Reporting world updates to you
University of Maryland researchers have identified a promising new way to treat venomous snakebites by borrowing from snakes’ own natural defenses. Their approach uses toxin-blocking proteins that western diamondback rattlesnakes evolved to protect themselves from venom. By combining specific proteins found in rattlesnake blood, the researchers achieved unusually strong protection…
An international team of scientists has identified more than 1,200 genetic variants associated with the Big Five personality traits. The findings also suggest that many of the same genetic patterns connected to personality are related to a wide range of life outcomes, including health, longevity, education, careers, and income. The…
Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs), widely used to treat diabetes and support weight loss, may also have benefits for mental health, particularly among people with bipolar disorder, according to new research from Griffith University. Diabetes, obesity, and bipolar disorder frequently occur together and may share some underlying biological mechanisms. According…
A newly identified dinosaur species discovered during construction work in northeastern Brazil is offering fresh clues about how giant dinosaurs spread across ancient continents. The species, named Dasosaurus tocantinensis, is described in a study published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. The animal measured about 20 meters long and lived…
An international team that includes Nobel Prize-winning physicist Professor Sir Roger Penrose has directly observed a long-predicted gravitational effect in a falling quantum object for the first time. The finding shows that a central principle of Einstein’s theory of gravity continues to agree with quantum behavior under the conditions tested.…
New research led by scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is reshaping what is known about Miracinonyx trumani, the extinct North American predator commonly called the American cheetah. Evidence from nuclear paleogenomes and stable isotopes shows that the animal was not actually a cheetah. Instead, it was a…
About one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their lives. Many patients survive the disease, but prostate cancer can sometimes spread to other parts of the body and become metastatic. In the United States, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer…
Starting statin treatment soon after a type 2 diabetes diagnosis was associated with a reduced risk of developing dementia, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2026 and published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe. As populations age, the number of people living with dementia is expected to increase…
A critically endangered roloway monkey has given birth only months after a pioneering operation spared her from having her foot amputated. Masaya, a 15-year-old roloway monkey living at Chester Zoo, underwent complex surgery last summer after developing a golf-ball-sized mass on her foot. Zoo veterinarians worked with surgeons from the…
The immune system relies on many different types of cells that work together after an injury. Among the earliest to reach damaged tissue are neutrophils, immune cells that were long viewed mainly as a cleanup crew responsible for removing debris. New research from the Becker team shows that some neutrophils…
Liver disease is most often associated with a handful of familiar causes. These include heavy alcohol use, fat accumulation in the liver connected to obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol, as well as infections with hepatitis B or C. But new research suggests that an environmental chemical may deserve more attention…
Could lasting love have a mathematical formula? Researchers who have studied romantic relationships for decades say that the way feelings change over time may follow patterns that can be modeled with surprising precision. Professor Laurent Pujo-Menjouet of the University of Lyon I and other researchers around the world have been…
Archival discoveries, including a long-forgotten 19th-century autobiography, are changing how historians understand Shadrack Byfield, an English veteran of the War of 1812 who buried his own amputated arm and later created a custom prosthesis. Byfield has appeared repeatedly in television documentaries, books, and museum exhibits in the USA and Canada,…
A widely used erectile dysfunction medication may be associated with a greater risk of glaucoma when taken long-term to relieve urinary symptoms caused by an enlarged prostate, according to a large comparative study published online in the British Journal of Ophthalmology. The findings suggest that men who use tadalafil (Cialis)…
The human gut is home to trillions of microorganisms (the microbiome), a vast community that helps shape digestion, immune function and metabolism. Now, researchers led by the University of Vienna have found that many gut bacterial species are more complex than they appear. Using an analytical strategy known as ‘reverse…
Researchers at HZB have taken an important step toward bringing one of quantum physics’ more unusual predictions closer to experimental reality. Fractons, exotic quasiparticles previously predicted in quantum spin liquids using highly generalized gauge field theories, have now also appeared in simulations of a more realistic quantum solid-state model. Quasiparticles…
A major new analysis led by the American Cancer Society (ACS) paints a troubling picture of cancer worldwide while also highlighting how much of the burden could potentially be reduced through prevention, earlier diagnosis, and better access to care. According to Global Cancer Statistics, 2026, nearly 21 million people were…
More than 10,000 people in the United States with chronic liver disease are currently waiting for a liver transplant, yet the supply of donated organs falls far short of demand. Some patients with liver failure also cannot undergo transplantation because they are not healthy enough to withstand the operation. MIT…
Artificial intelligence (AI) and other information and communication technologies (ICTs) are producing and processing data at a scale never seen before. Internet searches, AI-generated images, recommendation systems, scientific simulations, and large language models all depend on enormous amounts of information being created, moved, stored, and analyzed. As AI becomes more…
A large study involving more than 270,000 people suggests that one common amino acid may be tied to how long men live. Researchers led by Jie V. Zhao, Yitang Sun, Junmeng Zhang, and Kaixiong Ye from the University of Hong Kong and the University of Georgia examined whether phenylalanine and…
Researchers from the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS), Imperial College London, and UCL Genetics Institute have built a detailed cellular map of breast tumors, revealing separate regions filled with actively dividing cancer cells and others containing dormant cells. Published in Genome Medicine, the findings show that these inactive cancer…
Older adults at risk of dementia improved their memory, thinking skills, and overall cognitive performance after taking part in two culturally adapted lifestyle programs across 11 Latin American countries. The strongest benefits were seen among participants who received more structured guidance, including regular coaching and support. The Alzheimer’s Association-funded study,…
Sugar substitutes are often marketed as a better choice than foods loaded with refined sugar (glucose). Common examples include aspartame, the sweetener used in Equal packets, sucralose (Splenda), and sugar alcohols such as sorbitol. But growing research is complicating the idea that these alternatives are automatically healthier. A new study…
Tropical peatland fires rank among the most dangerous and stubborn fires on Earth. Instead of racing through trees and vegetation, these fires smolder through dried wetland soils and large deposits of peat, often continuing underground at relatively low temperatures. That makes them extremely difficult to extinguish and exceptionally polluting. By…
In some fusion systems, particles hotter than the core of the sun can become unstable within just a few thousandths of a second. That is far too fast for a human operator to respond. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Princeton University…
Researchers may have found a new way to weaken glioblastoma’s defenses against treatment. Blocking a protein called SET prevented tumors from forming in preclinical models, while targeting related proteins made cancer cells more vulnerable to radiation. The strategy works by restoring activity of PP2A, an enzyme that glioblastoma cells appear…
Dark matter is one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in modern physics. Astronomers are highly confident that it exists and estimate that it accounts for about a quarter of the universe’s total energy content, yet scientists still do not know what it is made of. Two leading possibilities are hypothetical…
Unretouched triangular microlithic projectile points have been identified from their impact traces in the oldest occupation layers of the Obi-Rakhmat site in Uzbekistan, dating to 80,000 years ago. Their size corresponds to small arrowheads, which are directly comparable to those produced by Homo sapiens during an incursion into Neanderthal territory…
The European Society of Cardiology has issued its first guidelines dedicated to managing cardiovascular disease alongside chronic kidney disease, developed in partnership with the European Renal Association. The recommendations were published in the European Heart Journal and presented at ESC Congress 2026. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is diagnosed when abnormalities…
Scientists at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador have formally described Pristimantis milpe, a common and widespread frog that spent more than a century being mistaken for another species. The mystery was resolved by studying specimens collected in Ecuador during the 19th century and preserved at the Natural History Museum…