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A remarkable fossil discovery inside a cave near Waitomo on New Zealand’s North Island is giving scientists an unprecedented look at a long vanished ecosystem. Researchers from Australia and New Zealand have uncovered the remains of ancient birds and frogs that lived around 1 million years ago, including a previously…
More than 4.5 billion years ago, a huge world, potentially as large as the moon or even Mars, traveled around the young Sun before a violent collision shattered it into pieces. Scientists now say they have found the first direct evidence that this long-lost planetary embryo, known as a protoplanet,…
NASA’s upgraded Cold Atom Lab is back in operation aboard the International Space Station, giving researchers a powerful new way to investigate the fundamental nature of matter and advance the development of future quantum technologies. Taking advantage of the station’s microgravity environment, the facility enables experiments that cannot be performed…
A minimally invasive procedure for chronic knee pain is helping some patients find significant relief without undergoing major surgery. For Cynthia Schraf-Fletcher, 74, the results were “remarkably” successful. Nearly a year after receiving genicular artery embolization (GAE) on her right knee, Schraf-Fletcher says the improvement is comparable to the total…
A new paper published in Frontiers in Nutrition argues that current public health recommendations for exercise and protein intake are largely aimed at preventing deficiency, not helping people achieve the best possible long-term health, independence, and quality of life. The paper tackles several fundamental questions: How much protein do people…
Trees planted along farmland to shield crops from strong winds are often viewed as a simple way to support biodiversity. But new research suggests the picture is more complicated, especially in agricultural wetlands where many bird species depend on open landscapes. A team of researchers studying farmland wetlands on the…
Scientists have gained new insight into the dramatic event that created the Moon’s largest and oldest known impact crater, a discovery that could help future Artemis astronauts investigate some of the Moon’s deepest secrets. The findings come from two companion studies led in part by researchers from the Center for…
For months, Edward (Ed) Waldner knew something wasn’t right. At 55 years old, he felt constantly drained, no matter how much or how little he had done during the day. He wondered whether sleep apnea might be to blame. He also noticed subtle changes in the way he walked, including…
A group of tropical butterflies may have evolved an extraordinary way to stay healthy for longer by slowing the aging process itself, according to a University of Bristol-led study published June 16 in Nature Communications. The butterflies belong to the Heliconius tribe, a group found across the rainforests of Central…
Ebola virus disease and hantavirus have attracted renewed attention in recent weeks because of the serious risks they pose to public health. Although they are very different diseases, both can begin with similar symptoms and require strict infection prevention and control (IPAC) measures to limit the risk of transmission. Recent…
For years, scientists believed Tyrannosaurus rex reached its adult size at around age 25. But a major new study suggests the iconic predator may have taken much longer to mature. According to the research, T. rex likely continued growing for about 40 years before reaching its maximum size of roughly…
Researchers are taking a closer look at how different types of dietary fat may influence the risk of type 2 diabetes, a disease that affects millions of people worldwide and is linked to serious health complications and premature death. A new review published in Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism (Cell…
People age differently. Some remain free of major diseases well into old age, while others develop serious health problems much earlier. Understanding why this happens is becoming increasingly important as populations grow older around the world. Although life expectancy has risen dramatically over the past 200 years, the number of…
A widely used sodium-ion battery developed by Chinese manufacturer Hina has achieved performance and manufacturing quality levels comparable to Tesla’s lithium-ion batteries, according to research published in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports Physical Science. The findings suggest sodium-ion technology could become a lower-cost alternative for future electric vehicles and…
The lakes, streams and ponds you’ve visited for years are likely looking more brown than they used to. And people who are fishing those waters are likely catching different species and sizes of fish than in the past. Our research has identified a link between those two developments, which means…
Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine have identified a potential new approach for tackling Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Both conditions are associated with the buildup of harmful clumps formed by the proteins Tau and alpha synuclein in the brain. In a study published in Nature Communications, the researchers found that…
The research was supported by funding from the National Institute on Aging. oth physical and mental abilities. However, new research from Yale University paints a far more optimistic picture. The study found that many older adults actually improve over time, and their beliefs about aging may play an important role…
Leaf through a textbook, watch a wellness influencer or listen in at the gym, and it can feel as though the human body has already been mapped to exhaustion. Every muscle named, every nerve traced. Everything understood and readily available. Most people recognize at least a few anatomical terms –…
As the brain develops, newly formed neurons must travel through tightly packed tissue to reach their final destinations in the cerebral cortex, where they become part of the brain’s communication network. This journey forces the cells through narrow gaps between fibers and neighboring cells. A new study published in Nature…
A comprehensive new review led by UNSW Sydney has concluded that nicotine based e-cigarettes are likely to cause cancers of the lungs and oral cavity. Published in the journal Carcinogenesis, the study evaluated a broad range of international research and brought together experts from several institutions, including The University of…
Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney have demonstrated a new way to control tiny sources of quantum light by twisting atomically thin layers of hexagonal boron nitride. The advance provides scientists with a new method for tuning quantum emitters, which are microscopic light sources that could play an important…
Researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences have identified compounds from the Cannabis sativa plant that may offer a new way to treat fibromyalgia and post-surgical pain. The findings, published in Pharmacological Reports, add to growing evidence that certain cannabis-derived molecules could help relieve chronic pain without causing the…
Cobalt is a critical ingredient in lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and energy storage systems, but new research suggests the global cobalt supply chain may be far more vulnerable than previously recognized. Rather than being limited to isolated shortages, disruptions in one country or production stage can spread through…
Most people imagine our early primate ancestors swinging through lush tropical forests. But recent research shows that they were braving the cold. As an ecologist who has studied chimpanzees and lemurs in the field in Uganda and Madagascar, I am fascinated by the environments that shaped our primate ancestors. These…
Tumor suppressor genes are often viewed as the body’s built-in defense system against cancer. They produce proteins that help maintain and repair DNA, reducing the chances that harmful mutations will accumulate. When these genes stop working properly or are present at low levels, cancer risk can rise. But new research…
The popularity of GLP-1 medications such as semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro and Zepbound) has dramatically reshaped the way obesity is treated. However, specialists say these drugs are only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to managing one of the most widespread chronic health conditions…
A study published in Nature suggests that thawing permafrost may have an unexpected effect on the carbon cycle. While melting frozen ground is widely known for releasing greenhouse gases, researchers found that it can also strengthen a natural process that removes carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. The research was…
Animals don’t just communicate with members of their own species. New research shows that communication also plays a crucial role in helping different species work together. In a review published in Animal Behaviour, an international team of researchers examined how animals use calls, body movements, visual displays, and other signals…
Adding foods like blueberries, plums, blackberries, broad beans, and cherries to your daily diet, especially when paired with green tea, could be a simple way to support heart health, according to new research. A large international study led by scientists from the University of Reading, Harvard Medical School, the University…
Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have tracked down the source of a powerful neutrino burst with the help of a remarkable cosmic phenomenon that acted like a natural telescope. What they discovered challenged expectations. Researchers initially suspected that a supermassive black hole was powering an extraordinarily bright…
