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Plague is often linked to rats, packed medieval cities, and the devastating epidemics that tore through Europe during and after the Middle Ages. But new research published in Nature suggests the disease was already a deadly threat 5,500 years ago. At that time, it was killing people in small, mobile…
A coral reef off the coast of Benin that was thought to be dead for decades has been found alive and apparently healthy. Surveys conducted in the 1960s, which were primarily designed to locate productive fishing grounds, identified what appeared to be a deep-water coral reef. At the time, researchers…
Cancer is strongly associated with age. The longer people live, the more opportunities their cells have to accumulate damage that can contribute to tumor growth. But cancer is increasingly being diagnosed in younger adults, and each newer generation appears to face a greater risk than the one before it. That…
Scientists at the Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (Stevens INI) at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have uncovered evidence that two neighboring types of brain tissue may work together to support thinking abilities later in life. Their findings suggest that the condition of the brain’s…
A chemistry concept taught to generations of students may need to be explained very differently, according to an international team of researchers who say a long-accepted textbook description does not match modern evidence. The issue centers on the inductive effect, a fundamental idea in structural organic chemistry used to describe…
A common and frequently missed cause of high blood pressure may be easier to detect with help from a wearable device that tracks hormone changes throughout the day and night. New research published in Science Translational Medicine focuses on primary aldosteronism, a hormone disorder that may affect up to one…
A new study suggests that saltwater crocodiles born or raised in captivity may not try to return to their breeding centers once they are released into the wild. The finding could help conservationists improve efforts to restore declining crocodile populations. Finding the way back home is an important behavior across…
In April 1917, the German submarine UC-30 was making its way through waters near Rømø after abandoning a mission to Ireland because of engine problems. The vessel had turned back toward Germany and was close to reaching home. It never arrived. UC-30 was carrying 18 mines and six torpedoes, leaving…
Low vitamin D levels may make recovery from breast cancer surgery more painful and increase the need for opioid painkillers, according to research published in Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine. The findings suggest that breast cancer patients with vitamin D deficiency (below 30 nmol/L) could potentially benefit from supplementation before…
Inflammation is one of the immune system’s most important defenses. When the body detects an infection or injury, it sends out alarm signals that recruit immune cells and other cells to eliminate the threat and begin repairing damaged tissue. This response is essential, but it is supposed to shut down…
Volcanoes are fed by enormous underground networks of magma and gas, but those systems do not always behave the same way. Even a single volcano can produce eruptions through very different processes. A Cornell-led research team has now shown just how dramatically those pathways can vary at Mount Etna in…
Weather can dramatically reshape the Arctic’s frozen surface, and some storms appear to be far more destructive than others. Arctic cyclones often bring unusually warm, turbulent conditions that can shrink and fracture sea ice. Their effects can become much more severe when several cyclones arrive in rapid succession, keeping the…
A chemical associated with sucralose, the artificial sweetener sold as Splenda®, damaged DNA in laboratory experiments and disrupted a model of the intestinal lining. Those findings, published in 2023, raised questions about a little studied substance that researchers detected in some samples of the sweetener. But the laboratory results are…
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the University of Washington have uncovered a previously underexplored feature of Alzheimer’s disease that may help scientists identify new avenues for treatment. The study, published in Science, found that the three-dimensional organization of…
The largest global survey of physicists ever conducted has revealed just how unsettled some of the biggest questions in modern physics remain. Researchers found surprisingly little agreement on topics ranging from black holes and dark matter to the long-running effort to reconcile Einstein’s theory of gravity with quantum mechanics. Even…
September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and a new survey suggests that many men remain unaware of a potential dietary risk factor. Just 20% of respondents knew that consuming milk and other dairy products can increase the risk of prostate cancer. Once told about the increased risk, 66% said they…
A new study suggests that the climate connection between the tropical Indian and Pacific oceans can be disrupted by major volcanic eruptions, while human-caused greenhouse gas emissions may now be driving an even more unusual breakdown in that relationship. Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) combined paleoclimate evidence…
Electron microscopes can reveal structures far smaller than anything visible with ordinary light. But researchers in Austria say conventional electron microscopes may be leaving valuable information on the table. In a standard system, electrons are mainly counted to build an image. Yet each electron also carries quantum information that normally…
Plastic bottles and cookies may seem to have nothing in common, but researchers are finding a way to connect the two. By engineering yeast, scientists have developed a system that can transform compounds from plastic and agricultural waste into edible proteins, vitamins, flavorings, and other food ingredients. The approach could…
Table tennis players can make a ball suddenly curve by giving it just the right spin. That motion is caused by the Magnus effect, a familiar piece of physics that also influences the flight of larger balls in sports such as soccer. Now, an international team working at the Paul…
Artificial intelligence is giving researchers a new way to listen to what patients are saying about popular GLP-1 drugs. After analyzing more than 400,000 Reddit posts, a University of Pennsylvania team identified several symptoms reported by people using semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro and Zepbound) that may…
Venus looks pale yellow in ordinary visible light, but the view changes dramatically in ultraviolet wavelengths. There, dark and bright features sweep across the planet’s upper sulfuric acid clouds. Scientists have observed these patterns for about a century, yet the substance producing them, known as the “unknown absorber,” has never…
Geologists studying some of Earth’s oldest volcanic rocks have found evidence that water was already influencing the planet’s interior and helping drive volcanic activity more than three billion years ago. The international team, led by Adelaide University geochemist Dr. Eric Vandenburg, examined ancient rocks from Western Australia’s Pilbara Craton. Their…
Spinach, almonds, and sweet potatoes are often praised for their nutritional value. But new research from the UNC School of Medicine suggests that for people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a naturally occurring compound in these foods may contribute to intestinal inflammation. The study, published August 13, 2026 in Cellular…
Men who are already genetically predisposed to the most common type of hair loss may face an additional 7 percent risk of losing hair when using drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound for type 2 diabetes and obesity, according to a new study. Researchers at NYU Langone Health examined…
Researchers at University College London (UCL) have identified a biological mechanism that helps the body bring inflammation to an end, a finding that could eventually lead to new treatments for chronic inflammatory diseases affecting millions of people. Inflammation is one of the immune system’s most important defense responses. It helps…
A CERN experiment has given physicists a much sharper look at how gluons behave inside atomic nuclei, providing new evidence that could help distinguish between two competing explanations of what happens at extremely small scales. University of Kansas physicist Daniel Tapia Takaki played a leading role in the study, which…
Coronary artery calcium scans are becoming an increasingly popular way to assess a person’s future risk of heart disease. The quick, relatively inexpensive CT test measures calcium buildup in the arteries that supply blood to the heart. But new research from Northwestern Medicine suggests the scan may provide its greatest…
Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have demonstrated a new way to protect delicate quantum information using mechanical vibrations, essentially microscopic sound waves. The advance, developed in the lab of Marko Lončar, Tiantsai Lin Professor of Electrical Engineering, could support the development…
Semaglutide, the active ingredient in popular GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, may do more than suppress appetite and improve blood sugar. A National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded study found that the drug reduced several harmful effects of aging and extended lifespan in older, healthy mice. Researchers at…