact projects across diverse disciplines. In its 2025 call, the University of Santiago secured funding for 31 projects across various knowledge areas, placing it fourth nationally and third among public universities.

Dr. Tomás Herrera Valenzuela is an academic at the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the University of Santiago de Chile, a specialist in sports science and leader of a line of research that crosses sports performance with the health impact of martial arts and combat sports. With more than ten years of research experience and international collaborations with renowned researchers in the field, his work has recently been recognized in two bibliometric studies published in indexed scientific journals.