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Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive cancer that is most often linked to asbestos exposure. When asbestos fibers are inhaled, they can become trapped in the lungs, where they trigger chronic inflammation that may eventually lead to cancer decades later. About 30,000 people worldwide are diagnosed with mesothelioma every year.…
A new analysis led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) suggests that liquid nitrogen may be moving upward through cracks and reaching the surface of Pluto near the northern edge of Sputnik Planitia, the enormous heart-shaped glacier that dominates part of the dwarf planet. The findings provide the first evidence that…
Rice is a dietary staple for more than half of the world’s population, but scientists still have much to learn about its nutritional makeup. More than 85% of the rice people eat consists of starch. It also contains protein (around 10%), fat (roughly 2%), vitamins, and trace elements. Because lipids…
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified previously unknown lymph node-like immune structures in the skull bone marrow of mice. The findings suggest these nearby immune hubs can respond rapidly to brain cancer, becoming active before more distant lymph nodes even receive signals that something…
Around the world, billions of people still lack reliable access to safe drinking water. The United Nations estimates that 2.2 billion people do not have safely managed drinking water, while regions from California to the Middle East increasingly rely on desalination plants to turn ocean water into fresh water. Desalination…
New research suggests that an overactive immune sensor may play a major role in severe genetic disorders linked to rapid aging. By reducing the activity of this sensor, scientists were able to improve tissue health across several biological systems, challenging long-held ideas about how DNA damage drives degeneration. The immune…
An international research team has identified a previously unknown prehistoric animal that lived in what is now Tanzania roughly 240 million years ago during the Triassic period. The species, named Dinodontosaurus isiyavamanda, could do more than add a new animal to the fossil record. According to researchers led by the…
Eating four to six servings of whole grains each day may improve several major risk factors for cardiovascular disease, according to new research published September 15 in the European Heart Journal. The findings come from a systematic review and meta-analysis that combined evidence from 87 clinical trials examining how whole…
Scientists have reconstructed short videos using only brain activity recorded from mice, effectively allowing researchers to recreate what the animals were seeing. The study, led by researchers at University College London (UCL), offers a new way to investigate how the brain transforms visual input into an internal representation of the…
Scientists have puzzled for years over why Venus, despite being similar to Earth in size, mass, and overall structure, has no moon. New research from UC Riverside suggests a striking possibility: Venus may once have had a moon, only to eventually pull it back into the planet. Previous explanations generally…
New research from Colorado State University suggests that irrigating U.S. crops may deliver a surprisingly large climate benefit by allowing farmers to produce more food without converting additional natural land into agriculture. Irrigation increases crop yields, which means the same amount of food can be grown on a smaller area.…
Scientists have long debated where the raw material that formed Earth originally came from. Although our planet sits in the inner Solar System, many researchers have proposed that 6-40 percent of its building material arrived from the outer Solar System, beyond Jupiter. That idea has been especially important for explaining…
For most of modern astronomy, rings were associated only with the Solar System’s giant planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. That picture changed in 2013, when astronomers discovered two dense rings around Chariklo, a small object only about 250 kilometers across that travels between Saturn and Uranus, nearly 17 times…
A diet high in ultra-processed foods may be linked to unhealthy changes inside thigh muscles, according to new research involving people at risk for knee osteoarthritis. Researchers found that participants who ate more ultra-processed foods tended to have greater amounts of fat within their thigh muscles, even after accounting for…
Many diseases that lead to vision loss have something important in common: they gradually damage the retina, the layer of light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye that makes sight possible. Scientists understand many of the physical changes that occur as retinal degeneration progresses, but they know far less…
Older adults may be able to shift important markers of aging in a surprisingly short amount of time simply by changing what they eat. New research from the University of Sydney found that Australians aged 65 to 75 who reduced either dietary fat or animal-based protein showed signs of a…
When Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai erupted beneath the South Pacific in January 2022, the explosion ranked among the most powerful volcanic events of the modern era. But researchers have now uncovered an unexpected consequence of that eruption: the enormous volcanic cloud appears to have helped destroy some of the methane pollution…
A tough leg day may have an unexpectedly simple boost: the smell of chocolate. According to a new study published in Frontiers in Physiology, exposure to chocolate aromas before and during resistance exercise helped participants complete more repetitions without making the workout feel more difficult. “Exposing moderately trained men to…
The GunaiKurnai, an Australian Aboriginal nation, are recognized as the traditional custodians of Gippsland and the southern Victorian Alps. Caves within their lands have long been linked to spiritual practices. Accounts recorded in the 19th century, together with oral traditions, describe them as places where powerful learned women and men…
Researchers have found that the human brain begins undergoing broad changes in the way its genome is regulated starting in midlife. The findings may help explain why age is the strongest risk factor for neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. In a new study published in Science, scientists used advanced…
A remarkably preserved fossil from northeastern Spain is giving scientists a rare look at the skin, soft tissues, and possible coloration of an ancient crocodile relative that lived about 125 million years ago. The new study, published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, provides the first detailed description…
A mathematical shape that drew global attention for solving a decades-old puzzle is now revealing an unexpected connection to physics. Researchers have found that structures based on the shape can make light form unusual chiral patterns, pointing to new ways of exploring how geometry can influence optical behavior. In a…
Supermassive black holes may have a much larger influence on their surroundings than scientists previously realized. New observations suggest that winds driven by these enormous objects can carry energy across roughly 300,000 light-years, reaching far beyond the galaxies that host them. Researchers found that the energy associated with these winds…
In the 1950s, New World screwworm infestations inflicted enormous losses on U.S. livestock producers. In the Southwest alone, the pest caused an estimated $50 million to $100 million in damage each year before a major eradication campaign eliminated it from the United States and pushed its range south to Panama.…
Knee braces, water therapy, and exercise may be among the most effective drug-free options for people with knee osteoarthritis, according to a large analysis published in the open-access journal PLOS One. The research was led by Yuan Luo of the First People’s Hospital of Neijiang, China. Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is…
Congenital heart disease affects roughly two out of every 100 newborns worldwide, making it one of the most common types of birth defects. Yet scientists are still working to understand exactly why these heart abnormalities develop. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have now identified a previously unknown cellular mechanism…
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…